Transformed By Malachi - Part 3

Transformed By Malachi - Part 3

Malachi 2:17 NLT

17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”

Confession of Faith

I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith! In Jesus Name

Intro:

So as we continue our series Transformed By Malachi - remember Malachi was sent to give people a dose of reality!

To meet them and reflect to them - how they were living and how they were not pleasing God!

Just like today, the people in Malachi’s day were questioning God!

Just like today, there are questions about God’s justice.

Hear is what I mean

Today, People are doing whatever they want!

Folks are living however the want to live!

People are saying whatever they want to say

Some are killing whoever they want to kill!

And no one ever seems or rarely seems to get punished or suffer the consequences.

Today, Just like in Malachi’s day, folks are ignoring the bible,

People are changing the meaning of the bible

But - the mistake is , We think God is ignoring what’s happening down here!

But remember - there is nothing new under the sun!

Wake up!

We think that because, we don’t see immediate results God is not concerned

But the bible tell’s us that is the furthest thing from the truth!

Malachi 2:17 NCV

17 You have tired the Lord with your words. You ask, “How have we tired him?” You did it by saying, “The Lord thinks anyone who does evil is good, and he is pleased with them.” Or you asked, “Where is the God who is fair?”

Malachi was sent to tell the people : they had wearied the Lord with their words and accusations.

How about this

God has grown tired of people’s non stop sinning!

God has grown tired of folk’s total disregard for His Word

God has grown tired of individuals disrespecting his commands

And it’s still these same people who come to God asking for his blessings

Malachi 2:13 The Message

13 And here’s a second offense: You fill the place of worship with your whining and sniveling because you don’t get what you want from God.

Here is where the word checks my spirit!

When we knowingly sin and then go to God for his blessings is that Pride!

Is that Arrogance

Or is that ignorance?

It actually is crazy to think that I can live a life of constant sin, according to the word of God, then ask God to bless me!

Wake Up!

Today, if anyone challenges a believer on his or her sin or lifestyle or total disregard for God’s word on the subject - they respond as if they are so offended!

This is the same thing they were doing in Malachi’s day

Here is food for thought Are our hearts so harden that we are blind to our sins

Or Do we really believe God doesn’t care about how we live, as a Christian

What we do as a Christian

What we say as a Christian

How we carry ourselves as a Christian

It is a mistake to think that God does not see or care about our sins or to question His concern for justice.

It is also a mistake to think that God rewards the wicked.

When the wicked appear to prosper, it is important to keep in mind that God sees and knows all and that He is a God of justice. God’s Word makes it perfectly clear that judgment is coming.

It is only a matter of time before the wicked meet their fate.

Go to the book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 5:7–17 (NLT)

7 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You people have behaved worse than your neighbors and have refused to obey my decrees and regulations. You have not even lived up to the standards of the nations around you.

8 Therefore, I myself, the Sovereign Lord, am now your enemy. I will punish you publicly while all the nations watch.

9 Because of your detestable idols, I will punish you like I have never punished anyone before or ever will again.

11 “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will cut you off completely. I will show you no pity at all because you have defiled my Temple with your vile images and detestable sins.

12 A third of your people will die in the city from disease and famine. A third of them will be slaughtered by the enemy outside the city walls. And I will scatter a third to the winds, chasing them with my sword.

13 Then at last my anger will be spent, and I will be satisfied. And when my fury against them has subsided, all Israel will know that I, the Lord, have spoken to them in my jealous anger.

14 “So I will turn you into a ruin, a mockery in the eyes of the surrounding nations and to all who pass by.

15 You will become an object of mockery and taunting and horror. You will be a warning to all the nations around you. They will see what happens when the Lord punishes a nation in anger and rebukes it, says the Lord.

17 ... Disease and war will stalk your land, and I will bring the sword of the enemy against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

2 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Wake Up!

Malachi was used to give the people a warning

Malachi 3:1–5 NLT

1 “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 2 “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. 3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. 4 Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past. 5 “At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Here is where it get’s exciting

God warned the people in Malachi’s Day

He told them 2 messengers were coming But it was going to be the second of these messengers who would execute justice.

Today, we need to be reminded that that second messenger is coming back

1. The first messenger was John The Baptist and he would prepare the way for the second messenger

2. The second messenger was Jesus Christ

The Bible Tells us in

Malachi 3:2–3 NLT

2 “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. 3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.

They were looking forward to the blessing

They were looking forward to the prosperity

They were looking forward to the promised messiah

We know he has come!

We know Jesus has come to set things right

Jesus has come!

The blessing is here

But we must allow the blessing in our hearts

We must allow the messiah to cleanse us like a refiners fire! Burning off all the impurities of sin in our lives

We must allow the blessing to rest rule and abide in our hearts and minds

We must allow Jesus to cleanse us from all sin and unrighteousness

Malachi spent a lot of time warning people about their sin!

Malachi couldn’t change people

Pastor Ken can warn, but can’t change people

You can’t even change yourself

the only one who can clean you of the impurities in your heart and mind is Jesus

The only one who can take the hurt away and make you whole is Jesus

The only one who can make right all the wrong is Jesus

The only one who can protect you is jesus

The only one who can heal you is Jesus

The only one that can make us right and acceptable to God is Jesus

The only one that can give us eternal life is Jesus

The only one that brings salvation is Jesus

The only one that brings peace is Jesus

Jesus is here!

The messiah is here

He is alive!

He is the answer

He is what we have been waiting for

We are alive today, Because Jesus is the same Yesterday, Today and Forever

John 3:16 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Galatians 1:4 NKJV

4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

John 3:17 NKJV

17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

it requires Jesus to make the change in out hearts

It requires Jesus to make the change in our families

It requires Jesus to make the change in our church

It requires Jesus to make the change in our communities

It requires Jesus to make the change in our Cities

It requires Jesus to Make the change in our states

It requires Jesus to make the change in our country

It requires Jesus to make the change in this world

But the change starts with you

The change starts with me

It happens - When we let Jesus in our hearts

Won’t you let him in!