Malachi 3:13-4:3 – Being fearful!

Malachi 3:13-4:3 – Being fearful!
By Pastor Lee Hemen
January 22, 2012 AM

I sat amazed at the pictures of passenger jets smashing into the twin towers in New York. At first I was shocked, horrified, and then angered. I even wondered why it had to happen. One young man who witnessed the planes smash into the World Trade Center related, “I wonder what it will take to wake America up?” During the following days, I remembered the words of Malachi to a nation that had turned its back on the Lord, a nation that had become so spiritually complacent that they no longer had time for God. I could not help but wonder if this was perhaps true for America.

The people of Malachi’s day had become spiritually indifferent to the Lord who had protected them and kept them as His very own. What would cause people who had been chosen to be God’s very own, change so dramatically? What was in store for this self-satisfied nation if they didn’t return to the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac? They thought God didn’t care about them anymore. This was never true. Malachi had one more burden to share with his people. They had forgotten what it meant to fear the Lord. Now, he desperately tried to wake them up out of their stupor and to turn them back to the God who loved them so much.

READ: Malachi 3:13-4:3

Overconfidence can come from a self-satisfied spirit when we no longer think we need divine intervention, when we no longer have a fear of the Lord. A people can so push God out of their lives that they forget who he is and what he has done for them all along. Thomas Jefferson once quipped, “My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of and which no other people on earth enjoy!” Is this true for our nation? Malachi said it was real for Israel of his day because they forgot their fear of the Lord. He relates…

I. An arrogant question offered by an indifferent people! (Vv. 3:13-15)
1. Spiritual indifference occurs when people lose their fear of the Lord!
1) The Israelites were condescendingly asking, “What’s in it for me?” They contradicted God’s promises and sought only their own gain. They actually said “said harsh things against” God. We can do this when we question his fairness. The Israelites did this when they decided it was “futile to serve God.” They snidely ask, “What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?” Pagans served their gods in order to gain personal benefit. The Israelites were only looking for the momentary benefit of following God and what he could offer them.
2) The harshness of the people’s words lay in the same false notion of what they had accused God of earlier in 2:17 by saying “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them.” People who are caught up in the world often look at prosperity as a means of judging whether God is blessing them or not. If God’s supposed “chosen people” had reached this kind of convoluted thinking, what hope was there for the rest of mankind? Jesus would tell the woman at the well that “a time would come when the true worshipers would worship the Father in spirit and truth; they were the kind of worshipers God desired. (John 4:23 NIV) What kind of worshipper do you desire to be?
EXAMPLE: There exists arrogance in the religion of America today. We have a nation full of people who think they can believe whatever they want to about God and that God should not only be happy with that, he should bless them because of their “reasoned” and “moderate” approach. Middle of the road faith always gets run over in the end. People, who look for the personal profit in their worship of God, will find their pay is lacking. Jesus said, “They have their reward.” God is not interested in the pathetic platitudes of ecumenicalism. We have become a nation like Israel of old, arrogantly asking, “What can God do for me?” Has our arrogance caught up with us?

Noah Webster wrote that “The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” Malachi knew it was true that when men neglected their fear of God, they suffered the consequences. However, those who remember to fear God have…

II. God’s compassionate answer! (Vv. 3:16-18)
1. We appreciate God’s compassion when we comprehend our fear of the Lord!
1) “I will remember those who fear me.” Those who remember who God is and what their situation is are rewarded. The word “then” is emphatic, indicating that the action described in this verse was a consequence of the preceding confrontation. The people had actually told God, “the arrogant [are] blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.” Their reasoning was, “Why should we bother to follow God who is no fun?” Matthew Henry noted that “Among the Jews at this time, some plainly discovered themselves to be children of the wicked one.” They would suffer the consequences of their affiliation.
2) People who fear God get their spiritual act together. We see that “those who feared the Lord talked with each other.” They encouraged one another to turn back to right thinking and a godly way of life. God “listened and heard” and “A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.” What a wonderful thing! When people have a renewed perspective of God’s faithfulness, God blesses them! It is a permanent remembrance of our faithful and reverent response kept in heaven! Like Hebrews reminds us, “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin‘s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:13 NIV) Israel had been hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Dear child of God, have you?
3) Those who fear the Lord (v. 16) will become his in the day he makes up his treasured possession. We become God’s own treasure! In our day and age there is a deliberate blurring of what it means to follow God. We think that by being sincere, we are a follower or believer in God. Yet we know that Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21 NIV) Malachi relates that the godly “will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” God’s will is to follow him. Trust him with all your heart. Jesus said, “Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1 NIV) We fear the Lord when we trust him.
EXAMPLE: It was heart wrenching to watch those looking for their lost loved ones among the rubble and debris after 9-11. Yet, in the midst of all the disaster and loss there was hope. President Bush related, “This world [God] created is of moral design. Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance and love have no end, and the Lord of life holds all who die and all who mourn….we’ve been assured, ‘neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities, nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth can separate us from God’s love.’” God loves those fear him enough to trust him. God always remembers us, but often we do not remember him.

I do not believe that America happened just by chance. It is obvious to anyone who truly understands the unfolding saga of our history. The price we have paid for freedom’s cause and the price we are paying will continue as long as there are individuals who seek to enslave others. Jefferson once asked, “Can the liberties of a nation be secure, when we have removed the conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?” Israel or America, it does not matter. Any nation or individual who turns their back on the Lord will be judged. Malachi reminds us that those who fear the Lord should…

III. Remember both the deadly and delightful consequences! (Vv. 4:1-3)
1. Just as God’s promises are certain, so are his judgments!
1) “The ungodly will be judged.” There will come a day of reckoning for the ungodly and arrogant. “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” God tells Malachi. In Israel, the people used twisted dried grass as fuel for their fires. Wood was a scarce commodity. Just as the grass that grew quickly, was gathered together then twisted into bunches, and then burned, so too would the judgment of God come quickly. It will leave the “arrogant and every evildoer” like “stubble…. Not a root or a branch will be left to them.”
2) The righteous will be rewarded. Those that “revere” (respect, honor, and uphold) God’s name will be rewarded in three wonderful ways: First, “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing (restoration) in its wings,” secondly, “you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall,” and finally, “you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet .” In the kingdom of God, righteousness will saturate like sunlight and the shadow of wickedness will not be allowed through its doors. Jesus said that the unrighteous “will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46 NIV) Dear child, do you know what your reward will be?
EXAMPLE: America can survive, but what will be the cost? Israel did not learn her lesson. She went back into slavery again under the Greeks and finally under the jack boot of Rome. What price will America be willing to pay? We have politicians more willing to go on tropical vacations, spend extravagant amounts on personal pleasures or feather their own nests than see America truly a great “city on a hill.” Will our nation, our people, and our community turn back to God? Or will we find comfort instead in our own effort, determination, and will and thereby return to our presumption and pride? Will we fear the Lord? The choice is ours and the consequences are either deadly or delightful.

Conclusion:

We learned about an arrogant question offered by an indifferent people, God’s compassionate answer, and both the deadly and delightful consequences of either fearing or not fearing God! Do you fear the Lord or are you walking in arrogance?
—
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2012 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Malachi 3:7-12 – Being obedient!

Malachi 3:7-12 – Being obedient!
By Pastor Lee Hemen
January 15, 2012 AM

At the turn of the century a young salesman approached a farmer and excitedly told him about a great new book he was selling. It had all the information needed to run a profitable farm: when to plant and harvest, how to predict the weather and care for livestock—everything that would make the farmer a success. The farmer patiently listened and then replied, “Young man, I know everything that’s in your book. My problem is doing it.” We may read our Bible, know how we are to live as Christians, yet find the hard part is to do what it tells us, why is that? It is a matter of obedience.

Why is it so hard for folks to do what they know they should do? Paul wrote that he would “not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God.” (Romans 15:18 NIV) Malachi begins with a blanket condemnation of Israel’s disobedience to God’s decrees throughout her history. Let’s discover this morning why Malachi saw obedience to God as so important for God’s people as we discover what being obedient means…

READ: Malachi 3:7-12

I have often wondered why one child will graciously share while another will display an Ebenezer Scrooge-like attitude. The other day at Play Group one young mother vainly tried to get her youngster to share. Instead he decided to defiantly declare that the toy he was using was, “Mine!” His self-centered attitude was kind of like the Israelites of Malachi’s day, what had been graciously given by God they saw as “Mine!” It was a…

I. Disobedient attitude of not trusting God! (Vv. 7-8)
1. Physical things can get in the way of our spiritual trust!
1) God reminds the Israelites of their stubborn attitude by reminding them, “Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them.” From the sandy shores of the Red Sea to the wild wadis of the wilderness the Israelites had whined, griped, and complained. If Israel would just return to him in faithful obedience, then he would respond and would return to her. “Return to me, and I will return to you,” God tells them. This promise was based on the covenant God made with Israel. When God promises to watch over our lives he follows through with his promise because he does “not change” (v.6).
2) The Israelites respond with a smirking adolescent attitude, “How are we to return?” They knew what their problem was—they were not trusting God! Only a person who willingly confesses their sin can repent, but Israel pretended to be unaware of her disobedience. They had the false premise that “If God truly loved me he would do this for me.” Just as God will not work in the life of someone who deliberately sins, he will not work in the life of someone who deliberately distrusts him. We are told to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV).”
3) The people’s distrust developed into stealing from God! Stealing from someone was bad enough, but only a fool would try to rob God. Israel robbed God in their “In tithes and offerings.” Not only was the quality of their sacrifices in question, they had deliberately brought “blind animals for sacrifice” (1:8), but the quantity was also the issue! The tithe was to be a tenth of all their crops, livestock, or goods. Meanwhile, offerings were that which was given above and beyond the required tithe. This was the real sacrifice, not the tithe! The tithe was expected and displayed obedient trust, while the offering displayed sacrifice! Jesus related, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38 NIV)
EXAMPLE: Every four years we enter into a period of accusation, condemnation, and self-acclamation known as election process. Pundits and politicians proclaim the political piety of their primary politician. Attack ads that focus on the other guy’s shortcomings are common place. No matter what we say concerning negative campaigning, showing your opponent lacks character garners votes. We are saddened when the people we trust prove untrustworthy. It is sadder still when they try to justify their wrongful actions just like Israel did. How about you, dear child of the Lord? Do you trust God with what you have or have you robbed God?

It is curious that many of those who do not believe in God want the government to become the god-like entity that controls every area of their lives instead. It is because of the average American’s sinful aversion to live for the Lord that our nation has reaped what it has sown. A nation that gives God its leftovers should not expect great things from the Lord. In fact, Malachi goes on to relate for us…

II. The result of what disobedience brings! (v. 9)
1. The sowing of obedience is the only way of reaping God’s blessing!
1) When Gods’ people do not do the will of God, then the nation they live in suffers the consequences! The Israelites are bluntly told, “You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.” Since the temple was God’s house, failure to support its ministry was considered equal to personally robbing God! Sadly, many Christians today wrongly believe that our nation’s problems are due to non-believers. This is not the case. It is because Christians do not trust God as they should and it is displayed by their willingness to rob God of their tithes and offerings.
2) Jesus speaks to this issue of a believer’s disobedience. Jesus reminded his listeners that God will eventually come and judge. He asked, “Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?” And of course the answer is, “Yes.” Jesus continues to ask, “Will [God] keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7 NIV) This teaching of Jesus follows his discourse on a persistent widow who continually bugged a judge asking him over and over for justice. If we continually come to God asking for justice, yet are disobedient, will he not judge us? When Jesus comes again dear child of God, will he find faith and trust in his children?
EXAMPLE: What would you do if your child lies to you? I remember when I lied to my father about where I had gone for the afternoon. I went to play in a field where I was not allowed to go. When he found out, he grounded me. We did not have TVs, computers, smart phones, tablets, or mp3 players in our rooms. Instead, my father made me take all of my toys and books and place them in a box on the back porch. Grounded meant grounded. I could not go play with the other kids, nor could I enjoy my room. I spent my time cleaning, dusting, and polishing the floor. After a few days, I had the cleanest room in Wenatchee! I learned a powerful lesson: disobedience always brings its own curse. The same is true for God’s people. Dear child of the Lord, what is your disobedience bringing you?

For the Israelites it brought about God’s curse. When we are obedient, we show God that we love him and have more faith in him than we do in ourselves. To obey God means to relinquish what we want and to choose to do what he asks. God requires the obedience of his followers. Jesus asked, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46 NIV) And he challenged, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15 NIV) This is why Malachi reminds us that…

III. God’s answer to disobedience is to trust him! (Vv. 10-12)
1. Obedience to God is an expression of our love for God!
1) The promise made here is a reaffirmation of God’s word to the Israelites. God states in Deuteronomy 28:1 that if they “fully obey the Lord… and carefully follow all his commands… God will set you high above all the nations on earth.” He challenges the Israelites to “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” What the people of Israel were experiencing was a disobedience-curse relationship specified by God. Since the Word of God is sure, his promise would be carried out. In fact, Israel could attest to the truth that she was experiencing certain aspects of the curse because of her unwillingness to tithe! What about your life in God? Are you in disobedience to Him concerning your tithes and offerings?
2) Notice also that this is the only place where His people are specifically asked to “test” God. He is challenging Israel to bring their whole faith into action and to trust his promises, by bringing the “whole tithe into the storehouse.” By doing this, God would “pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Far too often we live by sight and not by faith. Here God tells us to test our faith and live by it. Faith is never found in what we see. It is found in how we trust God and sometimes that requires uncertainty. God always blesses those who are willing to trust Him.
EXAMPLE: I will never forget the answer that Ward Lawrence gave folks who asked him about his certain death. Dying from a very painful form of cancer, it was certain that he would not live much longer. They wondered what it was like or if he had any fear. He replied, “I only know the words of Job: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.’” (Job 19:25-27 NIV) If you are trying to live your faith by sight, you will live a shallow weak faith. It will always be a mere shadow of what it could be. Dear child of God, he desires so much more for your life. As Paul would transliterate from Isaiah 64:4, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” (I Corinthians 2:9 NIV) It comes only by trust.

Conclusion:
We learned about a disobedient attitude of not trusting God, the result of what disobedience brings, and that God’s answer to disobedience is to trust him! Bring all your trust to his storehouse and test him in this and see if he will not pour out so much blessing you will not have room for it. In fact, it will most likely overflow into the lives of others around you. That’s the way God works.
—
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2012 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Malachi 2:17-3:6 – Being hopeful!

Malachi 2:17-3:6 – Being hopeful!
By Pastor Lee Hemen
January 8, 2012 AM

Being a parent is tough, but I cannot imagine being a single parent. When we were kids my mother, after a particularly hard day, would tell us, “You kids are going to wear your old mother out!” Looking back on this I find it kind of humorous since at the time she was only about 35 years old and she had the backup of my father! Perhaps it was the constant care she had to give to two young active little boys who were always on the go? Being a good parent can, at times, make one feel a little worn out.

I wonder how God feels when his constant care of his children wears on him. Not that God can be worn out, he is God after all. However, when his children continually distrust, disobey, and disrespect him, God tells us he becomes “weary.” Malachi tells the Israelites that God has grown weary of their endless spiritual platitudes. Who were they trying to fool? They did not trust God. We discover that Malachi’s message is just as valid today as it was when he first presented it! As God’s children we are to fully hope in God and not weary him! It’s a matter of being hopeful, let’s discover how…

READ: Malachi 2:17-3:6

God’s people can begin to think and act without faith. We can begin to blame God for the outcome of our own sinful choices. Israel did just that. God’s people need to remember that faith begins and ends in hope. In fact, we discover that in being hopeful…

I. Godly actions speak louder than empty words! (V. 2:17)
1. How we live says more about what we believe than all our empty words of praise!
1) The Israelites had no hope because they were spiritual beggars! They begged God for blessing without investing anything themselves. They are accused of wearing the Lord and ask, “How have we wearied him?” The implication was, “It’s not our fault, its God’s fault!” They were blinded to their sinful manipulation! The Psalmist related they “soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel. In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. So he gave them what they asked for (Psalm 106:13-14 NIV)!” They were acting and talking as if they had no God to hope in! This world is a spiritual desert, a wasteland and Christians can give into their cravings when they beg God and then blame God for their choices!
2) The Israelites had no hope because they trusted in themselves, in their judgment, and in their own decisions of what was right or wrong. They had the gall to sarcastically declare, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them.” Can you imagine a nation where God had blessed it and manifested himself daily, saying this? Christians can do this very thing when they question why God allows the ungodly to prosper and then question why God doesn’t make them prosper too!  This is defining for God what sin should be according to our standards!
3) Finally, the Israelites had no hope because they wanted to know, “Where is the God of justice?” In other words they demanded, “If God is real, where is he when we need him?” And this was coming from God’s own people! WOW! Talk about audacity! They questioned God’s justice by saying that he delighted in evil people more than those he chose to love! Yet they were the guilty ones, they were the ones who were unfaithful! God was only God to them when they could see the benefits!
EXAMPLE: Have you ever known people who are always demanding attention, wanting more for themselves but never giving anything in return? What do we call children who act this way? Spoiled! This is what God’s people had become, Spiritually-spoiled brats! They had begun to think that they deserved being blessed because they were God’s chosen people and not because they were faithful. Their hope was not in the God of Jacob, Abraham and Isaac. Their hope was only in what they could get from God now! They had become like the pagan world around them, seeing God as a good luck charm, something to be manipulated for personal gain. We can weary God when we do the same thing. A God who is infinitely patient and loving was pushed to the point of judgment by those who should have been placing their hope in him.

It would be about 500 years before John the Baptist would be a voice crying out in the wilderness announcing the coming of the Messiah. The Israelites would be defeated again, taken into national captivity, and enter into a time of spiritual desperation. Through it all the Israelites had a reason to not despair and we discover that…

II. Malachi brings a message of hope! (Vv. 3:1-6)
1. “In his name the nations will put their hope.” (Matthew 12:21 NIV)
1) First, Malachi writes about the coming of God’s wonderful messenger! (V.3:1a) This title “the messenger of the covenant” occurs only here in the Bible. This is God’s messenger to our Messiah, Jesus. Many believe it points to John the Baptist, others believe it references Jesus. Malachi relates that “Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come.” Yet, what if they aren’t prepared and are still sinning? Jesus has come into his temple. Jesus “entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption” and that he “did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.” (Hebrews 9:12 & 24 NIV) There is hope, the coming messenger has come and the Messiah has entered his temple!
2) Secondly, Malachi mentions God’s judgment! Malachi asks two questions, “But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears?” The answer is “No one.” The day of the Lord will be a day of judgment on the whole world, a day of disaster and death to those who do not know the Messiah, “For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” No one will escape Jesus’ judgment! In fact “he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.” God tells them, “I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me.” No one will escape his judgment. God will judge what we believe and how we live!
3) Yet, in all of this there is the basis for hope! Will God’s people be totally destroyed or put to shame? God says, “No.” “I the Lord do not change!” We can trust in God to do what he says he promised, “So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” God has left a remnant in those who believe in Jesus his Messiah. Peter reminds us that we “are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9 NIV) Those who trust in Christ are never put to shame. He is our real hope in this world!
EXAMPLE: Hope is a gift of God. It does not come wrapped in fancy packaging. In fact real hope came in the form of a very ordinary looking man. He wasn’t anyone you would notice or think of as a hero or a celebrity. Yet at just the perfect time he came to give us all hope, the greatest gift of all. This hope is a free gift as well. It isn’t a come on or a con. Although the hope offered by this one man, changes the con or the priest or the seeker of truth. He is God’s Messiah. He is the hope of the world. He is Jesus Christ. What the Israelites had a tough time understanding in Malachi’s day, we can have in hindsight this morning. Jesus has already come, proven his love for us in that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This is hope!

Conclusion:
Dave Franco talks about his young married life as a writer. He had lost his job, his apartment building evicted his family and was becoming a co-op. His wife was pregnant with their second child. In New York City, out of a job, in a place with high rent, and a new family–Dave was frantic. One day they were walking home and he could not stand the pressure of a silent God. “What is God doing?” he angrily demanded of his wife Nicole. Just then his three-year-old son Julian threw a fit because they had passed an ice cream truck and did not stop. “Not now,” they told him. That didn’t work. Finally, after all else failed, Dave told him, “Julian, you’re just going to have to wait!” Dave’s wife remarked, “You know, Julian’s doing exactly the same thing to us that we’re doing to God. God is saying, ‘Wait,’ and we’re telling him we want our ice cream and we want it now.” Israel had become spoiled and negligent spiritually. They failed to place their hope in the One who gives us hope. Dear child of God, have you? God offers you hope this morning.
—
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2012 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Flip-flopping Mitt!

Being Faithful – Malachi 2:10-16

Being Faithful – Malachi 2:10-16
By Pastor Lee Hemen
January 1, 2012 AM

After learning to forcefully say, “No!” we quickly learn to ask the question, “Why?” I believe it is an innate thing with us as sinful human beings. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden when Eve rebelled and then asked the very same question! It exists in every preschooler and manifests itself in our adult life through our demand to be told the reason for everything that happens to us. We especially hate it when someone dares to tell us, “Because I said so, that’s why!” We want and expect an answer to our inquiry. But guess what? The simple truth is, we do not deserve an answer for every “Why?” we ask, nor should we expect one.

In God’s economy trust is manifested when we obey without asking “Why?” In this New Year, it would be good for us to learn again that God asks us to display complete confidence in him and thereby display it through our obedience. When we do, we reap the blessings of righteousness. Yet, all too often we demand responses from God that we already know the answers to! We pridefully think God should justify himself to us. God constantly reminds us that his ways are not our ways, nor are his thoughts our thoughts. He desires his children to live by faith and trust in him. Israel had failed to do just that. Instead they came up with their own way of worship, their own manmade guidelines, and fashioned gods into the images that made them feel comfortable about themselves. Instead of following God’s law, they followed what they thought was best. God, through Malachi, called them back to a fresh beginning in himself. Would they listen? Let’s find out as we discuss being faithful…

READ: Malachi 2:10-16

When Israel was faced with the scathing retort from Malachi, they demanded to know “Why?” God literally says, “Okay, if you want an answer here it is!” For a fresh start they needed to realize…

I. They were faithless! (2:10-11a)
1. Spiritual questions stab the soul and our answers reveal our faith — Malachi asks three!
1) The first question is: “Have we not all one Father?” The issue here goes to the idea of what a person truly believes. Malachi is addressing the teaching that God is the spiritual father of us all. Malachi is making the case of one God, who is our father and it goes back to verse 6 where God asks, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me?” So the correct answer would be, “Yes. We have one father and he is God.” If we recognize God is our spiritual father, then he is to be obeyed!
2) The second question is: “Did not God create us?” This idea goes to who is in charge—just who is the Creator and who is the creation?! In our day we like to think we are in charge. “It’s my life and I’ll do what I want!” We want to decide what is best for ourselves. We do what we like. We worship God how, when, and where it suits us. It is the profane notion that says, “I can worship God anywhere.” Yet 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, and I will accept no offering from your hands (v. 1:10).” If the One who created us wants us to worship him are we not obligated to worship him the way he desires, when he desires, and where he desires? The answer of course is, “Yes.”
3) The final question Malachi asks is: “Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?” God had created and worked with Israel as a nation and as a people. Now Israel was divided. This was totally against God’s will. Amos related that God had “chosen” them from “all the families of the earth (Amos 3:2).” Yet they acted like bickering children and rival siblings. They had profaned God’s sacred covenant by splitting the nation! A church family can break faith with God when they break fellowship with one another. What is the answer to Malachi’s question?
EXAMPLE: Being the siblings we were, Ed and I used to pick on one another. It is a brotherly love/hate thing. Anthropologists believe it goes back to establishing dominance within the gorilla group, establishing a pecking order. Not that I believe this is true for human beings who are created in the image of God. Anyway, I do know that when my Mom would have her fill of our rivalry she would tell my Dad, “You handle it. They’re your boys!” All he had to say was, “Boys, behave because I said so.” And we did. We behaved because Dad had set the law down. He was our Dad and we respected him and the punishment that followed if we didn’t “behave” because he said so. The same was true for Israel and it is true for us as well. They were to behave like God’s children the same as we are. Why? Because God told them to! Christians are to honor and follow God for no other reason except he said so. He has created us, chose us, and we are to act like his children that behave ourselves. In this New Year let’s learn that it is a matter of being faithful.

Like all people who have been caught doing what they should not have been doing, the Israelites demanded proof of their untrustworthiness of not being faithful. God responds by telling them that if they wanted a fresh beginning they needed to realize…

II. They were Spiritual adulterers! (2:11b-12)
1. Spiritual adultery occurs when we fool around on God!
1) Malachi describes their sin, “Judah has broken faith!” The KJV gives us a better idea of what had occurred and just how God looked at their sin by describing it this way: “Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god!” The unfaithfulness Malachi had in mind (v. 10) is called “a detestable thing” (lit., “an abomination”), something abhorrent to God. The abominable unfaithfulness that profaned Israel’s holiness was spiritual intermarriage with pagan idols. They had married themselves to foreign gods instead of being faithful to the one who loved them!
2) Malachi declares the result of sin, “As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord cut him off from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings offerings to the LORD Almighty.” The prophet invoked a curse on any Jew who had committed or would commit the sin of idol adultery. It meant that the man would die or that he would have no descendants in Israel. This was a horrible notion to the Israelite. Notice also that “even though he brings offerings to the Lord Almighty” God would see through his hypocrisy. Christians do this very thing when they say they love God, believe in Jesus, yet live with one foot in the world. Christians can commit adultery with their faith and deaden their walk when they follow the world instead of their first love, Jesus Christ.
EXAMPLE: Spiritual adultery doesn’t mean a person has to totally leave God. It can occur when your spiritual affections are lukewarm or tepid because you have diluted them. Jesus told the church at Laodicea “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked (Revelation 3:15-17 NIV).” We leave our first love when we allow the world to attract us more than our love of Jesus does. Have you dear child of God become lukewarm, diluted your faith, and committed spiritual adultery? When the things of God become second place to your success, your education, or your relationships you have done a “detestable thing” and married the “daughter of a foreign god.” You have committed spiritual adultery.

Not wanting the Israelites to think that they were getting off easy God, again through Malachi, continues in his chastisement of his children. God, through Malachi, illustrates for them exactly why their sin had affected their relationship to one another as well. They wanted a fresh start, yet they were not being faithful…

III. They had committed spiritual divorce! (2:13-16)
1. Breaking faith with God is like divorcing a devoted spouse!
1) Malachi teaches us about the outcome of our actions (v.13)! There are consequences for sinning. Malachi said some of the people “flooded the Lord’s altar with tears.” People are always sorry when they get caught in sin or when they all of a sudden need God’s help. The idea here is one of begging, pleading, or false and phony repentance but God did not care any longer. He knew their true inner nature. John wrote to his friend Gaius, “It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 1:3-4 NIV) It does not matter how “sorry” we are what matters is if we put into practice and renew our marriage vows to the Lord. Dear child of God, is he filled with joy over your walk with him? Are you devoted?
2) This is why Malachi shows them the exact sin they were guilty of (2:14-15a)! God lets them know why he doesn’t heed their tears or hear their crying. They asked, “Why?” and he replies, “Because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant (v. 14).” God had made them “one flesh” with himself. God wanted a holy people totally devoted to him! This is why Peter warns us that “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).” God hates divorce and especially spiritual abandonment from a personal relationship with Him!
3) Malachi then mentions the cure (2:15b-16)! God’s people are to “guard” themselves in their “spirit” and “not break faith with the wife of your youth (v. 15b).” They were to return to the one they loved in the first place! It would show true repentance. By guarding their spirits they would be acting in accord with God’s purpose and would help preserve the unity of the nation as well as their individual relationship to him! We forget that God sees divorce as an act of spiritual “violence.” This is why he “hates divorce”! This is why he asks, “Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his.” He continues by asking, “And why one?” God then gives us the answer, “Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.” Christians are God’s spiritual children, “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:13 NIV) Christians are “all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus”! (Galatians 3:26) In this coming New Year, “guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith!” Remain in your relationship with the Lord!
EXAMPLE: The other night I watched an old John Wayne movie called “The Cowboys”. During the movie some boys that were supposed to be moving a herd of cattle through dangerous country found a bottle of whiskey and got drunk. John Wayne and his cook knew they had done it and the next day when the boys were suffering from the effects of too much alcohol, the cook gave each one a dose of castor oil. As he ladled a large spoonful into each boys unwilling mouth, he remarked sarcastically, “I wonder why you ‘boys’ all of sudden are so sick?” That’s the way the cure for sin is. The cure for our sin may seem distasteful to us but God is gracious and desires that we return to Him. And, yes, it can be hard to swallow! In this New Year, this may be the first step you need to take in being faithful.

Conclusion:
We all at some time want to ask the question “Why?” Yet for some of us the answer may be more than we want to hear. These people revealed their true faith; they were spiritual adulterers, who had divorced God from their lives. The writer of Hebrews teaches, “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12-13 NIV) It is a matter of being faithful!
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2012 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

For to us a child is born…

For to us a child is born…
December 25, 2011
Pastor Lee Hemen

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV)

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2 NIV)
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In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:26-35 NIV)

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. (Luke 2:1-5 NIV)
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While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:6-14 NIV)
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When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:15-20 NIV)
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After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:1-18 NIV)
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2011 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Luke 2:8-12; John 1:1-5 – The Word among us…

Luke 2:8-12; John 1:1-5 – The Word among us…
By Pastor Lee Hemen
December 18, 2011 AM

From small beginnings mighty things can happen especially when God is involved. Take for instance the man known as Francis of Assisi. When he committed his life to Christ, he gave away everything he had. He came from a very wealthy family. For clothing, he put on a brown robe discarded by a peasant. For a belt he found a piece of rope lying on the ground nearby. It was a shabby outfit at best but ten years later his makeshift costume was the uniform of 5,000 men. Consider also the petite young woman who became huge in stature.

The missionary Lottie Moon was in China even before the great missionary Hudson Taylor. This tiny woman had a large vision for reaching the world for Christ. Taylor himself would remark, “God does not do His great work by large committees. He trains somebody to be quiet enough and little enough and then he uses them.” That’s what occurred with the birth of Jesus Christ. From the humble beginnings of being born in an animal feeding trough, Jesus entered into human existence to become the salvation of the world. Whether it is with a small woman quiet enough and little enough for God’s use, a simple brown tunic, or in a meager manger, it is often from small humble beginnings that mighty things can occur when God is involved. Jesus’ humble birth was the beginning of God’s complete revelation of himself to the world.

READ: Luke 2:8-12; John 1:1-5

As we look at Jesus’ humble beginnings we can see anew the miracle of the Bethlehem event and deepen our devotion to the son of Mary, who is also the Son of God and the Savior of the world. John’s Gospel contains no detailed account of the birth of Jesus. It does supply a strong statement on the incarnation: “The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us.” (John 1:14) This statement is at the heart of our study this morning, as we link Luke’s nativity story with John’s profound comments on the sublime mystery of Christ’s birth. This should be an experience of worship for us as we consider the Word among us. Let’s look first of all at the…

I. The paradox of Christmas! (Luke 2:8-12)

EXAMPLE: The paradox found here is in a person having seemingly contradictory circumstances. While the Word of God became flesh, it is still a fact that he also lived among us! Nowhere is this more graphically displayed than in the birth of Jesus in a humble manger. There is the paradox. The Savior of the world, God in human flesh, being born of a woman, in an animal stall! It was no ordinary birth, yet it was an ordinary birth. Luke reminds us of the supernatural nature of the event never experienced before. It kind of puts everything into perspective. Like the cub reporter, just out of journalism school who had landed a job with The New York Times. He asked a famous publisher for some advice. The publisher responded by telling him: “In promulgating your esoteric cogitations and articulating superficial sentimental and psychological observations, beware of platitudinous ponderosity. Let your extemporaneous decantations and unpremeditated expiations have intelligibility and veracious vivacity without rodomontade and thrasonical bombasity. Sedulously avoid all polysyllabic profundity, pusillanimous vacuity, pestiferous profanity, and similar transgressions.” The confused reporter asked: “What does that mean?!” The publisher explained, “Do not use big words. Keep it simple.” In communicating with mankind God chose to “keep it simple”.

1. Notice the common circumstances! (v.12) What the shepherds found hardly matched the expectations aroused by the announcement found in verses 9-11! Yet, it is appropriate for God’s use. Jesus is born into very humble and poor circumstances. With no particular social status the couple who had journeyed all the way from Nazareth, found “no room for themselves in the inn.” The immediate birth has to take place, not in a palace, but among the beasts of the stall and common barnyard.
2. Go back, however, and notice the angelic acclaim! (vv.8-11) The circumstances show that the modest shepherds had little time to comprehend the announcement of angels that “today… a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” or the physical conditions attending his birth. No time to wonder. No time to ponder. Just time enough to run. These unassuming folk pay homage to mother and child, and went on their way rejoicing telling others of what they had experienced and saw for themselves. That is the paradox of Christmas, God being born into the world in total humility!

People today would rather pay respect to a “Christmas spirit” of good will and peace to all mankind, rather than pay homage to the wonder of God incarnate. They disdain the fact of a Savior born in a manger. They revere good cheer, expensive gifts, and the art of getting instead. We notice as we read the Bible that as John thought through these things, he understood…

II. The eternal Word of Christmas! (John 1:1-5)

EXAMPLE: John refers to the Lord Jesus as “the Word.” It is an expression that some have tried to explain away philosophically or even esoterically in secretive and mystical terms. But in reality, Jesus’ whole life was never secretive or mystical in any way. Jesus would flatly declare that He had done everything openly (John 18:20-21) and that His followers were to literally “yell” the message from the rooftops (Matthew 10:27)! In the 70’s it was popular for hippies to garishly paint up their VW vans with peace symbols, bright flowers or large slogans. Today we see it in the simplistic socialistic political slogans of the Occupy Movement. Some people today have tried to reduce Jesus’ coming into the world down to “catch” phrases or slogans. Like a Nike ad, they try and sell Jesus simplistically. While Jesus’ message is simple, Jesus is not simplistic. Christians are not about selling a product called “Christ.” Jesus is more than that, he is the eternal Word.

1. We discover the startling fact that Jesus was in the beginning with God! The term used here is the common Greek word “logos”, which meant “speaking, a message, or words” John used the term because it would be very familiar to his readers. Jesus, the “spoken Word” was with God at the very beginning of creation. Jesus’ fellowship with God means literally that He was “in company with” God. It is a statement of fact, concerning the trinity’s existence, and so important is this to John that he writes it down twice (vv.1 & 2)! More than that, we find that the “Word was God” not “a god,” and not simply just a “divine” being as some cults would have you believe. Jesus, the Word, is God in human flesh! Humbly born in a human body, to a human mother, but also divine; born of the Holy Spirit of God! Jesus is the eternal Word of Christmas!
2. We discover therefore that Jesus is God! According to John we learn that “through him all things were made… without him nothing was made that has been made!” Paul would declare, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17 NIV)
3. We discover also that the eternal Word is the “light that shines in the darkness”! The Word is among us as a shinning light of holiness in a sin darkened world. The RSV renders this verse: “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it!” Since there is no darkness in heaven the Son of God had to enter this sphere of darkness where he was and still is met with rejection and opposition! Christmas is about the eternal Word, who was with God in the beginning, is God who created all things, and is the light that shines in a sin darkened world!

Conclusion:

Which elicits more response in your heart: the humble birth of Jesus or the glorious statement of the outcome of His birth?

Those who reject Christ lose the opportunity for life, eternal life. On the other hand, those who receive Christ are given a new standing before God. Ironside, a great Christian theologian, teacher, and preacher once said: “There is always the danger of keeping Christmas and losing Christ.” One day in December of 1903, Katherine, received a telegram from her two brothers. It read simply: “We have actually flown 120 feet. Will be home for Christmas.” The Wright brothers had flown! Katherine hurriedly ran to the local newspaper and showed the telegram to the editor. He read it, tossed it aside, and said, “How nice. The boys will be home for Christmas.” He had totally missed the big news that someone had flown for the first time in history!

We can make a similar mistake today when we hear the word “Christmas” and not place it in proper perspective. It is a paradox concerning the Word among us.
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Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2011 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Malachi 1:6-14 – Being honorable!

Malachi 1:6-14 – Being honorable!
By Pastor Lee Hemen
December 11, 2011 AM

We can dishonor someone by not holding them in high regard. The people of Israel had done this with God. Within the Ten Commandments given to them on Mt. Sinai was the first and most important command that instructed, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Following this command was the simple reasoning that they were also not to make any “idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” They were not only not to make them, they were not to “bow down to them or worship them (Exodus 20:3-4).” Yet, in all of this, the Israelites had dishonored God and done all of the above.

Malachi’s second burden therefore deals with the dishonor God’s people can have for the Lord. While it may be easy for us to point to specific denominations today that make idols and worship them, we often as evangelical Christians can fail to see the idols we form and impure worship in our lives. In this, Malachi’s burden is just as much a message for us as it was for the Israelites. We are to honor God with acceptable sacrifice. Let’s find out what Malachi teaches us about being honorable…

READ: Malachi 1:6-14

Relationship is important to God. We discover this from the very beginning in Genesis to the final chapter of the Book of Revelation. When God told the Israelites, “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3 NIV) he meant it. It is also why Jesus reiterated that the greatest commandment was to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30 NIV) Therefore, Malachi’s burden begins with…

I. A charge of a dishonorable relationship (1:6)!

1. A relationship by any other name is not a relationship!

1) Malachi spoke of proper relationships in his society. The Israelites understood the idea that “A son honors his father and a servant his master.” People respected relationships and the structure they had. In fact one of the Commandments stated that a person was to honor their parents (Exodus 20:12). However, God asks the applicable question that goes to the heart of the issue, “If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect (fear) due me?” If God was seen as the Father of the Israelite people and also as their Master, where was the respect due Him? God did view Israel as his “firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22) and the Commandments stated very clearly that children were to honor their parents. Israel recognized that “O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand (Isaiah 64:8 NIV).” What had happened then to the relationship Israel was supposed to have with God? They had allowed false and perverted ideas of worship to creep into how they honored God.

2) The absurd response of the people, especially the priests, proves the point God made through Malachi. So conceited and into themselves are the people and their spiritual leadership that they have no idea they had flagrantly and deliberately strayed from God! They act like they are the ones offended and arrogantly ask, “How have we shown contempt for your name?” (I can almost see Malachi stepping off to one side to get out of the way of the righteous fire from heaven!) Fear of God does not necessitate being terrified of him; but rather having a proper respect and reverence for him, a reverence that leads his people to worship and obedience! They had deliberately followed their own selfish desires instead and dishonored their relationship.

EXAMPLE: Their contempt was in the manner in which the Israelites totally disrespected their relationship with God. They called him “Father” and “Master,” but wanted what they could get out of God rather than what they could sacrificially bring to his temple and altar. America has become a nation of consumers. There is nothing wrong with this except where our relationship with God is concerned. We consume God instead of offering our sacrifice to him. We look for ways to get the most bang-for-our-buck instead. This is why so many hardly give anything to their church in time, talent, or treasure. Churches often do ask folks to join and instead offer up bigger and better Sunday morning shows knowing that the consumers in the pews may shop elsewhere. It is contemptible when we continually want God to fill our plastic bag with goodies, but never sacrifice anything for his kingdom. It is a matter of honoring our relationship with the one who sacrificed everything for us. The Israelites had dishonored God.

When folks give the Lord something that doesn’t really cost them anything, it is not a sacrifice. The idea of sacrifice demands that it cost the giver. Very little that is given in the church today is truly sacrificial in nature. The Israelites understood what it meant to sacrifice because they were required to give the very best they had to God in order to show that they truly honored the Lord. Malachi goes on to tell the people that if you really want an answer how they had dishonored God, well here is…

II. The evidence of dishonorable sacrifices (1:7-14)!

1. The proof was in the pudding and it contained a huge hairy fly!

1) The priests were responsible to teach the people God’s covenant and turn their hearts to God! If the priests failed to honor God, what could be expected of the people? The “food” here refers to the sacrifices that were to be offered to the Lord. They were warned against offering such sacrifices and thereby profane God’s name (Leviticus 22:2, 32). These sacrificial offerings were symbols of obedience, trust, and the cost involved. God savors and honors righteous sacrifice and they were bringing contemptible ones to his temple and table. Apparently they had become so hardened they rationalized their sin! They arrogantly brought blind, crippled, and diseased animals. If they thought it was okay to do, they should try offering them to their Persian governor! Would he be gracious and accept them? The answer is, “Of course not!”

2) In our day and age we think that if we feel it, it must be sincere! God knows better. He isn’t “pleased” with half-hearted offerings—they are contemptible and he “will accept no offering from [our] hands”. Notice it would have been better if they had “shut the temple doors” so they did not “light useless fires on” God’s altar! The Hebrew word “because” actually begins verse 11 and is not found in the NIV. It was “because” God’s name would be “considered great among the nations” that they needed to make “pure” sacrifices. It was a matter of the Israelites witness to the world! They not only profaned God’s table by bringing the worst they had but they contemptuously turned their noses up to it as well! Levitical law stated they were to get a share to eat, but they didn’t want the diseased food they had brought God! They were blatant hypocrites. God tells them, “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord.” Are there evidences where Christians “cheat” God with their blemished sacrifices and then say that God’s church is a “burden”? I suspect there is.

EXAMPLE: Both the priests and the people dishonored God. God related, “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.” Much of what is done as worship will end up being wiped waste on folks faces! Even today there are those who deserve the condemnation of Malachi, who have taken the holy out of worship. They do not bring pure sacrifices to God’s table, yet think God should bless them. It makes one wonder if the words of Jesus are not more accurate than we realize. He related that, “by their fruit you will recognize them.” And went on to admonish, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 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 perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV) Is there evidence of dishonorable sacrifices in God’s church today? Malachi’s words should give us pause.

Conclusion:
What is disrespect? The dictionary defines it as “a lack of respect or esteem.” We can disrespect something or someone by not holding them in high regard. We honor God with a righteous relationship with him and our pure sacrifices.
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Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2011 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Malachi 1:1-5 – Being responsive!

Malachi 1:1-5 – Being responsive!
By Pastor Lee Hemen
December 4, 2011 AM

My Mom used to play mind games with us kids when we did something bad. A lot of mothers do this. Here’s what I mean: Right in the middle of scolding us over our bad behavior, she would innocently ask, “Don’t you love your dear old mother?” Or she would declare, “I work and I slave and what thanks do I get?” It was a form of psychological warfare to get a response from us and to have us think about the consequences of our actions. It’s called guilt.

Malachi is kind of like my mother. His message is for God’s wayward children. Didn’t they love God? Didn’t God love them? If that were true, then why were they acting the way they did? Had they gotten spiritually soft? God’s chosen people had gotten so lackadaisical about their faith that they forget what their relationship to God meant! Malachi’s message from the Lord is to illicit a response from his people. Malachi’s message applies to us as much as it did for the spiritually lax Israelites of his day. They needed to be responsive to God and what he continually did for them. The same is true for us today, let’s discover how…

READ: Malachi 1:1-6

Malachi ministered in the fifth century BC, about 100 years after the Persian King Cyrus had issued the decree in 538 BC which permitted Jews to return from exile to Judah. Life was not easy under the political rule of Persia. Most hearts were indifferent or resentful toward God. Both the priests and the people were violating the stipulations of the Mosaic Law regarding sacrifices, tithes, and offerings. Much like today, their hope in God’s promises had dimmed, as evidenced by their (a) intermarrying with nonbelievers, (b) divorces and (c) general moral apathy. They needed to respond to God’s love. Let’s discover what occurred and perhaps find a proper response for our day and age. We discover that…

I. God’s people need to respond to Malachi’s message! (V. 1)

1. One man’s message is another man’s burden!
1) Malachi had a spiritually heavy message he had to share with his people. The word mas-saw’ (“burden”), which this book begins, sets kind of a sober mood. The NIV translates this word as “An oracle.” In the prophetic books mas-saw’ introduces messages of a threatening nature and this gives the prophet’s entire message a sense of anxiety and foreboding. Contrary to many modern religious pundits God’s messages are not always welcome and can often be sinister in nature! Especially if we know how we have been acting and we know how we should be responding! Notice that this spiritually heavy message was from God Himself! Traditionally Malachi, “My messenger”, has been viewed as the last prophet of the Old Testament period before John the Baptist, whose ministry Malachi predicted (Malachi 3:1). Nothing is known of his family and he is not mentioned by name elsewhere in the Bible. However, his message is so personal and intimate that the contents clearly indicate it was written by an actual person. Malachi was God’s voice speaking a heavy message to God’s spiritually lax people. Using a series of questions and answers, Malachi engages his listeners in a debate many would have rather ignored, but God’s people from all ages need to respond to Malachi’s message because it is a “word of the Lord” for his people!

EXAMPLE: My Dad always knew when I wasn’t listening to him when he was getting after me. I would let my eyes kind of glaze over and roll back in my head. Perhaps the blank expression on my face also gave me away. My father knew I wasn’t listening to him and he would confront me about it by declaring, “Young man, you haven’t listened to a single word I said to you!” I would try to play innocent, but we both knew better and the clincher would be when he would say, “All right, tell me what I just said to you.” He wanted me to respond appropriately and I knew I was in real trouble when he would finish by telling me, “This is going to hurt me more than it does you.” This is kind of the way God deals with Israel and us through Malachi. However, our sin and its consequences often hurt us more than it does God. Yet God’s people need to respond to Malachi’s message!

We can forget that while God is love, his love demands a response from us. Not that we can earn his love because God indeed always does love, but that we need to realize that when we fail to respond the way we should to his love we are rejecting what he has done for us! Malachi reminds us of…

II. Our failure to respond to God’s love! (Vv. 2-5)

1. An appropriate response to love is devotion!
1) Malachi brings the claim of God’s love for Israel (1:2a)! God had always loved Israel. In fact, He could have chosen anyone else but He chose Israel. The Lord’s claim over Israel was vindicated by two considerations. His love expressed in his free choice of his election of Jacob and his rebuff (hatred/rejection) of Esau. Yet, like a spoiled child, Israel’s questions God’s claim (1:2b)! How had God loved them? What a question to ask! God had deliberately decided not to follow the prescribed law of choosing the eldest son Esau over the younger brother. Instead God chose, out of love, Jacob! While Jacob had his deceptive faults, we soon learn Esau was willing to give up and cave in to his own natural sin rather than follow God. The Hebrew words here for “love” and “hatred” do not refer to emotions but rather actions. How can a child question a parent’s love when it was shown so dramatically? Yet, spoiled Israel did. Can we be like that as well? Yes! God has loved us and shown his love through Jesus Christ. In fact that Bible tells us that “God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son”! (John 3:16 NIV)

2) The vindication of God’s love claim is given by him (1:2c-5)! The verbs “I have loved” and “I have hated” (vv. 2b-3a) are in the perfect tense and therefore express not only God’s past relationship with Israel and Edom but also His historical and present dealings (in Malachi’s day) with these people. This then provided the second consideration which vindicated God’s claim of love. Israel needed to consider what her lot would have been like if she, like Edom, had not been elected to a covenant relationship with Yahweh. God restored Israel and not Edom. In fact, God would turn Edom’s “mountains into a wasteland” and leave “his inheritance to the desert jackals.” Edom may try to rebuild, but God would not allow it. They would be called “A Wicked Land,” as opposed to God’s “Holy Nation.” God tells spoiled Israel that if she doesn’t believe it, “You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the LORD—even beyond the borders of Israel!’” Israel was guilty, like Edom, perhaps like we often are, of failing to respond to God’s love! What about you this morning, have you failed to respond to the love of God?

EXAMPLE: I remember my mother giving me the parent’s curse. It goes something like this: “One of these days I hope and pray you have children just like you.” While God’s declaration through Malachi isn’t quite like this, it is similar in that he tells Israel, “You dare question my love after all I have done for you? Let me tell you something, Buster, there will come a time when you will see my love with your own eyes and recognize it for what it is.” That time would come through Jesus Christ. Paul says not only will spoiled Israel ultimately recognize God’s love, but every wayward child of God will: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).” We can be guilty of failing to respond to God’s love in our lives!

Conclusion:
Perhaps you have forgotten just how much God loves you or like Israel, you may question God’s love. Let me remind you that God loves us with an everlasting love and proved it by sending Jesus into the world. Paul reminds us that “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” and that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6 & 8 NIV) The heavy spiritual message of Malachi is just as valid this morning. God is telling us, just like he did when Israel questioned his love that he does indeed love us and has proven it through Jesus. How will you respond?
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Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2011 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

Now thank we all our God! — Psalm 100

Now thank we all our God! – Psalm 100
By Pastor Lee Hemen
November 20, 2011 AM

For some people being thankful is kind of like the story told about a 4-year-old daughter and her mother who were strolling through an open-air market. As the little girl stared at a large pile of oranges, a generous vendor took one from the pile and handed it to the little girl. “What do you say to the nice man?” the mother asked her daughter. The little girl looked at the orange, then thrust it toward the man and said, “Peel it!” Often, thankfulness is something we learn and grow into. How easy it is for us to respond to God’s graciousness like that 4-year-old. An attitude of being thankful is a mark of a maturing faith.

The early Pilgrims understood this. In fact, after surviving the first years in the American wilderness, they deliberately set out to print a song book of praise taken from the Psalms. The Bay Psalm Book is an important piece of our nation’s history. It was the first book entirely written and printed in the Colonies. When one considers the difficulties of mere survival during this time, accounting for the short time of 20 years after the first arrivals in Plymouth in 1620, the magnitude of the effort and accomplishment is even more impressive. The first printing press in New England was purchased and imported specifically to print this book in order to give God praise and thanksgiving! Why would our forefathers make such a big deal out of praising and thanking God? Let’s find out…

READ: Psalm 100

Music in worship by the Pilgrims was done without musical accompaniment, by the whole congregation, with men on one side and women on the other. Calling themselves “Separatists”, they believed in separating themselves from ungodly influences of the world and the Anglican Church even in singing! They had sailed to America from England for freedom of worship. Scripture was taught both literally and historically. This Psalm reminded them to be thankful for God’s provision. Why? Because…

I. An attitude of gratitude honors the Lord and changes our life! (Vv. 1-2)

1. Joy is the best proof of having the presence of God in our life!
1) Notice how the Psalmist sings in these first two verses – he relates, “shout for joy,” “worship… with gladness,” and “come… with joyful songs!” The focus of this glad, joyful singing and shouting is “the Lord.” A rejoicing believer is one of the best advertisements for God. It is a fact that when you are joyfully singing to the Lord, you forget about the cares of life. David would sing, “Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him!” (Psalm 64:10 NIV) Paul would write the persecuted church, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4 NIV) Paul knew that a believer who joyful encourages others refreshes those around them. He wrote to Philemon, “Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.” (Philemon 1:7 NIV) There are three things that are the enemies of a joyful heart: 1) boredom, 2) worry, and 3) self-centerness. However, when our focus is on the Lord and encouraging others to “come before Him with joyful song,” we honor God with the happiness of our hearts. A joy is multiplied when it is divided with others! Today if you are downcast, sad-faced, or wallowing in disappointment, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” An attitude of gratitude honors the Lord, and it can change your life!

EXAMPLE: The Pilgrims knew that joy is a decision of the human heart and a determination of our will. We decide whether to rejoice and be glad in each day that God has made or not. And in doing so, we bring the joy of the Lord to others around us. You cannot fake it, nor manufacture it. It is something that grows out of the happy heart of the believer, boils over in their soul, and splashes out on others. It is infectious, vibrant, lovely, and wonderful. Contrary to popular folk myth, the early Pilgrims were neither grim nor straight-laced folk. In fact they were some of the most happy, joyous, and loving people on earth. Pilgrims did not wear dire black clothing or big buckles on their boots and belts. Quite the contrary they loved colorful clothing, telling stories, dancing, and singing songs that remembered an attitude of gratitude which honored the Lord. They knew their attitude could change their whole outlook on life!

This attitude would serve them well the first few years of their settling on America’s shores. Most would die that first year from disease, cold, and the weather. Ill-prepared, they were resilient folk who loved God wholeheartedly. They left England for America in order to practice their faith the way God desired them to. This Psalm was one of their favorites. Why? They understood…

II. Gratitude should always be the keynote of our worship of God! (v. 3)

1. He who puts God first, will be happy at last!
1) Notice what David states: “Know that the Lord is God.” He calls the people to recognize and “know” God’s words, works, and character. When we “know” intrinsically who God is in our lives, our humble obedience is the only fitting reaction. We also understand that God is the one “who made us, and we are his.” When we recognize God’s authority and kingship in our lives, we become “his people, the sheep of his pasture.” This is why David could sing, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” (Psalm 23:1 NIV) David did not need to worry about anything. His Creator and Shepherd would provide. Later, the Psalmist would say, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” (Psalm 95:6-7 NIV) Paul would relate, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV) Our care is to be founded in the Shepherd of our souls Jesus Christ. “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me,” Jesus related. (John 10:14) Our gratitude should always be the keynote of our worship of God, who is our good shepherd!

EXAMPLE: After the Pilgrims survived the first year and began to see some sort of success, they paused to thank God for His love and care. They declared several days of thanksgiving and praise. Edward Winslow, one of the early pilgrims, wrote a small book in 1624 where he thanked God for the “hope of converting the Heathen of their evil ways, and convincing them to the true knowledge and worship of the living God, and so consequently the salvation of their souls by the merits of Jesus Christ….” He saw “the good providence of God working” in the “preservation from so many dangerous plots and treacheries, as have been intended against us; as also in giving his blessing so powerfully upon the weak means we had… they might easily have swallowed us up…. Blessed therefore be his name, that hath done so great things for us, and hath wrought so great a change amongst us.” He could not help himself; he just had to thank God for all his care! Gratitude should always be the keynote of our worship of God.

The religious practices of the pilgrims, as I stated earlier, included the unaccompanied singing of metered and rhymed versions of the psalms. To sing the hymns, many rural congregations practiced what was known as “lining out”, a technique that involved their own memory and the leadership of someone with a powerful voice; the leader would sing one line at a time, and the congregation would sing it back. Again, this Psalm was a favorite to sing. Why? Because…

III. God is worthy of our thanks and praise! (Vv. 4-5)

1. Thankfulness is a duty before it is a feeling!
1) Notice that David commands his listeners to “Enter his gates with thanksgiving.” It is a call to worship God with thankful hearts. God is found in two places – at home in heaven and a thankful human heart. This is why Scripture reminds us to “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever…. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1-3, 26) Thanksgiving proceeds from a heart that has been redeemed by God. However, also notice that we are called to “enter… his courts with praise.” In fact, Psalm 107:31-32 commands us to “give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men,” and to “exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.” God teaches us that “the people I formed for myself” were specifically created to “proclaim my praise.” (Isaiah 43:20 NIV) The reason we thank and praise God is because he “is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations!” (v. 5) God is steadfast towards those who love him. Every generation, from David down to now, is reminded God is worthy of our thanks and praise!

EXAMPLE: Pastor John Robinson ended his farewell letter to the Pilgrims onboard the Mayflower, before they left England by encouraging them to praise God’s “name all the days of your and our lives.” Pastor Robinson could not go but wanted them to remember God who took care of them no matter what happened. It was good advice, because most would perish within the first year of landing in Massachusetts. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast to acknowledge God’s providence. It lasted three days and was interspersed with praise and prayer. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. The proclamation was written by Lincoln’s Secretary of State, William Seward. It began, “The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.” Whether surviving severe conditions or a “civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity,” our forefathers understood that God is worthy of our thanks and praise!

Conclusion:

What are some of the discouragements in our lives? They are not always the big difficulties, but often the petty annoyances, the little trials from which we cannot escape. If you are looking for a way to increase your thanks, why not this week memorize Psalm 100. These five short verses containing less than a hundred words could launch you into a new adventure of thanksgiving. Put it into your mind and heart today. Repeat it to a friend. Offer it as a silent prayer before each meal every day. Say it aloud and allow the Lord to change your focus from problems to praise.
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Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2011 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.