Skip to content The Refining Fire: God's Judgment and Mercy in Malachi 3-4 Jun 10 · 14 min ...more
The Refining Fire: God's Judgment and Mercy in Malachi 3-4
June 10, 2025 · 14 min
Reflect on God's refining judgment, the coming of His messenger, and the promise of ultimate restoration for the faithful.
Series Stand on the Word - Audio On Demand June 10, 2025 · 14 min · Stand on the Word - Audio On Demand
Reflect on God's refining judgment, the coming of His messenger, and the promise of ultimate restoration for the faithful. ...more Show the full description Show less Reflect on God's refining judgment, the coming of His messenger, and the promise of ultimate restoration for the faithful.
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The Call to Return and the Promise of Blessing 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Today, the very last 2 chapters of the last book of the Old Testament as we look at Malachi chapters 3 and 4 verse 8, chapter0:21 3, will man rob God? Yet you're robbing me. But you say, how have we robbed you? In your tithes and contributions. So these last 2 chapters speak to the coming messiah0:33 preceded by John the Baptist, a calling out of the sins of the people, including robbing God, but also we find here a promise of the coming day of the Lord, which shall be healing to those who fear the0:45 Lord, but judgment upon the proud. Now the prophetic passage also provides a glimpse of what is yet to come. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of0:57 the Lord. John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah, but there is is, a future forerunner before the second coming of the Messiah, which will be1:09 in that day. So that is yet to come. Now with that overview, I'm going, I'm going to touch on a few of the high points before focusing on what I think is, the more prominent issue1:21 in this passage, and that is that of robbing God. Now this is a passage that if, frankly, if pastors preach on it, and they should, they're accused of just wanting money. So I can teach on1:33 this passage because I don't want your money, but I want you to have a blessing, and that's what God offers here. Now chapter 3 starts off by looking past the coming 400 years of1:44 silence to the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, the messenger of the new covenant. So when we close these chapters and then we start tomorrow in Matthew,1:56 there's a 400 year period. I'm gonna talk about that, tomorrow. Alright. Let's begin verse 1, chapter 3. Behold, I send my messenger. He will prepare the way before me, and the Lord2:08 whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand2:20 when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller soap. He will sit as a refiner and pure purifier of of silver, and he will purify the sons of2:32 Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old2:44 and as in former years. Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be swift. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear2:55 falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner and do not fear me, says the lord of3:07 hosts. Now there is a common denominator in those who will face the judgment of God. It is those who do not fear or reverence3:19 him. Beginning continuing verse 6, for I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore, you, oh, children of Jacob, are not consumed. Now this is a significant and encouraging3:30 declaration by the Lord. I do not change. Alright? Think what it would be like if God changed his commandments, his expectations, his character, or his nature. You know, God did3:42 not change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. There's not a a God of the Old Testament and a different God for the New Testament. God provided a means for us in the New Testament under the new covenant3:55 to meet his terms of righteousness found under the law in the Old Testament, and that means is Jesus Christ. For god so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish4:06 but have everlasting life, John 3 16. Verse 7, from the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.4:18 Return to me, and I will return to you, says the lord of hosts. But you say, how shall we return? Okay. Here is where the holy spirit is gonna step start stepping on some toes. Verse 8. So4:30 they're asking this question. How are we to return? Verse 8. Will man rob God? Yet you're robbing me. But you say, how have we robbed you in your tithes and your4:42 contributions? You know, when I was a a boy, after our family started going to to church, the youth would be allowed to take up the offering on Sunday nights. And on 1 occasion, there was a teenage boy who took4:54 up the offering that particular night, and he decide he decided to take 2 5 dollar bills from the offering plate. And as I recall, the chain of events, the next week when he was playing basketball,5:06 or some event in PE at school, he broke his leg. Coincidence? It just happened? Well, after about 6 or 8 weeks on crutches, the day after he got his5:18 cast off, he was stepping off the bus, and he broke his other leg. I don't think that was coincidence. It certainly didn't hit me that way. Well, here, they are essentially doing the5:30 same thing by not giving to God in the first place. As Moses wrote, remember the lord your God, for it is he that gives you the power to get wealth. We we wouldn't have anything5:42 if it weren't for God. So why are we stingy when it comes to giving to God? Because what we have is from him. Remember, Malachi was prophesying at the very same time as Nehemiah was leading,5:54 and we just read in Nehemiah chapter 13 where they were not bringing their tithes and their offerings as they should. Verse 10 of chapter 13 of Nehemiah. I also found out that6:06 the portions of the Levites had not been given to them so that the Levites and the singers who did the work had fled each to his field. Look at the consequences of their refusal to give back6:18 a portion, just a portion of what god had given to them as an offering. And and look look at verse 9. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me.6:31 The whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe. You know, don't don't shortchange me. Bring the full tie tithe into the storehouse that there may6:43 be food in my house, and thereby put me to the test, says the lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing6:54 until there is no more room. Now our motive for giving is not that God will give more back to us. If that's our motive, our heart is not right, and God speaks to that type of thinking in7:06 verse 14 where he says, you have said it is vain to serve God. What is profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the lord of7:18 host? I mean, we're we're we don't you know, we're we're not paid to serve the lord, and it's not like we, we, you know, God is an ATM machine, but we7:30 are to give willingly to the Lord. Verse 15, and now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper, but they put God to the test and they escape. So they had used this7:42 line before. Okay. We've seen this before. What profit is there to serve God? If we are not materially blessed, then what's the point? That was the question that we're asking. Well, here's the point of7:54 giving to the Lord, and I'm going to, I'm gonna speak from experience. Again, as a young boy, when my parents came to Christ and we began going to church, I was taught to tithe not out of what was left over,8:06 but off the very top. And the first time I can recall after we began going to church church and I started to earn money, a a tenth of that went. Now the old testament is a tenth. It's not in8:18 effect in the New Testament, but it's a good place to start. Tithing, giving regularly and systematically to the lord where you're being spiritually nurtured accomplishes, I think, several8:30 things. First, if you're not tithing to your church because you're not being spiritually fed, then you need to find a new church. Alright? That's just real simple. But giving to the Lord is also an act of8:42 trust, trust that he will provide what we need. It also develops financial discipline in our lives. It is an act of worship, and it's a display of gratitude to the 1 who has provided all things for us.8:54 It is also it also gives us an opportunity to partner with God in his work on this earth. Now let's be very clear.9:06 God doesn't need your money. Okay? God doesn't need your money. He doesn't need my money, but he gives us the privilege of being a part of what he is doing.9:19 And what we're doing is exchanging earthly dollars for heavenly treasure. You know, when I I take just recently went to Israel, and I go to the to9:31 a place where you exchange dollar bills, US dollars for for shekels. And what we're doing by by giving to God is that what we're doing, we're we are,9:45 we're transferring. We're we're exchanging earthly dollars for heavenly crowns because we're investing in the kingdom of9:56 God. Alright. Verse, and and this is actually Jesus talked about this in Matthew chapter 6 verse 19. He says, do not lay up for yourself treasures on heaven10:08 where moth where on earth rather, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not10:20 break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So invest in the kingdom. Knowing what you know now, let me ask you this question. If you were given the opportunity10:32 25 years ago to buy the initial stock in Amazon, would you do it? I think most everybody would say yes. Well, god is giving us the opportunity10:44 now to invest in his eternal kingdom, and the the returns are out of this world. So while it should not be our motive, God10:56 says put me to the test and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more room.11:07 Verse 24 of, Proverbs 11, 11, I think, speaks of this. 1 gives freely, yet another yet grows all the richer. Another withholds what he should give and only suffers 1. And11:19 while this verse does not directly address the tithe, it does highlight the counterintuitive nature of the kingdom of God. The generous11:31 soul is the soul that will be blessed, and he who waters will be watered himself. But also consider what God says he will do for those who trust and obey him with their resources. Look at verse 11 back in11:43 Malachi 3. I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear,11:55 says the lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the lord of hosts. I mean, isn't that amazing? How god is will open the windows of heaven and pour12:07 out a blessing. He he he'll bless us as we're coming in, bless us as our going out because we declare our trust in him with our treasure. Alright. There is more in these 212:19 chapters, so I wanna encourage you to read the rest of chapter 3 and chapter 4. And then next time next time we gather, we will be in the book of Matthew. We will beginning we will begin the New12:31 Testament portion of our journey. And 1 last time, I wanna encourage you to, invite someone to join us on the next 21 days as we work our way through the book of Matthew for the 2112:42 day Bible challenge. And so just have folks, text Matthew to 6 7 7 4 2. That's Matthew to 6 7 7 4 2, and they can take the challenge and join us12:54 over the next 21 days as we walk through the book of Matthew together. Father, thank you for your word. And, lord, may our hearts be13:06 receptive, and may our eyes be open. May our ears be attentive to what you're showing us and and what the what the holy spirit is saying. Lord,13:18 change us, transform us by your word. And, Lord, I pray that we would not rob you, not rob you of the praise that is worthy that you are worthy of, not pray not rob you, Lord, of13:30 the tithes and offerings that we should give you because you've blessed us so much, not rob you of the time that we should commit to you. But, Lord, I pray that we would make you first and foremost in our13:41 lives. Thank you, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Until next time. Keep standing on the word.13:53 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:05 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Call to Return and the Promise of Blessing
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