The Coming Day of the Lord - Part 1 (Mal 3:1-7)

Announcements

Children’s volunteers, don’t forget that we will have a training meeting on August 27th from 9am-2pm. All children’s volunteers need to be here for that meeting.

Please prepare to partake in the Lord’s Supper next week during the AM Worship Service.

Don’t forget that Discipleship Groups start in three weeks with children meeting in the Activity Room and adults meeting in the Auditorium. This will be a weekly meeting, every Sunday at 9am that includes intentional discipleship, discussion, and teaching.

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Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Ps 58)

Our Call to Worship is Psalm 58. I recognize that it is a long psalm, but I’m sure you’ll notice that if we were to divide it up, it simply wouldn’t make sense. It is a psalm of David in which he prays for the punishment of the wicked. David cries out to God to simply enact justice in such a way that people will proclaim God as the God of justice who is righteous. Please stand and read Psalm 58 with me, I’ll read the odd-numbered verses; please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Psalm 58 ESV

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David. 1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the children of man uprightly? 2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth. 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. 4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, 5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter. 6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! 7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted. 8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun. 9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away! 10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Congregational Singing

Oh God, My Joy (100)

Beautiful Savior (All My Days) (193)

My Hope is in the Lord (213)

Scripture Reading (Is 40:1-11)

Our Scripture Reading this morning is Isaiah 40:1-11, which is one of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning both the coming the Messiah and the messenger who prepares the way for the Lord. You’ll notice Malachi making a similar prophecy this morning, which is why I thought it would behoove us to remind ourselves of Isaiah’s prophecy. Natalie, please read Isaiah 40:1-11 for us.

Isaiah 40:1–11 ESV

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 6 A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. 9 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Sermon

Introduction

If you have your Bible with you, please turn it to Malachi 3:1-7.

We’ve been working through the book of Malachi over the past month or so and thus far, the bulk of our study in Malachi has been focused on these indictments leveled against Israel concerning their sins. Malachi, speaking on behalf of God—and God have been laying out all the different sins of Israel in a question and answer format where they pose hypothetical questions and then respond to those questions with the specific sins of Israel—they confront Israel for their idolatry and false worship. They confront the priests for leading people into sin. And they confront Israel for how they treat one another—their interpersonal relationships and their inability to keep even earthly or human covenants (like their marriage vows).

From this point forward, there is still one more significant indictment against the Israelites, but there’s also a focus on the future and impending judgment. There are significant statements from Malachi 3 into Malachi 4 about the coming Day of the Lord and what exactly that means for the Israelites. This morning, we’ll look at the first of these statements sort of interwoven with some additional statements against the Israelites.

Let’s take a moment to read Malachi 3:1-7 together.

Malachi 3:1–7 ESV

1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. 5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

As we study this passage, we’re going to break it into two sections: (1) The Coming Messenger and the Purifier (1-4) and (2) The Vindication of God (5-7). The first section speaks of two different people—the second person mentioned is who the Jewish people would call the Messiah, the first person is the messenger of the Lord that announces the coming Messiah. We know John the Baptist as the one who announced the coming Messiah; and of course, Jesus as the Messiah. The second section speaks of coming judgment against the Jewish people. There is a profound statement being made here in Malachi 3—God didn’t change, the people changed by turning away from God. If they return, there is forgiveness.

Prayer for Illumination

The Coming Messenger and the Purifier (1-4)

Our text starts this morning by giving us multiple predictions or prophecies concerning the future. There’s really four different predictions going on in the text—two of them have to do with specific persons who are coming (the messenger and the Purifier) and the others have to do with impending judgment itself. V. 1 speaks of the two impending people, “Behold, I [this is God speaking] send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming.”

The first person mentioned in Malachi 3 is a coming messenger.

This messenger is to come first to prepare the way—most scholars consider this to be referring to the same person that Isaiah 40:3 speaks of when Isaiah says, “3 The voice of one calling out, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

This person is to come before the Lord, Himself. And this person will be a messenger to prepare the way.

We know from the New Testament, that this prophecy finds its fulfillment in John the Baptist. Matt 3:1-3 “1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one Calling Out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’ ””

Matthew 3 tells us that John the Baptist is this messenger that was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. And Matthew 3 tells us what exactly the message is that the messenger proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

This tells us that the message that was used to prepare the way for the Lord was that of repentance—there is a need to repent before the Lord comes.

Why exactly is there a need for repentance before the Lord comes? He hasn’t told us yet.

The second person mentioned in Malachi 3 is the Lord Himself. He says that the messenger will prepare the way before Him. “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming.”

Now this doesn’t exactly explain why there is a need for repentance, but it does start hinting towards the reasonings for repentance.

Remember, that we are in a book written to indict Israel for their sins and tell them what is to come. Thus far, a large portion of the letter has been the reasoning for their indictments—false worship, idolatry, sacrifices that were unacceptable, and just outright sin.

Like I’ve said multiple times now, Malachi isn’t the first warning; it’s the last warning, which is why (in v. 1) God mentions that “the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight . . . is coming.”

Why is there a need for repentance? Because of the Mosaic Covenant that Malachi keeps bringing up. They need to repent because of the conditional covenant in which the Israelites were supposed to follow, which they clearly weren’t following.

And remember, from Deuteronomy 11:26-28 “26 “See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.”

If they obey God’s commands, they receive blessings; but if they don’t obey God’s commands, they will be cursed.

The prophecy from Malachi concerning the coming of the Lord is part of the warning that’s given by the Lord to the nation of Israel. In v. 2 tells us what exactly the purpose of His coming is, “Who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.”

The Lord is coming and what v. 2 says is that His coming is not going to be pleasant. In fact, it’s going to be intense, so intense, that Malachi asks, “who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?”

When the Lord comes, who is described as the messenger of the covenant, the nation of Israel is going to face tremendous difficulty, but this isn’t hardship or difficulty in the same way that we think of it today because when we think of hardship or difficulty, we tend to think of it in terms of consequences from our own sin or suffering, or even the consequences of living in a sin-cursed world.

What makes the coming of the “messenger of the covenant” so difficult?

We see the answer in Vv 2b-3, “For he [meaning the coming Lord] is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.”

Malachi calls the coming Lord, “like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.”

The first illustration might be easy to pick up on because it’s an illustration that we all at least have some idea of what it means even if we’ve never actually seen it in-person.

A metal refiner is a person who uses extremely high temperatures to melt metal down and remove impurities—it is a process that is time-consuming, that involves fire and heat.

And if you think of this in terms of God being the refiner who is refining Israel, you can only imagine then that Israel needs to be placed in extremely high temperatures figuratively for their refinement.

The second illustration might be a little more unfamiliar. The coming Lord is like “fullers’ soap.”

Fullers’ soap is a specific type of acidic soap that was utilized to whiten clothes. In some ways, you can say that it was an early form of bleaching clothes that needed to be whitened.

The effect was that the impurities used to make colors would be pulled out from the clothing.

You can see what the point of the illustrations are, to show that refining work of the Lord—God will clean them, He will purify them, He will refine them.

Malachi says that the Lord will act as a refiner and purifier of silver to purify the sons of Levi, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.

In context with Malachi, it’s clear that he’s speaking of their sins—their false worship, their idolatry, and their unwillingness to offer the sacrifices that God demands from them—the unblemished, first-fruits of their flock.

The result of the purifying work of the Lord on Israel is found in vv. 3b-4, “They will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.”

After being cleansed by the Lord, after being refined, after having all the impurities burnt out, they will finally bring offerings that are right in the Lord.

They will finally do what is pleasing to the Lord, just like how their forefathers did in former years.

So, Malachi speaks of a coming messenger who will prepare the way of the Lord—then the coming Lord will purify Israel in such a way that they’ll finally worship Him the way that they were supposed to worship Him. They will finally offer sacrifices the way that they were supposed to offer these sacrifices, but refining Israel isn’t all that the Lord plans to do. In fact, He continues in vv. 5-7 by speaking of coming judgment. Let’s look at vv. 5-7 again.

The Vindication of God (5-7)

Malachi 3:5–7 ESV

5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

Our passage continues by speaking of coming judgment from the Lord. And I do want to clarify one thing, while it seems like the refining of Israel and the judgment of the Lord happen almost immediately after the original messenger came to prepare the way, what we learn Scripturally is that while it is chronological, some of this prophecy wasn’t immediate.

The coming messenger was identified in Matthew as John the Baptist and clearly the coming Lord is the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

But if you remember with me, through both the New Testament and church history—the Israelites have yet to be refined and they have yet to be purified; and the judgment that God is about to speak of in vv. 5-7 has yet to happen.

The messenger did definitely come and the Lord was here temporarily, but the refining of Israel and the judgment of all has yet to occur.

V. 5, tells us that there is judgment coming, “Then I will draw near to you for judgment.” And this judgment will be a judgement in which God won’t just judge actions, but He will judge motives and hearts. God gives us a list of sins (including both actions, motives, and hearts). He says that there will be swift witness against

“Sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, [those who oppress] the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and [against those who] do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”

While we could spend a significant amount of time working through each individual sin, I don’t think that’s God’s point and I think most of the sins listed are simple to understand.

Those that practice sorcery are condemned throughout Scripture—those that utilize (or attempt to utilize) spells, who practice divination (including seeing mediums), or tries to speak to spirits (like through Ouija boards or seances) will face judgment.

Those who commit adultery, which is voluntary sexual activity with someone who isn’t your spouse will face judgment.

Those who swear falsely or make an oath and doesn’t keep it, will face judgment.

Those who oppress those that they hire by not paying them their worth and those who oppress widows and orphans will face judgment.

Those who “thrust aside the sojourner,” or really, the idea would be those who aren’t just inhospitable, but are choosing to act maliciously towards those who are seeking hospitality—they will face judgment.

Those who don’t fear the Lord, will face judgment.

There’s two things of note about this list:

First, this isn’t a random list. Occasionally, in the New Testament, Paul will list off a series of sins that are to be put away—such as Galatians 5 in which he lists a series of sins that are the works of the flesh and he tells them to put on the fruits of the Spirit. That’s not the case here, these aren’t random.

We know this from the context—just think of all the indictments given by God towards the Israelites and compare them to the list of sins.

So, we see sorcery and adultery listed—they sound like they could be random, but remember God accusing them of bring idols into the temple. Sorcery and adultery were both part of worshiping false gods like Baal and Molech. Adultery for Baal worship and Sorcery for Molech worship.

Adultery and swearing falsely go hand-in-hand because one of the sin issues in Israel was their unwillingness to keep their earthly covenants, particularly their marriage covenants.

Oppressing hired workers in their wages would also go along with not keeping their earthly covenants.

Oppressing widows, orphans, and sojourners has to do with the Mosaic Covenant—it was part of God’s Law that they take care of those who couldn’t help themselves.

And their lack of fear towards the Lord is the epitome of breaking the Law, itself.

These aren’t random sins, they’re all sins that God has already called them out for.

Second, while this list is important because it does warn us of these sins, it is worth noting that the list of sins isn’t the point of the verse and passage.

Rather, the point of the list of sins is yet another warning for them. It is a reminder of their sins and really, it’s a reminder that God sees their sins and He still considers what they’re doing sinful. How do I know? Because of v. 6, “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob are not consumed.”

Despite the fact that the Israelites thought they had gotten away from their sins, the reality is that they hadn’t whatsoever.

And despite the fact that they pretended not to know that they had sinned, God knew that they had sinned and He was holding them accountable for their sins.

Why? Because God doesn’t change. We call this God’s immutability—God absolutely does not change. Hebrews 13:8 reflects this with Jesus in mind, “8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.”

So, despite the Israelites pretending not to know that they’ve sinned and despite the fact that they think they’ve gotten away with sin—God is still holding them accountable for their sins.

But not only that, because God doesn’t change, He’s still acting within His covenant with the Israelites. Now, you might ask, how exactly is He still acting and reacting within His covenant, so let me remind you again of Deuteronomy 11:26-28 “26 “See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.”

Just like the fact that He still considers sin, sin; He still takes seriously the covenant that He had given, which is why He makes the statement, “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you . . . are not consumed.”

Because God is who He says He is and He is a faithful God who always keeps His covenants, they were not destroyed.

Richard A. Taylor and E. Ray Clendenen, “The point is that if Yahweh were the kind of unfair and unfaithful God [the Israelites] charge him with being . . . he would have put an end to them long ago . . . Though man may show contempt for the covenant, the Lord will never ‘violate’ his own covenant. What he has promised by oath stands.” (NAC, 401)

And because God doesn’t change—because He is always faithful and He keeps His covenant, we have the very next verse, “From the days of your father you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.”

The last verse for our section of Scripture sums up the entire premise of the book of Malachi—the whole point of the entire book is this statement.

That despite the Law given to them by God through their fathers, despite having a record of God’s statutes, laws, and requirements, and despite it being abundantly clear for the Israelites that they needed to try to keep the commands, laws, and requirements—they didn’t.

And God knows that they didn’t keep the law. The only thing left for them to do, is precisely how the passage ends, God calls them to return.

The whole point of the book of Malachi is to point out the sins of Israel and for God to call them to repentance— “return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord.”

The point of almost every single prophet in the Old Testament was to point out the sins of Israel, to call them to genuine repentance, and on occasion, they would proclaim the future. Their primary goal was to convince people to repent, to return, to go back to Yahweh.

But I think even those with minimal understanding and knowledge of Old Testament history know that clearly, the people didn’t actually repent or when they did, the repentance was short-lived, and they tended to fall back into their sins.

The call from God remains the same—”return to me, and I will return to you.”

Which brings us to our application for this morning. Now clearly, part of this passage was fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist, as he was the messenger that prepared the way for the Lord; but as I mentioned earlier, some of the prophetic statements in Malachi have yet to occur and they won’t occur until we get closer to the eschaton (or the End Times). And of course, it’s clear that the original audience of Malachi was Israel, however, much of what was written to the Israelites is applicable to us in our modern-day world, as well. And our application is much easier to apply than what you might think.

Application

But before we get to the primary application, we do have to discuss one thing. Now, clearly, much of the indictment given to the Israelites were based on the covenant that they had with God and their lack of obedience. They didn’t obey and thus, God gave them yet another warning concerning their lack of obedience and impending judgment.

Now, here’s the thing, if you’re familiar with Christian doctrine, you know then, that we aren’t under the same covenant. The Israelites were under the Mosaic Covenant, which was a conditional covenant—the Israelites had to do something to be blessed by God.

We are not under the Mosaic Covenant today. Rather, what’s been given to believers today is the New Covenant, which is an unconditional covenant—it is a covenant in which we don’t work for and we don’t earn. We simply believe and Jesus handles the covenant for us.

Now, of course, this assumes that you are a genuine believer who has repented from your sins and believed in Jesus—if you haven’t, then you’re still under the conditions of the Old Covenant and you’re to be judged under the Law and what the Scripture teaches us is that no person can actually keep the Law.

We all miss the mark, we all fall short of the glory of God—this is why Jesus’ sacrificial atonement for our sins is such a big deal—because He did for us what we couldn’t do ourselves.

He fulfilled the Law that we cannot fulfill and He gives His righteousness as a free gift to all who simply repent from their sins and believe in Him.

So, really, we would be amiss if we read a passage like Malachi 3:1-7 and not acknowledge the fact that anything that we could apply from Malachi 3 is contingent on genuine belief in Jesus.

If you don’t believe in Jesus already, then what Malachi teaches won’t really help you because simply trying to keep the laws at hand—do not practice sorcery, don’t be an adultery, don’t lie, etc. can’t earn you salvation.

And to call you to return to Jesus when you haven’t first believed in Jesus logically doesn’t make sense—you need to first turn to Him.

So, a passage like Malachi 3 for an unbeliever, ought to convict of sin and drive you to repentance—thus, the only application I can give an unbeliever is to encourage you to consider your sin and how your sin separates you from Almighty God; and then repent from your sin and believe in Jesus Christ.

Now, for those of us who are believers, I do have two primary applications for you: (1) one has to do with the coming Lord of hosts and (2) the second has to do with your own sin.

As mentioned throughout the sermon, only part of Malachi’s prophecy has occured. John the Baptist (the messenger) has certainly come to prepare the way for the Lord and the Lord did come.

Jesus as the Messiah was on earth, but it’s clear that the first time Jesus came to earth, His goal wasn’t to refine Israel nor was it to judge mankind.

That doesn’t mean that Malachi 3 won’t happen, it just means that Malachi 3’s remaining prophecies have yet to happen. So, the idea of Israel being purified will still happen and the idea of mankind being judged will certainly still happen—we know so, because the New Testament still speaks of this judgment and the New Testament still speaks of Israel being purified.

Now, the judgment, we’ll talk about in a few minutes, but the purification of Israel, we’ll talk about now. You may hear the idea of Israel’s purification and think, “oh, well that’s no big deal, because I’m not Jewish.” Who cares?

Admittedly, this does seem to speak primarily of Israel in Malachi 3, but this promise of God to purify the Israelites actually extends to all believers. You don’t have to do a deep dive in Scripture to learn this, consider Jesus’ own statements in John 15:1-2 “1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

Clearly, in this illustration—Jesus is the vine, the Father is the one pruning and if you are a believer, you are a branch that bears fruit. What does Jesus say happens to the branches that bear fruit? They are pruned by the Father so that they may bear more fruit.

Throughout the New Testament, we see Jesus, we see Paul, we see all the Apostles describing this process of being pruned and they call it sanctification. Sanctification is the process through which the Holy Spirit removes sin and its desire from your life and helps you to bear the fruits of the Spirit. It is the process through which you stop thinking, feeling, and acting like the world and you start thinking, feeling, and acting in the way that God wants you to.

It is the process of pruning—the Old Testament calls it purifying and refining.

And the New Testament teaches that this is a life-long process that results in you being made like Jesus, which will result you being able to offer yourself to the Lord as a living sacrifice that brings honor and glory to the Lord.

If you are a believer this morning, you are being refined, you are being purified, and you are being pruned.

And as Romans 8:28-29 teaches, this is intentionally done, “28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.”

But it does bring up a question concerning application. Is this a passive process in which the Holy Spirit does the work or is it something that you bear some responsibility in?

The answer is yes. It’s really both, which is why throughout Scripture, we see the process of sanctification as something that the Holy Spirit does for us and as something in which we are to actively get involved. We are to seek the process of sanctification in our lives.

Which is our first application for this text. If we are to be refined, if we are to be purified, and if we are to be pruned, what is our responsibility in this?

Our responsibility in our sanctification is for us to participate in what’s typically referred to as the ordinary means of grace.

Our responsibility is to hear the Word of God preached accurately and read the Word of God well. Our responsibility is to observe the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Table. Our responsibility is to pray regularly. We have a responsibility to choose to be in the fellowship of like-minded believers.

These are the means through which God edifies His believers, especially through His Word preached and read—that is the whole reason why Jesus prays in His High Priestly Prayer, “sanctify them in the truth, Thy Word is truth.”

How are you to be refined and purified? Through the Word of God preached accurately and read well, through observing the ordinances, through prayer, and through fellowship by the working of the Holy Spirit in you.

Thus, our application is profoundly simple. Jesus wants to sanctify you, He does this through His Holy Spirit, but you have some responsibility in it, that you need to seek His truth in His Word, observe the ordinances, pray, and fellowship with like-minded believers. Or put another way, you need to participate in your sanctification. This is our first application—participate in your own sanctification because the Lord of hosts is returning—Jesus will be back.

Which brings us to our last application for the morning, which concerns judgment. Now as a believer, you don’t have to worry about eternal condemnation for your sins because Jesus has covered your sins through His sacrificial atonement on the cross, but I will say that while you’re eternal condemnation is settled at the cross, the New Testament still says that there’s a judgment for believers.

This judgment, however, will not end with believers being punished or thrown in the lake of fire, because (again), Jesus handles the consequence of sin.

This judgment concerns something else entirely and we see it throughout the New Testament.

Romans 14:10 teaches us that we will all sit in front of the judgment seat of Christ—that’s written to believers.

2 Cor 5:10 reiterates that we’ll face judgment and Paul actually explains a bit of what that judgment is, “10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad.”

1 Cor 3:10-15 uses the illustration of building a building and in this illustration, Paul explains how the work of believers will be judged and what was done with right motive, right ambition, for the glory of God will remain and everything else will be burnt up. 1 Cor 3:10-15 “10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire.”

There is a judgment coming for believers as well as unbelievers, but the result of the judgment for unbelievers is eternal suffering whereas believers are judged according to what they do after they’ve been made righteous by Jesus Christ.

For believers, the judgment coming isn’t one concerning eternal salvation, it concerns the rewards given for what the believer does after their salvation.

Or in other words, as a believer, God will judge what you do not in a salvific sense, but to determine whether you actually lived your life to the glory of God.

Your salvation is completely predicated on Jesus and what He did for you on the cross, so praise Him for it—give Him thanks.

But take a moment to consider your life today. If you were to be taken home today, how much of your life would remain because you sought to glorify God with right motive, right desire, and right attitude? How much of your life would be burned up?

How much of your life is spent indulging in sin rather than seeking Jesus? How much of your life is spent doing the very things that Jesus saved you from?

How much of your life would hold up to scrutiny?

There is a judgment coming, which means that you need to consider your life and determine whether you’re living for God’s glory or your own.

Repent if you’ve been living for your own glory

And return to living for God.

Live for God because the Lord of hosts is coming—Jesus is returning.

Malachi 3:1-7 teaches us that Jesus will return and that He has a plan to refine, to purify, and to judge. As believers, this means that you are to (1) participate in your own sanctification and (2) live your life for God’s glory.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

Across the Lands (198)