Sermon Tone Analysis

Proposition: Through the message of the Messiah God offers His people hope for the future.

Question: How does God’s message of the Messiah in the minor prophets offer us hope?

Jesus offers us hope through:

1).

Reversal (Hosea)

Jesus offers us hope through:

1).

Reversal (Hosea)

2).

Restoration (Amos)

Jesus offers us hope through:

1).

Reversal (Hosea)

2).

Restoration (Amos)

3).

Security (Micah)

Jesus offers us hope through:

1).

Reversal (Hosea)

2).

Restoration (Amos)

3).

Security (Micah)

4).

Rejoicing (Zephaniah)

Jesus offers us hope through:

1).

Reversal (Hosea)

2).

Restoration (Amos)

3).

Security (Micah)

4).

Rejoicing (Zephaniah)

5).

Salvation (Zechariah)

Salvation from sin:

Final salvation:

The message of the Messiah in Malachi offers hope through righteousness

Situational Context of Malachi’s Day:

Babylonian Captivity: 70 years

Decree of Cyrus: 538 BC

1st Return under Zerubbabel: 536 BC

Temple is completed: 516 BC

2nd Return with Ezra: 458 BC

3rd Return with Nehemiah: 445 BC

Malachi: 435 BC

Having been liberated by the Persians from exile, the people were now living under the thumb of Persian domination, and the meager sense of autonomy experienced in the fifth century BC was certainly not the kingdom promised by earlier prophets.

Temple was rebuilt, walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt.... so now what?

God’s people were disappointed in their lack of prosperity, they were not experiencing the kingdom promised to them, so they abandoned God.

Key thought: you must understand this heretical thinking of the Jews if you are going to grasp the overall message of the prophet Malachi.

This morning I have a rhetorical question for you…why are you here?

Why are you at church on a Sunday morning?

Why did you get yourself out of bed and come to church?

Examining our reasons for coming to church can reveal deeper spiritual needs.

Have you ever asked these kinds of questions:

What can I get out of this church?

Do I leave with that fuzzy feeling on the back of my neck?

Does it emotionally charge me up for the week?

Illustration: Real estate agent: his reason for attending his church: lots of connections with prominent people in the community.

These kinds of questions may reveal to us a deeper problem of our heart- why we worship God.

Do we worship God for what WE can get out of the experience?

Why should we worship God?

Think about why the Jews of Malachi's day were worshiping God!

It is vain- worthless, valueless, futile, useless!

Question: When the Jews spoke these words- for whom was it worthless or valueless to serve God?

For themselves!

What is the problem with this kind of worship?

This is man-centered, self-motivated worship!

What is the profit?-

advantage?

benefit?

gain?

how have we been helped?

What advantage is it to ME if I keep God’s requirements?

What profit is it to walk mournfully before the Lord?

(In joyful, dependent, humility upon almighty God, but they spin it as- walk in morning before God!)

This was the thought that was driving the worship for the Jews!

1st Question to guide us through Malachi:

What are the results of a man-centered worship?

What are the consequences when our worship is motivated by self-centered gain?

What happens to our worship when we ask the question, “What’s in it for me?”

We may call into question God’s love

Malachi 1:2 (ESV)

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord.

But you say, “How have you loved us?”

We may offer repulsive worship to God

We may turn people away from God

We may become faithless in our relationships to others

Some of the men of Judah had profaned the sanctuary of the Lord by marrying pagan women.

We may respond with indifference to sin

They responded with shocked indifference to their sin.

They were dismissive of their own undeniable guilt!

Right worship of God is inseparably linked with personal righteousness.

God does not accept the worship of those who grieve Him through unrighteousness.

Right worship has far more to do with how you live on Monday through Saturday than most people realize.

They were faithless to the Mosaic covenant by marrying pagan women.

They continued to offer sacrifices of worship (sacrifices that were defiled, polluted, and profane).

They arrogantly thought that they could live immoral lives and God would still accept their worship.

And they even divorced the wives of their youth.

They broke their marriage covenant with their wives from Judah so that they could marry pagan wives!

And then they had the audacity to ask “Why does he not?”

What?

God doesn’t regard my offering?

He doesn’t accept it with favor?

Well, why not?

Really!

We may weary God with blasphemous words

They wearied God with their blasphemous words- words that were irreverently spoken about God.

The people were doubting God’s justice.

They were looking around and seeing the prosperity of the wicked, and they came to this conclusion: God delights in the wicked!

How did they make that leap of logic?

They argued: everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord (i.e. they have lots of wealth and power and stuff), therefore God delights in evil people.

Conclusion: If the wicked are blessed, then why bother serving the Lord?