In the In-Between
Notes
Transcript
I. Welcome & Opening Prayer
I. Welcome & Opening Prayer
TURN—MAL. CH. 4...
!! Open in Prayer !!
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II. Introduction: The Difficulty of Waiting
II. Introduction: The Difficulty of Waiting
Opener: I’m sure not one of us enjoys the process of waiting. Do we?
Ill.: DAY & AGE: FASTER & FASTER
FAST FOOD
FREE SHIPPING => 2-DAY => 1-DAY,, NOW SOMETIMES SAME-DAY! (WALMART)📦
WE DON’T LIKE to WAIT.
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Testimony: I’M GUILTY TOO…
BOOK STORY
PROMISED WAIT—LESS THAN 4 HOURS…
ALL MORNING—CHECKING MY EMAIL.
TELLING B.—THEY’VE GOT 7 MINUTES…
CALLED— “GLOBAL TECHNICAL ISSUES”
HOW LONG??
WE DON’T KNOW.
ENDED UP 48 HOURS!
3 DAYS LONGER DELIVERY TIME.🚚
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WE DON’T LIKE to WAIT
⌛Idea: WAITING IS PART of OUR HUMAN EXISTENCE ⌛
BELIEVER: LIVE & WAIT BETWEEN TIMES of GOD’S PROMISE & FULFILLMENT…
Essential Question: HOW DO WE WAIT?
Focus: THAT’S the QUESTION... MALACHI WILL ANSWER TODAY…
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Transition: INVITE YOU to LOOK W/ ME @ PASSAGE…
V1-6
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III. Passage Reading:
III. Passage Reading:
Malachi 4:1–6 (ESV)
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.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
Church this is God’s Word for us this morning.
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II. Context: True Profit
II. Context: True Profit
TWO WEEKS AGO—FEELS LIKE FOREVER.
1. PEOPLE COMPLAINING: PROSPERITY of WICKED 🤨
VAIN to SERVE GOD.
2. OTHERS FEARED GOD.
GOD STOOPED DOWN & PAID ATTENTION & HEARD THEM…
ASSURANCE THEY WERE WRITTEN in GOD’S BOOK…
Main Idea: True profit is found in being God’s treasure.
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Conclusion: PROPHETIC WARNING— A DAY of DISTINCTION WAS COMING…⚖️
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Transition: THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE’RE GOING to SEE in TODAY’S TEXT…
LOOK W/ ME AGAIN @ VS. 1…
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IV. Passage Exposition:
IV. Passage Exposition:
A. Thought 1: Coming Judgment (v. 1)
A. Thought 1: Coming Judgment (v. 1)
Malachi 4:1 (ESV)
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.
AGAIN—COMING DAY
ARROGANT & EVIL (SAME HB.) = STUBBLE
Background: CHAFF,, LIGHT USELESS HUSK of GRAIN🌾
CHAFF DOESN’T STAND a CHANCE AGAINST an OVEN.
JUDGMENT SO COMPREHENSIVE—NO ROOT or BRANCH = TOTAL…
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Challenge: IS THAT WORTH ENVYING?
IS THAT REALLY PROSPERITY?
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CONSIDER ASAPH’S EXAMPLE:
Psalm 73:3 (ESV)
3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Psalm 73:16–17 (ESV)
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.
Challenge: ETERNITY is of FAR GREATER CONSEQUENCE than TEMPORARY BLESSINGS TODAY.
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Consider: (NATURAL) EXAMPLE of JOSEPH
13 HARD YEARS
80 BLESSED YEARS
👉 HE DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS COMING
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BELIEVER DOES KNOW!
2 Corinthians 4:17 (ESV)
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
PROSPERITY of THIS LIFE = TEMPORARY
LIFE to COME = ETERNAL.
📜**RECAP RICH MAN & LAZARUS**???📜
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Transition: GOOD NEWS—COMING DAY of JUDGMENT = ALSO a COMING DAY of SALVATION
LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 2-3
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B. Thought 2: Coming Salvation (v. 2-3)
B. Thought 2: Coming Salvation (v. 2-3)
Malachi 4:2–3 (ESV)
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.
NOTICE: STARK CONTRAST
BURNING, CONSUMING OVEN
VERSUS SUNRISE.
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THOSE WHO WALK in GOD’S FEAR—ANTITHESIS of WICKED—HAVE BEAUTIFUL FUTURE W/ 3 PROMISES
Future Promises:
Future Promises:
SUN of RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL RISE W/ HEALING 🌅
PICTURE of BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE W/ HEALING RAYS—NIGHT HAS ENDED
Testimony: MERCIES MADE NEW
Quote, “What is burning fire to the godless will be glowing warmth and healing to the righteous.”[1]
Ill.: CAMPFIRES ARE REALLY NICE IF YOU AREN’T the STICKS!
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2. GO OUT LIKE CALVES from STALL 🐄🌿
Significance: ISRAELITES KEPT CALVES in STALLS for WINTER
2ND PICTURE— END of SUFFERING
NO MORE NIGHT
NO MORE WINTER
Illustration: C.S. LEWIS—CHRONICLES of NARNIA—LION, WITCH, WARDROBE—
CURSE = “ALWAYS WINTER, BUT NEVER CHRISTMAS”
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Exhort: WINTER ISN’T FOREVER!!
((NATURALLY & FIGURATIVELY))
NIGHT ISN’T ETERNAL—SUN of RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL ARISE
WINTER ISN’T ETERNAL— SPRING is COMING—STALLS WILL BE OPENED!
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3. LEAPING CALVES—TREAD UPON WICKED.
REVERSAL of FORTUNES
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Recap, Malachi’s Day:
ARROGANT WAS BLESSED
WICKED PROSPERED
PUT GOD to TEST & ESCAPED
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GOD = POOR JUDGE????
LIFE = UNFAIR,, GOD = UNFAIR!
SERVING GOD & STILL X, Y, Z....
END of STORY WASN’T YET!
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Challenge: PEOPLE of GOD— NEVER LOOK to the PRESENT as the LITMUS TEST of GOD’S GOODNESS— LOOK to the END.
Present Hardships:
POOR WHILE NONBELIEVER is RICH
CAR BREAKS DOWN—THEIRS is NICE
YOU GET CANCER, THEY’RE HEALTHY
Relate, Struggle: PRAY, READ MY BIBLE, COME to CHURCH—ALL for NOTHING??
CHRISTIAN, LOOK to the END
PLAYFUL CALF VERSUS ASH HEAP…
TODAY is of LITTLE CONSEQUENCE in the SCHEME of ETERNITY...
Encourage: THERE is COMING a DAY WHEN GOD WILL ACT. (V3)
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Transition: AT PRESENT— WE MUST REMAIN STEADFAST
LOOK W/ ME @ VS. 4
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C. Thought 3: The In-Between (v. 4)
C. Thought 3: The In-Between (v. 4)
Malachi 4:4 (ESV)
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
(v4) CONTAINS ONLY EXHORTATION in PASSAGE: REMEMBER.
MALACHI GIVES HOPE for FUTURE—BUT WHAT ABOUT TODAY?!
TODAY—YOU BE FAITHFUL.
NOT in VAIN—BUT THAT’S REALIZED in the FUTURE
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Encourage: ONE of the HARDEST THINGS— NOT GROWING WEARY in DOING GOOD…
LIFE CAN BE MUNDANE
SAME OBEDIENCE OVER & OVER AGAIN...
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REMEMBER GOD’S LAW… STUDY IT… APPLY IT. REMAIN FAITHFUL.
O.T.,, DEUTERONOMY— “BE CAREFUL” TO DO the LAW📜
PUT it HERE & THERE
HUMAN BEINGS HAVE PROPENSITY to FORGETFULNESS.
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HOW ABOUT FOR US?
ARE WE DILIGENT in GOD’S WORD?
STUDY
REFLECTION
REMEMBRANCE
APPLICATION?
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BIBLICAL ILLITERACY is a MAJOR PROBLEM of OUR DAY.
PEW RESEARCH STUDY (2019).
31 % of EVANGELICALS DID NOT KNOW JESUS DELIVERED the SERMON on the MOUNT.
25% PERCENT THOUGHT the GOLDEN RULE WAS ONE of the 10 COMMANDMENTS…
GEORGE BARNA’S RESEARCH:
FOUND APPROX. 4% of AMERICAN ADULTS HOLD a “BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW” & MOST HAVE FALLEN PREY to SYNCRETISTIC IDEAS—WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING IT.
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SCARY REALITY: WE HAVE UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS to GOD’S WORD—BUT PEOPLE DON’T USE IT.
BIBLE EVERYWHERE
MULTIPLE TRANSLATIONS
GAZILLION PODCASTERS/BLOGS/YOUTUBERS/RADIO PROGRAMS
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WHILE WE WAIT—WE STUDY GOD’S WORD—TO KNOW WHAT HE DESIRES of US
CONSCIENCE is GOOD—BUT NOT INFALLIBLE.
CHURCH is GOOD—BUT NOT INFALLIBLE.
GOD’S WORD = BEDROCK—IMMOVABLE.
THIS = WHAT a GOD-PLEASING LIFE LOOKS LIKE!
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OUR AIM: WALK in FEAR of GOD—KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS, WHILE WE AWAIT the END…
STUDY GOD’S WORD to KNOW IT
REMEMBER IT to APPLY IT
WE CANNOT PLEAD IGNORANCE!
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Qualifier: THIS = NOT SO THAT GOD WILL ACCEPT—BUT BECAUSE HE ALREADY HAS!
WE MAKE IT OUR AIM to PLEASE HIM (2 COR. 5:9)...
We ought to make it the business of every day to prepare for that future day,
because it is coming. 🏹
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Transition: LOOK W/ ME
@ CLOSE of OUR STUDY (V5-6)
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D. Thought 4: The Assurance (v. 5-6)
D. Thought 4: The Assurance (v. 5-6)
God is emphasizing His activity: He will act; He will send. ⚡
Malachi 4:5–6 (ESV)
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
GOD PROMISED HE WILL ACT.
NOW, GOD PROMISES HE WILL SEND.
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GOD ISN’T ASLEEP @ WHEEL!
Maybe not acting today, but God’s delays aren’t God’s denials.
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SENDING ELIJAH (PROPHET) — in JOHN the BAPTIST
HE’LL TURN HEARTS AROUND
HISTORICALLY—PREPARED WAY for JESUS
BAPTISM of REPENTANCE
(v6) Fathers & Sons:
Quote: “Just as the whole law is summarized in the commandment to love one another (Gal. 5:14), so Malachi summarizes the breaches in the covenant relationship by referring to this basic relationship between father and son.”
GOD BRINGS OPPORTUNITY for MERCY B4 JUDGMENT…
APART from DIVINE INTERVENTION— PEOPLE WOULD REMAIN UNDER the CURSE/UTTER DESTRUCTION. 🛑
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V. Gospel Connection: The S-O-N of Righteousness ✝️
V. Gospel Connection: The S-O-N of Righteousness ✝️
THERE is a FUTURE DAY COMING…
A DAY GREAT & AWESOME
A DAY to BE BOTH FEARED & HOPED FOR…
ALL HUMANITY WILL GIVE an ACCOUNT
SALVATION for GOD’S PEOPLE
DESTRUCTION of the WICKED…
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PRESENT TIME— OPPORTUNITY for MERCY.
COMES THROUGH JESUS CHRIST the S-O-N of RIGHTEOUSNESS.
CAME DOWN to BRING HEALING BETWEEN GOD & MAN
John 3:16–21 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
JESUS CAME NOT as a JUDGE to CONDEMN—
BUT as a SAVIOR to DIE.
FRIEND of TAX-COLLECTORS & SINNERS
SAVIOR of DRUNKARD & PROSTITUTE
=> HE CAME as a LIGHT UNTO the DARKNESS…
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SCARY TRUTH: LIGHT REVEALS SOMETHING ABOUT PEOPLE
Ill: LIGHTS ON—CRITTERS FLEE
LIGHT of the WORLD—JESUS CHRIST— RECEIVED DIFFERENTLY…
Key Idea: ETERNITY HINGES UPON WHAT WE DO WITH JESUS CHRIST.
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HE = ONLY HOPE for SALVATION
PUT OUR TRUST in HIM—BELIEVING HE DIED for OUR SINS—
WE’LL BE SPARED on that FUTURE DAY of JUDGMENT
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ONE DAY HE’LL RETURN—NOT as “MAN of SORROWS” BUT as “LORD of LORDS”
HE’LL RETURN— NOT as “SUFFERING SERVANT,” BUT “CONQUERING KING”
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PRESENTLY—HAVE WINDOW of MERCY!
Romans 10:9–10 (ESV)
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
we must turn to CHRIST in a REPENTANT-FAITH.... BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE
THAT DAY MIGHT BE DISTANT…BUT IT IS COMING.
Invitation: QUESTIONS ABOUT FAITH—TALK to ME AFTER SERVICE…
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Transition: NOW… FOR the BELIEVER...
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VI. Application: Look to the End
VI. Application: Look to the End
Passage Idea: We must wait in remembrance of God’s law and in hope of God’s promise.
WE LIVE in the “IN-BETWEEN”
BETWEEN PROMISE
& FULFILLMENT
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WE DON’T LIKE WAITING—BUT ACCORDING to the BIBLE WE ARE…
ONE DAY the SKY WILL SPLIT OPEN & the SON of GOD WILL DESCEND…
FOR the BELIEVER: THAT is OUR BLESSED HOPE!
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Encourage:
REMEMBER,, NIGHT is NOT FOREVER—S-O-N of RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL COME
REMEMBER, WINTER is NOT ETERNAL—THE STALLS WILL BE OPENED.
2 Peter 3:13 (ESV)
13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
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At Present:
WICKED MIGHT PROSPER
MIGHT SEEM VAIN to SERVE GOD
LIFE MIGHT BE HARD
BUT W/ ETERNITY in VIEW—WE CAN LIVE W/ HOPE!
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Conclusion:
Conclusion:
WHILE WE WAIT—LET US NOT GROW WEARY in DOING GOOD
LET US STRIVE to KNOW & KEEP GOD’S WORD—TO LIVE a GOD-PLEASING LIFE BY FAITH
& KNOW THAT in HIS TIME—
HE WILL BRING HIS PLANS to FRUITION
& in THAT WE CAN HOPE…
THAT DAY is SURE to COME
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!! Close in Prayer !!
