Malachi Who cares what God thinks!
Series: Commitment series
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 3rd November 2012
Passage: Malachi 1:6-2:16
00:00:00 --> 00:00:07 Keep your Bibles open at Malachi, and it's great to be here on this day with Sam and
00:00:07 --> 00:00:07 Sal and Bailey.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:11 Let me say it's great to have him on team.
00:00:11 --> 00:00:15 For those of you who are part of his family and friends, I'm Steve.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:16 I'm on the ministry team.
00:00:16 --> 00:00:22 I work with Sam and work with Sal there for a while, and very sad to get Sal's resignation,
00:00:23 --> 00:00:26 but certainly joyful in the arrival of Bailey.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:28 It's a good reason to resign, I think, here.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:30 So keep your Bibles open.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:34 We are in the middle, for those who are new here tonight, we're in the middle of a commitment
00:00:34 --> 00:00:38 series, or second weekend, in fact, of the commitment series going through Malachi.
00:00:39 --> 00:00:40 So that's the context of what we're looking at.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:44 We do it every year as a church, and so we're up to number two.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:46 So I want to pray, and then I'm going to look at that passage.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:47 Father God, help us.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:53 We pray to look at this passage, which has got so many difficult bits in it, and even
00:00:53 --> 00:00:54 grates against our hearts in it.
00:00:54 --> 00:00:57 You are the sovereign ruler of this universe.
00:00:57 --> 00:01:03 And so help us now, we pray, so that our heart and our treasures might align with yours.
00:01:03 --> 00:01:04 And we ask it for your sake.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:05 Amen.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:07 Am I on the air?
00:01:07 --> 00:01:08 I am.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:08 Fantastic.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:09 Okay.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:17 Last we discovered, as we entered into Malachi, first five verses, the glorious foundation of
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 this relationship between God and his people Israel.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:25 It's right there in verse two of chapter one, in four words, I have loved you.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:30 And we unpack the implications of that little statement.
00:01:30 --> 00:01:36 God's love is an electing love because he chose Israel over Esau.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:41 His love for them is an unconditional love because he chose them to be his.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:46 He chose to love them before they'd done anything good or evil, before they'd met any conditions,
00:01:46 --> 00:01:47 before they were even born.
00:01:48 --> 00:01:52 His love for them is a sovereign love because he was under no constraint whatsoever.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 He didn't have a gun held to his head in order to love his people.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 He was not forced to do it.
00:01:57 --> 00:01:57 He wasn't tricked.
00:01:57 --> 00:01:59 He wasn't manipulated in any way.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:06 And his love for them is free because it is the abundant overflow of his immeasurable
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 grace that can never be bought.
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 It can't be repaid or earned in any way.
00:02:11 --> 00:02:17 And so my first challenge for us last week was for us to make a commitment to know this
00:02:17 --> 00:02:18 God.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:24 Don't conform God to the size of our finite minds, but to actually know the God, the infinite
00:02:24 --> 00:02:27 God has revealed himself so that we can understand something about him.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:31 So go deeper than just the size of your head in understanding God.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 And why do that?
00:02:36 --> 00:02:40 Well, because you cannot worship, adore, love what you don't know.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:46 You cannot treasure Jesus if in fact you don't know the Jesus who has revealed himself.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:53 We also know from the very same verse in verse 2 of chapter 1 that Israel failed to see and
00:02:53 --> 00:02:55 feel the greatness of God's love.
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 But that's not the only thing that they failed to see and feel.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:08 We actually see here in verse 6, beginning of today's text, that they failed to see and
00:03:08 --> 00:03:11 feel the greatness of God's majesty.
00:03:12 --> 00:03:13 So have a look at it there.
00:03:13 --> 00:03:16 A son honors his father and a slave his master.
00:03:16 --> 00:03:19 If I am a father, where is the honor due me?
00:03:20 --> 00:03:25 And if I'm a master, where is the respect due me, says the Lord Almighty?
00:03:26 --> 00:03:30 And so there are two aspects there of the fatherhood of God.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:35 It means that he loves me, that he will care for me, that he will guide me and forgive me
00:03:35 --> 00:03:38 and take me home to be with him forever someday.
00:03:38 --> 00:03:39 And those things are all wonderfully true.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:42 Don't want to dismiss those in any sense.
00:03:42 --> 00:03:48 But the fatherhood of God in this text also implies that God is to be honored and revered
00:03:48 --> 00:03:49 and venerated.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:56 The majestic fatherhood of God implies that his children should honor him and respect him
00:03:56 --> 00:03:58 and pay him reverential esteem.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:01 And that is Israel's failing in this text.
00:04:02 --> 00:04:03 That's their problem.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:10 And so what Malachi does for us, he helps us to see and to feel the majesty of the heavenly
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 father by using a special name for God here.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:23 Eight times in the verses from verse 6 to verse 14, God is called, he refers himself as the
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 Lord Almighty.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:27 Or in old language, you'd call it the Lord of hosts.
00:04:29 --> 00:04:36 So what Malachi wants us to see and feel is that our father in heaven has infinite authority
00:04:36 --> 00:04:37 in the universe.
00:04:37 --> 00:04:42 He can wield any and all armies on the earth to accomplish his purpose among the nations,
00:04:42 --> 00:04:44 whether they like it or not, whether they know it or not.
00:04:45 --> 00:04:51 He has a myriads of unstoppable angels who do his bidding fallously, who never fail on a
00:04:51 --> 00:04:52 single errand that he sends them on.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 He has appointed every star in the universe in its position.
00:04:56 --> 00:05:03 He holds them in place, all trillion upon trillions of them by the power of his very
00:05:03 --> 00:05:05 word, and he calls them by name.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:11 That is the greatness, if you like, of God, the sheer majesty of God that the Bible reveals.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 And that is what's missing here for these people of Israel.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 It's the majesty, the greatness of God that's kind of slipped by them.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 It's sort of like this.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:28 You've got a dog, like Rin Tin Tin and Lassie and Benji or one of those dogs, and the dog
00:05:28 --> 00:05:34 saved you a hundred times, and you might feel deep affection for that poor wretched animal,
00:05:34 --> 00:05:39 and you may even cry when the animal dies, but you're never tempted to bow down and actually
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 worship the dog.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:43 Or it's the same of a true friend.
00:05:43 --> 00:05:49 The closest bond of friendship might develop, but you never think, even if you're closest
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 friend, that I need to bow down and worship them.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:56 Even though you might love them, you don't actually bow down and worship them.
00:05:57 --> 00:05:57 Why?
00:05:57 --> 00:06:04 Because one indispensable element in worship is greatness.
00:06:06 --> 00:06:06 It's majesty.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:07 It's splendor.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:12 It's the greatness of God that is missing here for God's people in this text.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:16 And it's so evident in two areas as we're going to go through.
00:06:16 --> 00:06:21 The greatness of God is missing for them, and it's evident in their worship, and it's evident
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 in their relationships with each other.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:24 That's what we're going to look at.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:30 So what happens when you don't see or feel the majestic greatness of God?
00:06:32 --> 00:06:36 Apathy, carelessness, fickleness, half-hearted devotion.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:40 They are the results when you don't see God's greatness.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 And it's there in verse 8 for us.
00:06:43 --> 00:06:44 Have a look at it if you've got your Bibles there.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:50 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong?
00:06:50 --> 00:06:55 When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong?
00:06:55 --> 00:06:57 Try offering them to your governor.
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 Would he be pleased with you?
00:06:59 --> 00:07:01 Would he accept you, says the Lord Almighty?
00:07:02 --> 00:07:07 Now, Israel knew that the book of Leviticus condemned dodgy sacrifices like that.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 And the priests, it also condemned the priests who offered those dodgy sacrifices.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:17 So why was it so important to God to bring the best animals for sacrifice?
00:07:17 --> 00:07:20 The perfect one, the unblemished animals for sacrifice.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:33 The primary reason is that God was interested in teaching his people that a sacrifice for sin must be perfect for it to be effective.
00:07:33 --> 00:07:45 These sacrifices, in the end, way back then, centuries earlier, were meant to all point forward to the sacrifice of sin that was to come in Jesus Christ,
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 the one who was called the perfect Lamb of God.
00:07:48 --> 00:07:50 Hebrews 9 says this about Jesus,
00:07:51 --> 00:07:56 that he appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:01 Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:08 And Hebrews is at pains to point out the greatness and the majesty and the perfection of Jesus.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:17 And so these sacrifices that these people were doing were meant to look forward to Jesus and his once for all perfect sacrifice.
00:08:18 --> 00:08:26 And so if you offer a dodgy sacrifice, by implication, you were saying that my sin isn't that great.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:29 It doesn't matter that much.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:36 And it doesn't need anyone or anything perfect to die as a substitute for sin.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:47 And so the horror of what these priests were doing here in offering these blemish sacrifices is that God says explicitly that he's turning away.
00:08:48 --> 00:08:53 You come to the altar, you bring your blemished animal, your mangy broken legs,
00:08:53 --> 00:08:58 you blind sheep and you put them on the altar and God says, I will not accept that.
00:08:59 --> 00:09:01 And so what he does is he turns his back to it.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:07 And when he turns his back to it, he ignores you, the person who brings the sacrifice.
00:09:08 --> 00:09:12 And when you are bringing a sacrifice as a sin offering, what happens if it's rejected?
00:09:12 --> 00:09:15 You are still in your sin.
00:09:17 --> 00:09:18 And that's the horror.
00:09:19 --> 00:09:28 All this religious activity that's happening in the people in Israel is of naught value to God.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:38 They arrogantly assumed that they could approach God on their own terms rather than on God's terms.
00:09:38 --> 00:09:47 And you only do that when God is small in your mind and you are big in your mind.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:54 And so why offer these substandard sacrifices?
00:09:56 --> 00:10:00 The origin of this careless worship is seen in verse 11 and 14.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:02 So cast your eyes there in chapter 1.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:07 Both verses give the reason God rejects this careless worship from his people.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:09 Let's just look at verse 11.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 It's connected, verse 10.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:14 Logically, I know, but it's connected to verse 10.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:18 It says, I am not pleased with you, says the Lord Almighty,
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 and I will accept no offering from your hands.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:26 For, I want to inject a word in there.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:32 For, my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord Almighty.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:40 In other words, careless worship is unacceptable because it utterly fails to come to terms with the greatness of God.
00:10:42 --> 00:10:48 And then God, what he does here is he quotes their attitude to worship in verses 12 and 13.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:53 You profane it by saying the Lord's table is defiled and its food is contemptible.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:55 In verse 13.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:57 And you say, what a burden.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:02 And you sniff at it contemptuously, says the Lord Almighty.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:06 What's their basic attitude to worship?
00:11:08 --> 00:11:09 It's a burden.
00:11:09 --> 00:11:13 Or quite literally, it's wearisome.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:16 It's boring.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:21 And so they sniff at it with contempt.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:36 When you become so blind that the maker of galaxies, the ruler of nations, the knower of all mysteries, the lover of all souls,
00:11:37 --> 00:11:42 becomes boring, then there's only one thing that's left.
00:11:42 --> 00:11:46 And that is the love of the things that he's created.
00:11:48 --> 00:11:49 Love of the world.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:58 When you give away the very best treasure, you will always pick up a lesser treasure.
00:11:59 --> 00:12:04 Because our hearts are restless and they must treasure something.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:11 And if it's not in heaven, if it's not God, then it will be here in this world.
00:12:11 --> 00:12:16 If you cannot see the greatness of the sun, you'll be impressed by a streetlight.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:24 If you've never felt the roar of thunder and seen the brilliance of lightning, you'll take photos of fireworks.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:35 If you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God, you'll fall in love with the world of shadows and short-lived pleasures.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:42 And so when it's time to bring your sheep from the flock to sacrifice, what do you bring?
00:12:43 --> 00:12:47 You bring the blind one with broken legs and the mange.
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 Or better still, you jump the fence and flog your neighbor's one.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:59 Because the good sheep sell better and you love your money more than God.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:04 And so this, I think, is what is happening here amongst these people.
00:13:05 --> 00:13:16 Careless worship in this text is religious activity that illustrates how little I value God.
00:13:16 --> 00:13:21 That's the sense of it there, I think, in verse 10.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:28 Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors so that you would not light useless fires on my altar.
00:13:29 --> 00:13:33 There's a little word behind the phrase useless fires.
00:13:34 --> 00:13:37 And it's probably better translated vain fires.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:47 The same word is used in 2 Samuel 24-24 in a very similar way to this passage here.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:49 So back to 2 Samuel 24.
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 King David is trying to avert a plague.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:56 And to do so, he needs to build an altar in order to make sacrifice on the altar.
00:13:56 --> 00:14:03 And the owner of the threshing floor where he wants to build the altar says to him,
00:14:03 --> 00:14:08 take it for free and I'll give you some animals to sacrifice on it for free as well when you build your altar.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:11 And this is King David's response.
00:14:12 --> 00:14:12 No.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 But I will buy it from you at a price.
00:14:16 --> 00:14:21 I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:31 I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices in vain.
00:14:34 --> 00:14:36 And that is the essence of careless worship.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:44 What David is saying there in 2 Samuel 24 is,
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 I value God so much.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:53 The sovereign freedom, unconditional love and the majesty of his fatherhood are so satisfying to my soul
00:14:53 --> 00:15:00 that I cannot bring myself to worship in a way that looks as if I value money than I value him.
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 I won't do it.
00:15:03 --> 00:15:05 It must cost me something.
00:15:06 --> 00:15:11 It must say that he, the holder of galaxies, is my greatest treasure.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:18 And so the essence here of careless worship is empty religious activity.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:20 It doesn't express the worth of God.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 It doesn't cost anything.
00:15:23 --> 00:15:27 In fact, what it does is it expresses that our treasure is on earth
00:15:27 --> 00:15:31 and that in actual fact I really love this world that he's made rather than him.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:38 And so if we worship God when it is convenient
00:15:38 --> 00:15:42 or it's the eighth most important thing on the list
00:15:42 --> 00:15:44 without bothering to repent of any sin,
00:15:44 --> 00:15:49 then we are in the end revealing our view of God.
00:15:49 --> 00:15:52 And friends, as I said this morning, I've got to say it here again.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:56 I'm concerned because it is so easy for careless worship
00:15:56 --> 00:15:59 just to filter in amongst the people of God.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:02 And I've seen it filtering here.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:05 A carelessness that worships when it's convenient.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 A carelessness that isn't on time.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:12 A carelessness that only sings the songs that I want to sing.
00:16:12 --> 00:16:18 A carelessness that fits the worship of the majestic God of this universe
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 around sport and travel and entertainment and family gatherings
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 and school and TV and work and my own sleep patterns
00:16:24 --> 00:16:27 and around anything.
00:16:31 --> 00:16:34 A carelessness that reveals that some of us are more impressed
00:16:34 --> 00:16:36 with the street light than we are with the sun.
00:16:36 --> 00:16:44 A carelessness that doesn't treasure the sacrificial, electing, sovereign, free love
00:16:44 --> 00:16:50 of this majestic, great Lord Jesus Christ.
00:16:50 --> 00:16:54 That he's not in fact the greatest treasure.
00:16:55 --> 00:17:02 True worship comes from a heart where the Lord Jesus is treasured above all human property and praise
00:17:02 --> 00:17:07 and it aims to inspire the same Christ-centered passion in the hearts of those that are gathered.
00:17:07 --> 00:17:11 Now I'm not talking about a particular form of worship here.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:13 Don't get me wrong.
00:17:13 --> 00:17:17 I'm not batting for Anglicanism or anything nutty like that
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 when I talk about true worship.
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 What I have in mind is worship
00:17:21 --> 00:17:26 that really comes from feeling and seeing the greatness of God.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:32 It seeks humbly to express and to inspire that same intensity for Jesus
00:17:32 --> 00:17:38 without the distractions of theological lightness or errors or superficiality
00:17:38 --> 00:17:40 or carelessness or flippancy or pride.
00:17:42 --> 00:17:47 So my friends, we need Jesus to open our eyes to his greatness
00:17:47 --> 00:17:52 so that we never offer him in the pew or in the pulpit
00:17:52 --> 00:17:56 or in the singing or in the prayers or whatever it is,
00:17:56 --> 00:17:59 the leftover of our lives.
00:18:02 --> 00:18:07 That's the first evidence that they haven't seen the greatness of God.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:09 The second evidence they haven't seen the greatness of God
00:18:09 --> 00:18:13 is in the way they treated one another.
00:18:14 --> 00:18:17 The failure to treat each other correctly
00:18:17 --> 00:18:21 was another sign that in actual fact their worship was empty.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 I'm just going to be really brief.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 Have a look at chapter 2, verse 10.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:28 I'm not going to pick all this apart,
00:18:28 --> 00:18:30 but there's a few things I want to show you.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:32 Do we not have one Father?
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 Did not one God create us?
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors
00:18:36 --> 00:18:39 by being unfaithful to one another?
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 Judah has been unfaithful.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:44 A detestable thing has been committed in Israel in Jerusalem.
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47 Judah has desecrated the sanctuary of the Lord,
00:18:47 --> 00:18:51 the Lord loves by marrying women who worship a foreign God.
00:18:52 --> 00:18:53 As for the man who does this,
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 whoever he may be,
00:18:54 --> 00:18:56 may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob,
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty.
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 Another thing you do,
00:19:00 --> 00:19:02 you flood the Lord's altar with tears,
00:19:03 --> 00:19:05 you weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor
00:19:05 --> 00:19:07 on your offerings,
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 accept them with pleasure from your hands.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 You ask why?
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 It is because the Lord is the witness
00:19:13 --> 00:19:15 between you and the wife of your youth.
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 You have been unfaithful to her,
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 though she is your partner,
00:19:19 --> 00:19:21 the wife of your marriage covenant.
00:19:22 --> 00:19:24 Has not the one God made you?
00:19:25 --> 00:19:27 You belong to him in body and spirit.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 And what does the one God seek?
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 Godly offspring.
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 So be on your guard
00:19:32 --> 00:19:34 and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
00:19:35 --> 00:19:39 The man who hates and divorces his wife,
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 says the Lord,
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 the God of Israel does violence
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 to the one he should protect.
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 says the Lord Almighty.
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 So be on your guard
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 and do not be unfaithful.
00:19:49 --> 00:19:51 The will of God in those verses
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 is really plain.
00:19:53 --> 00:19:57 He wills that we be faithful to each other.
00:19:58 --> 00:20:00 And the word unfaithful there
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 is used three times
00:20:01 --> 00:20:03 in the three different sections.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 So in verse 10,
00:20:06 --> 00:20:08 why do you profane the covenant of our ancestors
00:20:08 --> 00:20:09 by being unfaithful to one another?
00:20:09 --> 00:20:13 That's referring to a general untrustworthiness
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 in relationships.
00:20:15 --> 00:20:15 Verse 11,
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 Judah has been unfaithful
00:20:17 --> 00:20:20 by marrying women who worship a foreign God.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:23 That's reference to the marrying of unbelievers
00:20:23 --> 00:20:25 who don't trust Jesus.
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 In verse 14,
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 the Lord is the witness
00:20:28 --> 00:20:30 between you and the wife of your youth.
00:20:30 --> 00:20:32 You have been unfaithful to her
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 is in reference to
00:20:33 --> 00:20:38 what I would call careless divorce.
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 The sin that runs through
00:20:40 --> 00:20:42 each of these areas of life
00:20:42 --> 00:20:44 is the failure to keep a commitment.
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 It's the breaking of an agreement
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 or a covenant
00:20:48 --> 00:20:49 or a contract
00:20:49 --> 00:20:50 or a promise.
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 It's that they're not true to their words,
00:20:53 --> 00:20:54 is what he's saying.
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 And so what Malachi does
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 with this key word
00:20:57 --> 00:21:00 is to show that community life
00:21:00 --> 00:21:01 of the church
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 is supposed to be ordered
00:21:03 --> 00:21:04 by the faithful promise
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 of fulfillment
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 of promises and contracts
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 and oaths and covenants
00:21:08 --> 00:21:08 and commitments.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:10 We had one of them up here
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 just a moment ago.
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 I promise
00:21:12 --> 00:21:14 to bring Bailey up
00:21:14 --> 00:21:16 in the life of the church.
00:21:17 --> 00:21:17 To know, to love
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 and to serve the Lord Jesus.
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 That's a covenant.
00:21:20 --> 00:21:20 That's an oath
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 that was declared here
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 and promises were made
00:21:22 --> 00:21:25 in full view of us all
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 and God.
00:21:26 --> 00:21:29 But this order
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 has been given way
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 to the disorder
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 that comes when people
00:21:32 --> 00:21:33 give in
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 to the power
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 of self-centered
00:21:35 --> 00:21:37 emotional impulses.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 See, what happens?
00:21:39 --> 00:21:39 Remember it?
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 What happens when you fail
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 to see and feel
00:21:42 --> 00:21:42 the greatness
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 of God's love
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 and the majesty
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 of the Fatherhood of God?
00:21:46 --> 00:21:48 You live
00:21:48 --> 00:21:50 for disappearing shadows
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 and short-lived pleasures
00:21:51 --> 00:21:53 for self-centered
00:21:53 --> 00:21:55 emotional impulses.
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 And Malachi reveals
00:21:56 --> 00:21:58 two alternative ways
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 here for people
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 to live in a community.
00:22:01 --> 00:22:01 One way
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 is what you might call
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 covenantal order.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:05 All relationships
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 are made
00:22:06 --> 00:22:09 peaceful and pure
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 by the fulfillment
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 of covenants
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 and promises
00:22:12 --> 00:22:12 and oaths
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 and contracts
00:22:13 --> 00:22:13 and commitments.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:15 Children to parents,
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 parents to children,
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 husbands to wives,
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 wives to husbands,
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 employer to employee,
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 employee to employer,
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 state citizen,
00:22:22 --> 00:22:22 citizen state.
00:22:22 --> 00:22:25 probably other ones
00:22:25 --> 00:22:26 as well.
00:22:27 --> 00:22:28 The peace
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 and prosperity
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 and joy
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 of the community
00:22:31 --> 00:22:31 is held together
00:22:31 --> 00:22:33 by the deep,
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 strong spirit
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 of covenant
00:22:35 --> 00:22:36 keeping
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 that pervades
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 the community.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 We are true
00:22:40 --> 00:22:41 to each other.
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 The very fabric
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44 of the community
00:22:44 --> 00:22:46 is the trustworthiness
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 of its people.
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 that they do
00:22:49 --> 00:22:51 what they say
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 not just because
00:22:54 --> 00:22:54 of the person
00:22:54 --> 00:22:55 they're eyeballing
00:22:55 --> 00:22:57 but because
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 Jesus is true
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 to them.
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 They want to
00:23:01 --> 00:23:01 honor him
00:23:01 --> 00:23:03 and obey him.
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 And so we
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 follow through
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 with our commitments
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 to each other.
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 And the big one
00:23:10 --> 00:23:12 here that he mentions
00:23:12 --> 00:23:13 a couple of times
00:23:13 --> 00:23:13 is marriage.
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 we follow
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16 through with
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 commitments
00:23:17 --> 00:23:17 such as
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 I Steve
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 in the presence
00:23:19 --> 00:23:19 of God
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 in the presence
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 of God
00:23:22 --> 00:23:24 take you
00:23:24 --> 00:23:24 Natalie
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 to be my wife
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 to have and to hold
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 from this day
00:23:27 --> 00:23:27 forward
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 for better or for worse
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 for richer for poorer
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 in sickness and in health
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 to love and to cherish
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 as long as we both
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 shall live
00:23:34 --> 00:23:36 this is my
00:23:36 --> 00:23:38 solemn vow
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 and promise
00:23:39 --> 00:23:41 to you Natalie
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 but my solemn
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 vow and promise
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 to God
00:23:46 --> 00:23:48 and I stick
00:23:48 --> 00:23:49 to that promise.
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 The other way
00:23:52 --> 00:23:52 for people to live
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 together in community
00:23:53 --> 00:23:54 is the opposite
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 of covenantal order
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 is what you might call
00:23:56 --> 00:23:57 the disorder
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 of self-indulgence
00:23:58 --> 00:24:00 and in this community
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 the spirit of
00:24:01 --> 00:24:01 commitment making
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 and commitment keeping
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 has been replaced
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 by the spirit
00:24:05 --> 00:24:05 of emotional
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 and physical
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 impulse
00:24:07 --> 00:24:09 and so when my wife
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 doesn't please me
00:24:10 --> 00:24:10 anymore
00:24:10 --> 00:24:12 I abuse her
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 or I just
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 replace her
00:24:14 --> 00:24:16 and that's what
00:24:16 --> 00:24:18 the carelessness
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 is what Malachi
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 is speaking about here.
00:24:23 --> 00:24:25 He's not talking
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 about a genuine
00:24:26 --> 00:24:26 divorce
00:24:26 --> 00:24:28 he's talking about
00:24:28 --> 00:24:29 careless divorce
00:24:29 --> 00:24:32 and the moral
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 fabric of faithfulness
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 to covenants
00:24:34 --> 00:24:35 and promise keeping
00:24:35 --> 00:24:36 and contracts
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 is unraveled
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 and what's left
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 are individual
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 strands of private
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 gratification.
00:24:44 --> 00:24:46 I think friends
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 that Malachi's message
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 to us today
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 could hardly be
00:24:49 --> 00:24:49 more relevant.
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 He warns against
00:24:51 --> 00:24:52 the pseudo freedom
00:24:52 --> 00:24:54 of individualistic
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 self-indulgence
00:24:55 --> 00:24:57 our worship
00:24:57 --> 00:24:57 our worship
00:24:57 --> 00:24:57 of God
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 is not
00:24:58 --> 00:24:59 a deeply
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 private matter
00:25:00 --> 00:25:02 it is
00:25:02 --> 00:25:03 intimately linked
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 with our relationships
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 with other people
00:25:05 --> 00:25:08 our horizontal
00:25:08 --> 00:25:08 relationships
00:25:08 --> 00:25:10 with one another
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 testify
00:25:11 --> 00:25:12 either for
00:25:12 --> 00:25:14 or against
00:25:14 --> 00:25:15 the reality
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 of our vertical
00:25:16 --> 00:25:16 relationship
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 with God
00:25:17 --> 00:25:17 God
00:25:17 --> 00:25:21 and that is
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 why our
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 core value
00:25:23 --> 00:25:23 here as a church
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 treasuring Jesus
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 together
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 is so essential
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 this is what it
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 says
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 having been led
00:25:29 --> 00:25:29 individually
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 by the spirit
00:25:30 --> 00:25:30 of God
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 to receive
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 Jesus Christ
00:25:32 --> 00:25:32 as the Lord
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 Saviour
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 and supreme
00:25:34 --> 00:25:34 treasure
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 of our lives
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 we now
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 most solemnly
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 and joyfully
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 enter into
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 covenant
00:25:40 --> 00:25:41 with one another
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 as the one
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 body in Christ
00:25:44 --> 00:25:44 in an age
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 of individualism
00:25:45 --> 00:25:47 we value vigilance
00:25:47 --> 00:25:47 and accountability
00:25:47 --> 00:25:49 in treasuring
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 Jesus together
00:25:50 --> 00:25:51 and then
00:25:51 --> 00:25:52 after that
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 that's the
00:25:53 --> 00:25:53 introductory statement
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 there's a few
00:25:54 --> 00:25:55 things that come
00:25:55 --> 00:25:55 in after that
00:25:55 --> 00:25:57 in terms of
00:25:57 --> 00:25:57 what it might
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 look like
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 in practice
00:25:59 --> 00:25:59 and here's
00:25:59 --> 00:25:59 one of the
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 points
00:26:00 --> 00:26:02 we are committed
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 to making
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 corporate worship
00:26:04 --> 00:26:04 a weekly
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 priority
00:26:05 --> 00:26:07 now that's
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 not just
00:26:08 --> 00:26:08 because of
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 our relationship
00:26:09 --> 00:26:09 with God
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 that's because
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 of our relationship
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 with one another
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 it's treasuring
00:26:13 --> 00:26:14 Jesus together
00:26:14 --> 00:26:17 as John 4
00:26:17 --> 00:26:17 20 says
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 if anyone
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 says I love
00:26:19 --> 00:26:19 God
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 and yet hates
00:26:20 --> 00:26:21 his brother
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23 he's a liar
00:26:23 --> 00:26:24 for anyone
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 who does not
00:26:26 --> 00:26:27 love his brother
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 whom he has
00:26:28 --> 00:26:28 seen
00:26:28 --> 00:26:30 cannot love
00:26:30 --> 00:26:30 God
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 whom he has
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 not seen
00:26:32 --> 00:26:35 the love of God
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 must show itself
00:26:36 --> 00:26:36 in the interaction
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 with one another
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 if we are so
00:26:39 --> 00:26:39 self-righteous
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 that we don't
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 allow other
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 Christians to speak
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 into our lives
00:26:43 --> 00:26:43 and to correct
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 our injustices
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 we cannot
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 be a church
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 together
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 so reality
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 check
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 God is the
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 one who holds
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 the galaxies
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 in its place
00:26:54 --> 00:26:56 that's him
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 perfect
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 all-knowing
00:26:58 --> 00:26:58 sovereign
00:26:58 --> 00:27:01 you on the
00:27:01 --> 00:27:01 other hand
00:27:01 --> 00:27:02 are sinners
00:27:02 --> 00:27:04 and I
00:27:04 --> 00:27:04 am a sinner
00:27:04 --> 00:27:06 and it would
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 be really good
00:27:07 --> 00:27:07 if we took
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 ownership of
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 that very
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 basic fact
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 and in
00:27:11 --> 00:27:11 humility
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 admit our
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 own sin
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 before God
00:27:15 --> 00:27:15 and approach
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 one another
00:27:16 --> 00:27:18 in brokenness
00:27:18 --> 00:27:22 rather than
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 in self-centeredness
00:27:23 --> 00:27:25 rather than
00:27:25 --> 00:27:26 in self-righteousness
00:27:26 --> 00:27:30 this is the
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 kind of worship
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 that is acceptable
00:27:32 --> 00:27:32 to God
00:27:32 --> 00:27:33 it's the kind
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 of worship
00:27:34 --> 00:27:34 that treasures
00:27:34 --> 00:27:36 Jesus by offering
00:27:36 --> 00:27:36 him
00:27:36 --> 00:27:38 our best
00:27:38 --> 00:27:38 and our
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 all
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 and it is
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 faithful
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 to one another
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 where we also
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 offer ourselves
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 to one another
00:27:46 --> 00:27:48 our worship of God
00:27:48 --> 00:27:49 involves how we
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 treat God
00:27:50 --> 00:27:50 and how we
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 treat others
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 if we think
00:27:52 --> 00:27:52 that we worship
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 God
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 because we
00:27:54 --> 00:27:54 attend church
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 tonight
00:27:55 --> 00:27:55 we've sung
00:27:55 --> 00:27:55 some hints
00:27:55 --> 00:27:56 and we've read
00:27:56 --> 00:27:56 the Bible
00:27:56 --> 00:27:57 and we've done
00:27:57 --> 00:27:57 some praying
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 and stuff like
00:27:58 --> 00:27:58 that
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 and yet our
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 lives move
00:28:00 --> 00:28:02 out from here
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 and the rest
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 of the week
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 self-indulgent
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 impulse is what
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 I live for
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 then the only
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 person who's
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 being fooled
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 is you
00:28:11 --> 00:28:15 the majestic
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 Jesus requires
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 that his
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 treasured
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 possessions
00:28:19 --> 00:28:21 treasure him
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 above all
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22 else
00:28:22 --> 00:28:24 Amen