Judgment with Promise
December 15, 2024 Preacher: Chris LaBelle Series: Various Messages
Scripture: Malachi 4:4–6
Sermon Transcript:
Main Point: God calls His people to trust in Christ amidst a wicked age and to be ready for His return.
Explanation: There is going to be a great day of reckoning when the Lord of hosts judges the world. As I mentioned, the prophet Malachi, is delivering a final message of repentance and hopeful judgment before God will exit the scene physically out of Israel’s presence. The first three verses of Malachi chapter 4 detail that God isn’t messing around.
Malachi 4:1-3, “1 For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.”
- The contents of this prophetic book ring true as a call to repentance during a period of great emptiness and peril. The Israelites had just returned from Babylonian exile to their land and rebuilt their Temple. What seems like a good thing, we are reminded by Malachi that things aren’t going so well. Where there seems to be a house of worship, comes false priests and false practices of worship. A nation that is supposed to be united in fellowship with one another and God, is still oppressed and compromised by Persia. Judah, in particular, was no longer an independent nation and no longer was ruled by a Davidic King. Things were just not right.
- God was still going to preserve His people and His promises. He was going to judge the world and all the evil that presides in it. He is going to do all that He promised to the forefathers and prophets of the faith, but there was going to be a period of silence that needed to happen beforehand. God tells His people to remember.
Malachi 4:4, “4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb (Mt. Sinai) for all Israel.”
- God gives them instruction to remember. The common practice of God’s people was stubbornness. As we have seen through the series of Judges and other narratives in Genesis and throughout the Old Testament, these people were not perfect and could never measure up to God’s standard of holiness. The call for Israel to remember the law of Moses was a reminder of their own weakness before a Holy and perfect God.
- If we can remember our preaching series on the 10 Commandments at the beginning of 2023, we preached through how the Law was given to Moses to reveal God’s holiness, set them apart as a nation, and to usher in the promised “seed” that was prophesied in Genesis 3:15. For God’s people, they were to live by faith in obedience to God’s Law in every way, trusting in a future promise of deliverance by the Messiah. Everything they did, in setting up a tabernacle, building the Temple, and sacrificing animals pointed to a heavenly version of these things. One day, God would bring the Kingdom down to earth through the Messiah. God was calling them to remember His covenant promises to them and to walk in faithful obedience.
- However, we don’t see a people living in obedience to the Law consistently. We instead see them drop the ball time and time again and it doesn’t change during the time of this writing either. Malachi provides six disputations or arguments against their sin during this time. It is a reminder of why God calls them to remember His Law. In looking backward to the Mosaic Law and pointing forward to the promise of Elijah, God is speaking to Israel through these arguments to help them see where they have fallen short and challenge those who would listen to remain faithful. Those that will endure and believe in these promises would escape judgment and see the coming hope of the Messiah. Let’s look at the first three disputations to see how they have disobeyed and how it parallels the modern Church.
- Israel is providing worthless offerings and false worship before God. (v.1:2-5)
- Worship is not dictated on our terms now and nor has it ever been in the history of salvation. True worship is through how God tells us to worship in what is written in His Word. Many Christians and people in general think they can connect and fellowship with God through their own means and own rules. It is often demonstrated and practiced by those who take the truth of God and replace it with a lie. If only I give enough money or serve hard enough in church, God will like me. If I become a really nice person or be kind and accepting of every idea, God will bless me. I can read horoscopes and tap into the enneagram or personality tests to help determine my growth and relationship with the Lord. Nature is my place of worship where I can tap into my energy and worship the trees and animals. This is flat out wrong.
- False worship is ultimately a mark of false teachers leading their people astray. The liberality of our teaching of Christian freedom has unfortunately plagued us in similar ways. New age worship, emotionalism, me-centered worship, lack of accountability and the idea of a lone wolf Christian are all signs of false worship and fellowship with God that is invading the Church today.
- Malachi rebukes the priests for condoning these offerings and false worship as a violation of the covenant before God. (v.1:6-2:9)
- Any success or failure of a company or an organization depends on the proper leadership and guidance of the people at the top. Those who were entrusted by God to lead Israel were not only participating in false worship themselves, but openly condoning their false teachings and the actions of those they are leading. The nation is being misled primarily by those who are playing “church” rather than pointing them to God’s Law and leading the people through proper worship of God. Look at how God anguishes over His people.
Malachi 1:10, “10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”
- We often see the perversion of leadership in today’s church as well. It takes the form in many ways. It might be that the government of the church supports the sole unaccounted leadership of one man or one group of power-hungry people. A power-hungry Pastor who manipulates or is driven by great expansion, influence, gain, or wealth. Or the prosperity gospel and its leaders who rob their people and drive their flock to hardship or weighty standards of fundamentalism. Where grace and freedom are truly lost and slavery umbrellas “establishment”. It is wrong. It is sinful. It is broken.
- Brothers and sisters, we believe here at Redeeming Grace that elders are to be plural for accountability. We believe that is the biblical model. This means that we have multiple Pastors whom God has placed at RGC with different gifts meant to shepherd or care for the souls of this Church. Pastor Kevin and Pastor Craig are not only peers, but also my Pastor. They would say the same for me and they for them. And listen, we are not only accountable toward one another, but to all of you as well. If you ever hear us preach or teach something that is false or something feels off in the shepherding of you all, we want you to address this. If we are not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ or preaching and teaching out of God’s Word, we want you to address that. As members of this church, we are called to do this together in love, as Pastor Kevin, Craig, and I will give an account for those we are called to shepherd.
- Malachi condemns marriage to an idolator as infidelity against the Law. Unauthorized divorce is also listed here. (v.2:10-16)
- Idolatry is marked by infidelity. Israel, because of Judah’s actions, are leaving their God to be with foreign gods. To mingle with other nations meant to leave the wife of their youth. As we have seen, the example of this failure is vivid in the book of Judges. The same type of intermarrying was happening here. Intermarrying allowed compromise of the Israelites in adopting practices and worship from foreign gods. It brought upon a slow poison to the nation and caused great judgment from God to break them. This challenge to Israel is no different.
- This also included the call for them to not frivolously divorce over invalid reasons. These reasons for divorce may have been for the purpose of intermarrying with other nations. This violated God’s command, and no one batted an eye.
- This is why we see in the New Testament that believers ought not to marry non-believers. This does not apply to those who got saved after they were married. There is grace for believers who have already been married with a non-believer. Paul lays out specific instructions regarding that in 1 Corinthians 7 if you want to read further. The problem arises when a believer actively dates or seeks to marry a non-believer. Also, you shouldn’t be dating if marriage isn’t on the table.
- Before I got married, I unfortunately dated a few women who were non-believers. Not only was sexual sin a problem in this, but also I compromised on other sin as well. My character and life begin to falter and I was not wholly devoted to the Lord. I instead had one foot in the Pagan pool and one in the Church. This half-hearted worship is dangerous and tempting for young adults. Flee from this before it causes trouble. If marriage becomes a thing, you are still making a covenant promise before God to stay with that man or woman until death do you part. Once you say your vows, you don’t get to just walk away when things get hard.
- This goes for believers who are married to one another as well. We don’t get to be half-hearted in our marriages either. Divorce is not an option, but a last resort when unrepentant sexual sin and infidelity become a problem. Husbands, love your wife like Christ loves you. Lay your life down for her. Don’t bumble around like the TV shows portray all men to be. Be a man and take ownership and responsibility. Shepherd your wife and lead her to Christ. Listen to her when she speaks. Wives, respect your husbands and submit to his leadership. Don’t try and run the house or usurp the husband’s role as a leader and Shepherd. Let him win once in a while. We know you are right most of the time, but you don’t have to bear the responsibility or consequences (good or bad) of leadership. Instead, be supportive and be an example and doer of God’s Word that he might be changed by your walk with Christ. Be kind and gentle.
Application: The time of Malachi serves as a reminder that Israel and mankind needed something greater than a set of laws and rules to govern them. Israel could not uphold or keep the Law as a means for righteousness. Those who were faithful still failed in one way or another. As much as Israel has violated God’s Law, there was still a call to look back and remember the Law and how God has carried them. God has been faithful toward Israel throughout the history of their existence. If we were to get snapshots, we could see God’s faithfulness from Adam to Abraham, Jacob to Moses, Ruth to David, and Daniel to Nehemiah. God was always working to preserve His people, even a small remnant, that a future promise might come. God provides Israel a reminder that things are going to change with the Messiah. The Old Covenant would die and a New Covenant would be ushered in.
Jeremiah 31:31-34, “31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
-This promise is given to Israel, but God’s plan extended to all. If you are a believer in Christ, you remember the Law not as Israel was called to in Malachi, but for its fulfillment in Christ! Exactly how Jeremiah 31 has described. It is through the New Covenant of grace through the finished work of Christ. That we are changed and live in holiness by the Spirit. The way that believers relate to the Law has changed. Jesus fulfilled the Law of Moses, and we now have a new relationship to that Law. The promise Israel was to look for in the Law of Moses was in Christ.
Galatians 3:21-29, “21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”
- The Law then leads us to Christ. When God saves you, the relationship to the Law is such that God is working to change your desires in loving His Law and following it. It no longer brings condemnation, but life.
Romans 8:1-8, “1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
- This is good news for believers. All that was needed for righteousness and life is accomplished in Christ. If you are born again, your life is now changed. You are no longer dead to your transgression but made alive in Christ. You have been raised to new life with Jesus and given His Spirit to live for and glorify Him. Following and trusting God’s Law now means we follow and trust Christ, knowing that what He accomplished through the gospel was sufficient and potent enough to save us and deliver us from the power of sin. This is not a work you could ever accomplish on your own but is accomplished by grace alone on the basis of Christ alone through the means of faith alone to the ultimate glory of God alone as it is taught with the absolute authority of Scripture alone.
Transition: You might be asking, where and how am I getting this from Malachi? The promise of a New Covenant and Messiah is concluded here in verses 5-6. Just as we looked backward and forward at the Law, we continue to look ahead at a future promise.
- Look forward to the promise. (v.5-6)
Explanation: I have gone through the first three disputations in Malachi but will hold off on the last three for the sake of time. The last three challenges from God through Malachi are summed up in the twofold prophecy of the Elijah before the great and awesome day of the Lord.
Malachi 4:5, “5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”
- Who is Elijah? What does Malachi mean when he speaks of the prophet’s return?
- He was a prophet recognized in the book of 1&2 Kings during the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah. His name means “my God is Yahweh” and actively opposed Baal and the worship of this storm deity. God’s miraculous power through Elijah was well known to be over the elements to astound and prove God’s mighty power. What is most notable about Elijah, though, is his ascent into heaven by the chariots and horses of fire in 2 Kings 2:1-12. Elijah never physically died. He was taken up into heaven.
- What’s most peculiar here is his anticipated return. Since he never physically died, we can expect him to return, and the Scriptures lay this out in two ways and represents one promise that the Lord will return!
- First, I believe Malachi is referring to the coming of Elijah as John the Baptist. John is the cousin of Jesus is considered the forerunner to the Messiah. For 400 years, Israel will have to wait for the forerunner to come. Sure, they are in their rebuilt Temple and together again, but there is radio silence from God. The promised New Covenant would have to wait for some time.
Illustration: This is why many, including my family, visit and celebrate a time of Advent. In the month of December, we wait in anticipation of the fulfilled promise of a Savior into this world. The weeks leading up to Christmas, we look forward with anticipation of a fulfilled promise. The Savior would be born but not remain a baby. The birth of Christ ultimately points the world to the completed work on that cross and through His resurrection.
- Just as the birth of Jesus changed the world, John the Baptist would also represent a cataclysmic shift in the story. A period of anticipation with 400 years of silence would be broken with the coming of Elijah through John.
Explanation: First, we see this with the Great Day of the Lord in the arrival of Jesus in His earthly ministry.
Luke 1:13-17, “13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
- The Angel of the Lord directly quotes Malachi in the coming birth of John. John’s birth would not represent a physical manifestation of Elijah, but John would come before Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah. Jesus confirms this.
Matthew 11:11-15, “11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
- This prophecy also points to the final Great and awesome Day of the Lord when He returns to judge the world in its sin. God will again use Elijah to miraculously control the elements in Revelation 11. It is here we have two witnesses to prepare the way for God’s final judgment over Israel and the world. One of these could be Moses while the other witness is certainly Elijah.
Thus, the spirit of Elijah will return to usher in the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry through John the Baptist after four centuries of silence and he will physically appear again before the final judgment.
Application: This is encouraging for believers for several reasons. Just as God has preserved some from Israel for the hopeful expectation of the Messiah, we now await the return of Christ with hopeful expectation. You see, Christmas is not just a time of remembrance of the birth of our Lord and Savior, but a reminder of the completed work of Christ in the gospel and His return. Why? It is by the sufficient and potent work of the gospel. We get to walk with Christ in hopeful expectation of His return to make all things new.
- In the meantime, the work of the gospel ultimately brings reconciliation.
Malachi 4:6a, “6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers”
- You see? The gospel is the act of God sending His Son to come to a dying world. He was born of a virgin, had to grow up and was tempted in all the same ways we are, but never sinned. The world around Him was broken, but because of His love for the world, He came to suffer and die a horrendous death on a cross. Because of His grace, He took the punishment that we deserved as sinners to reconcile us back to God. In this reconciliation, we are made in the image of Christ. We are new creations in Him. The old us has died. The standing before God that was once broken and sealed off is now open for us to approach. The condemnation that once represented sinners is now restored to righteousness for those who would believe in Christ. This reconciliation doesn’t just extend to us and God.
- We now as born-again believers get the opportunity to see God at work. The relationships that once stood broken, can be reconciled. The hearts of stone are turned to flesh. The hearts of fathers and children are restored toward one another. The generational gap that once separated the patriarchs and believers are connected in Christ. The Law of Moses fulfilled in Jesus. The Prophets words fulfilled in the arrival of Jesus and His earthly ministry. They were fulfilled in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and will one day be completed in the return of Christ at the Great and awesome Day of the Lord.
Conclusion
Clarification: The final words of Malachi point us to a time designated by God for final judgment.
Malachi 4:6b, “…lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
- While it may be an awesome time for those who are His children. We will be face to face with our Savior and we will be in glory. Make no mistake. This will also be a great period of death, mourning, and grief from those who don’t know Christ. Jesus isn’t coming back to bring lollipops to everyone. He is coming back on a white horse and a sword coming out of His mouth. There will be great loss of life and terrifying judgment from our Lord. And when all that is done, there will be a great Judgment of every thought and action of every person. Every knee will eventually bow.
Final Application: May we diligently prepare for the return of Christ by walking with Him these final days. That we wouldn’t get too comfortable on this temporary place called earth. That we would share with those in the path of fiery judgment the gospel that changed our hearts and minds in Christ.
- One of my favorite songs is called “Land of Confusion” first done by the band Genesis and later covered by the band Disturbed. I feel this song rightly describes the world we live in. There is a few lines in the pre-chorus of the song that sings, “There’s too many men, too many people, making too many problems, and there’s not much love to go round, can’t you see this is a land of confusion?”
- This truly is a land of confusion and there is only truly one way that people can be changed. It is by the life change brought upon by the work of God through the gospel and His Word. First it is or was us hearing and being changed by the gospel through God’s Word and the Lord using that to make disciples out of us. We in return proclaim the gospel from the rooftops and allow God to change the hearts of men and women as more disciples are made. Let’s start there.
Charles Spurgeon famously wrote, “If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”
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