Are You a Faultfinder or a Faithful One?

In 1879, a child was born to a poor Jewish merchant. In early life the lad suffered a haunting sense of inferiority because of the anti-Semitic feeling he encountered on every hand. Shy and introspective, the boy was so slow in learning that his parents had him examined by specialists to see if he was normal. In 1895, he failed his entrance examinations at the Polytechnicum in Zurich, Switzerland, though a year later he tried again and succeeded. Later he received a doctorate from the University of Zurich, yet obtained only an obscure job as a patent examiner in the Berne patent office at first.

Who was he? The man who formulated the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein, one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived. He never let early failures defeat him.

Albert Einstein could have taken the attitude that everyone around him hated him, his parents thought he wasn’t right, colleges won’t take him…might as well give up…if I can’t beat them…I’ll join them…they must be right, what’s the use of trying anymore...

As we all know, he didn’t… he kept going…he stayed faithful to his course and was a great success…His attitude determined His actions!

As we continue in our study of Malachi we find ourselves in Malachi 3:13-18…the theme of Malachi is Are You Honoring God the way you ought?…as we look at this text today we will see the impact our attitudes have on what we do or don’t do!

Exposition

This text sets up a contrast of two different groups of people regarding their attitude towards God and serving Him

Faultfinders = complainers

Faithful = righteous

Their attitudes impacted their service…Are You Honoring God the way you ought, by serving Him the way you ought?...

The answer to that question lies within the attitudes you harbor…as we look at this text, the examination of these two groups will reveal attitudes that impacted what they did...

We want to answer the question here this morning of which group do you want to be identified with?

Main Point — Attitudes Determine Your Actions

Transition…the first group we see are the Faultfinders…people who were lodging a complaint against God!

The Faultfinders Are Bothered by Present Affairs (13 - 15).

These faultfinders harbored an attitude of complaining! Let’s look at what their attitude of complaining led them to do...

A. Faultfinders surround themselves with other faultfinders! (13)

We don’t see this in the English translation, but the Hebrew form of the word spoken implies that these things were being said not directly to God, but of God...to one another…

they were continually holding a huge gossip session…who were they gossiping about…GOD! …they found others who were sympathetic to their feelings and wallowed in their misery together, blaming God for it.

God confronted them about their gossip...

He says their words against Him are...arrogant = stout, hard… literally: “your words against me have been strong”… points to words that are insolent and combative…God not only sees all that happens, He hears every careless word and will deal with it appropriately…listen to what the New Testament adds to our understanding of ungodly speech!

Matt 12 36 ““But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.”

I think also of Jude 1 15 “to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.””

When God confronted them on this they are quick to deny they have done anything wrong… they pointed their fingers at God and said He was the problem.

B. Faultfinders hold to a skewed view of serving God (14).

They complained that serving God was useless.

They are expressing here what often stands between a person and a satisfying relationship with God…There is no profit in serving God.

what profit…they mistakenly viewed their service as a mercenary bargain…They wanted to be well paid for their performances…they did what was required NOT OUT OF LOVE FOR GOD but in hopes of receiving outward prosperity…their view of God was that He was the supernatural gatekeeper of prosperity...

That is often the view of many people today…life should be a bed of roses when I give my life to Christ…

Some of us have stopped serving because we don’t see any benefit.

Some don’t serve because that means they have to be committed to something that takes time and resources away from other pursuits…

For Judah, following the law was viewed as a means of achieving personal gain...

profit = is a technical term used for a weaver cutting a piece of cloth away from the loom… we would use this term in saying “where is my cut of the action?”… the Hebrew word for profit (beṣa‘) is not the usual word for profit, but signifies a bribe or a means of covering the eyes toward injustice.

Malachi uses the word sarcastically to reveal that the people are asking for undeserved favors. They expect God to do “big” things for them while they get by with injustice, improper sacrifices, divorce, and withholding tithes.

We do the same thing when our pursuits of earthly treasures and pleasures outweigh our service for God…we are in danger of becoming like Judah here when we stop serving God because it gets in the way of what I want or believe I deserve!

They were indicting their own worship as empty, useless, and without result...They felt they gained no benefits from serving Him…vain = worthless, futile, inconsequential… serving God served no real purpose!

In their hearts, they believed they were being obedient…kept His charge…watch over, guard what He required…

their thinking was skewed in believing that outward conformity to ritualistic religion was enough to appease God without needing to change their heart!

They did not listen when God said they were guilty of…treachery, sorcery, adultery, perjury, neglect and exploitation of the defenseless and needy… None of that came to their mind when discussing this with one another…there was no “hey wait a minute…do you think God is not blessing us because we have chosen to do our own thing…to go our own way?”

There was outward religious activity without an inner transformation to His will…walked mournfully…we would call this going through the motions...they hoped to attract God’s attention and win his favor…their behavior and appearance was that of those who mourned in repentance…

They were not interested in a relationship with God or in pursuing His righteousness…they were in it for the bottom line…material prosperity…a life of ease!

This all points to a view of God that is skewed into believing that He is this cosmic dispenser of material blessings, that if I just put in the right amount of good deeds…then God is obligated to dispense what I want!

When God did not come through in this way, they got upset…You cannot get angry at God for the difficult path of your life if the way you have chosen to go is contrary to His.....Prov 13 15 “Good understanding produces favor, But the way of the treacherous is hard.”

When your view of God is less than what the Bible says about Him, you won’t take the time to grow in your relationship with Him moving you ever closer to being useless to Him.

2 Peter 1 5-11 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

C. Faultfinders make wrong conclusions (15).

When God did not dispense to them what they believed they deserved…they concluded that keeping God’s requirements and performing rituals of repentance is getting us nowhere, in fact, those who do evil are better off…

It is really what we call the downward spiral effect...their view of God was skewed, which led them to a skewed view of serving Him, which led them to make the wrong conclusions, which brings God rebuke!

Goes back to Malachi 2:17 “You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?””

They already concluded that serving God was useless…look at what else they concluded...

They concluded that evil people can dare God to punish them, breaking His laws and they get away with it...They are still bothered by God not bringing present day justice upon the sinners of their day...they could not see past their present situations to reflect upon the truth that God is going to deal with them in the future.

They concluded that from now on they would call the call the arrogant blessed…fortunate…happy...

How do they know the unbeliever is happy?

This goes against what God said in v.12…God said that those who return to Him will be blessed and the world would see it…they conclude just the opposite...

Arrogant = refers to people who have attitudes or behaviors that ignores or rejects God’s authority…the very actions and attitudes they observed in others, was in fact the very actions and attitudes they exhibited...

Not only did they envy them…they joined them…they became that which they despised…arrogant…

They concluded there is no difference between wickedness and righteousness because God doesn’t care what His people do!…

God is not being fair and just…he cannot be holy and righteous while ignoring prideful arrogance and willful disobedience…

God forgot us…so we’ll forget him...

Everything we see here reveals a selfish attitude that refused to listen to God, wallowing in their sins and self-pity, making serving God a drudgery…they were so focused on their present affairs not being what they hoped for they lost sight of God’s plans for them!

Notice that God does not answer their argument…instead He shifts the attention to the characteristics of the godly remnant...

Transition…let’s examine the second group of people!

The Faithful Are Bolstered by a Future Acknowledgment (16-18)

then is emphatic indicating what they did here was a result of the preceding confrontation…

A. Faithful people exalt God.

When God’s people truly fear Him, God hears them…fear is having a reverence of God but I think it also implies being afraid…sometimes I think believers need to shake in their boots when it comes to considering the greatness of God…

we don’t need to be afraid in the sense that God will forever reject us…we need to be afraid of offending a holy God who is all powerful…all knowing…every where present…being afraid of the God of armies...

Ps 33 18 “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness,”

Ps34 15 “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.”

B. Faithful people edify one another.

The text does not identify what they were saying to one another but what ever they said, God heard it, and it pleased Him…

In light of Malachi’s message to them, I think it is safe to assume they concluded they had better shape up…not sure if this is the same group or a different group…whoever they were…they GOT THE MESSAGE!

They got together and proclaimed the goodness of God instead of questioning Him…they shared…they opened up…they confessed…they were a biblically functioning community…they joined together with those who shared the same goal…glorifying God!

Their response was what God was looking for in the entire message of Malachi!

C. Faithful people expect a greater future.

The text says, God heard it, paid attention to it and wrote it down…God heard both conversations, but this one drew His greatest attention...

The word “gave attention to” means to prick up the ears. It has the idea of God leaning forward so that He can take in everything that is being said about Him.

book of remembrance…the collection of names originated long before Malachi’s time…it was a common practice for kings to record names of people in a book who contributed greatly to the kingdom…(Persian King had the books read and discovered Mordecai’s name was in the book and had not been rewarded…)

that is the picture here…God as the sovereign king surrounded by his heavenly servants instructing a scribe to record an event in the royal archives…the point here is that God has instructed a written record be made of the righteous speech of those who fear Him…this record would insure that on the future day described in the verses that follow that they will be rewarded…

The concept of heavenly scrolls or books recording the deeds and destinies of human beings is also known elsewhere in the Old Testament...

Listen to Psalm 56:8-9 “You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me.” … those tears you have cried in pain and anguish have been captured by God in a bottle…He remembers your suffering...

Psalm 139 16 “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”

I think the book Malachi mentions here could also be the same book we find in Rev 20:12-15 known as the “book of life”…it is the infallible retention of the names of the redeemed of all the ages in the all knowing mind of God…

Rev 20 12 “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”

God is providing assurance that when He deals with wickedness in the future, He will not forget those who submit to Him.

They will be Mine — mine is emphatic in the Hebrew… treasured possession...

God’s promises to Israel remain intact…God is not done with Israel…these will be all be realized at some point in the future…God will spare them…in the midst of judgment, God will spare His righteous…even though this promise is strictly for Israel…God promises to spare us from the wrath to come....

1 Thess 5 9-11 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

Rev 3 10 “‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

So you will again distinguish… in this era of “postmodernism,” the distinction between what is right and wrong has been extremely blurred...what is wrong for one person, it is said, may be right for another, or what is right in one situation may be wrong in another.

Moral and ethical standards have been compromised not only outside the church, but inside as well…

it is extremely hard to differentiate now between the believer and unbeliever because there does not appear to be any differences in how they think or live.

Malachi is speaking of a time time when this will no longer be the case, for those who “feared the LORD,” at least, it will be abundantly clear what is righteous and what is wicked,

It will also be abundantly clear who is truly serving God.

It will be clearly evident that God does see the acts of men and will deal with them…it will also be clear when Jesus reigns from Jerusalem that righteousness will be rewarded and wickedness will be judged with a rod of iron...

Rev 19 15 “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”

Don’t stop doing that which is right…look up and ahead to see that one day we will be like Him...

1 John 3:1-3 “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Everything we see from this group points to a faithful people who are focused on God and proclaiming His glory, refusing to be hindered in their proclamation of the goodness of God, anticipating the great day when God awards them for their faithfulness.

Summary of Main Point — Attitudes Determine Your Actions

Those with a complaining attitude focus on self, paralyzed by present difficulties and will find reasons not to serve God...

Those with godly attitudes focus on the Savior and will faithfully serve regardless of others or what is going on around them motivated by a future eternal glory!

Implications to us in 2021 and beyond...

You have to make a choice of which group you are in.

Faultfinders…see everyone else as the problem… service for God is optional and easily excusable…selfish pursuits take higher precedence than worship and service...

Righteous…quick to acknowledge your sinfulness before a holy God...continually find ways to employ your gifts in service and how you can build up the body of Christ...worship of God is your highest priority...

Surround yourself with the right people

Prov 13 20 “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

Which end of the spectrum of this verse describes you?

Are you one who people come to and find wisdom or are you one who people cling to and find trouble?

Who are you allowing into your life to impact your thinking…your decisions…who do you allow to influence your conclusions…implication to parenting!

3. Guard your words carefully!

Eph 4 29 “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”

Col 4 6 “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

Do people who hear you talk find grace? Would they be surprised to discover you are a believer who attends church...

Are your words seasoned with salt or the slap your mamma hot sauce?

If your words were written down for an entire day verbatim…would they be words of grace or corruption?

4. Make the distinction clear who you are serving.

Josh 24 15 ““If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.””

Eph 4 17-20 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way,”

5. Don’t Loose Sight of the Goal!

Phil 3 12 - 14 “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

2 Tim 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

6. Serve Faithfully

1 Pet 4 7-10 “The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

Heb 10:24-25 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Where do you need to get plugged in to the body…what are you doing to build up the body of Christ…no longer room for excuses…