Who Can Endure His Coming?

Today our Scripture portion will be in Malachi 3:1-6.  We left chapter 2 on the note that the people and leaders of Israel had developed an attitude that serving God didn’t help.  In fact that it seemed those who scorned His laws were “blessed” by Him.  “Where is the God of justice,” is a question that goes to the heart of the messiah because the whole purpose of sending the messiah was to restore justice.

They continued to give lip-service to the doctrine of a coming messiah, but had ceased living as if he was really coming.

Thus, the Spirit of the Lord stirs up Malachi to give them a reminder that the messiah is coming and they are not ready for him.

God Is Sending The Messiah

In verse one a clear reference to the messiah is made, “the Lord whom you seek.”  This messiah was promised to deliver Israel from all her enemies and would be the perfect leader both politically and spiritually.  The term messiah literally means Anointed One.  Though many kings and priests had been anointed by oil for their roles and duties, the messiah would be unique in that he would be directly anointed by God and not just with oil, but rather with the Spirit of God.  Now for centuries Israel had hoped in the coming messiah.  But by the time of Malachi it had become a shell.  What I mean by that is this.  The teaching still remained, but the heart and spirit of what it meant was no longer there.  We see this in John 4 when Jesus talks with the woman at the well in Samaria.  She is definitely not living according to God’s Word and yet she still gives lip service to the coming messiah.  In fact, she does not really demonstrate a desire for him to come, but rather a desire to drop the discussion.  “When the messiah comes he will explain it.”  Their lives actually scoffed at the idea that a messiah would actually come.  Thus God reminds them that he is going to send the messiah.

However, He will first send a messenger of preparation.  In Matthew 11:10, Jesus quotes this verse to declare that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of it.  He was the messenger of preparation.  He had prepared the way before the messiah by calling people to repentance (much like Malachi).  The messiah does not need an actual road prepared for him because the place he is trying to reach is our hearts.  Thus John the Baptist’s message was “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 

Isaiah does use this picture of road building in Isaiah 40:3-4.  “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.”  But the “way of the Lord” is a phrase that refers to God’s judgments and dictates in His Word.  Thus a straight path is when we completely follow God’s Word instead of branching off in our own desired directions.  Just as in building a road we lower the high places and raise the low places, so each individual needed to knock down those areas of pride in their life and build up those forsaken lowly places that God intended to be higher.  It is a picture of what we become without God’s word: barricaded against His entrance into our heart.  Yet, God would do some road building Himself.  He would knock down those great proud mountains within the nation of Israel and raise up forsaken believers who truly believed on him.  Now let me warn us today.  Jesus, the messiah, is coming again.  This time he is coming in judgment for the whole world and we need to prepare our hearts for his coming.  God is going to do some smashing of “proud mountains” in this world and some raising of lowly “valleys.”  Does your life today reflect a preparation for Christ or does it only give lip-service to that coming?  Has the belief in Jesus’ coming become only a shell or have you jettisoned it altogether?  Know this: Jesus is coming and we will either be prepared for that coming or be caught unprepared.

After the messenger of preparation then comes the messiah.  He is referred to as the messenger of the covenant.  He is the “Lord, whom you seek.”  Verse one says that he will come suddenly or surprisingly.  He is going to catch them by surprise and at a time that they aren’t expecting.  Does that sound familiar?  As his first coming was so shall his second coming be.

Next it says that he is coming to his temple.  Now the temple that existed when Jesus came the first time was not the temple that Solomon had built.  In fact when the second temple was being built the Bible tells us that some who remembered the glory of the first wept and cried.  However, the “lowly” temple was going to be the one that received the honor of having the promised Messiah walk into it.  Yet, in light of John the Baptist’s message we know that the true target is not the earthly temple that was going to be destroyed.  No, the true target was the hearts of those who fear Him and exalt Him as Lord in their hearts and lives.  These are the ones to whom He would ultimately come.

Now let’s move to verse 2.  Malachi asks the question, “who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears?”  That is the question.  Preparation entails knowing what you are preparing for.  The question Who begs the answer that would inform our preparations.

Now the word endure is the picture of a vessel that is supposed to contain something.  When Christ comes will your vessel be able to contain it or will it burst at the seams?  This is what Jesus referred to when he said that many of the religious leaders were like old wineskins.  They could not receive Jesus or His teaching because it would break their hardened traditions and the hardened shell of a life they had built in the name of religion.  He also uses the picture of standing.  Who can stand without being cut down and swept away?  When God’s Anointed One who is the very Justice of God walks among our midst, which of us will survive?  This important question is answered elsewhere.  But here it is meant to stir a fear of the Lord in the hearts of those listening.  We ought to also recognize the powerful thought that the perfect Lord of Glory is going to come down and deal with unbelievers and the unfaithful.  Will you stand and not burst in that day?

The Messiah Comes To Purify

Malachi goes on to give two pictures of the messiah.  He is like a refiner’s fire and he is like soap.  Now there is a personal and corporate level on which this happens.  The personal level is for those who believe in the Lord.  He causes our hearts to be searched out and purified through a daily relationship with him; just like the fire or soap.

Yet, corporately, He will remove the unbelieving and unfaithful from among His people.  In the first century he did this by becoming an outcast and then calling all who believed to His side.  In order to obey the faithful had to turn their backs on the hardened traditions of their Fathers and the present religious leaders.  After those who made their choice had come to the side of Christ, outside the camp, then the judgment of God was poured out on the unbelieving of that nation.  Thus the Church began as a purified remnant of Israel.  They were able to stand because they were willing to let go of that which God was going to destroy and put their faith in Jesus whom He was going to bless.

The Messiah Comes To Restore

When we have been purified by Christ we are truly able to give an offering of righteousness.  Thus Malachi points to this time when the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord.  In John 4:23 Jesus said, “the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”  God wants true heart worship and not empty-shell lip-service.  Even today the outward forms of worship and offerings can become something less than a spirit that is bowed in honor and in awe of God.  However, a spirit that is bowed in honor and awe of the Lord will have visible actions.  Jesus restored true worship.  However we must avoid demolishing that true worship by hardening it into an empty shell again.

The Messiah Comes To Judge

In verse 5, he warns that the messiah will deal with sorcerers: those who call upon demonic entities and powers and so have turned from God and His ways.  Do you suppose any still do this today?  The occult and spiritism have exploded in the modern era.  He is coming to judge adulterers: those who are unfaithful and led by their pleasures.  He comes to judge perjurers: those who falsely swear oaths in the name of God.  Lastly he comes to judge those who abuse social power.  Are any doing these things today?  In fact in the “Christian” West we love to give lip-service to helping the poor.  But, in reality, we only use the issue of the poor to get more power and money under our control.  The poor end up hardly being helped.  If we fear God we will not turn to any power other than God.  We will refuse to be led by our pleasures and keep our commitments.  We will not use God to back up our lies.  And, we will not abuse workers, and the less fortunate around us for our own gain: this includes foreigners.

The Messiah Comes To Demonstrate Mercy

In verse 6 we are told that God does not change and thus Israel is not consumed.  Though God’s anger and wrath had been stirred up, He is still merciful.  He would purify and those who would allow Him to cleanse them would enjoy His goodness.  God is forever merciful.  But He will judge those who refuse His mercy.  He always makes a way for the humble to survive and spiritually flourish.  Israel did not deserve the New Covenant.  But God would give it to them anyway.  However, it would be given in a way that only those who believed God would enter into it.

Today we await the coming of the Lord.  And, it is easy for Christians to lean back on a nice tidy theology to feel secure.  However, it is not our theology per se that saves us.  It is Jesus Himself.  If our faith is not securely resting upon Him then you must question whether you are truly prepared for His coming.  To all I say along with Malachi and John the Baptist, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Who Can Endure Audio

No Peace For The Wicked

Though Jesus has given his peace to his followers, this does not mean that the earth itself will experience peace.  We have to bear in mind that this is a world in rebellion against God.  Yes, Jesus provides peace.  But it is peace with those who embrace him.  Just as Israel rejected Jesus, so the nations today reject Jesus.  There is no place for Jesus in their plans and the only reason their politics make room for him is to get his the votes of his people.  This is precisely why this world cannot create a lasting peace.  When you reject the Prince of Peace then you forfeit its presence.

The believers in the Greek city of Thessalonica were concerned about the timing of the Day of the Lord.  This was a technical phrase that the prophets used to refer to a day when God comes down to judge all the nations of the world and set up his own kingdom.  Paul had taught the Thessalonians that Jesus would return a second time and when he did he would judge the nations.  However in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul basically pushes past the question of when the second coming will happen and moves onto more important matters.  So here is the first main point.

The World Will Not Be Expecting It When God’s Judgment Comes

In verse one Paul quickly dismisses the timing issue.  In short we really don’t need to know what date Jesus is coming back.  However, in verse two he turns to how it will come upon the world, “like a thief in the night.”  Then in verse three he lays out more specifics of how it will come upon the world.  This world will be caught by surprise even though prophets, the church and Jesus have warned that judgment is coming.  In Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus warned over and over again that his coming would be unexpected.  In fact, it won’t just be unexpected by the world but it will also come at a time that even Christians wouldn’t think (Mt. 24:36,44).  Thus he tells his followers to watch and always be ready so that the day doesn’t take them by surprise.  It will be a surprise in the sense of the timing.  But it shouldn’t be a surprise for believers in the sense that they won’t be ready.  Are you ready?

The reason the timing is not important is because it is better for us not to know.  If we knew a time then the generations before would be lazier and the witness of the gospel would be impacted.  God’s wisdom desires that each generation live ready for the coming judgment.

Paul gives a word picture of a thief in the night.  Jesus will come like a thief in the night.  Now Jesus is not a bad thief.  However in both situations if you are not ready then you stand to lose all that you have.  This world hasn’t given a second thought about the coming of Jesus.  It has plowed on amassing wealth, power, projects and knowledge.  However, when Jesus comes back all of this will be lost and for nothing.  Thus it will be like a thief.  His coming will ruin all their hopes.

We are receiving further warnings today.  First the gospel has practically gone to all the nations.  Also, we see a growing apostasy from the truth within the church.  Also, we see a continual increase of wickedness in all nations of the world.

The World Will Claim That Peace And Safety Have Come.

Everyone claims that they have the answer for peace.  The Muslims say that they will bring peace when the West is deposed and everyone agrees with them.  The West says that it will bring peace through its philosophical reasonings.  Whether religions or nations, there are many vying philosophies that claim to be an answer for mankind.  Will such a peace ever be created?  In verse 3 Paul points to the fact that the world will say, “Peace and Safety!”  Notice it is not clear whether they are saying it has been obtained or that it is within their grasp.  Perhaps like Neville Chamberlain in WWII they have achieved peace on paper.  Regardless, this declaration of peace and safety will trigger destruction.  Think of the sadness of this predicament.  The world rejects God in order to create its own safety and peace.  However,  just when they think they have achieved it, boom!  The rug is pulled out from under them, which leads us to the last point.

The World Will Instead Experience Ruin And Destruction

The collapse of the imagined peace will be the destruction of the nations and all their great plans.  This destruction will be a mixture of man-caused things and God-caused things.

Here Paul inserts another word picture.  A pregnant woman who begins to have labor pains has been lived and watched ever since the beginning.  Paul says that the destruction will come like labor pains upon a woman.  Thus the suddenness is more about the beginning rather than the duration.  It begins suddenly but lasts longer than a second.  Second of all, the pains increase with intensity as they decrease in the amount of time in between them.  So the pains come quicker and quicker and become harder and harder.  However, the world is not giving birth to something good.  It is giving birth to its own destruction and judgment.  Does it not seem, in this day and age, that major disasters and pains on the earth are coming quicker and quicker?  Does it not see, today, that they are also becoming worse and worse?  Isn’t it time to rebel against the rebellion before it is too late?

Isaiah 57:19-21 says, “’I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,’ says the Lord, ‘And I will heal him.’  But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.  ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’”

The message of Christ is peace, just as the angels proclaimed at his birth: “peace on earth goodwill towards men.”  However, this peace has been rejected by the world and cast aside.  Thus God offers peace to him who is near and him who is far off.  Basically that means anybody.  But to the wicked, those who reject this offer and persist in their own way, there can be no peace.

If you desire peace today then you are going to have to save yourself from this wicked generation.  You are going to have to leave the rebellion behind, walk away from the revolution, and turn back in repentance towards God.  The last words Paul gives are serious: “They shall not escape.”  Think about the futility of that statement.  No matter what this world tries it is all impotent to change the future we are headed towards.  Peace will only come when Jesus is ruling on this earth.  The fact that he isn’t here yet means that grace is still available for us and for the lost.  Do we even care?  Just know this.  Jesus cared and if we love him we will care too.

No Peace Wicked audio