The Message
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr
PRAYER
SCRIPTURE: - Malachi Chapters 1 - 4
OPENING: - So often in Christendom we get comfortable with tradition and mediocrity, and we become complacent with how things are. We don’t like and are not that receptive to change because that is the way it has always been and that is the way it will always be. The mentality is that was good enough for grandma and grandpa and good enough for mom and dad well it is good enough for me too, but we fail to understand that as you come into the knowledge, we must walk therein. True a lot of stuff that we have floating around Christendom today is superficial fluff that doesn’t hold water to that old time religion, and I will be the first to admit that like the old-time prayer meetings, the revivals, the old saints, and the old songs we used to sing. However, there is some stuff that we must be aware of and come away from because it is detrimental and causes us to miss out on the true beauty and purpose of the message.
For example:- rather either out of ignorance or pure deceit we have lived our entire Christian lives believing a doctrine based on two verses of scripture Malachi 3:8 & 10 “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 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”. We have been taught, preached, and made people believe that they are condemned to hell if they don’t pay tithes and offerings and are robbing God, we have spent 20 minutes in praise and worship only to turn right around and spend an hour and half taking up an offering quoting Malachi 3:8&10 when it has absolutely NOTHING at all to do with money but has EVERTHING to do with devotion, trust, and FAITH in GOD – I know I messed with some of your theology with that one – GOOD!. We are so quick to do everything else then give God what is left that’s how we rob God, but I will bring more of that out as I go through this message.
We in Christendom and in society have found ourselves in this place of complacency and mediocrity. We find ourselves settling for lies, perversion, atrocities, corruption, heresies, sugar-coated messages, wrong being called right, hypocrisy, the unleashing without due process the deportations of immigrants both legal and illegal, the arresting of a man that has 3 sons all serving in the United States Marines, an Episcopal Priest daughter being arrested and sent to literally a concentration camp who the church actually sent for to be a priest for the Asian community, a United States Congressman is arrested for simply asking a question, a Congresswoman is arrested a found guilty for doing her job for inspecting a facility within her jurisdiction. Federal workers, some with years on the job, but shy of retirement eligibility are fired without cause, kids playing baseball are harassed by ice agents about the immigration status of their parents, a convicted pedophile is transferred to a country club federal prison while the victims cower in pain and agony at the thought and memory of what the experience brought at the hands of this perverted deviant. Lawlessness, corruption, deviant behavior, oligarchy mindsets, dictatorship attitudes, illegal, inhumane, unconstitutional acts and people still just seem to carry on most without a care or concern at all.
Then we have the church that has perfected performance but lost reverence, they have the ritual down to an art form but there is no relationship, the songs are sung but no passion is felt, there is the façade of worship but no wonder, the titles, the grab, the accolades are all in place and are used by people like actors in a play, no power or purpose but perfected performance, pretty speech, and false doctrine. While the people stand by lost unaware that a shift is about to take place, a change is about to come.
This is exactly what was going on in about 440 B.C. when the Book of Malachi was written. Malachi whose name means “My Messenger” is a prophet that was sent from God with a word from God, a word that would not only be for Jerusalem but a word that would fit generation after generation and time after time, because he entered the scene when Jerusalem was comfortable and had settled for mediocrity the walls had been rebuilt, they stood tall, the sacrifice had resumed, the festivals were celebrated once again, the worship hadn’t stopped but the wonder had, the songs were being sung but the passion was gone, the altar was burning but the fire was hallow, the priest dressed in garments of show but didn’t respect the position or purpose, they could quote the law flawlessly but their hearts were corrupt. They offered sacrifice but they didn’t surrender. When they offered sacrifice, they offered blind, lame, crippled, diseased ones and no-one seemed to care or notice because they were just going through the motion. Sure, they still tithed, they still called him Lord, but only with their mouth, religion had become the nationally accepted performance, justice was for sale, worship was mechanical, marriage disposable, honor was lost – so God sent Malachi with a message before the doors closed, before there would be 400 years of silence of the clarion call of the Word of God, one final call would come.
God sent Malachi to a people that had learned how to and had become comfortable with mediocrity and complacency. They had perfected performance but had no power, they worshipped but had no wonder, they sacrificed but had no surrender, they sang in the temple while people begged outside the temple gate.
When Malachi opened his mouth to speak it was not to speak of prosperity and living your best life now, he didn’t talk about God just wants you to be happy and that He gets you and understand you. He didn’t say in knows what it is like to be a rebel and fight against a radical society and stand against opposition or be an outcast. He spoke with confrontation and judgment pulling back the covers and exposing the sins and the corruption first exposing the atrocities of the priesthood because judgment begins with the House of God 1 Peter 4:7.
Ch1:7-8 “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. 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” Malachi didn’t hold back, he didn’t pull any punches he confronted the priest about the poor, lame, sick, blind sacrifices they were presenting to the Lord on the altar. Today judgment must begin at the house of God we have to many so-called Apostles, Prophets, Evangelist, Pastors, Teachers, Bishops and other titles running around here giving all kinds of corrupt, sick, lame, sermons offering up sacrifices and feeding the sheep stuff that is making them sick and causing them to spiritually die because they are corrupt. We got preachers living double lives saying its ok God made me like this and He understands, dressing in high heel shoes and wearing dresses and you a man. We have preacher bring all kinds of disgrace upon the name of God and the church and still trying to preach the Word and say well I am covered under Grace, but unless there is repentance – HMMM – Just Saying. Preachers having today all kinds of underhanded agendas, personal agendas, greedy exploitation, etc. We need a Malachi today.
Then Malachi turns his focus towards the people, and he hits the husbands when he notices a woman whose hair had began to turn silver and skin was beginning to crepe and the sorrow of betrayal was carved into her face saying nothing but a tear running down her face when she looked across the market place and saw her husband dressed to truly impress with his arms wrapped around the waist of a young foreign woman, she had been replaced not because of death but because of convenience and opportunity. Malachi refused to stay silent you can’t treat your marriage like trash thinking it is nothing more than a contract your marriage is a covenant that you made before God. 2:14-16 says, “ Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously”. We have church folk that don’t even try to make it through a trial in their married life give up after 3 months of marriage saying it wasn’t supposed to be or preachers that have been with their spouse for years but now they are so-called established, have success and popularity go and leave the wife of their youth that has been there through all the hard times and go and get some young thing because they are going through some kind of mind life crisis or something. Where is Malachi today?
Then Malachi deals with the people in general and gives a warning a truly delivers a beautiful message of hope and deliverance that unfortunately we miss so often because all we ever get is tithes and offerings. Starting with 2:17 he says, “Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of justice”. This is so much like people today the arrogance and disdain for God and anything Holy.
Then Malachi gets into chapter 3 which is full of prophecy, judgement, and promise, a reminder of God's justice, faithfulness, and abiding love. His call for repentance, obedience in giving, and the promise of refining purification all underscore His unchanging nature and unwavering commitment to His people. It establishes the fact that even during trials and tribulations, we can look forward to the day of His return, expecting healing, restoration, and joy in His presence.
Malachi prophesies about the refiner and purifier of silver, sent to cleanse the Levites (priests) and refine them like gold and silver. God will then draw near to the people for judgement, a righteous judgement against wrongdoers, including sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, those who exploit their workers, the widows and the fatherless, and those who deprive foreigners of justice.
God is Merciful, Loving, Forgiving, despite the people's transgressions, God, in His unchanging nature, does not entirely consume the sons of Jacob. He calls upon them to return to Him, and in return, He promises to return to them. The people, however, question how they can return, revealing their lack of awareness of their sins. Today He is still calling for people to return to Him, He is coming back again Repent before it is too late.
He challenges them to test Him by faithfully giving, promising to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings beyond what they can contain. Moreover, He will rebuke the devourer for their sake and prevent the fruits of their ground from being destroyed. Stop putting their trust and devotion in man and the things of the world, stop thinking the stock market or bit coin or crypto currency is where it is at but in the things of God. This is more about TRUST & DEVOTION, not MONEY.
Those who feared the Lord and honored His name are promised to be remembered in the book of remembrance. They shall be God’s treasured possession, spared on the day He judges a day that will burn like a furnace, leaving neither root nor branch for the wicked. But for those who revere His name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays, and they will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.
CLOSING: - Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament and the last message spoken prior to 400 years of silence when there was not a word from the Lord. During that time Israel although rebuilt had become complacent, apathetic, mediocrity had become the norm, spiritual laziness ran rampant, worship continued but wonder was lost praise without passion was perfected there was the form of godliness and no power. Wrong was called right and right was called wrong, justice wasn’t delayed it was denied or sold to the highest bidder everything was just like it is today when God sent His messenger named Malachi. A dialogue between Malachi “My Messenger” (the voice of God) and the people as they were actually talking in the streets of the city through out the day. Just picture Malachi walking and actually seeing the priest offering lame, sick, blind sacrifices on the altar. He sees the priest reading the law out loud while holding the money bag in his hand. He looks and sees the people doing everything possible working their fingers to the bones exhausting all their resources before even thinking or trying to give God a chance then they come with their last bit of strength to tired to even stand and try offer up worship and praise.
This is what Malachi was preaching against. This is how we rob God. There is a shift coming put your trust in God.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
