Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Southwest airlines commercial?

There are those times when you don’t want to be where you at.

See crazy stuff as a substitute teacher

kid crawled out a window

lit a fire in a desk

girls who had set up a beauty studio

But the worst is when a kid tells me off, sent to the principle and then they come back

Good people

Justice demands wrongs get punished

But president’s get away with crimes, world leaders can order innocents murdered, there are rich people who do not live right lives, even church leaders who commit horrible sins against children and take part in corruption

Where is God when there is all this injustice?

what are some specific injustices in the world that really bothers you?

Injustice isn’t a new problem.

Even people 2300 years ago wondered why the bad got away with stuff.

God responds to the

I have already shared with you that people in the days of Malachi were giving horrible offerings to the Lord, their sacrifices were of wounded animals, left over stuff,

God’s silence

What they were offering God didn’t matter because they didn’t believe God did anything about it.

I hear the same belief today, I heard on the radio a judge proclaim recently when something that was once immoral was claimed as moral well we have learned that the world won’t end.

so we can do it.

People gave up on God.

Like an employee who keeps behaving badly daring their boss to fire them.

One day, they will be shocked because they got fired.

God’s patience should not be mistaken as injustice

How fast should God be to punish you for your sins?

People can quit when they don't think they will get caught and God knows it

I was told this week that as a church we should be helping people grow, which means dealing with people’s wrongs and helping them learn.

We should give them opportunities to change, to try again and demonstrate they are different.

In the Bible it is called repentance. to have remorse and ask for forgiveness, to learn from God what is right to do, and then to do it.

This is repentance.

This doesn’t sway God

And this is why God is patient.

God is patient.

Good!

Because his judgement is coming.

At the time of Malachi God had not come as a person yet, Jesus had not yet come.

In fact Jesus would be over 300 years off so the understanding of who God is to the world came through the Jewish people.

And they mistook his patience for not caring about right and wrong.

Here in Malachi, God once again says I am coming

Isn’t that awesome, God said He is coming.

These people were telling each other God doesn’t care about evil.

So they were cool about God coming!

But my kids just experienced finals, they knew when the end was coming and no matter how much we told

How would you feel if Jesus came back today?

If today was the end of all

Ever think your boss doesn’t care about whether something gets done and then you don’t do it.

Then the boss finds out your not doing it and wow you learn how much they care about it?

Right here in Malachi, the prophet messenger alerts those who were saying God was showing up and was ok with evil that he was never ok with evil .

Malachi 3:2-

The way to make pure metal is to heat it up, metals melt at different temperatures so as the stuff that isn’t the metal goes away a metallurgist can see the purity of the gold or silver emerge because the other stuff is burnt off.

It is great for getting pure gold or silver but not great if your the impurity.

IN the days of

The whole purpose of this refining was to make right the offerings to the Lord.

This prophecy has been fulfilled.

Jesus did it.

He was the perfect sacrifice .

This prophecy says that God will come through so that the sacrifices are pure like Gold and silver and in the Bible we learn that is exactly what was accomplished.

When God comes, His life

Heb 3:10

Jesus was the perfect sacrifice as he did for our sins.

The revealing of the perfect sacrifice.

God fulfilled exactly what He said he would do 300 years before He did it.

God will fulfill all his promises in His time.

You and I, if we have a Bible we flip from one page in Malachi and then begin Matthew and get this idea that God fulfills his promises quickly.

But God is patient and it was more than 300 years between this prophecy and its fulfillment

300 years ago was 1719 before the United States was formed.

Benjamin Franklin was 14.

The Authorized King James Version, the King James Bible form that you read was even printed yet.

300 years is long, but God follows through

Ever planned a trip for DIsneyland?

We did and we didn’t tell our kids.

Because we planned it 6 months before we went.

for me it was just 6 paychecks to get ready.

To my six year old that was 1/12 of his life.

Today Justin begins serving as our interim youth leader while Jennifer Berni is still a licensed pastor but ends almost 10 years of youth ministry.

I look at it and thing didn’t she just start?

As children we are told to study for the test because its coming and then we find the results.

As teenagers we are told to watch our grades because their will be consequences.

and then many days of choices between video games and studying until the consequences arrive.

When I was in my 20’s my overweight friend told me, when you hit 40 you’ll have diabetes if you keep going like this.

I’m 44 the consequence arrived.

I changed, and I don’t.

We are warned to quit smoking and then in the future the consequences come.

Future becomes the present and the past decisions become the consequences of today.

We cannot deny it.

There are people who wait and wait and wait until the consequence is here

This is true for our spiritual decisions as well.

What we do in this life, How we treat others, How we treat God will have consequences.

What consequences have you avoided now because you listened to people in the past?

God told the people in Malachi’s day and it still applies today this promise

Sorcery in this context means those who use religion to meet their own needs.

Ones who expect to be able to who expect to get a job by writing it done.

Get love by having the right rock or even get away with something by saying a prayer.

God desires a relationship not to be used.

מְכַשְּׁפִים֙

Adultery is sexual immorality, and God continues with more offenses against other people lying to others, oppressing the poor, oppressing the worker, and oppressing the immigrant.

Yes God very much loves those who are society cares nothing about.

His prophecies are condemnation not of the poor for being without skills, or responsibility but against the way those with resources are treating the poor.

If you find yourself being beat up in this life because you have less, do know that God’s justice is coming and those who are wronging you will be punished.

Let that give you help as you continue to grow and lean on the Lord.