Heavy Words To Loved Ones II

As we continue through the book of Malachi, we find the heavy words that God speaks to Israel through His prophet.  Today we will start in Malachi 1:6 and learn that God was not happy with the priests of His temple.  They were doing things that were not as God had commanded.  But their attitude was worse than that.  They had become tired of doing “God’s things.”  Have you ever become tired of doing what God has asked you to do?  In short, do you ever grow weary of doing the right thing?

Let’s listen in on God’s correction of the priests and learn how He might correct us.

Actions That Dishonor God

In verses 6-8 we are told that the priests were dishonoring God in their activities.  It is easy to slip into such dishonoring practices when we are working for God because He is not physically present.  Unlike a boss, a judge, the President, etc…God can take last place in our mind.  We can end up working harder to please people than we do God.

The priests main area of dishonor was that they were sacrificing unworthy animals.  The Law prescribed that the lambs, bulls, doves, goats, etc…all be perfect and without blemish.  People were bringing animals or purchasing animals that were not perfect and the priests were letting this go on.  It was as if they were more concerned about the “big” law (i.e. sacrifice an animal) than they were about all the “little” detail laws.  They kept up the form of what God said without keeping the heart of it.

Now God reminds them that in their prayers and in their public statements they refer to Him as their Father and Master.  If that were true they wouldn’t be serving in such a lackadaisical fashion.  They were in truth indifferent sons and rebellious servants.  This was dishonoring God.

The attitude of their hearts was this: “What way have we despised Your Name?”  Though they may never have said this out loud, through the prophet God is exposing their heart response to the message.  What’s the big deal?  Were doing what we have always done (business as usual)!  The way compromise works is that we make slight, little changes that don’t seem like much.  But, over time, they amount to a great difference.  Similar to the Frog in a Kettle analogy, their compromises had built up to a point to where they weren’t even convicted when their sin was pointed out.  They rather seem to be offended that they are being questioned.  Whether we are involved in church ministry or doing any duty that God gives us, such as parenting, we can grow indifferent to the task that God has given us.  Our choices can tend to become about what we want and not about what the right thing is.  What does God want us to do?

What we do for God should be taken seriously.  These priests were generally offering what the people were bringing.  So the priests are not the only people with this problem.  However, if they took their position seriously they would have corrected the people and refused to offer unworthy animals.  Because they weren’t taking the job seriously it poisoned their heart towards the job.  They began to complain about God’s stuff and looked for ways to cut corners.  This is how they were dishonoring Him. 

Ask yourself today, am I offering God defiled sacrifices in my duties for Him?  This can be in our family, or as a citizen of this country, as an employee, or as a member of the Church.  In verse 8 God lays down this challenge.   “Serve your governor like me and you might get a clue how I feel.”  If I did my taxes like I serve the Lord, what would happen during an audit?  Putting aside government corruption, God’s point is that they take feeding their Governor more seriously than they do serving Him.

Now I am going to skip ahead to verse 12 because the prophet says some more about their dishonor of God there.  Our sin causes us to grow weary with God and His ways.  Now a rebellious son can use the faults of an earthly father to justify their dishonoring actions and a rebellious employee can use the faults of his boss to justify dishonor.  Likewise a citizen can use the faults of a government to justify dishonor.  Yet, all these do not explain our desire to go our own way from God because He is perfect and without fault.  Thus we need to take serious the self-justifications that we raise both against God and against men.

They Must Change To Get God’s Grace

Now let’s go back to verses 9-10.  The prophet reminds them that they are pleading and praying for God’s grace on behalf of the nation and individuals at the same time they are dishonoring Him.  This introduces the problem of Grace versus Works.  You see that God pours out His grace upon us.  But if we take it for granted we will come to a point where he forces us to face our sin.  We can’t continue to sin and expect that God’s grace will continue unabated.  It is not that we must work in order to receive grace.  But, rather our arrogance must be rebuked.  If we are sorry and truly desire to follow God then we will do actions that reflect that.  We may not be perfect, but God knows our heart. The hearts of these priests were not repentant.  In fact they were hardened and flippant in their response back to God’s rebuke.  Praying for God’s favor when we dishonor Him by ignoring His Word will only bring discipline from the Lord.  This is true both under the Old Covenant and under the New Covenant.  We fool ourselves if we think God will continue to bless us as we pursue sinful ways.

In fact God asks whether there was anyone who would shut the doors to the Temple.  Why?  He would rather the sacrificial system (that he designed) would not happen than that it be turned into a mockery.  If Churches are going to become a place where we dishonor God by ignoring, twisting, or wrongly dividing His Word then God would rather we shut the doors to the church.  Can you imagine showing up to church and someone was boarding it up?  If the person told you that it was God’s will, you would probably point to some Scriptures about gathering together and you would be partly right.  In our sin we can focus only on the system and program.  But God is always more concerned about the heart.  If we lose the heart of what He is saying then we might as well board up our churches.  If our worship is to become a version of American Idol than God would rather we turn it off.  If our discipleship is to become the latest self-help psychology then God would rather we quit.  It only makes things worse.  He is shamed either way.  In fact many people disregard Churches today.  They do so partly because their own sin causes them to run from rebuke.  However, they partly do so because the western Church, as a whole, has not taken God and His stuff seriously.

God Will Be Great Throughout All Nations

In verses, 11, and 14b, we see the statement that no matter what God will be great among the nations.  You see the future of God’s reputation is sure.  He isn’t afraid that our dishonor will somehow hurt Him.  The truth is that our dishonor of God hurts us and the people around us.  God’s future is sure, but where will I be in the day that God raises up His honor out of the dust?  Will I participate in His greatness?  That all depends on whether I humble myself before Him and His Word.

Now historically it could be said that God has done this.  At the cross and resurrection, Jesus elevated the Name and Honor of God.  He took a remnant of Israel and sent them to the nations.  Today people everywhere honor and praise the name of the God of Israel.  Yet, today we see that the Church has followed the same pattern as Israel.  We find ourselves today after decade upon decade of moral compromise with our culture, contemptuously serving the Lord.  It is said that familiarity breeds contempt.  Thus Malachi mentions that the Name of the Lord is to be feared.  If we love Him and obey His words then we need not fear Him.  But we ought to always fear dishonoring the Lord.  First because it brings times of discipline and second because our hearts can grow so cold that even His discipline finds no leverage within it.

Yes these are heavy words, but difficult times call for such things to be said.  Let His Word find leverage in your heart today.

Heavy Word II Audio

A Heavy Word to a Loved One

We are going to begin a verse by verse walk through the book of Malachi.  This is the last book of the Old Testament and the end of the section that is called the “Minor Prophets.”  They are called minor because their written prophecies are very small compared to the “Major Prophets” like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.  Malachi literally means “my messenger.”  So there is some dispute as to whether the prophet’s name is Malachi or it is a reference to his prophetic role.  Note that there is no reference to a father ( e.g. Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo; or Haggai the son of Shealtiel).

The prophecy is given to Israel during the period after their exile into Babylon and subsequent return.  So let’s begin to look at what God had to say to these people who had been judged by God and now were back in the land rebuilding.

God Reminds Us Of His Love For Us

Verse one begins by calling the Word of the Lord a burden or heavy load.  It is a picture of a camel or donkey that has been weighed down with something to carry.  Malachi received a “Word” from God that was very heavy.  Love can be a fun and light thing, but it can also be very heavy.  God and Israel had been through some very stormy waters.  And, now, the people of Israel had come to a place where they doubted God’s love for them.  Often the myopia of our own circumstances can cause us to think we have it so bad when, in reality, we have it far better than others.  Such is the case with Israel.

Malachi employs a technique where God makes a statement and then points out how Israel is questioning this.  Thus, God says, “I have loved you.”   Whether they were saying it out loud or only in their hearts, God could hear their response, “In what way have you loved us?”

As a Father, God had judged Israel’s actions as wrong.  He had disciplined them and now was restoring them.  What child doesn’t sometimes feel like their parent doesn’t love them?  All of us feel this.

We can grow insensitive to God’s love for us because we want things to be different.  We don’t have the bigger view that a parent would have, much less God.  The present realities of now cloud our ability to see God’s love.  Remember, God is not content for us just to be happy.  He wants us to be like Him.  Thus we chafe under the discipline it takes to become like God.

Next God reminds them of the difference between their nation and the nation of Edom.  As Israel was the descendants of Jacob, so Edom was the descendants of Esau.  It is not surprising to hear God say that he had loved Israel.  But it is surprising to hear God say that he has hated Esau.  What?  There are two points to make about this statement. 

First of all, in this context hate is more a comparison that God loved Israel more and didn’t choose Esau like he did them.  God’s blessings upon Israel were greater than Esau and Edom.  It is not so much about a intense dislike for someone as it is about the lack of a loving choice.  Think of it from the prospective of the jilted person.  Jacob thought he had married Rachel, but instead was given Leah.  Now Jacob did not have an intense hatred for Leah, but he wasn’t satisfied with her.  He worked another 7 years to get Rachel and then demonstrated that he “really” loved Rachel in countless ways in the decades ahead.  The Bible says that when God saw that Leah was unloved (same word translated hated here) he opened her womb.  Jacob may not have had an intense hatred of Leah like we think, but he didn’t “love” her like he did Rachel and that hurt Leah.  Similarly, God is saying that when Jacob and Esau were in the womb, God had chosen to bless Jacob above his brother.  Esau would not receive the same blessing, although he was blessed in many ways as well.  This choosing was not based on biology (same mother and father).  Nor was it based on birth order (the first would be less than the second).  Now we should be careful of confusing this with salvation.  The role and purpose that God was giving to Jacob played a part in salvation, but it was not an declaration that Esau could not be saved. 

Esau could have recognized God’s calling and chose to join with his brother, like Jonathan did.  When Saul was rejected and David chosen we see two very different spirits on display.  In refusing to accept this change, Saul pitted himself as an enemy against David and, even worse, against God.  It led to his eventual physical and spiritual destruction.  Now Jonathan on the other hand recognized the just nature of God’s judgment and chose to embrace David and thus embrace God.  Though Jonathan is killed because of Saul’s folly, no one would make the case that Jonathan was not “saved” or went into eternity with God’s mercy upon him.

Thus Esau and his descendants went on to go down the same path Saul chose,  that of a rebel and self-trust.  The emphasis here is not on what Edom had become, but on that original choosing.  Thus it might be better to see this as Jacob was loved, but (in comparison) Esau was unloved.  The calling is what is in view here.  We can fight against the calling of another or we can join with them and be blessed.

Because of their similar choices, both Edom and Israel had been defeated and destroyed.  Yet, God revealed that he would help Israel rebuild, but he would not help Edom.  In fact God states that he would pull down anything that Esau’s descendants tried to rebuild.  God was not going to bless their wickedness.

We might be quick to cry “foul” here, but recognize that in all of this the issue is not God giving one salvation and refusing to give it to another.  Both are equally able to be saved.  However, because of his calling God would restore Israel.  In fact we know that Israel would go on to a point of rebellion that would cause God to cast them out of the land again between 70 AD and 135 AD.  Both found that not matter what your calling is, only faith in God would bring salvation.

In verse 5 they are told that they would see God’s love for them and recognize that His greatness would overflow the boundaries of Israel, which it did in Jesus the Messiah.

Thus in these last days all nations have the same opportunity to hear the Heavy Word of the Lord and repent.  We, like Jonathan, can agree with God’s rejection of us and acceptance of Jesus.  We can secure for ourselves the favor of God by serving Jesus as Jonathan did David. 

Further Thoughts

It is never easy to deal with heavy things.  But they will never go away unless we face them.  God has given every individual the choice to enter into His love by following Jesus, or remain forever under His judgment.  Have you made that choice to believe on Jesus and follow him yet?  Believe me when I say that the day will come when those who have put their faith in Jesus will see his glory revealed over all the earth as he returns to take up the governance of the earth.  And, all those who have chosen against him will find themselves on the losing side of the battle.  God loves you.  Why would you die?  So, choose life today.

Heavy Word Audio

Godly Men-Courageous Men

We live in a day and age where Christians need to be courageous, especially dads.  In fact the main place kids learn courage is from their parents when they are young.  In Joshua 1:9 God tells Joshua to “be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”  The key to Joshua’s fear is not in diminishing what he will face.  Rather, it lies in the fact that no matter what he faces God will be with him.  So it is not surprising to see Jesus saying the same things to His disciples, “behold I am with you, even to the very end of the age.”

It is easy to see courage when it is displayed on the battlefield in wars.  But God calls all men to a greater courage, a courage that takes place in our daily life.   It is a courage to follow Jesus in doing the right thing in each situation we face. 

Today we are going to look at Joseph, the husband of Mary.  Normally we only do this at Christmas, but Joseph displays great courage in something as simple as saying yes to God’s way.  Let’s look at Matthew 1:18-.

Courage To Be Kind When Hurt

In verses 18-19 we see that Joseph is engaged to Mary, which is generally a very high moment in the life of a man.  However, before they had come to be married, the news comes to Joseph that Mary is pregnant.  We are not told how he found out and whether the story of the angel and a conception by the Holy Spirit was also told to him.  Yet, we see him a man who has been hit by a ton of bricks.  What?  Mary is pregnant?  How?  I can’t believe it?  Yet it was true.  Mary was pregnant.  At a time when Joseph has been tremendously hurt, chooses to call off the wedding in a way that would be as quiet as possible.  In fact we see him being as kind as he can to Mary.

Joseph, no doubt, was emotionally hurt by Mary’s pregnancy, but he is also socially hurt.  Unless he publically sets things right, it will be assumed that he is the father and that he has broken the contract with Mary’s father.    If he publically goes before the elders and declares his innocence then Mary would be required to give a defense.  Since she would not be able to stand and say Joseph is the father, she would be unable to contest the public divorce.  Thus the righteousness of Joseph would be elevated or vindicated in the eyes of society and Mary would bear the full weight of the pregnancy.

Joseph clearly either doesn’t know about Mary’s story or he has heard it and finds it too hard to believe.  Thus he chooses a path that demonstrates kindness to Mary.  He will put her away secretly.  That way he is declaring the child isn’t his, but he is leaving room for questions.  No one will really know what happened and it will be the source of rumors for the rest of their lives.  It takes courage to not rush to vindicate yourself when you have been hurt.  Joseph is not the kind of man to be cruel and angry when he is hurt.  In a sense he chooses that his last act towards her would be one of love.  This reminds me of the passage in 1 Thessalonians 5:15, “Make sure nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everybody else.”  It takes courage to live in such a way.  In fact most people will look at you like you are strange when you try to live by this principle.

Joseph could also be hurt by God and His plan.  We are not told what kind of communication may or may not have happened between Mary and her family to Joseph.  But essentially he is being told that God is the one that is causing these problems in his life.  Yet, keep in mind that it is only a problem because of the sinfulness of people and society.  God didn’t cause that.  Thus even when God’s plan causes us pain, it is not truly His Fault or intention.  Men choose to be cruel, sinful, and hurt one another because they are cowards and lack the courage to follow God, or they are ignorant and lack the understanding to follow God.

Courage to Follow God’s Spirit Contrary to Society

In verses 20-25 we see that God gives Joseph a dream.  Now this dream could be psychoanalyzed and put aside as an effect of Joseph’s extreme stress.  However, Joseph was no dunderhead.  He knew that this dream was from God.  The dream basically verifies Mary’s story and clarifies his confusion over how it could have even happened.  None of it made sense to him.  God’s plan for our life is not about making it easier for us.  But He will give us the strength to walk it.   God was basically asking Joseph to complete the marriage with Mary.  This would be tantamount to confessing the baby was his.

Society would not be as kind to Joseph as he had planned to be with Mary.  They would not let it go quietly.  It would be trumpeted in many situations and caustic phrases, whether it was snide remarks to Joseph that made it clear he was less than other men, or to Mary as other women cruelly put her down, or how the child Jesus would be ridiculed, persecuted, and ostracized by the other children.

Yet, in the dream God’s message is this: “Do not be afraid.”  First of all he doesn’t need to fear that Mary has been unfaithful to him.  The boy was miraculously conceived.  Yet, second, he doesn’t need to fear the society that would not understand and would call him a sinner and the child illegitimate.  This society would, no doubt, constantly remind him and his family that they were failures and outcasts.

In some ways we haven’t seen anything yet, here in America.  As society becomes more evil the chances of God calling us to do something that causes us pain increase.  Prepare yourself for courage today, before it gets worse.  Like training for the day of battle, we need to treat our everyday life decisions as if they were preparations for the end of the world.

Our society is casting off God’s wisdom and God’s way.  Will you go with them?  Or will you stand strong with Jesus?  Joseph made the tough call that day and demonstrated courage.  It wasn’t easy.  It was no doubt very difficult.  But immediately after the dream confirmed everything, he went and “did as the angel commanded him and took to him his wife.”  Not only that, but, Joseph refrained from any sexual contact until after Jesus was born.  This was a courageous man.

Final Thoughts

Our society is not always to blame for our cowardice.  Often it is the desires of my own flesh that pull me away from doing the right thing.  In fact this is the default.  Society is just “piling on top” of what my flesh is already doing.  Yet, like Joseph, Joshua, and ultimately like Jesus we must choose to live our life by following God’s path rather than our own.  Let’s prepare for battle.  Let’s roll.

Godly Men Audio

Understanding the Gospel III

We are so far removed from the events of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s that it has become increasingly more common to find people who think of it as “much to do about nothing.”  Were the events of that era simply over-reactions to the definitions of words?  I think that when you make an honest investigation into the debates and events of that period you will find that there are and still remain very big differences.

Real Differences

I will only point out two very big differences, but they should suffice to demonstrate that the answer is not just to pretend like they are not important.  First, the reformers called the Church back to the Scriptures; “sola scriptura” (only scripture) was their motto.  Over the years extra teachings and Church practices had been added to the point that much of what was taught and done was at least extra-biblical and in some cases even unbiblical.  But even deeper than this, the Gospel itself was being turned on its head.  The reformers wanted the Church to go back to the Scriptures and simply teach and be what the Scriptures promoted.  They were rejected, branded heretics, and punished wherever possible.  Thus the Protestant groups were formed.

Let’s look at the teaching of purgatory.  It cannot be supported from the Bible.  However, it was reasoned from Jewish writings that were not Scripture, and from further twisting biblical texts from their obvious meaning.  Why would such a belief that was not accepted from the beginning become acceptable later?  Over time a mentality had been developed that the work of Jesus is not enough for our salvation.  His death on the cross for our sins was not enough suffering.  To truly be clean enough to enter the presence of the Father would require a time of “purging” in a place of punishment.  Each individual would remain in purgatory for various amounts of time until they had paid for their sins.  Clearly no godly person would claim to be perfect in their following of Christ and so it was easy for people to fall into the trap of accepting such a teaching.  However, a people who need to pay for their sins become a people who are easier to control, manipulate, and subdue.

Another teaching called Indulgences goes along with the concept of purgatory.  The Pope could dispense special indulgences by which an individual could reduce their time in purgatory through prayer, extra devotion, and even financial giving.  Thus in Luther’s day indulgences had become so bad that a Dominican Preacher had coined the phrase, “As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”  Though this wasn’t exactly what the Church was teaching, it demonstrates the effect this doctrine was having upon the clergy and the laity.  When my giving, or devotions can release me, or even another, from years of purgatory, I have a vested interest in doing far more than I would if no such place existed.  At the heart of these teachings is the idea that somehow a person needs to pay for their sins.  This diminishing of the work of Christ and exaltation of the work of man is core to the gospel and, in fact, can affect one’s salvation.

Jesus had come to be viewed like this.  He had purchased a vast, unlimited treasury of grace over which he had put the Church leadership in charge.  This had the effect of placing a mediator between believers and Christ.  Yet, Scripture teaches us to personally come to the Throne of God for Grace and that Jesus Christ is our mediator before the Father.  Who ever heard of a mediator for a mediator?  This redundancy is not only illogical, it was damaging to the spiritual life of many.  Hebrews 4:16, says” Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.”  Even if leaders sit on earthly thrones that have been made for them, that is not the throne this verse refers to.  Also, in Hebrews 10:19-22 we have, “Therefore, brethern, having boldness to enter the Holiest Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”  Jesus is the High Priest to which we are to draw near with a heart full of assurance and faith.  This is what makes for our cleansing and salvation before the Father. 

These very real differences are still active today.  Neither group has changed their views on these issues, though some may redefine their importance.  With this in mind let’s go to James 2:14.

What is Saving Faith

In verse 14 James speaks to a person who posits the theoretical position that they have faith in Jesus but do no personal works.  James asks, “Can such a faith save him?”  The rhetorical answer is no.  However, notice that James recognized that the word faith was not a special word that could mean anything to anybody and still retain its power.

Now Paul had made it very clear in his letters that our works cannot save us.  Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “it is by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.  It is the gift of God not by works lets any man should boast.”  Thus man can only be made clean before God by the grace that comes through putting our faith in Jesus Christ and His work.  We can only approach God through the works of Jesus and Him alone.  Our reliance and trust upon Christ and Him alone are an essential part of a faith that has the power to save.  This involves recognizing our own sin and thus need for Christ’s work of atonement (covering it).  It also involves accepting not just what Jesus taught about the Gospel, but also about himself.  He is the Son of God, born of miraculous birth, lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death, was powerfully resurrected, exalted to the throne of God, and given Kingship over all the earth.

In this context James goes on in verses 15-17 to point out that if we truly have faith in Jesus how could we not love each other as he did?  In reality he is not promoting the idea that our works are essential to salvation, but that they are a part of the equation of the Christian life.  So what part do they play?

The Relation Between Faith, Works, and Salvation

Salvation here is the immediate spiritual work of becoming a child of God who stands to inherit all the promises of God that are still future.  This is also referred to as justification.  It is the point at which God declares that our sin has been dealt with and we now stand worthy to receive his adoption and inheritance along with Jesus.

In simplified form, the formula for salvation according to the Roman Catholic Church looks somewhat like this:  Faith in Jesus + Personal works (mediated by the Church Leadership) = Salvation.  The Protestant position refused to put our works on the same side of the equation as Jesus.  Thus the modified or biblical formula is this: Faith in Jesus and His work = salvation + Good works as a part of His Church.  Notice that our works in the second equation do not help our salvation, but rather are a result of our salvation.  This is huge, because the Bible has many harsh judgments against those who think they can approach God by their own works.  Yet, it is clear that we need to pursue good works as a believer in Jesus.

Final Thoughts

God is not the author of disunity.  But neither is He the author of the traditions and “additions” of men to the Gospel, whether they be Roman Catholic or Protestant errors.  Unity must always be around Christ himself and his word, rather than on the rationale and position of any man or group of men.

Understanding Gospel III audio