Sermon Tone Analysis

*How Do You Love Me?*  \\ Malachi 1:1-1:5 \\ \\ How Do You Love Me? \\ Mal.

1:1-5 \\ \\ \\ Intro: Please turn with me to the Book of Malachi, chapter one.

This morning we’re beginning a new series of messages from the book of Malachi which we’ve entitled, “Questions People Ask.”

As you’re finding Malachi - and maybe having some difficulty - let me encourage you by saying that most people would have trouble finding Malachi.

It’s a book that - unfortunately - is easily overlooked and seldom preached from.

In fact I can’t remember ever hearing a sermon series from Malachi.

Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament.

It’s usually the book we run into because we didn’t turn far enough to get to Matthew.

So, if you get to Matthew - go backwards a few pages and you’ll find Malachi.

\\ \\ While your turning I’d like to share some background on this book.

Especially, why we’re looking at Malachi.

As the Old Testament comes to a close, Malachi contains the last of God’s prophecies given to His people for about 400 years.

After Malachi the prophetic voice from heaven ceases - there are no more revelations from God - until the coming of Jesus Christ.

Malachi - bridging this gap of silent years - at it’s core is a love letter from God. It’s a letter from God full of hope, encouragement, and love to sustain His people.

\\ \\ The reason for the title of our series - “Questions People Ask” - is that in the book of Malachi there are a series of questions that the people ask God.

As we go along in this series you’ll find that these questions are questions that many people are asking today - especially as dramatic revelations and signs from heaven seem less common these days.

Probably, if some of these questions are not questions that you yourself are asking I encourage you to follow God’s answers because there is probably someone around you who is asking these questions and you’ll want to be ready to encourage them with God’s answers.

\\ \\ Malachi 1:1-5 - “An oracle: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.

2"I have loved you," says the Lord.

"But you ask, ’How have you loved us?’ "Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?" the Lord says.

"Yet I have loved Jacob, 3but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals."

4Edom may say, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins."

But this is what the Lord Almighty says: "They may build, but I will demolish.

They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.

5You will see it with your own eyes and say, ’Great is the Lord--even beyond the borders of Israel!’ “ \\ \\ This is the first question.

In response to God’s declaration, “I have loved you”, the people ask, “How have You loved us?” Put another way, “Where is Your love?

I don’t see any evidence that You’ve loved us.”

Let’s look at this first question this morning and see if we can find God’s answer.

But first, let’s pray.

\\ \\ \\ Transition: Before we go on let’s make sure we understand the question and how the same question is being asked today.

\\ \\ Looking at the nation of Israel - at the time Malachi was writing - it’s easy to identify with the honesty and despair of this question.

For 70 years the Israelites had lived in exile in Babylon - as slaves of the Babylonian and Persian Empires.

Then - returning from exile - for eighty plus years the Israelites had been living in their motherland.

Imagine - the glory days - the golden years - of the independent state of Israel were buried under 150 plus years of history - a myth passed down through the generations.

\\ \\ Now these people had returned.

Maybe as many as 100,000.

Under Ezra they had rebuilt the Temple.

But, it paled in comparison to what had been before.

Under Nehemiah they had rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.

But, they lacked the manpower to defend against their enemies - enemies which would have loved to have seen them wiped out.

Living conditions were poor.

Many were discouraged.

\\ \\ God - the God of their forefathers - had allowed them tragedy after tragedy - finally to be dragged off into exile.

Their return, the Temple, the wall, whatever prosperity they had they believed was because they had made it happen - their strength - their abilities.

Where was God was in all this?

How arrogant was it for God to claim that He had loved them.

\\ \\ We look at things that are happening today - 9~/11 or when our health fails - we lose a job - marriages struggle.

It’s easy to ask the question.

“Where is this God of love?

How have You loved us?” \\ \\ I. God’s Love Is Doubted – vv.

1-2b \\ A. God’s PASSION Is Declared.

1:1-2a \\ 1. "I" disease usually means a failure to see God’s love! \\ a) And they had it bad!

\\ b) God had clearly said He loved them … many times in history, and as recently as their return from captivity in Babylon to the promised land under their grandparents.

\\ 2. It is true that God had allowed their previous captivity, to cure them of their constant idolatry … but He hadn’t cast them away or destroyed them.

\\ a) This was evidence of His continued love for them.

\\ b) They failed to see it as love.

\\ c) Most children don’t see discipline as love when it produces pain! \\ 3.

But they had found freedom again, and prosperity … and yet they were complaining that they didn’t see God’s love! \\ 4. God appeals to their history … they are the descendants of Jacob, and God has loved Jacob, how could they say they weren’t loved?

\\ a) They didn’t see it because they were only focused on NOW … their tunnel vision did not let them see the expanded view of history.

\\ b) Most of the time when we are feeling like "God doesn’t care or love me" it will be for the same reason!

\\ 5.

The truth is that God loved them more than they appreciated … in fact, it wasn’t because they were better than others that God loved them, it was because God CHOSE to love them … He had sought them out first! \\ 6. Quote: “God wants us to worship Him.

He doesn’t need us, for He couldn’t be a self-sufficient God and need anything or anybody, but He wants us.

When Adam sinned it was not he who cried, "God, where are you?"

It was God who cried, "Adam, where are you?"

-- A.W. Tozer, Worship: The Missing Jewel.

Christianity Today, Vol.

41, no. 5. \\ a) This has always been the case … God seeking us out even before we sought Him out.

\\ b) This is proof of His love for us.

\\ c) BUT … it is possible to turn away from His love, and this is what Israel was doing!

\\ \\ B. Israel’s GRIPING Is Revealed – 1:2b \\ 1.

They asked, "How have you loved us?" \\ a) They just didn’t see God’s love, they were too limited in their vision, only the present moment was their focus.

\\ b) We cannot judge God’s love based on the moment, God’s love works through time and it will take time to see it properly.

\\ 2. So often we fail to see God’s love when we are facing restrictions, or problems, or pain … but we must understand that even these events can be a sign of His love if they are teaching us how to avoid unhealthy choices in our life.

\\ a) ILLUS: At a summer Christian camp for children one of the counselors was leading a discussion on the purpose God had for everything He created.

They began to find good reasons for clouds and trees and rocks and rivers and animals and just about everything else in nature.

Finally, one of the children said, "If God had a good purpose for everything, then why did He create poison ivy?"

The discussion leader gulped and, as he struggled with the question, one of the other children came to his rescue, saying, "The reason God made poison ivy is because He wanted us to know there are certain things we should keep our cotton-pickin’ hands off."

-- James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 254.

\\ 3. God does not allow suffering and pain to just make us miserable, but to make us grow and become stronger!

\\ a) Israel sometimes failed to see this, and the result was always the same, a cooling off spiritually and questions about God’s love and concern for them.

\\ b) All of life must be seen in a larger context to appreciate God’s love for us.

\\ 4. Tragically, it had been 2 or 3 generations since Israel had returned to the land and rebuilt the temple and instead of being more mature they were more miserable!

\\ a) It is unfortunate, but sometimes growing older only makes some people MORE bitter and not more spiritual!

\\ b) Quote: “It’s scary to realize that most of the people who failed in Scripture failed in the second half of their lives.”

-- Joe Aldrich, Leadership, Vol. 13, no. 3. \\ c) You can fall away just as easily later in life as you can earlier in life.

\\ 5.

There is nothing more miserable than a believer who doubts God’s love for them!

\\ a) Their doubt about God’s love had resulted in lifeless ritualistic worship.

\\ b) Their doubt about God’s love had resulted in poor giving, withholding their tithes.

(Mal.

3:6ff) \\ c) Their doubt about God’s love had resulted in boredom with life.

\\ d) Their doubt about God’s love had resulted in a lack of love for one another, hence divorce had become rampant, and marrying unbelievers had become common.

\\ 6.

When you lose your belief that God loves you it will not be hard to live in a way that shows no love to anyone else! \\ \\ \\ II.

God’s Love Is Demonstrated – 1:2c-5 \\ A. A New PERSPECTIVE Is Needed.

1:2c-3 \\ 1.

As a way of opening up their perspective God reminds them of His love for Jacob … their forefather.

\\ a) By doing this He is reminding them of His covenant … to love always the descendants of Jacob, THEM! \\ b) They really needed to see BEYOND their present situation, and history provides great evidence of God’s presence and love.

\\ c) So often we fail to do the same thing, we get mad at God over something that HAS JUST happened and forget all His other mercies in the past.

\\ 2. It is such a simple truth, but it has profound power over our lives … God made a choice to love Jacob, Israel and us! \\ a) ILLUS: Karl Barth was invited to deliver one of the distinguished lectureships at a theological seminary in the East, and while he was there a group of ministers and theologians and dignitaries of one kind or another sat down with him in a kind of question-and-answer period.

Someone asked the question, "What is the most profound thought that you know, Dr. Barth?"

This is what he said: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." -- W. Frank Harrington, "The Love That Brought Him," Preaching Today, Tape No. 51. \\ b) We need to understand that God’s choice to love does not excuse Jacob from hardship.