Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 1:68-79, Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3:1-6.
A). THE TWO MESSENGERS.
Malachi 3:1-4.
The name Malachi means ‘My Messenger’ (see Malachi 1:1). The Book of Malachi is the response of the LORD to the Complaints of His people. Not that they were complaining directly To Him, as honest people might occasionally do (Job 21:7; Jeremiah 12:1). No, they were complaining About Him, amongst themselves. We hear the same today: ‘Why does the LORD let this happen?’ Or, more selfishly, ‘Why does the Lord let this happen To Me!’
Yet every time the LORD challenged His people, they in turn sought to deny their sin (Malachi 1:2; Malachi 2:13-14; Malachi 2:17; Malachi 3:7-8). Sad to say, they were only following the example of their wayward priests (Malachi 1:6-7). In such a situation all appearance of ‘religion’ becomes a sham, hypocrisy: play-acting. Outward ceremony, shoddily performed, hardly compensates for a heart-not-right-with-God (Malachi 1:8).
It is fair to say, that in Malachi’s days there was no longer the blatant idolatry that had led to the exile. Yet the people’s religion, like that of Laodicea (Revelation 3:15-16), was barely lukewarm. Blind, sick and lame animals were being offered as sacrifices to the LORD: ‘try offering them to your human leaders,’ mocked the LORD (Malachi 1:8). It is like children imagining that they are doing God a favour when they give last year’s Broken Toys as pre-Christmas gifts to the poor at harvest-time; or like adults sending their outdated, outmoded, thrown-out computers to far-away villages without first checking that they would be useful to people in places with neither the education - nor even the electricity – to be able to make practical use of them.
One of the God-wearying and impertinent questions of the people had been, as it is often today, ‘Where is the God of justice?’ (Malachi 2:17). We have the answer in today’s text (Malachi 3:1). Watch carefully, exhorts the LORD. First I will send my messenger (cf. John 1:6-8), who will prepare the way for the One whom you are seeking.
Notice that John the Baptist’s ministry is nothing without Jesus, and always points to Jesus. This is reflected in the song of his father, Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79). At the forefront of the old priest's mind was not first and foremost his own son, but the visitation of God to His people: a visitation which was about to occur in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then, says the LORD, ‘the Messenger of the Covenant in whom you delight will suddenly come to His temple’ (Malachi 3:1). Jesus appeared in the Temple as a baby, without being noticed by many more than two people (Luke 2:22). Then Jesus appeared in the Temple as a boy of twelve: He astonished all, yet still remained unrecognized (Luke 2:47). But as a man He appeared once more, and announced, ‘You have made my Father’s house into a den of thieves’ (cf. John 2:16).
Yet Jesus came to establish a new covenant, and to make the once for all, final, and satisfactory sacrifice for the sins of His people (cf. Hebrews 9:28). This is the ultimate ‘righteous offering’ (cf. Malachi 3:3) to which all the sacrifices have always been pointing: the fulfillment of all the rites and ceremonies of the Old Testament era.
The “house of Levi” (Malachi 3:3) stood as representatives of all Israel: and now the Lord creates a new worship and a new people, and establishes a priesthood of all believers. Our offerings to God, whether in worship or giving, are acceptable to Him only when our worship is centred on our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a return to the worship of former times, to the “days of old” (Malachi 3:4).
Malachi 3:2 reaches beyond the incarnation of Jesus to His return. Judgment must begin, and no doubt has begun, at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). There was a remnant in the days of Malachi who reverenced the LORD, and remained loyal to Him (Malachi 3:16-18). How will we appear at the day of His coming?
B). SONG OF ZACHARIAS.
Luke 1:68-79.
It is probable that Zacharias was elevated above purely personal petitions when he exercised his incense-burning office as priest in the Most Holy Place on the day that the angel Gabriel had appeared to him (Luke 1:9-11). The longings of the faithful remnant in Israel were wrapped up with the more private concern of Elizabeth’s childlessness, and the prayer which was answered was one which introduced John not as a son for the old couple, but as a messenger to go before the Lord. The subsequent joy of Zacharias would also be echoed in the rejoicing of others (Luke 1:14).
“What will this child be?” wondered the neighbours (Luke 1:66). The prophet of the Most High, the herald and forerunner of the Lord (Luke 1:76). The morning star which appears before the sun (Luke 1:78-79). The messenger to prepare the way for Jesus (Malachi 3:1).
Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and spoke forth a message in the power and authority of God. The famous song is introduced as a prophecy (Luke 1:67). Our proclamation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has no efficacy without the overpowering influence of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 12:3).
The priest pronounced a benediction. Not indeed a blessing of the people, but “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel” (Luke 1:68). To proclaim God blessed is to acknowledge Him as the source of all blessings. The priest added nothing to God by these words, but magnified Him before the people.
At the forefront of the old prophet's mind was not first and foremost his own son, but the visitation of God to His people (Luke 1:68). When we pray, we hallow God's name first, and humbly acknowledge His goodness to His people. Even as a baby, John was already pointing away from himself to the One whom he came to proclaim!
God was visiting His people in the person of Jesus, in order to bring deliverance from the captivity of sin and death (Luke 1:68). This is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). The horn of salvation was at last budding in the house of David (Luke 1:69), and John appeared before Him as a priest carrying His lamp (Psalm 132:16-17).
The prophets all point to Christ (Luke 1:70). They were “holy”, set apart as God's ambassadors. They spoke of such things as salvation, mercy and covenant, and the fulfilling of the oath made to Abraham (Luke 1:71-73).
Our deliverance, like that of Israel out of Egypt, is into the service of God, “without fear” (Luke 1:74). Our salvation is a transference of allegiance from the tyranny of this world to our willing service of the loving Lord. We have a new master now who will lead us into holiness towards God, and a righteousness from God towards men (Luke 1:75). When we are right with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, we will do right things for God.
John's message was intended to bring knowledge of salvation to God's people (Luke 1:77). If we repent we have the remission of our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ. This is only possible because of God's mercy in visiting us in the person of Jesus (Luke 1:78). He is the light in our darkness (Isaiah 9:2), who guides us into the path of peace (Luke 1:79). Thus the angels could sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
The song of Zacharias being ended, we do not hear of John again for nearly three decades. John was in the desolate places, in preparation for his unique ministry (Luke 1:80). We must not despise our own wilderness years, nor push ourselves forward by running ahead of God's plan in our own lives.
C). GROWING TOWARDS THE DAY.
Philippians 1:3-11.
Like all good projects, it all began with a vision. The Apostle Paul and his party had been “forbidden by the Holy Ghost” to preach the word in Asia, then tried to go into Bithynia “but the Spirit suffered them not.” Then a man of Macedonia appeared to Paul in a night vision, and pleaded “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”
From this Paul and Silas - and Luke, the author of the Book of Acts - gathered that “the Lord had called us” to preach the gospel to the people of Macedonia. They responded with promptitude, and “immediately” sought passage to Philippi. As a result, the first recorded convert to Christianity on European soil was a woman named Lydia, “whose heart the Lord opened to give heed to what was said by Paul” (Acts 16:6-15).
Paul had fond memories of the church which he had planted in Philippi, and each time they came to mind he thanked God for them (Philippians 1:3). The Apostle’s prayers for them were persistent - “always… every… all” - yet ever joyful (Philippians 1:4). Just as he and Silas had sung praises and prayed in prison after the founding of the church in Philippi (Acts 16:25), so Paul continued to rejoice in the Lord and pray for them in the midst of further adverse circumstances:- he was back in prison again when this letter was written.
The Apostle was thankful for their partnership in the spreading of the gospel, which had continued “from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:5). In Thessalonica they had sent “once and again” for his needs (Philippians 4:16). Now their kindness towards him was beginning to flourish once more (Philippians 4:10).
The Apostle expressed his confidence that, “He who has begun a good work in you will continue working at it, and will be bringing it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). The sure ground of our hope is not based on our own ability to persevere, but in the Lord’s ability to accomplish His own purposes in our lives. It is the Lord’s work, not ours: so we can be sure, as we hasten towards the Day, that it will not be left unfinished.
This does not mean that we sit around doing nothing. What God is working IN our lives, we must work OUT (Philippians 2:12-13). The reality of our faith is manifested in the works that follow (Ephesians 2:10).
Paul grounds some of this confidence in the love which he has for the Philippians (Philippians 1:7). It is also evident in their love for him, and in their identification with his bonds in the cause of the gospel. Their quickness to defend the gospel against the gainsayers - and to affirm it to those who had an ear to hear - was a manifestation of the grace upon which all our works are based.
Paul’s love extended to a yearning for them all, like a parent missing his children (Philippians 1:8). The Apostle prayed for their love to grow (Philippians 1:9). Love is the seed which Paul desired to see “abound more and more” in their lives, “in knowledge and discernment.”
To become a Christian is to enter into the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). Christian growth is attested by an increase in our knowledge of the things of God (Colossians 1:10). The attainment of a fullness of knowledge is also the goal (Ephesians 4:13).
Discernment is right thinking in relation to that knowledge: a correct reaction and subsequent action. Paul prayed that they would “approve what is excellent” (Philippians 1:10). This is an approval which we are to put into practice in our lives: embracing things which are not only different, but of a superior quality.
The LORD has said, “Walk before me, and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). We might realistically strive in our inner life to be pure, even as He is pure (1 John 3:2-3), and may live our outer lives blamelessly before men, giving no offence except the offence of the Cross (Galatians 5:11). Thereby we grow towards the day of Christ, with a view to His coming.
The evidence that we are rooted in Jesus is that we will “bring forth fruit” (John 15:16). Paul prays that the Philippians - and all of us - will be “filled with the fruits of righteousness” (Philippians 1:11). This can only occur when we have a working relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the harvest towards which we aim as we grow in love towards the Lord. But it is God who gives the increase (cf. Mark 4:26-29). In the final analysis, our salvation - from beginning to end, and throughout - is “to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11).
D). HERALDING THE FULLNESS.
Luke 3:1-6.
The Apostle Paul speaks of a 'fullness of time’ (Galatians 4:4). Well, if ever there was a time that was ripe for revival, perhaps it is now?
‘So much drunkenness, cursing and swearing (even from the mouths of little children),’ wrote John Wesley in his Journal. ‘Surely this place is ripe for Him who “came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”?’
There is a time for everything under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:1). God has set limits to the times and boundaries of the nations from all eternity (Acts 17:26). Even in the days of Father Abraham, God was shaping the destiny of the wicked nations in the Holy Land (Genesis 15:16). Furthermore, if we are the people of God then our times are in the Lord's hands (Psalm 31:14-15).
The ‘fullness of time’ also has a historical context. The hope and expectation of the coming of Messiah was at its zenith among the faithful remnant of Israel: people like Simeon and Anna, living in the Temple (Luke 2:25; Luke 2:38). Even among the Gentiles there was a sense of anticipation: people like the wise men from the East (Matthew 2:1-2).
The conquests of Alexander the Great had brought about a common culture, and a common language (Koine Greek, in which the New Testament would be written). The armies of Caesar had secured the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome, whereby it was easier for the Gospel to cross the borders of the known world than it had ever been hitherto. There was a hunger after knowledge, and a sense of dissatisfaction with the old ‘gods’ of Greece and Rome.
Luke speaks of such a time. After the nativity accounts of his first two chapters, we are fast-forwarded thirty years, and a list of rulers is introduced to mark the date (Luke 3:1). It surely is ‘the fullness of time’ when such scoundrels hold the reins of power?
In the State, Tiberius Caesar, Herod and Philip, and so on. Worse still, TWO high priests in the Temple (Luke 3:2a): apparently alternating year about (cf. John 11:51). The high priest was originally appointed to serve for life (cf. Numbers 35:25; Numbers 35:28; Joshua 20:6)!
Anyway, Luke certainly doesn’t name these names to impress. Remarkably, the word of God did not come to the palaces of any of these men. The word of God came to John, in the wilderness (Luke 3:2b).
The time was ripe, too, because for 400 years, since the close of Malachi’s ministry, there had been no word of prophecy. But now one came in the spirit of Elijah and the prophets (cf. Malachi 4:5-6).
Matthew tells us that John was dressed in camel’s hair and lived on a diet of locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4). The forerunner of Jesus (for such he was, cf. Malachi 3:1a) was content to live in seclusion until the time of his showing to Israel (cf. Luke 1:80).
John preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3:3). John’s message was straightforward: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 3:2). This was echoed in the opening salvo of the message of Jesus: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 4:17).
John came to the river Jordan to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus (Luke 3:4-6). This was in fulfilment of the words of a prophecy written 800 years before: (Isaiah 40:3-5).
John the Baptiser’s message is a message of preparation, of levelling the land and clearing the highway to make way for the coming of the LORD (Isaiah 40:3-4). This is a familiar picture to those who are acquainted with the ‘progressions’ of England’s first Queen Elizabeth, who would have a herald go before her, so that when she and her huge entourage arrived in any town or city, village or country house, all things would have been made ready to receive her. God has a preparatory work for the Gospel, too, preparing hearts to receive Him.
If we are being called by God, then His Holy Spirit is already at work in our hearts to shape us into the image of Christ, to free us from the bondage which comes from a slavish keeping of legalistic rituals and ceremonies (Galatians 4:10). ‘If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed’ (John 8:36). If we have been set free by Christ, then we are truly free, and have no need to wander back into the slavish fears of our pre-conversion days.
John the Baptiser’s message is a message of revelation (Isaiah 40:5), when the presence of the LORD draws near in the Person of His own Word (cf. John 1:14), aka “the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6). ‘You shall call His name JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins’ (Matthew 1:21).
‘In the fullness of the time God sent forth His Son’ (Galatians 4:4). What a momentous sentence!
