2 The Refining Love of God

Malachi 2:17–3:5 NIV

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” 1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. 5 “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Start with story of 1995 car accident.

Today, we’re picking up the story of Jeremiah and Hope.

Background from Jeremiah last week. Babylon holding Jerusalem under siege, breaks through the walls, burns the city down. King Zedekiah captured, family killed in front of him then eyes gouged out. Held captive.

Just as God promised – 70 years in exile, Israel returns to Jerusalem and rebuilds.

By 515 BC the temple is rebuilt – temple not like our church building. The temple was the center of spiritual life, containing the tangible glory and presence of Almighty God.

Hope Meets Reality

Approximately 100 years later. They’ve gone several generations from the return and temple rebuild. Now they’re settled into life as usual and are sliding away from God again.

The rebuilding of the temple had not produced the messianic age many expected. The warm response to Zechariah’s call to repentance had grown cold, because God apparently had not restored the covenant blessings.

Prophet Malachi, writing a short time later, called the people to repentance:

We’ll walk quickly through the whole book. The first part is God’s word to the priests.

Malachi 1:2 CSB

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. Yet you ask, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob,

MalachiYou Are Loved – but the people were already doubting God’s love.

(trim verse)

You Are Loved – but the people were already doubting God’s love.

How often do we do that? Doubt God’s love because things didn’t turn out as we expected, or went the other direction?

Starting with this doubt, the prophet then shows the downward trend of moving away from God again.

Malachi 1:6 CSB

6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of me? says the Lord of Armies to you priests, who despise my name.” Yet you ask: “How have we despised your name?”

the priesthood had become corrupt; v.7 polluted the sacrifice. Lame animals. Giving God the leftovers instead of their best.

he priesthood had become corrupt; v.7 polluted the sacrifice. Lame animals. Giving God the leftovers instead of their best.

v.10 it would be better to shut the temple doors so you don’t light useless fires on the altar.

Malachi 2:8 CSB

8 “You, on the other hand, have turned from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of Armies.

priests teaching false doctrine, leading people astray.

(warning to pastors and anyone who teaches others)

Malachi 2:14 CSB

14 And you ask, “Why?” Because even though the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, you have acted treacherously against her. She was your marriage partner and your wife by covenant.

harsh with their wives, marry other women who serve foreign gods. “Does violence to the one he should protect.”

v.16 does not love wife but divorces her.

harsh with their wives, marry other women who serve foreign gods. “Does violence to the one he should protect.”

Malachi 2:17 NIV

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

wearied the Lord by turning His goodness upside down and ignoring Him as if He didn’t show up.

Malachi 3:7 CSB

7 “Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from my statutes; you have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Armies. Yet you ask, “How can we return?”

Malachi 3:8 NIV

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.

robbed God of tithes and offerings. Didn’t bother giving. God said, try Me. Give and I will give back more than you can use. (it is through man’s generous giving that God’s goodness is shown to the needy, helpless, lowly.

They robbed God of tithes and offerings. Giving is a response to God’s goodness and provision.

Didn’t bother giving. God said, try Me. Give and I will give back more than you can use. (it is through man’s generous giving that God’s goodness is shown to the needy, helpless, lowly.

Malachi 3:14–15 CSB

14 You have said: “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping his requirements and walking mournfully before the Lord of Armies? 15 So now we consider the arrogant to be fortunate. Not only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God and escape.”

God treats the evil people better than He treats us.

Notice the path of deterioration – they returned from exile, were happy and celebrated for a time, but after several generations, and not seeing the promised Messiah yet, they lost interest. They became lazy in their worship, then stopped giving God their best, then every area of their lives went down hill – marriages, parenting, care for others.

We shouldn’t judge Israel and Judah so harshly, though. We are no different. All around us we see the same disregard for God and His righteousness. Are we tired of waiting for the Messiah? Why do we lose interest?

Jeremiah 31:3 NIV

3 The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

reference to

Deuteronomy 4:37 NIV

37 Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,

Starts in You are loved

Even though Israel and Judah have wandered yet again, God is patient in His love.

Malachi 3:6 NIV

6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

I do not change so you are not destroyed.

Refer to

Lamentations 3:22–23 NIV

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

v.7 return to Me and I will return to you.

Malachi 3:7 NIV

7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

v.7 return to Me and I will return to you.

Malachi 3:16–18 NIV

16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. 17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

the faithful remnant will be God’s treasured possession. There will once again be a distinction between the wicked and the ones living for God.

emphasize Faithful Remnant, treasured possession, distinction between righteous and wicked.

There will once again be a distinction between the wicked and the ones living for God.

God begins with a declaration and reminder of His love.

Then He proceeds to call them out for their complacency, wandering, and sin.

In the end, God promises to reward the faithful and to purify the unrighteousness out of His people.

Read Malachi 2:17-3:5

Malachi 2:17–3:5 NIV

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” 1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. 5 “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Malachi 2:17b NIV

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Malachi 2:

Dangerous to ask. As if He isn’t coming.

Answer to Where is the God of justice? ( the one who will make everything right)

Malachi 3:1 NIV

1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

3:1 I will send my messenger – reference to Elijah/John the baptizer.

3:1a I will send my messenger – reference to Elijah/John the baptizer.

Suddenly - the Lord will come to the temple.

4:5 See, I will send the prophet Elijah –

Malachi 4:5 NIV

5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.

4:5 See, I will send the prophet Elijah –

3:1b Then suddenly the Lord

Matthew 11:14 NIV

14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

Malachi 3:1 NIV

1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

Then suddenly the Lord

3:2 But who can endure the refiner’s fire, the harsh soap of the launderer.

Malachi 3:2 NIV

2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.

But who can endure the refiner’s fire, the harsh soap of the launderer.

Purify – burn out all impurities. Scrub out and bleach the filth.

The refiner’s fire is a purifier. That is different from the incinerator’s fire that destroys.

In several verses in Malachi, God says that if He did not love them He would simply destroy them. 1:3, 4:1

Reference

1 Corinthians 3:13 NIV

13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

tested by fire. What is of God is purified, the rest is destroyed.

Advent - the candle representing God’s Love.

We’re not talking today about a cozy, girlfriend kind of love. We’re not talking about a walk hand-in-hand friendship kind of love.

The refining love of God is also a fire burning away all that separates you from Him.

James 1:2–3 NIV

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

consider it joy when you go through trials, troubles, and temptations because God uses them to mature your faith.

Oyster example.

Polishing rocks example.

Sometimes God allows a broken leg, an illness, death of a loved one, financial failure, abuse or abandonment. He uses those situations as opportunities to refine us.

Something beautiful comes from the irritation, the grinding and rubbing and shaping, from the washing and scrubbing and bleaching the filth, from the burning away of all impurities.

In this life you will have trouble. Jesus has overcome the world

John 16:33 NIV

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Don’t grow weary. Don’t get complacent. Don’t let the troubles of this life cause you to lose hope.

Don’t grow weary. Don’t get complacent. Don’t let the troubles of this life cause you to lose hope. Last week we saw that God has promised a hopeful future.

Last week we saw that God has promised a hopeful future. This week -

This week -

God loves us enough to burn the impurities away.

What struggles are you currently facing?

Are you hearing the story in your head that God has forgotten you? If He loved you He would fix it? That is a lie.

What sins are holding you back and keeping you down?

Do you hear the story in your head that you will never be good enough? That is just not true.

Right now it is time to put those to death and begin to live.

God loves you. That is a fact that will not change.

God’s love through Jesus is a refining fire that burns away the sin and struggle to make you shine like gold.

2 The Refining Love of God

Introduction

Hope Meets Reality

Doubted God’s love:

Despised God’s name:

Defiled the covenant:

Divorced their wives:

Downplayed God’s justice:

Denied God’s goodness:

Disregarded God’s righteousness:

God Loves You

God’s Love Refines You

Conclusion

Big Idea: God loves you enough to refine you in the fire of your struggles.

What About You?