Jexit: Judah Comes Home
Not Cheap Grace
Malachi 1:6-2:9
Our church community is making our way through a series of sermons under the generic name of Jexit. We are focussing on the people of Judah who have exited Babylon and come back to Judah. As we come towards the end of the series … which we will get to next week … our focus is now on the book of Malachi. Malachi is interesting in the sense that, unlike all of the other books that we've looked at, there's no specific date in the book of Malachi.
We know definitely it was after the exile.
We also know that the other prophets, particularly Haggai and Zechariah, are mentioned by Ezra and Nehemiah. But Malachi is never spoken of by Ezra or Nehemiah.
So the general consensus is that, historically, Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament in terms of the timing of the book. It's the last word that God speaks to the Old Testament era. We can’t be exact but a rough date is 430-400 BC.
After this book there will be 400 years where there is no Scripture.
No word.
No prophetic insight into the people of God.
There are other books which give us an historical idea, but they're not included in the Scriptures – at least not in the Protestant Scriptures.
So the book of Malachi then becomes this last picture of what is going on in the life of the people after they have returned from exile.
So let’s turn to the last book. As we do so I am just going to read a series of verses.
‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord. ‘But you ask, “How have you loved us?”
Malachi 1:2
‘A son honours his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honour due to me? If I am a master, where is the respect due to me?’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘It is you priests who show contempt for my name. ‘But you ask, “How have we shown contempt for your name?”
Malachi 1:6
You have wearied the Lord with your words. ‘How have we wearied him?’ you ask.
Malachi 2:17
Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.
‘But you ask, “How are we to return?”
Malachi 3:7
‘You have spoken arrogantly against me,’ says the Lord. ‘Yet you ask, “What have we said against you?”
Malachi 3:13
When we read these verses it feels like a conversation that you might have with a three-year-old child. No matter what you say they just keep asking questions, “why?”. In this case the three-year-olds are actually God’s people.
God is telling them what is happening, or what he is doing, and they keep asking “why”?
We want you to be more specific.
We don't see what you're saying.
So as we get to the end of the Old Testament you get the sense that the people are quite resistant. They are in a confrontational and questioning mood. So God keeps on persisting with his people.
If nothing else Malachi is a reminder that despite the rebellious hearts of the people.
Despite their questioning.
God continues to speak.
That's what he does right through the book of Malachi.
But the other side of the story is this:-
The more God speaks the more apathetic the people become. There's this growing gap between what God thinks and what God is saying … and what the people think and what the people are saying.
We could outline the whole book of Malachi along these lines. Indeed if we wanted to have a sermon series on Malachi you would make a sermon series around those questions.
But we're not going to do that.
We're just going to focus on two sections - one this week and one next week.
But what we are going to is this growing apathy and half-hearted spirituality.
The people are not really committed to the Lord. But they're not really against him either.
God doesn’t talk about worshipping false gods and idols, so it's not like they're in complete rebellion. But they're not really engaged either.
They are on the middle road. Which is a dangerous place to be.
What we're going to see is that being in this spiritually neutral place means we're not really spiritually switched on, but we also don’t see the rebellious intent.
With that background in mind let’s read Malachi 1:6-2:9 (read)
This is terrible isn’t it.
The very reason that God sent them into exile in the first place was because of these actions and attitudes.
Now, after all that has happened, and the return and restoration the closing book of the Old Testament is using almost the same language as God was speaking to the people before he sent them into exile.
It seems like they haven't learnt a thing.
God has been faithful to them, but they haven't learnt the lessons of what God is teaching them. As you read through this passage you get a real sense that God wanted the outcome to be very different.
In this section there is a phrase heard often.
“Says the Lord” or “says the Lord Almighty.” it comes up
You can find it in Malachi 1:6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 13, 14; 2:1, 4, 8
You get this real sense of God saying, “I wanted this situation to be different. Why aren't you listening to me?”
The fact that they need to be reminded is an indicator of what's really going on. Because there's a big difference between listening and hearing. When you listen you take it in and you respond. When you are only hearing you can actually just zone out.
In our wider family there is a thing called “selective hearing”. Some of us feel it is a good skill to have. “Selective hearing” is predominantly a male trait. It is the capacity to have lots of people around you talking, and looking like you're engaged in the conversation, but actually having no idea what's going on because you're switched your ears off.
That is what is happening in Malachi. God is talking to the people and there is this “selective hearing”. They have switched off to the full message of God and they've heard part of the message. The part of the message they have heard is this:- that God is a God of grace.
That's a true sentence. God is a God of grace.
But the people are not living according to the truth of this sentence.
So what they're doing is saying, “God is a God of grace” and then they are taking Father God for granted.
God says it in Malachi 1:6, “A son honours his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honour due to me?”
They've got God is their Dad but they're really treating Dad in a way that disrespects him. That can happen in our and age. Sometimes as a Dad you don't feel like a Dad. You feel like a ATM machine or an Uber driver or one of these other areas of life that you sometimes get pushed into. You get taken-for-granted.
Now as a Dad you don't mind giving your children finances. You don't mind driving them around. But it's the response of your children that has impact. You don't mind doing it but it's hard when you get taken for granted.
That is what is going on here. The people are taking God for granted. They're taking his grace, and his love, and his mercy, and all of this stuff and just taking God and his actions for granted.
Not only are they taking the Father for granted. They're taking the sacrificial system for granted as well. Look at Malachi 1:7 you are “offering defiled food on my altar. ‘But you ask, “How have we defiled you?”
The answer is really simple.
There are three categories of sacrifices that get presented.
Category 1 – holy.
Category 2 – clean.
Category 3 – unclean.
The rule is if it's unclean don't put it on the altar. It’s not rocket science. And we know that even through the exile – the time when there was no temple or official place of worship – that the people came back after 70 years still knowing how to sacrifice.
They still knew the order of how things were to go even without the temple.
They had not lost the skill.
But now they've got the temple and they are not utilising the skills.
So it is not a skill issue. It is a heart issue.
They're not seeking to follow the way of the Lord because they're not listening. Actually they are listening … but they only listen to part of the sentence. “God is the God of grace.”
That is the true sentence. But God is not the God of cheap grace. And there's a big difference.
Grace is the gospel. Grace is the message that says that God loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us because he wants us to be in his family. The Gospel is this message which recognises that we are condemned sinners. We know we fall short of the Glory of God.
Then God comes and says, “But I love you so much. And I want to sort this separation out. So I'm going to send my Son. My Son will take your place and he will live on this Earth as a faithful man. He will follow all the rules and all the law and he will be 100% obedient. And after he has given this sacrifice of obedience he will give a sacrifice of his life. But because of his obedience he will conquer death. And all who call upon the Name of the risen Saviour will be saved.
That the Gospel.
It means that wherever you are in your life, whatever you're going through, whatever the struggles. Whatever the difficulties, whatever the hurt the pain. Whatever. There is always a way to move forward in God’s economy. To stand before God saying “God has called me his own.”
That’s grace.
Cheap Grace is when you say, “God has done all of that for me and because he's done all that for me I'm just going to live however I like. Because God has to forgive sin I'll just sin as much as I want – then at the end of the day I'll ask for forgiveness.
Cheap Grace takes this gift that God has given to us and turns that gift into a desire to have it both ways. To say, “I still like sinning.”
So because I like sinning I'll just say to God afterward, “Hey we're still mates God.”
That is what is happening in Malachi.
There is just a cheapening of the grace of God.
God has done so much for them.
He brought them back from the exile. He re-established them in the land. He has re-established the temple. He is giving them favour in the face of all the nations. But then as the years are wearing on - we're probably now 180 years down the track – as the years wear on the people are starting to become complacent.
So God responds.
He responds to the cheapening of His grace.
The first response of God to the cheapening of his grace is that there is no more access to the means of the atonement.
Atonement is a big word that we use which describes how God brings us back into fellowship with himself. If you want to keep remembering the word pronounce it as at-one-ment. I am at one with God. That is atonement. In the Old Testament the way of atonement and the process of atonement was through the temple the sacrificial system. But in Malachi 1:10 God says, ““Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.”
The last time God shut the temple was when God destroyed the temple when Nebuchadnezzar come into Jerusalem. At that time the whole city was destroyed.
Now God is trying to wake the people up and see the situation. So he just says, “I’m sick of it” I'm sick just going to shut the door.
Shut … is a powerful picture isn't it.
Shut … it happened recently to our old Blockbuster DVD hire shop. One day it was just shut. It says still says “Blockbuster” in the building … but the building itself is useless as a video shop.
A shut temple is a useless temple.
God is saying about the temple. “You might as well go to blockbuster for all it will help.”
That is pretty blunt isn’t it.
And God is being blunt for a reason. Because, underneath the comment that the doors might as well be shut is another, more pertinent issue.
Basically God is saying, “Why did you bother to come back from Babylon? What was the point because you're behaving exactly the same way as when there was no Temple.”
You can’t just cheapen the grace of God.
Because there comes a point where God says, “I’m not going to keep showing grace.”
Now that might seem to be a strong theological statement – but that is the statement of Scripture.
Hebrews 6:4-6
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
This passage raises issues that will take a whole other sermon … or 5-6 sermons … but the plain reading of this verse is clear. At some point God will say, “This is enough.”
I'm going to draw the line underneath your sin and there's no more atonement.
No more grace.
That is a scary place to be isn't it.
To get to this point where the God of grace and mercy says, “Enough is enough.”
Of course God is patient.
But there is a point where God says, “I'm not going to be treated with contempt.”
I will show you grace. But I will not put up with you constantly cheapening my grace.
That's one response to the cheapening of God’s grace. Another response to the cheapening of his grace is that he will move his focus to those who are interested.
My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,’ says the Lord Almighty.
Malachi 1:11
If the priests, who are acting on behalf of the people, keep profaning the sacrifices and cheapening the name of God … well God will seek to make his name great elsewhere. He won’t just focus on Judah … an area about 120km by 120km … God is going to go far beyond this land.
That may sound radical but that has always been the story of Scripture. God always wanted non-Israelites to be a part of his family. When God spoke to Abraham he said, “I will bless you and I will make you a blessing to the nations.” It has always been the calling of God’s people to be that blessing to the nations around them.
That included being a spiritual blessing.
Often the Jews didn’t see this. So God here in the very last book of the Old Testament is saying there's a new approach. I’m going to change my focus because you keep cheapening my grace.
It's a sad reality isn't it, that the nation of Israel even today, barely acknowledge Jesus the Messiah. They have missed the promises. And God has changed his focus.
If we cheapen God’s grace he will change his focus.
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
1 John 2:18-19
Now we need to be a bit careful how we apply the “us” and “them” language.
The main “us” and “them” is the kingdom of light against the kingdom of darkness.
But when it comes to the functioning of the kingdom of light … and the cheapening of God’s grace in the kingdom of light … God will move his focus around.
God will shift his focus from some people to others because of their response to what God has been doing in their life.
If the response is one of treating him with contempt God will react. Just because we have experienced God’s favour that doesn’t mean we can treat that favour as if it's going to be there all the time and it doesn't matter what we do it. There's a faithfulness response that needs to come from us as we live for the Lord. We can't just cheapen God’s grace without also expecting that God will expose us for who we really are.
Which is exactly what God does to the people in Malachi 2:3
"Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will spread on your faces the offal from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. (1984 NIV)
That is how it was written in the NIV in 1984. But the 2011 NIV translation, along with the ESV and KJV and many others uses a different word.
"Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
Yes the word “dung” is in the Bible. God says, “I'm going to take that dung and I'm going to smear it all over your face.” There's an image you never expected to find in the Bible … did you?
But it's really a powerful image. God’s not being vulgar. God is wanting to make sure we see the situation.
God is saying, “I am going to make you on the outside what's going on on the inside. Because if I take the dung that is being offered at the festivals … and the festivals are the times when there's lots of dung available … if I take that and smear it on you then you are defiled. Your external situation is now exactly what's going on in your heart. And everyone will know that your heart is not for me.
When people see you walk down the street you look like a Pharisee or a Priest or a Levite. You look like a faithful person.
But I know your heart and I'm going to do this so that everyone knows what your heart is like. When we cheapen God’s grace God exposes us for who we really are.
Matthew 7:21 23
21 ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” 23 Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
That is a very sobering passage isn't it.
It means that it is quite possible to have the mindset where we sincerely believe all that we are saying.
We have a capacity to do these amazing things so we must be under God’s care … under God’s love … and under God’s protection. But we are actually fooling ourselves.
And there could be a time when God, in the last days, he actually says, “I don't know you.” Your heart is not in the right place.
Figuratively is it is as if God smears dung over them.
The people in Malachi are in a terrible position. How much worse will it be on the last day when we get to stand before the Lord and he says, “I don't even know who you are.”
It is a sobering passage, but it's also a challenging reminder to us.
We need to know the difference between these two things.
God is the God of Grace. But God is not the God of cheap grace.
That is not just an Old Testament truth … because we know back then how stubborn and hard hearted the people were. They kept on getting it wrong.
And that's true.
But isn't that us as well?
Isn't the story of the Old Testament our story? Because it's our history.
So the challenge that comes out of the book of Malachi - the last word that God has to the Old Testament world – is the challenge of recognising that after all that has happened to them they still don't get it.
That is the challenge.
I know a lot of us love the Lord. We want to serve him.
But every now and then we need to sit down and ask, “Do I really can't do I really understand the impact of God’s grace in my life - and the transformation that is work - or am I just taking God for granted?
Am I serious about being his disciple - where I take this word and I'll let this word transform my heart?
That doesn't mean I'm going to be perfect. No one's perfect.
But when God sees us what he sees on the inside is the same as the outside.
And when people look at us and say, “There is a person of God. There is a man - there is a woman - of God … that God says, “Yes this is my man; this is my woman; this is my child; this is my son; this is my daughter; this is my family.
No one can answer that question except for you. Only you. Because at the end of the day it's easy to pretend. It's easy to act. It's easy to live a life where when you act right, but are not right with God
So here's the question.
Who are you when you're not here at church?
Who are you when Christian people are not around?
Who are you when no one's looking?
The answer here is the key because it's a dangerous place to be … where we act one way but really we're selectively hearing and we're not living according to what God is asking us to do.
Know that God and his grace is always going to forgive you - always forgive - but he doesn't want to be take it for granted
Prayer
