Malachi 3 - Our Unchanging God - 10/30/16
Turn with me this morning to the book of Malachi, chapter 3. If you have trouble knowing where to turn, Malachi is the last book of the OT, the first part of the bible. So a simple way to find Malachi is to turn to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 1 - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John - most of us can find the gospels pretty easily - and then go left about 2 or 3 pages, and you’ll be in the book of Malachi.
We have seen that this book is written by a prophet named Malachi. Most books in the bible either have the name of the author or the name of the people the book is written to. In this case, it is the name of the author, Malachi. His name means “my messenger” - and he was God’s messenger to the Jews about 100 years after they returned back to their homeland after 70 years of captivity in Babylon.
God took the Jews away from their home because of their rampant idol worship and flagrant disobedience. And as they return to their homeland, they don’t return to idol worship, but their actions still are not pleasing God. Malachi’s message in this book is to “Turn around, you’re going the wrong way!”
We saw in chapter 1 that Malachi reminds the people of God’s love. Many times it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. But Malachi condemns their half-hearted attempts to worship God with their “leftovers.” They saved the best for themselves and then gave God the leftovers. In chapter 2, we see that the priests were no better than the people, because their viewed their ministry as drudgery they had to endure. They were just going through the motions; they lost the heart and the passion of worship.
Today, we come to chapter 3. Read Malachi 3:1-6 PRAY
I intentionally stopped at verse 6, because that is where I want to start today. It says, “I the Lord do not change.” It’s one of the foundational truths of scripture. Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. The $10 word that theologians use is God’s “immutability.” And as we look at chapter 3 today, God’s unchanging nature is going to be a “hook” to use to get a grasp on this chapter. Today we are going to see three things about God that do not change. The first thing that does not change is
1. God’s Passion for Purity - and we see this in the first 7 verses. Purity is a good thing. Think about the water you drink: you don’t want little black specks floating around in your water. Just ask the people of Flint. They want clear, pure water. And they get pretty worked up to get pure water. Constant features on the national news circuit because their water was not pure.
Well, God gets pretty excited about purity too. Especially in our worship and in the obedience to God’s word. He is working to get his chosen people, the Jews, to return to a pure, obedient lifestyle. He says in verse 7, Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. And here in the first few verses, we see the WAY God is going to get them to return.
Back in Malachi 2:17 the Jews asked a question: “Where is the God of justice?” Now the only problem with that is that they weren’t asking WHERE God was at, but rather they were asking God to SHOW UP and set things right. Because there were a lot of things going on that were not right. And in answer to that request, here in verse 1, God promises to Send His Messenger! God is going to come and set things right. He says His messenger will come first and prepare the way for Him. 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. And then the Lord Himself will come.
We know from studying the NT, that these verses about the messenger, the forerunner, refer to John the Baptist. In Matthew 11, Jesus points out John the Baptsit and says, This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.
And then following John, the main attraction, God Himself comes to the people, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. But there is a surprise for the people. We see their
complaint - “Where is the God of justice?” - then we see the
comeback - I will send my messenger, and then the Lord Himself - but here is the
Contrast - when the Lord comes, He is not coming just to console the people, but to purify them!
Malachi says they get more than they bargained for. Look at verse 2 - But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? The answer is nobody! The Jews often looked forward to the Day of the Lord - we’ll talk more about that next week. But they viewed it as a day that God came to bless His people. But the prophets warned, Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. [Amos 5:18+]
God 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. God gives us some very strong visual images, word pictures, to understand His passion for purity. First He will be like a refiner’s fire. A group of women were studying the book of Malachi. As they were reading chapter three, they came across this verse, which intrigued the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and the nature of God. One of the women offered to look into the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.
That week she contacted a silver smith and made an appointment to meet with him and to watch him at work. She did not mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were the hottest so to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a way over the fire then she thought again about the verse, "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he also had to keep his eyes on the silver for the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."
And that is the message of the refiner’s fire - not just the idea that God is getting rid of impurities in us. But much more, that we are all going through the process ... we are each called to be transformed into the image of Christ. And we ... are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18
Paul told the believers gathered in Rome that "We are to be conformed to the image of his Son" Romans 8:29 It is a Command. Come back tonight, and we’re going to look more at this idea of refining and purifying.
So the first picture is the refiner’s fire. The second is a launderer’s soap. Think of commercials you’ve seen: Tide, It Get’s the Spot Out! Oxiclean, Wisk, or pick your favorite cleaner. What does every parent tell their child - Go wash your hands for supper - and don’t forget to use soap! Because soap helps break down the dirt so it can be removed. God says He is going to refine us, just like getting the dross out of silver, just like using soap in your laundry - the stain will be gone!
God says in verse 3 he will start in the church - he will start with the priests from the tribe of Levi. We see this same pattern in the NT - Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4:17 - For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? Let’s not try to take the speck out of our brother’s eye until we get the telephone poles out of our own eyes. Let’s invite God to come to us and purify us.
God says in vs 3,4 that once God begins His work of purifying, it will change the way people view their offerings. They will begin offering the right type of offering with the right motives, and God will be pleased and will begin accepting and blessing their offerings once again.
SO the first unchangeable thing about God we see here is His passion for purity. Second, we see His
Grace for Givers - In verse 7, we see that God tells the people to return to Him. Part of the process of purification is to restore the relationship between us and our God. But the people ask the question, ‘How are we to return?’ And the answer comes quickly - if we really want to return to following God faithfully, we need to address the area of our giving. When God purifies us, we will show it in the area of our giving. God says in verse 8 that the people were robbing Him, and as a result they were only hurting themselves. Allow me to give you a visual illustration that helps put giving into a right perspective.
Let’s say Mike McCreadie wants to give Eli a special treat. He says, Eli, what would you like to do. Eli says he wants some french fries. So together they hop in Mike’s truck and drive out to McDonald’s. On the way, Eli’s mouth is watering - he can just taste those hot salty fries.
When they get there, Mike orders some fries for Eli, and he even makes it a super sized order of fries. Mike takes the money out of his wallet to pay for the fries and a drink. They sit down, and Eli digs into the fries. Mike is so happy to see his little boy so happy over something so simple. He decides to join in the fun. He reaches over to get a couple of Eli’s fries for himself. To his surprise, Eli quickly put his arms around his fries as though building a fort and pulled them toward himself and said, “No, these are mine.” Mike sits in a state of shock for a moment. He can’t believe what has just happened.
Mike is thinking,
• my son failed to realize that I am the source of those French fries.
• At the counter, I was the one who gave the cashier the money from my wallet.
• I did not give him the size fry he was expecting, but something twice as big.
Yet here he is talking about his French fries.
Not only is Mike the source of the French fries, Eli has forgotten that Mike has the power to take all the fries despite Eli’s little arms surrounding them as a fort. Or that if Mike wanted to, he could go back to the counter and bring Eli so many fries that he could never eat them all. Eli also does not understand that Mike doesn’t need his French fries. He could go back to the counter and get as many fries as he wanted.”
One or two fries really would not have made much of a difference for Mike. What he wanted was for his son Eli to invite him into the wonderful little world he had made possible for his son. He wanted his son to be willing to share the very blessing that he had provided.
God takes us to McDonald’s on a regular basis in our lives. God blesses us. He blesses you and God blesses me. He’s given us all some French fries. Some have small bags, others medium, others large and some super size. Some are narrow and light in color like McDonald’s others are thick and dark like Wendy’s. Some are straight and some are curly. But God has given us all some fries.
And like Mike, God desires to sit down at the table with us for some fellowship. When God reaches over to use some of the blessings he has given to us, far too often we say “No God, these are mine. No, No, No. Go and get your own.” We try building our own little forts around our blessings.
Is there anybody here this morning that understands that God is the source of all that we receive? Sure we may have worked hard to get our paycheck, but we can only go to work because of the help and strength that God gives us every day. God has the ability to take away everything we think is ours and God has the ability to give us far more than what we have. There’s not a single person here today who knows how many times God has already spared their lives when death came knocking.
God does not need our French fries, and it is an honor and a privilege to be able to share our fries with God. God does not ask us to give because God is hurting and in desperate need. God asks us to give because God wants us to be like Him. God has a giving attitude and He wants that giving attitude modeled in his children. The first verse many people learn is John 3:16 which begins, for God so loved the world that - wait for it - He gave His only-begotten Son.
Throughout the Bible, you find that God is always giving. In our own lives, let’s realize that we cannot underestimate God’s ability to provide for us in ways that we had not thought possible. There is a beautiful passage in 1 Chronicles 29. In the first nine verses of the chapter, the Israelites had just taken up and incredible sized offering for a new building project. They were going to build the first temple for God. The people had gone NUTS in their giving. They were celebrating because the leaders were pledging their gold, their silver, their jewelry and everything else they had of value. And then in verse 10, we see David teaches us what it means to have a right perspective on all our possessions. It tell us,
David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.
Take a look at the word “everything” in verse 11 and the words “everything comes from you” in verse 14. Look at the last six words in verse 16, “all of it belongs to you.” David understood that everything comes from God. Everything! David is here saying, “God, you gave us everything we have, and we’re just turning around and giving some back to you. God you are the total source of all that we have. All this wealth we have given for the building of the temple, You have put it in our hands, and then we took it out of our hands, and put it back in your hands.” It’s a circle of giving.
God gives us all these French fries and we’re sitting around saying, “oh no, no, no these are mine.” God as our Father is hurt because we have such a limited understanding that everything we have was God’s and still is God’s. If you really think something belongs to you, die and try to keep somebody else from taking it.
The moment God puts money into our hands, we declare this is mine. I’ll only give what I want to give. Up goes the fortress around our fries. We have no idea of how blessed we are and of all the things that God has done for us. And it is that selfishness, that failure to acknowledge that everything is God’s and that failure to give back to Him that robs us of the greater blessings we could have.
A minister took his son with him one night to a small church where he’d been invited to preach. At the entrance of the church building, they passed a little table with a box on it and a sign which read “Donations For the Needy.” Reaching into his pocket, the preacher took out $10 and dropped it in. When the service was over, one of the deacons approached. "Preacher," he said, "we have a custom in this church of paying our evening minister the contents of the donation box." Whereupon he removed the lid, poured the money into the preacher’s hand, and out it came: One lone $10 bill. As they made their way to the car, the boy turned to his father and said, "Hey, dad, I just thought of something. If you’d put more in, you’d have got more out.”
Malachi here is basically telling the Jews, if they would put into their relationship with God, they’d get more out. The Israelites had become lax in their obedience to the law and specifically the part of that law required them to give a regular tithe to God. The word “tithe” literally means “a tenth.” It means if God gives you 10 french fries, you give one back to him. If God blesses you with $100, you give back $10. If God gives you $1,000, you give God back $100.
Some of you may automatically be thinking “I don’t have to tithe - I’m not under the law.” But when we think that way, we miss the point. When Mike and Eli get french fries, Mike isn’t looking to count the french fries that He takes and to count the french fries left in Eli’s pile. Mike wants his son to love sharing with his father. And in the same way, God want us to give - NOT out of obligation or necessity - God focuses on the heart - God wants a hilarious giver. God wants us to be excited to give, because we have purified hearts.
We could camp out for weeks in these verses and continue to talk about giving, but let me just touch on one more thing. God says to “test him.” He says when we honor Him, He will take care of us. When you 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 come up 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 “said 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. We give to God because we love Him and want to be like Him, and because we trust Him, we are confident that our God will take care of us.
So three things about God never change, His passion for purity, His Grace for Givers, and third, His
Remembering the Righteous - We see three things about God that don’t change, and we also see three questions from the people. First the people said, “Where is the God of justice?” And God said, I’m on my way! Then they said How are we to return? And God said, begin with giving right offerings to me! Now a third question, though not specifically stated in the text, is this: What’s in it for me? We see the idea of that question in verse 14 - You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? The Jews were saying, here we are jumping through the hoops that God sets up, but we don’t see His blessing. Why should we keep on following God? What’s in it for me?
In verse 14 we see the term “mourners” - and we think about people who are brokenhearted. But the Jews had a system of “paid” mourners. They would pay people to go through the motions. And that was the problem. The Jews were going through all the motions, but they were doing it with wrong hearts. They thought God “owed them” something for going through the motions.
And in our day today, many people think God owes them because they went to church, read their bible, prayed before meals. But the truth is that man looks on the outward appearance, and God looks on the heart. In verse 16, we see that the righteous - those with true hearts are given special notice by God. Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
What all is going on here? We could only guess the details and the circumstance. But what IS clear is the principle, that God takes not of those whose hearts are pure. 2 Chronicles 16:9 - For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. Psalm 34:15 - The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.
One of the greatest psalms is the first one, which sets the tone for the whole psalter: Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.
One of the themes we see displayed throughout the scripture is that God remembers the righteous and rewards them for their faithfulness. Malachi 3 ends with these verses: “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
God calls the righteous His “treasured possession.” The KJV has the term “jewels” here. Do you remember as a child singing the song, When He cometh, when He cometh, To make up His jewels, All His jewels, precious jewels, His loved and His own. Like the stars of the morning, His brightness adorning, They shall shine in their beauty, Bright gems for His crown.
Today, God views you as His priceless treasure, and He wants you to live a faithful, righteous life. We have an unchangeable God. He has a great passion for purity, He extends Grace to faithful Givers, and He
Remembers the Righteous and offers blessing on their lives. May God help us today to live, as Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mount, in such a way that others will see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven. Let’s pray.
