However, many of us have gone to a place like the State Fair and they would have the Mirror house as one of the side shows. In the mirror house they had all kinds of mirrors.
• Some of these mirrors would make us look short when we were tall.
• Some of these mirrors would make us look skinny when we were fat.
Mirrors do not always tell us what is in front of us. THESE WERE TRICK MIRRORS!
Illus: According to news report, a certain private school in Virginia, recently was faced with a unique problem.
A number of 12th grade girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.
Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day, the girls would put them back.
Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night.
To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.
He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it.
Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.
Mirrors are very much a part of our life each day because we trust them to tell us what we look like.
We can also trust Malachi to tell us how we look in the sight of God, but the fact is, some of us may not like what he shows us
Let’s look at-
I. THE MAN
Who was the Prophet Malachi?
The preaching prophet, Malachi ministered not long after the time of Nehemiah. The Book of Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. The temple and the city of Jerusalem had been rebuilt.
Nehemiah is no longer there, and the people become disappointed with God because He is not making them more prosperous and more powerful than their neighbors.
When they compare themselves to their neighbors, they realize that they are poor in many ways. However, they are serving God and doing their duty, so why are they poor while the ungodly are rich.
Malachi was the last prophet before the 400 years known as the Apocryphal period, when there was no communication between God and His chosen people.
The people during Malachi’s time felt that God did not love them because He was not prospering them. In a few minutes you will see why God was not prospering them. And it is the same reason He is not prospering some today.
We looked at THE MAN, now look at -
II. THE MESSAGE
So, why is it worth our time to look at the Book of Malachi?
The reason is because God has not changed. He is still the same God today as the God who created all that was created. What pleased God then, still pleases God today! What displeased the Lord then, still displeases Him now!
What has changed is the way God communicates with His chosen people today.
• In the days of Abraham, He communicated audibly.
• At the time of this passage, He spoke to His people through prophets, like Malachi.
• Today, when you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, He abides (lives) in us. God the Holy Spirit will speak to the hearts of any Christian that sincerely seeks the Lord in prayer.
Malachi comes on the scene when the temple was completed under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Haggai, and Zechariah in 516 BC.
Almost 100 years had passed, and whatever reforms had been instituted were being ignored and spiritual apathy had set in. The people were disregarding the priests and the temple, they were not bringing their tithes and offerings and there was intermarriage with foreigners and divorce taking place.
Malachi’s name means "My Messenger." As a messenger, Malachi deals with some hot issues.
A. HE DEALS WITH GOD’S HONOR
Look at Malachi 1:6, we read, “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?”
When a nation has an HONOR and RESPECT problem, they have a major problem.
• Our schools are in the turmoil they are in because students do not honor or respect their teachers.
• We have turmoil in our homes because children do not HONOR AND RESPECT their parents.
• We have turmoil in our churches because church people do not HONOR AND RESPECT GOD!
The thought that God would even have to ask why they did not HONOR OR RESPECT Him shakes the very fiber of my being!
Before we come down too hard on these people, I want you to look into the mirror of God’s Word and see if your life reflects HONOR AND RESPECT TO GOD!
Do not be too quick to answer that in the affirmative, because I am going to show you in a few minutes that there are people that I do not doubt are saved, but they have NO HONOR OR RESPECT for the Lord. NONE!
Malachi is placing the mirror of themselves before them. WHAT DO THEY SEE?
B. HE DEALS WITH GOD’S WORD
Look at verse 7, we read, “Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.”
The Law, as laid out in the Book of Leviticus, was specific about sacrifices to the Lord having no defect. They knew the Law, and still they brought their blind, lame, defective sacrifices to the Lord, to offer upon His Altar.
So, what does that have to do with a New Testament believer that is not required to sacrifice an animal on the altar, knowing the ultimate sacrifice has been made, once for all?
IT HAS A GREAT DEAL TO DO WITH US. If we were to examine Paul’s letter to the Romans, we would discover, in Chapter 12 particularly, that our reasonable sacrifice is that we present our bodies (all that we are) as a living sacrifice!
C. HE DEALS WITH IRREVERENCE
Look at verse 8, we read, “And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.”
You recall that the priests were despising the name of God by the way they handled the sacrifices in the temple. Notice a few examples.
• Verse 8: "And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? "
• Verse 13: "Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD."
• It is in fact a curse according to verse 14. "But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.”
God said, “I am a great king that you do not recognize as a Great King, and you are cursed because of this.”
The Hebrew people had another problem. Not only were they not giving God the best of what they had; they were treating those with earthly authority with higher respect than God himself.
Before they would consider doing right before God, they insured that they did right by their earthly authorities!
How are you looking in that mirror? You know what I’m talking about!
• There are those of you that would NEVER think about being late for work, and you’d almost have to die before you’d miss a day of work. Yet, you come rolling in here 5 minutes into the worship service . . . or, if you so much as stub your toe on the dresser getting out of bed, you’ve found your excuse to stay home.
• You make sure that the rent/mortgage, the utilities, the car and boat payments, the groceries, the allowances, and the spending money for your habits are all taken care of, and then, if there is anything left, you give to God!
Illus: Does it shock you when I tell you, that according to Barna Research, only 6% of those in America who claim to be born again, tithe? (Barna Research Online, May 19, 2003)
Illus: A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church. "Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself," she told the girl. When they were leaving church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. "Well," said the little girl, "I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection, the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter… so I did."
In one sense of the word, we have a lot of cheerful givers.
Look how harsh Malachi’s words are in Malachi 3:7-11. We read, “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. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 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. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.”
Giving earthly authorities or temporal desires a higher priority than God, is still an issue today.
D. HE DEALS WITH THEIR OFFERINGS
Look at verse 10, we read, “Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.”
God refused their offering! He promised to find someone else who would give Him what He desired.
Look at verse 11, we read, “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.”
If God can’t find obedient people here to carry out His purpose and His plan, He’ll find them somewhere else.
Conclusion:
Thank God, in most churches there are people that truly love the Lord. These are the ones the Lord will bless.
There were some then also that loved the Lord. Notice, they agreed together to please God and a, “Book of Remembrance” was written before the Lord.
Look at Malachi 3:16, we read, “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.”
You see, God takes notice of how we serve Him. Those that fear the Lord speak often of the Lord to one another. A book of remembrance is made of our life.
Some say this can’t be taken literally because God SEES ALL, KNOWS ALL, and has NEVER FORGOTTEN ANYTHING. This is true, but I can not see any harm in taking this book to be a literal book.
Perhaps this book is not for Him to remember, but it might be like a diary that God one day will put before us and point his finger at the BOOK OF REMEMEBRANCE and say, “ON THIS DAY, YOU SAID THIS ABOUT ME!”
The faithful few desire to give God their best instead of less.
God claimed them and vowed to include them among His possession!
Look at Malachi 3:17, we read, “And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”
There will be no trouble distinguishing between those that serve God half-heartedly and those that give Him their all!
Look at Malachi 3:18, we read, “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.”
Does God have your best . . . your all? If not, why not? If you have a relationship with Him, you have the Holy Spirit abiding in you, and you have His Holy Word as a map for life. If God doesn’t have your best . . . why not?
We have looked at:
I. THE MAN
II. THE MESSAGE
