Two Kinds of Talk
stephan challen
Malachi • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 44:09
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Order of Service
Order of Service
Welcome
Welcome
Prayer
Prayer
Hymn -
Hymn -
Notices
Notices
Prayer Meeting - 7:30pm
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Main Prayer
Main Prayer
Hymn -
Hymn -
Reading
Reading
“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’ ” Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
Sermon
Sermon
God spoke everything into being
Our speach creates a world or environment in which we live
Encouragement and relaxtion or tension and despair
Malachi uses a distinctive method
“disputation method”
makes a positive chage against his hearers
he gives the kind of response he expects from his hearers
usually in a question which feigns total ignorance and innocence of charge against him
yet in fact reflects the spiritual deadness and arrogance of the people
then he comes in again in more detail and nails them down
This is the last of the question and answer siputations and it introduces a section which tells us about the power of the tongue for evil or for good
Harsh Talk
Harsh Talk
“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’ ”
1. What kind of talk is this exactly?
At times some Christians heartlessly address people facing difficulties
‘all things work together for good’
People who have served the Lord faithfully and lovigly are not exempt from calamities
At such times of crisis God expects us to be honest with him and to come and pour out our agonies and our disappointments humbly to him
Not to do so is to be less than real with God
We are brought low and we stand sometimes speechless before the mystery of his providence
In faith we reserver judgement on what God has allowed to happen
He knows the end from the beginning
He is God and we are humans
People, under the pretence of being ‘honest’ were taking it upon themselves to jump to conclusions about God and his ways
They considered themselves the example of godliness
How dare God allow trouble to enter their lives?
Their response to the first hint of trouble was “It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge (requirements)?”
Their accuse God of not keeping his promises.
They slader God’s name
“Walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts?”
Mourners at a funeral are careful to on their best behaviour
But they saw no point being careful about serving God
Their talk is faithless
arrogantly pointing a finger at God
“now we call the arrogant blessed”
Their talk self-righteous
“Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.”
Their talk discourages others from serving God
It is spiritually dangerous
2. When was this talk uttered?
Public of Private
Expressed or unexpressed
God heard them
Out attitudes are also exibited through our body language and actions
The cancer of harsh and discouraging sentiments can spread among the people of God
3. Where do we find such talk today?
We expect it from the World, but Malachi was finding among those who professed to be God’s people
Liberal Theology
leading ecclesiastical dignitaries undermin scripture “The Bible is a great servant but a terrible master”
They discourage others from taking God’s Word seriously
Creation
Virgin Birth
Bodily Resurrection of Jesus
Diety of Christ denied
It is implied that Christian Salvation is not as good as we were naively led to believe
Almost as if God could not posisble make it that Good as to giv us a true bodily eternal life of which Jesus’ resurrect is the proof
God could not be that good, as to come for us in the flesh and die for us
This is harsh talk against God, which discourages faith
Cynicism
A cynic is a person who sarcastically doubts human sincerity and merit
Nothing is ever done with good intention
Nothing is ever as good as it can be
Things will always turn out badly
When things go wrong say “I told you so!” and “WHat did you expect!”, hiding their remarks behind dry humour
“Chisholm’s first law of human interaction” is a humour book that presents “if anything can possibly go wrong - it will”
The law has a a proposition “if anything just can’t go wrong - it will anyway”
We smile at such quips and too much of that kind of talk betrays more than a playful sense of humour
From Christians it can be tantamount to accusing God of always letting us down
Materialism
Living in our materialistic culture we are confronted with the apparent happiness and comfort of the ungodly
We call to the tempation of Asaph (Psalm 73) “I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles … They are free from the burdens common to man.”
We say “Oh, to be rich and have an easy life! Oh, the hardship of this Christian life!”
Our feet can quickly slip into living for personal comfort rather than for God and His Glory, even while attending church.
It repeats the word’s of the Israelites “It is futile to server God”
The attitude exposes the true state of people who are “Christians” and “Serving God” for what they hope to get out of him, rather than because they honestly love him.
If Only Syndrome
Some give the impression they spend time thinking “I’ve been serving God all these years, and look where it has got me. If only I had ...”
People who go through life with this “if only ...” attitude are spirirtually self-harming
Instead of trusting the soverign God to do what is right they virtually accurse him of wasting their lives.
“If only...” outlook is dangerous and is like driving a car with your eye exclusively taken up with the rear-view mirror.
These and many more are examples of today’s harsh talk against the Lord
4. How do people come to talk like this?
Beneath a religious veneer (hyper spiritualism) they were making vicious insinuations against God
This is a very serious sin and we need to understand how people came into this bitter state, so as to avoid falling into it ourselves
The source of the problem is they had forgotton two things
a. They have lost sight of the present in light of the future judgement of God
As Paul said ...
If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
For Paul faith in Christ was never a route to material prosperity, health and ease.
Rather his experience was trouble, persecution and hardship, alongside the joy of knowing Christ
If we forget the future it is very easy to slip into accusing God
The Bible is clear: There is ...
A world to come and there is to be a judgement
An eternal heaven and eternal hell
A seperation between the righteous and wicked
Alaph was tempted until he understood their final destiny...
until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
Paul’s sufferings were hard but in the light of eternity he wrote...
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
The athlete who runs well contrates of the goal and is not distracted by the crowd
Losing Touch with the Living God: The Message of Malachi 4. How Do People Come to Talk like This?
John Wesley said, ‘I desire to have both heaven and hell ever in my eye, while I stand on this isthmus of life, between these two boundless oceans: and I verily think the daily consideration of both highly becomes all men of reason and religion.’
Return...
“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’ ”
b. They have forgotten the dangers of partial Obedience
One of Malachi’s challenges was that the people thought they had been giving themselves to God
paraphrased: “Look we have served God and he has given us no blessing”
Outwardly they kept up the temple services, but where were their hearts?
Partial obedience was the reason why God did not bless them
They nodded in God’s direction but that was all.
They neer put God first
They wanted to server God and Self
The danger of partial obedience is that God cannot bless it.
Satan’s ploy is an enormously dangerous matter. It can twist itself around and lend fuel to all the accusations against God.
It can lead people into a deep pit of bitterness against God
Sincere and whole-hearted devotion to God is the only safe road
Honourable Talk
Honourable Talk
Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
“Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another”
They talked about their mutual fear and regard for God
After the service what is the conversation about?
It would be unnatural and false if that conversation never included day-to-day affairs, welbeing and life events
But if the things of God are hardly ever mentioned in that conversation then something is wrong
God and His Ways should be part of our everyday conversation
They engaged in conversation that “esteemed his name”
He is honoured by the truth
When people go through hardship it can be of benefit to bring words of Scripture tenderly to them
The person may already know the words of the Bible but it can be a real help just to hear those words from the lips of someone else who truely believes them
The devil using faithless words of other may bring people to question “Is God Faither? Does God Care?”
It is time for someone to get into the witness box and explain from their own experience how the Lord helped them.
It can be a help that can rekindle a dying faith
Their conversation promoted the fear and honour of God
These honourable talkers are to be our pattern for speech
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
return...
Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
“The Lord paid attention and heard them”
A book of remembrance was written of those who feared and honoured God
God points to the eternal judgements and says they will be saved
The disinction of the judgement day is between the righteous and the wicked
The righteouse speak honourable of God taking practical steps to encourage faith.
Jesus said...
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
The passage In Malachi shows us that these two types of talk are both heard by God
That is why gossip and back-stabbing are ultimately pointless and fearfully sinful
Losing Touch with the Living God: The Message of Malachi Honourable Talk (3:16–18)
The great theologian Augustine had a notice written up on his dining room wall. It said this: ‘He is unwelcome at this table who speaks an unkind word against an absent brother.’
Jesus said ...
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Hymn -
Hymn -
Q&A
Q&A
Hymn -
Hymn -
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Doxology
Doxology