A Day of Distinction

Please turn to Malachi 3:13-18. That is on page 955 in the Pew Bibles.

We are in the home stretch of Malachi. Next week will be our last sermon. By the way, Malachi has often been used for an Advent series. It is the last book of the Old Testament, and, as we saw 2 weeks ago, it promises that the Messiah will come soon. Next week will be another advent prophecy.

Our sermon this morning concludes the pattern of (1) God’s accusation, (2) the people questioning God, and (3) the Lord explaining.

After that, we will we hear a surprising turn. There were some who did fear the Lord and responded to him.

Listen for the contrasts between those who questioned the Lord, and those who feared him.

Reading of Malachi 3:13-18

Prayer

How do you justify sin in your life?

I know that question presupposes an understanding of sin. I’m simply referring to breaking God’s commands as he has revealed in his Word.

· Do you find yourself saying, “well, this is a small thing. It doesn’t really matter.”

· Or, “everyone else does it, so what’s the big deal.”

· Or “At least I’m not as bad as he or she is.”

· Are you tempted to make the ends justify the means? You think, “well, the results will be good, so it doesn’t matter how I get there.”

· Or maybe you are angry with God or wonder if he is even there? You think, “why does it even matter?”

· Maybe you have been sinned against and therefore are tempted to respond likewise.

· Or do you think that nobody will know.

· Or do you tell yourself, “It feels right, how can it be wrong?”

How do you justify sin? Really, the more important question is, will you respond to God’s Word?

These verses give us a contrast between two responses. 1. Those who justify and continue in their sin and 2, those who repent and respond.

All throughout Malachi, we’ve seen different ways that the priests and the people have justified their sin. Often it was about their situation. They were poor and didn’t want to bring their unblemished male animal to offer at the temple or bring their required tithe. Or they didn’t love their spouse anymore, so why not get a divorce. Why not marry someone who didn’t know Yahweh if they could get ahead economically. Based on their experience, they didn’t even believe that God was just, so why did it matter what they did or didn’t do.

Verses 13-15 are the climax to their dismissal of God and how they justified their sin. The Lord said, “your words have been hard against me.” And they asked once again, “how” “How have we spoken against you?”

And the Lord responds… you have said, , “it is vain to serve God. What is the profit of keeping his charge?” They didn’t see any value in continuing to honor God. Why bother? It was so bad they didn’t even want to mourn before the Lord because of their situation. They had gotten to the place where they weren’t even sure God existed.

In verse 15, we learn they’d been saying that “the arrogant were blessed.” “Evildoers not only prosper, …but they put God to the test and they escaped.” In other words, good things were happening to bad people. Why would God allow that and leave them to flail in their situation?

You see, the people were feeling despondent. They didn’t think God cared about them. In fact, to them, God seemed to care more about their enemies. And so, they responded by not caring themselves. They didn’t care about God, and they didn’t care about his commands. They felt defeated and wondered if God was even paying attention.

Do you ever feel that way? You see other people seemingly doing well or prospering. Many of whom you don’t believe should be prospering. And you are struggling with health or with finances or in relationships or in a career. And it brings you to a place of despondency - hopelessness and asking why.

I’ve found that in those moments, I have been very susceptible to temptation. You know, you get down about something and feel discouraged and disconnected from the Lord. And then, you wonder if trying to honor God is even worth it. Just like the people were saying, it is vain… you know, it seems worthless to pursue the Lord. You then ask yourself, why not just do what I want? Why not just take matters into my own hands? And then, you do.

That’s exactly what the exiles who were back in Jerusalem were doing. They justified their sin. More and more, they rejected God. It was like a downward spiral of complacency and disillusionment that was leading them away from God. Instead of drawing closer to God, they were pulling away from him. Instead of seeking to honor him, they were dishonoring him.

And then along came Malachi, the prophet. And he spoke God’s very words to them. You have done this, and this, and this. You have questioned my justice. In your hearts and in your actions, you have walked away in defiance from my commands. You have been faithless. I think of all the accusations that the Lord has leveled against them, calling them faithless was perhaps the worst. They no longer trusted in the God who loved them, as he had just reminded them.

What would they do? Really, they were at an inflection point. They were at a fork in the road. God had just called them to return to him. The question is, would they return? Would they renounce their ways and their thoughts against the Lord and return? The Lord’s arms were open for them to come back to him. The question was, would they before it was too late?

You know, I love our church family. I love you. We love each other and we love our neighbors. And I believe that each of us honestly want to honor the Lord in our lives. I know my glasses are a little rosy. But I know that there are secret sins in this room. There are dark closets. There’s heart adultery, for sure, but statistically speaking, there’s likely actual adultery happening, too. Other sexual sin as well. There’s also a range of anger and prejudice and heart idols that turn our attention away from the Lord. Some sin we are blind to, but other sin we simply justify. It may be hidden from one another, but it is not hidden from God.

Let me ask, How have you been responding to God’s word in Malachi? It’s been pretty intense. Have you felt convicted and have you been responding to the Lord in repentance and faith? …Have you renewed yourself to pursue the Lord and his commands? Will you forsake them and turn your heart back to the Lord?

What would they do and what will you do?

And that brings us to verse 16. This is the first time, in the entire book of Malachi, that we are given a glimmer of hope.. in regard to their hearts. Verse 16 – “then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another.” It’s talking about people who with reverent awe and faith submitted themselves to the Lord. They were there.

One question that people disagree about is whether this is a totally separate group from the Israelites who had been questioning God. Or whether some of those who had been questioning God repented and returned to him. Most think that it is one or the other. But I think what is more likely is that it’s both. God has always had his remnant from among the people. But God also draws people away from their sin and back to him.

Malachi was prophesying God’s very Word. Of the thousands who had returned to Jerusalem, certainly there were some who upon hearing God’s word, repented and returned as he had called them.

We don’t know for sure, but whatever the makeup of this group, the point is that there were some who by faith reverently trusted God… and as it says, sought to serve him.

We don’t even know what their conversation was about, but we are told that whatever it was God was pleased. They had in some way affirmed God’s word and encouraged each other in that affirmation. And, they esteemed God’s name. Rather than questioning God, they exalted the Lord God.

This is God’s very Word. Will you hear and respond to it by faith? Or will you react in defiance against it? What will you do?

I want to take a brief tangent. Some of you will know this. The Protestant Reformers were very concerned NOT to bind someone’s conscience. You know, someone’s internal sense of right and wrong and truth and error. Martin Luther in his famous speech at the diet of Worms said that to go against one conscience is neither right nor safe.

When we hear that, it’s easy, I think, to mistakenly apply our culture’s understanding of conscience. We might think Luther meant that we should never tell someone that what they believe or do is right or wrong. But that is not what Luther nor John Calvin nor the other Reformers meant. They meant that only the Word of God should bind someone conscience. Luther even said in that same speech, “my conscience is bound by the Word of God.” The Roman Catholic church was trying to bind the conscience of people to believe things that were contrary to Scripture. That is what they were opposed to.

The Reformers believed that our consciences are marred by sin. Even as redeemed people, we need to submit our minds and hearts to God’s word so that our inner sense of moral right and wrong will be transformed to God’s standard.

We absolutely can and should challenge one another. When we see a brother or sister do something or believing something contrary to God’s Word, we should call it out in love. That is not wrongly binding someone’s conscience; rather, it is directing someone’s conscience to God’s Word.

Some churches and Christians today will justify lifestyles and beliefs so as not to constrain someone elses conscience. Some will say, “my conscience is clear,” as if their conscience is the final moral authority rather than Scripture. No, rather, as we each mature in our faith and in our knowledge of God’s Word, our conscience will become more and more aligned with God’s standard and THUS sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Our conscience should never replace what God has revealed in his Word.

I bring this up because it is a common way to justify sin today – to appeal to a “clear conscience” even when it contradicts Scripture.

Ok, back to Malachi 3 – the conscience of these people who feared the Lord were captivated by God through his Word. God had either convicted them of their sin and they repented and returned… or they has been in the minority, as a remnant, faithful to God and his Word all along. Likely, as I mentioned, both.

And because they feared the Lord, God wrote their names and their faithful works in his book. It’s called here the book of remembrance.

A common practice at that time was for kings to write down significant events and significant people. It was their history. In fact, Persian kings were meticulous at this task. They preserved their records in the royal archive. Remember, it was the Medo Persians who, at this time, ruled over the region. So, this reference to the Lord keeping a book would have been understood even beyond the Israelites.

The point is that God would not forget them. He would not forget his remnant who fixed their hearts and minds on him. Who esteemed his name. They shall be mine, he says.

By the way, there is a little tiny phrase there in verse 17 that has huge significance. It’s the phrase “in the day.” Do you see it? “In the day,” it says, “when I make up my treasured possession, I will spare them.”

It is looking forward to the judgment day. It’s looking forward to that day when God, in Christ, will fulfill his just judgment. That day will happen when Christ comes to judge. For us, we know that the final judgment will come when Jesus returns. In his first coming, Jesus came to save – he came to bring salvation. In his second coming, he will come for the final judgment.

And on the day when Christ comes to judge, God will make his people his treasured possessions. I love that description. They had feared the Lord and honored him… and God wrote their names down in his book of life.

We all have treasured possessions. If your house or apartment is on fire, what are the things that you would want to risk your life and run back in to save? Certainly, family members. Maybe a pet. Maybe your great great grandmother’s pendant. Or maybe that jersey signed by your favorite athlete or coach. I’m not telling you to run back into your house for things. Let the firemen do that.

But on that day, those who fear God and keep his commandments will be God’s treasured possession. He will save them. That phrase “treasured possession” is a reference back to Mount Saini. God had rescued his people from slavery in Egypt. He had brought them across the Red Sea. He was about to give them his commandments, and he says, and listen to this… “if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, I will make you my treasured possession among all people of the earth.”

In Malachi, at the end of verse 17, Lord says that he will “spare them as a man spares a son who serves him.”

Back when I was about 14, my sister and I wanted to surprise our parents and clean the garage. Isn’t that very nice. However, there was still a car in the garage. So, I told my sister, ok, you get in the car. I’ll push it back, and as soon as it gets out of the garage, put it into gear. It was a manual transmission. Every time my parents parked the car, they would put it in gear, so I thought it was like a parking brake.

So, I pushed the car out of the garage, but when my sister tried to put it in gear, it wouldn’t go. Neither of us thought about the brake pedal. Well, our driveway was sloped, so the car started to pick up speed, and I was running alongside of it, but my sister couldn’t stop it. Then the steering wheel locked up. We were both panicking. Then the car smashed into the stone wall next to our driveway.

We both thought, oh no, we’re going to get in big trouble with our dad.

But when he got home, he wasn’t angry at all. No, he was just glad we weren’t hurt. We were spared. But I can tell you, if we had been one of his employees, the story would have ended differently.

You see, a father spares a son. A father loves his children. They are his treasured possession.

God the Father has done the most amazing thing for those who fear and honor him. He has spared them from his judgment. And he’s done that by not sparing his only Son. God has rescued us from the fire of his wrath by sending his only son who endured his wrath on our behalf. And because of it, on that day, on that judgment day, God will spare his children.

To put it in terms of Jesus first and second coming. God sent his son, Jesus Christ, into the world, to be judged so that when he comes again as judge, those who fear and serve him will not be judged.

All of this has all been leading up to verse 18. On that day, there will be a distinction, it say, between the righteous and the wicked.

By the way, let me mention, this is like a two-part sermon. Malachi 4 continues explaining what will happen on that day. I’ve titled today’s sermon A Day of Distinction. Next week will be A Day of Deliverance. So, we won’t spend any more time on that coming day. But come back next week to hear about the “sun of righteousness.”

Rather, we’ll spend the rest of our time today on the distinction spoken of in verse 18. At the heart of the distinction is whether someone fears and serves God. The first words at the beginning of 18 are pretty telling. It says, “Then once more… you will see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked”

Malachi’s entire prophecy has focused on (1) how God’s people had walked away from him in disobedience. And (2) how he calls them to return to him in faithfulness in their words and actions.

Those who did not return are included in verse 18 with the wicked. Those who did return are included with the righteous. The two words used to describe the righteous are those who fear and serve the Lord. Fear in verse 16, which we already discussed, and the word serve, here in verse 18.

Let me put it this way: At the heart of serving the Lord is a heart that fears the Lord with reverence and awe.

Those two distinguishing marks cannot be separated. There is no fearing the Lord without serving him. …AND, no one truly serves the Lord without fearing him. When someone comes to fear the Lord, they will desire to honor him in their lives.

Let me put this in some New Testament terms.

· True faith in Christ will result in the fruits of righteousness.

· Or as James put it, faith without works is dead. Our works, meaning our obedience to God’s Word, testifies to our faith in him. Works do not lead to faith, faith leads to works.

· Or as the Apostle Paul put it in Romans 6 “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

To use theological terms. We are justified in Christ. We receive Jesus’ righteousness by faith in him which leads to sanctification in our lives. More and more through God’s Spirit, we die to sin and live to righteousness.

So, fearing and serving the Lord IS faith and works which IS trusting and obeying God. It describes the righteous.

The wicked do not fear the Lord nor honor him. They do not hear his Word. They do not return to him. Rather, they have rejected the Lord by dishonoring him in all his ways… including, of course, they ways that Malachi had prophesied. They questioned God… and to bring this back around, they justified their sin. As they said up in verse 14, “it is vain to serve God.”

In closing, we all struggle with sin, but let me ask: As you search your heart, do you fear the Lord by faith in Christ? Are you seeking, by God’s Spirit, to hear God’s Word, see your sin, and respond by serving and honoring him? If you are, then on that day, God in Christ will spare you as a father spares a son.

If that does not describe your life, then God is saying to you, “return to me.” No longer justify your sin but fear me and honor me. Come to me by faith in Christ. And when you do, the Lord says, you will be my treasured possession.

On that day, may we all be described as the righteous. Not because of our righteousness, but because of the righteousness of Christ. A righteousness that we receive by faith AND which we demonstrate by serving and honoring him.