Some things never change.
The politician who promises the most before the election delivers the least afterwards.
The same people who complain the loudest never volunteer to take over. .
Teenagers are always sure they know more than mom & dad, ‘til they get kids of their own.
Your paycheck almost increases as much as the tar rate. .
We’d like politicians to keep their promises, complainers to show us how to do it better, teens who listen now instead of later, the paycheck to stay ahead of the tax rate. Change can be a good thing. On the other hand, I’m glad some things never change. I’m glad the sun rises every day. I’m glad that I always have time to sleep at night. I’m glad for my wife’s undying love. Most of all, I’m glad that in the midst of all that changes in this world
Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I do not change…
God’s changelessness—what theologians call His immutability—is comforting to me. No matter how my circumstances or feelings change, I always find Him to be sure and certain, faithful and loyal. Malachi 3 lists 3 areas of God’s relationship with us that never changes- 3 areas that challenge and comfort our hearts.
I. HIS PASSION FOR PURITY (v. 1-7)
I don’t like to look into the glass of milk I’m drinking and see anything black floating around. If the dog somehow gets to the table and licks the food, I’m not going to eat it. In my humble opinion, water that isn’t clear isn’t fit to drink. Purity will always be important to me.
Malachi tells us purity is important to the Lord—so important that He is always passionate about our purity in worship and our obedience to His Word.
Back in Mal. 2:17 Israel asks the question: where is the God of justice? They’re not just asking where He is---they’re asking God to show up and set things right. Vs. 1 declares God answers with a personal appearance.
To start with, the Lord promises to send His Messenger…he will prepare the way for Me. In ancient times before a King would arrive, his servants would prepare the road before him---fill up the potholes, level out the bumps in the road. He’d prepare the people to welcome the King properly. Jesus identifies this Messenger as John the Baptist in Matt. 11:7-10.
But the main attraction is …the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple…God Himself comes to His people, and Malachi says they get more than they bargained for. Who can endure…who can stand? The answer is nobody. He doesn’t come to pat them on the back---He comes to purify them, like a refiner’s fire, like launderer’s soap. He come, to purify His people like a metal worker, to clean His house spick and span.
He begins with their worship (v. 3-4) He will purify the sons of Levi…that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness…The Levites were in charge of worship in the Temple. God says their worship has degenerated into meaningless, mindless ritual, instead of thoughtful, adoration of their Lord. God will purify them by bringing them back to worship Him in spirit and truth as they did in the old days (v.4).
From the Temple the Lord moves in vs. 5 to purify the people in their obedience. He will judge those who rebel against him---sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who take advantage of the helpless widow, orphan, and stranger---those who do not fear Me. He will purge the land of rebels instead of just wiping them all out only because of His unchanging mercy (v.6) He invites them to return to Him, even though they act as if they have done nothing wrong (v. 7).
On one level, this passage predicts the coming and work of Christ. Over 400 years after Malachi’s prophecy, God sends His messenger, John the Baptist to prepare the way for Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ does come to His temple and clean it out, purifying worship of hypocrisy, calling people to be purified through His Cross, and live obediently.
On another level, this prophecy outlines God’s passion for His people everywhere.
What is the Lord doing here? He is demonstrating His unchanging commitment to His people’s purity. He loves them too much to leave them to their polluted worship; He loves them too much to allow disobedience to corrupt their relationship with Him. So in mercy, He makes a personal visit to purify them---even though they don’t realize how dirty they really are.
I am told that whenever there is an outbreak of sickness, one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy is to wash your hands frequently. You can pick up bacteria and viruses off almost anything---a doorknob, a telephone, a pen, a book. That microscopic impurity can make you sick, and if you get a bad enough case, even kill you. Purity is especially important to good physical health.
Through Malachi, the Lord tells us purity is also important to your spiritual health. It is vitally important that your worship stay pure---purely devoted to Christ, and not just meaningless rituals. Worship that is pure comes from a heart that truly adores the Lord, not just from singing a song, or praying a prayer, or preaching a sermon. Pure worship comes from a pure heart.
It is vitally important to your life that your obedience is pure---purely dedicated to doing what God commands, depending on His grace and power, without making excuses or provision for disobedience. Pure obedience is produced by a pure love for Christ.
Do you need to invite the Lord to purify your heart tonight? Is your worship for Him pure and sincere? Is your obedience to Him pure and loyal? God is committed to our purity---we need to be committed to being pure for Him. Malachi mentions another area where God never changes:
II. HIS BLESSING ON THOSE WHO GIVE TO HIM (v. 8-12)
God is the Great Giver. He gives us life, along with all the joys and pleasures that come with it—from eyesight, to love, to the colors of a sunset. He is always giving. He wants His people to be generous givers. That may be one reason why He commands us to give to Him---so that we can learn the blessing of giving. He is changelessly committed to blessing those who give to Him first.
But Israel has traded the garment of giving for the robes of a thief. Can anybody rob God? No! Israel replies. You might steal from somebody else and get away with it, but how can you steal from God, Who sees and knows everything? But you have robbed Me! Nervous laughter. Lord, how could we have robbed You? The Lord isn’t smiling: You have robbed Me by not giving your tithes and offerings! That’s why you are under a curse right now!
What was the curse? You get an idea in vs. 11, where God speaks of the devourer and vines which fail to bear fruit for you in the field…=insects that destroy your crops, blight which keeps the vines from producing a harvest. God makes a connection they fail to make: when you stop giving to Me, I stop blessing you.
But notice God’s remedy for their situation in vs. 10: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in My house…The tithes mentioned here were offerings given to God—10% of all they owned. They were to be given not as a duty, but as a way to worship the Lord, to acknowledge His ownership of everything, out of gratitude for His gifts to them. The storehouse was the Temple; but God doesn’t need food for Himself, but for His servants who serve in the Temple: the Levites and priests. Give to Me what I have commanded you to give and then… I will open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.
Jesus echoed this same changeless principle in
Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
It is an unchanging truth about God: He always blesses those who give to Him first.
Whatever you do, don’t limit this timeless truth to money, or possessions. Of all the things God can bless us with, money is the least valuable for one important reason: it doesn’t last.
Proverbs 23:5 Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
It is true often God will bless your giving financially, or give you more stuff. But the real blessings that come from giving are eternal---the joy of giving back to the Savior Who gave so much for you; the peace that comes from not being enslaved to covetousness or greed---the pleasure of seeing how God can use what you give to glorify Him and change the world. Giving to God pays off in so many ways other than just more money or more stuff.
But don’t forget the motive behind the giving is to worship God with your wealth. Your giving to the Lord is not just a business transaction---it is an important way you worship the Lord by acknowledging His ownership of everything and your gratitude for what He has given you. If you don’t give from a heart of worship, you’re not really giving to God at all.
But when you do truly give to the Lord, He always gives back far more than you give Him. That truth never changes.
One day a man said to his preacher: "Pastor, I just don’t see how I can give 10 percent of my income to the church when I can’t even keep on top of our bills." The pastor replied, "John, if I promise to make up the difference in your bills if you should short, do you think you could try tithing for just one month?" After a moment’s pause, John responded, "Sure, if you promise to make up any shortage, I guess I could try tithing for one month." "Now, what do you think of that, John “mused the pastor. "You say you’d be willing to put your trust in a mere man like myself, who possesses so little, but you couldn’t trust your Heavenly Father who owns the whole universe!"
Giving comes down to two things: who you love, and who you trust. Are you robbing God? Or are you proving the promise of Malachi’s words here? God always blesses those who give to Him first. That is an unchanging truth. One last thing about God that never changes is
III. HIS DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED (v.13-18)
Does it pay to serve God? That’s the question asked here. The Lord accuses His people of speaking harsh, arrogant words against Him, and again they raise their eyebrows and exclaim Who? Us? What did we say about You? The Lord quotes their murmuring in vs. 14-15: Does it really pay to serve the Lord? Look around you at all the wicked people living the good life while we have it so hard. Look at how all these sinners prosper and mock God, while we barely scrape by trying to stay true to the Lord. Lord it’s just not fair!
Have you ever complained this way? Maybe you watched all those celebrities who seem to get so much more out of life than God-fearing people. At your job, it’s the schemers, the liars, the people who don’t care about God who seem to get ahead, while the folks who love God and try to live right get trampled. It’s always been that way in the world. The Lord doesn’t deny that’s the way it seems; but He offers a different perspective.
First He reminds them: I keep up a close eye on the righteous. It’s not clear who vs. 18 refers to when it talks about those who feared the Lord.
Are they the folks mentioned in vs. 13-15 (maybe they had a change of heart)? Or are they others who stayed loyal to the Lord, in spite of doubts and doubters. Whoever they are God tells them I’ve written your names in My Book of those who fear the Lord and meditate (honor) on His Name.(v. 17) We write down names to remember them; God writes down names to show us he never forgets the righteous. They are My special treasure (jewels). I have special plans for their future. There will come a day when everybody will realize I always make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked (v. 18).
In this life, it looks as if the wicked are blessed and the righteous are forgotten, but nothing is further from the truth. God’s eyes are always on the righteous. He keeps up with who they are, where they are, and what they’re going through. Their names are written on His heart; they are His special treasures. One day, He will reveal His great love for those who serve Him faithfully. In eternity, serving God will pay off far more than the wicked ever receive in this life. God always, always makes a distinction between the righteous and the wicked.
Matthew 13:47-50 47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
It always pays to serve the Lord. It may not always seem to pay off here, but in eternity, everyone who loves and serves the Lord will spend forever glad that they did. Everyone who did not love and serve the Lord will spend eternity wishing they had.
A missionary couple returned after many years of faithful service in Africa. It so happened there was a very important diplomat also on the same ship. When the ship arrived, this couple stood back and watched as the band played and the people had gathered and there was great applause, with a huge banner that read WELCOME HOME! As the diplomat walked down the gangplank and was whisked off in a lovely limousine, this dear fellow put his arm around his wife and he walked off with her. “Honey,” he said, “it just doesn’t seem right after all of these years that we would have this kind of treatment and here this fellow gets welcomed home that way.” She put her arms around her husband and said to him, “But, honey, we’re not home yet.”
When you get discouraged and are tempted to wonder if it really pays to serve the Lord, remind yourself that we get home, it will be worth it all.
Some things never change: God’s passion for our purity, God’s blessing to those who give to Him first, God’s distinction between the righteous and the wicked. Aren’t you glad these things about God never change?
