Cape Fear Alliance Church
Sunday Morning, August 30, 2003 (AM)
Malachi’s Mirror! (Part One)
Malachi 1
OPENING ILLUSTRATION:
A mirror is a very revealing thing. It generally shows whatever is in front of it . . . warts and all.
-It can tell you when you’re having a bad hair day,
or when you’re having a “no hair day!”
-Or, that you don’t have as much as you used to!
-There are those who use it to put your “face” on every morning.
-It’s applications in industry are endless, just a few are :
-dentists . . . dental work
-astronomers . . . telescopes
-mechanics . . . under the hood of a car
-As a rule, the mirror gives you a pretty objective view of what’s in front of it.
(2 Corinthians 3:17-18) “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.”
Observations about these couple verses:
1. When we love the Lord, He is at work in us, transforming us into His image.
2. The Lord accomplishes this as we read and meditate on His Word.
3. His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit in us is like a mirror, revealing two things:
a. His Holiness . . . . His sinlessness!
b. Our shortcomings . . . . Our sin!
4. When we recognize our sin, and desire a change, He does the changing in us . . . notice, the passive tense in verse 18 . . . “being transformed.”
Understanding that, I want to spend a few minutes this morning looking at the book of Malachi.
-He was the last prophet before the inter-testamental years (400 years with no communication between God and His chosen people.
-This message was delivered to the Israelites at the time of Nehemiah, after the exile to Babylon, and after the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.
-So, why is it worth our time to look at it now?
-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 has changed is the way God communicates with His Chosen people today.
-In the day of Abraham He communicated audibly.
-By the time of this passage, He spoke to His people through prophets, like Malachi.
-And today, when you accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, He abides (lives) in us.
The Roman Road
Romans 3:28 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 10:13 “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”
IT’S ALL ABOUT ESTABLISHING A RELATIONSHIP!
When you’ve come to a place where God has closed the gap between you and Him . . . taken care of the sin problem . . . then He has now established a relationship with you!
ILLUSTRATION:
This week we’ve had the privilege to spend time with my brother, Steve, and family.
We cherish our time together . . . because we have a great relationship.
It doesn’t matter whether we’re in North Carolina or Minnesota . . . it’s the time spent together.
There are a lot of things that both families like to do, and yet, we don’t have to do anything . . . because it’s about being together . . . . it’s about relationships.
It’s a dynamic thing! . . . give and take . . . requiring the involvement of both parties here.
Once you come to know God, and He takes care of the sin problem in your life, then it too is all about relationships!
You learn what pleases Him and you do those things, because you love Him.
God is All-Powerful, All-Knowing, and All-Present . . . so He already knows what is best for you . . . . and what you need . . . . and . . . what you want!
So . . . how do you know what pleases God?
YOU READ HIS WORD AND PRAY!
It seems these days that we get so caught up in debating the grey areas of what is pleasing to God . . . there is enough in black and white . . . and RED . . . to last us a lifetime!
That brings us to our text today . . .
REMEMBER . . . Our Initial Observations of 2 Corinthians 3:17-18:
1. When we love the Lord, He is at work in us,
transforming us into His image.
2. The Lord accomplishes this as we read and meditate on His Word.
3. His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit in us is like a mirror, revealing two things:
a. His Holiness . . . . His sinlessness!
b. Our shortcomings . . . . Our sin!
4. When we recognize our sin, and desire a change, He does the changing in us . . . notice, the passive tense in verse 18 . . . “being transformed.”
MALACHI’S MIRROR . . . My desire today, and next Sunday . . . is that we could hold the book of Malachi up (The Word of God) and see it as if looking in a mirror . . . and lay ourselves open to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit . . . “being transformed . . . from glory to glory.
READ: Malachi 1
DIGGING DEEPER . . .
I. The Israelites’ Half-hearted Offer
a. He asks . . . “Where is my honor, my
respect?” (v.6)
The thought that God would even have to ask this question shakes the very fiber of my being! This is not someone who walked up on the street demanding respect. Nor, is this someone who has yet to prove himself as one deserving respect. This the Creator of all that was created! He is the God who is in time and at the same time outside time! He is the Alpha and Omega! The great I Am!
What kind of hideous thing could the people of Israel be doing that would cause God to even ask such a question?
The kind of thing just might be the kind of thing we would discover about our own life, if we would be so bold as to LOOK IN THE MIRROR!
b. They were giving anything but their best to the Lord! (v.7)
The Law, as laid out in the book of Leviticus, was specific about the sacrifice before the Lord that had no defect. They knew the Law, and yet they still brought their blind, lame, defected sacrifices before the Lord, to offer upon His Altar.
So, what does that have to do with a New Testament believer, who is not required to sacrifice an animal on the altar, knowing the ultimate sacrifice had been made once for all? If we were to examine Paul’s letter to the Romans, we would discover, in particular, Chapter 12, that our reasonable sacrifice is that we present our bodies (all that we are) as a living sacrifice!
As you LOOK INTO THE MIRROR and see the expectations of God in His holiness and His sinlessness . . . what do you see?
ILLUSTRATION:
Last year, while visiting this same brother in Minnesota, I developed a cist just to the left of my mouth. That thing grew to be bigger than golf ball size in just a couple of days. OH! Looking in the mirror and seeing what was obvious to me and everybody around me turned my stomach. Finally, we decided it couldn’t wait, made an appointment at Mayo Clinic, and went to see someone who could do something about it. They lanced it, squeezed it, and a number of other things, and as quickly as it came, it was gone! You can be sure I was thanking God for his healing touch.
You know, what we read in 2 Corinthians tells us how to take care of that which is anything less than our best before the Lord. As we look into that mirror, and we discover how we have fallen short, we give it to God, and HE does the transforming work in us! That’s good news!
c. They gave earthly authority a higher priority then their heavenly father! (v.8)
The Hebrew people had another problem. Not only were they not giving God the best of what they had, but they were treating those with earthly authority with higher respect than God himself.
To think, before they would consider doing right before God, they ensure 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 who would NEVER think about being late for work, and you’d almost have to die before you’d miss a day a work. Yet, you come rolling in here 5 minutes in the worship service . . . or, if you so much as stub your toe on the dresser getting out of bed, you’ve found your excuse.
You make sure that the rent/mortgage, the utilities, the car and boat payments, the groceries, the allowances, the spending money for your habits are all taken care of, and then . . . if there is anything left, you give to God!
ILLUSTRATION:
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)
We’ll be spending a great deal more time there next week.
Suffice it to say, giving earthly authorities or temporal desires a higher priority than God is still an issue today.
For you . . . LOOK IN THE MIRROR . . . how you doing?
II. God’s Response to Their Offering
a. What they did for God was useless in His
sight! (v.10a)
b. God refused their offering! (v.10b)
Reading about God’s response, and the fact that He flat-out refused what they brought before Him, it leaves us with the question . . . ‘Is it any different today?
c. He promised to find someone else who
would give Him what He desired. (v.11)
The bottom line is, if God can’t find obedient people here to carry out His purpose and His plan, He’ll find them somewhere else.
III. The Blessings of Those who Fear the Lord
a. They agreed together to please God and
wrote in the “book of remembrance.” (3:16)
Note: It’s not God writing in a book here. It’s the faithful few, those who desired to give God their best instead of less, who have covenanted together, who wrote their own names and commitment to the Lord down in the “book of remembrance.”
b. God claimed them and vowed to include
them among His possession! (3:17)
I supposed it is no different then today than it has been across time. We, as individuals want to belong to something. From the earliest days, growing up, and even into adulthood people want to belong. People will not stay at a church today if they don’t feel like they belong.
If there has ever been a desire to belong to anything or anyone, my desire is that I belong to God!
c. There will be no trouble distinguishing between those who serve God half-heartedly and those who give Him their all!
(3:18)
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?
NOTICE THE CARD ATTACHED TO THE SERMON OUTLINE THIS MORNING:
-It says, “I want to be among the number who serve and fear the Lord with all that I have and all that I am. This morning, this serves as my “book of remembrance” as I sign with a fresh and renewed commitment to the Lord.”
I would encourage you, as we prepare to receive God’s Holy Communion, that you take a few minutes this morning and examine yourself in the mirror. Just be honest before God.
