Bristol Conference 1962 - Part 7 — William MacDonald

Malachi’s Message to Israel

The tender shepherd will gather every one of those into his heavenly fold, certainly. Malachi chapter 1, verse 1, the burden of the word of the Lord, in Israel, by Malachi, I have loved you, saith the Lord, yet ye say wherein hast thou loved us?

Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord, yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau, and made his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness? For as Edom saith, we are in poverty, but we will return and build the desolate places that saith the Lord of hosts.

They shall build, but I will slow down. They shall call them the border of wickedness, the people against whom the Lord has indignation forever. And your eyes shall see, ye shall say, the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel.

The name Malachi means my messenger, and there are three messengers spoken of in the book of Malachi. The priest of the Lord is spoken of as the messenger, John the Baptist is spoken of as the messenger of the Lord, and then the Lord Jesus Christ himself is spoken of as the messenger in this wonderful book.

Malachi’s Historical Setting and Structure

It's easy to remember that Malachi prophesied at the same time as the book of Nehemiah. In other words, the people are back in the land after their exile, and the temple has been rebuilt, and the city has been rebuilt by now, too, and you'd think the people would be happily going on to the Lord, but sad to say that isn't the case.

Now, the prophecy itself is really divided into two parts. The first part extends up to chapter three, verse fifteen, and what you have in this section is the Lord's charges against Israel, their replies, and then God's threatened judgment.

Chapter one, verse one, through chapter three, verse fifteen, you have the Lord's charges against Israel, their replies to the Lord, mind you they spoke pretty brazenly to him, and then his threatened judgment of them.

And then the second part of the book extends from chapter three, verse sixteen to the end, and what you have here is the blessing of God on a remnant and judgment of the wicked. Chapter three, verse sixteen, through chapter four, verse six, the blessing of God on the remnant and God's judgment of the wicked.

Israel’s Ingratitude and God’s Love

Now, as the book opens, you hear God speaking to his people through the prophet Malachi, and he charges them with the sin of ingratitude, ingratitude. That extends from verses one through five. The Lord said, I love you, my people, and they said to him, what have you done for us lately?

And he said, look at the land of Edom. He saw that the house was a brother of Jacob, and look at the land of Edom, what a juicilous wreck. It's your land today, a land of plenty, a land of good. What happened?

I told you, and I hated, you stop. And this should have been enough evidence for them. The sin of ingratitude. Well, you know, we can never be grateful enough to the Lord for all he's done for us, can we?

No human tongue would ever be able, in time or in eternity, to really adequately thank the Lord Jesus for all that he's done. But you know, there are little things in life that we can do to show our gratitude to the Lord.

The Lord Jesus has given us little ways in which we can show our thanks to him, the little ways of obedience. For instance, I think of the whole subject of baptism. I know a lot of people who sing all the Jesus I've read, oh, how I love Jesus, and they wouldn't cross the street to be baptized, just to please the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know, somebody figured out that the Savior walked 60 miles to be baptized that day by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. And that touches my heart, to think that he who knew those things would walk 60 miles to identify himself with the nation of Israel in the waters of baptism.

And a lot of people today who've been saved by precious blood don't really think enough of the Lord Jesus to follow him in that sacred rite. And I'm just wondering if there's someone here, and you have on your conscience tonight, the fact of disobedience to the Lord Jesus in this simple matter.

So I really hope he'll speak to you. One of the happiest days of my life was the day I finally broke down and was willing to take my public stand before a large crowd and be baptized in water. And the verse that came to me as I was walking away was, he went on his way rejoicing.

I'm not sure I touched the floor on the way out that night. Another little way in which we can please the Lord is in the simple matter of gathering together each Lord's Day to remember him in the breaking of bread and in the drinking of the wine.

You know, you'll never be able to do it in heaven. This touches me, that there are little things like this, that we can have a single pure desire to please him in, and we can only do it on earth and never in heaven.

He'll have himself with us in heaven. But what a privilege it is to gather around that, to speak of himself, with himself in the midst, and to worship him. It always alarms me when I see people that take such a light attitude toward it, the sin of ingratitude.

When I think of ingratitude, my mind goes back to the day in my own life in 1945 or 1946, it was a Saturday in Honolulu, Hawaii, and someone had given me the book, C .C. Studd, by Norman Grubb. And I started to read that book, and I came across a sentence that changed the whole direction of my life.

And that sentence was, if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him. That settled a lot of questions for me that day. Then the next thing the Lord deals with the people about in this book is the behavior of the priests, the wrong behavior.

Honoring God’s Name and the Lord’s Day

We would call it sacrilege. The priests were acting sacrilegiously, and you have this in chapter 1, verses 6 through 14, the rest of the chapter. And the first thing he deals with them is their failure to honor and reverence him.

Notice verse 6, the son honoreth his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear, saith the Lord of hosts? Unto you, O priest, that despise my name.

And ye say, wherein have we despised thy name? A failure to give honor and reverence to the Lord. Now I'd like to bring up something at this point that we don't hear very much about today, but that is our attitude toward the Lord's Day.

Because, you know, I'm just a simple enough believer to believe that if you really love the Lord, you'll love his day too. And the Lord's Day is a special day out of the seven days of the week. You know, we have been delivered from the legalism of the Old Testament, and we're all very well taught that we're not under the law, and that the Sabbath is not a day to be kept by us.

But sometimes I think we've gone to the other extreme. The Sabbath day was a day of responsibility. And a Jew always had to ask himself, is it right to do this on the Sabbath? Is it wrong to do this on the Sabbath?

Now, the Lord's Day in the Christian dispensation is not a day of responsibility. We're not under law to keep the Lord's Day. But I would like to say this, it's a day of privilege. And my question should not be, is it right or is it wrong to do this on the Sabbath, on the Lord's Day?

But my question should be, how can I use this day in a special way to honor, glorify, and worship my blessed Lord? In other words, there are six days of the week where our time is necessarily taken up with secular occupations and duties.

But in the goodness of God, we have this day, the Lord's Day, still respected in our country as a day which we can set aside in a special way for worship and service to the Lord Jesus. Now, there are certain sections of the United States, and I believe the city where Mr. Pell comes from, where you could ruin your testimony in a very short time by careless behavior on the Lord's Day.

And I think it's something that he would speak to us about, this whole matter of honoring his name, honoring the Lord's Day, and showing true reverence. And then we can do it also as we gather together in our meetings.

I haven't been aware of it here, but I know that in some sections, when people gather together for the services of the local assembly, it almost takes on the air of a carnival. And I'm sure this is not pleasing to the Lord.

I had a very vivid experience in this connection some years ago. I went to Westminster Chapel to hear Martin Lloyd-Jones, and after he had preached his sermon, the whole congregation rose for the closing prayer.

And, of course, when the prayer was ended, I just thought everyone would automatically make a dash for the exit. But they didn't. After he had said, Amen, the whole congregation sat down. Each person in that congregation of two or three thousand bowed his head in silent prayer, and then they got up.

It was really quite a shock to somebody from the United States. But here the Lord is saying, here the Lord is saying to the priest, You call me your Lord and Master, but where is the reverence and the honor that I deserve?

And they said, Where have we despised thy name? And he said, Why, you offer permitted offerings on the altar for me. Isn't that a shame? Isn't that a shame to think that the people, that the priests of the most high God would come and offer permitted offerings to the Lord God?

Offering God What Is Worthy

You can think of what a little boy out in a children's home in Culver City, California said. They were praying one night just before they were going to bed, and Mr. Nassie had been telling them about sending their souls to the missionaries.

And this little boy prayed, And Lord, help us to send all our old rags to the missionaries. Well, that's what the priests were doing. They were giving all the old rags to the Lord. And you know, it's all too easy for this attitude to enter into our own thinking.

I'm impressed by the story that Isabel Kuhn tells in one of her books. Her mother was the chairman of the missionary society in the local church for many, many years. And Isabel was going up in the ranks and going on for the Lord.

And the mother was doing all she could to foster interest in foreign missions, you know. And one day Isabel came home from school and said to her mother, Mother, she said, God has called me to the mission field.

And her mother said, Over my dead body. And that's exactly the way Isabel went. She had to wait till that mother's body was laid in the grave. And you know the attitude? This is why Mrs. Kuhn's attitude was anybody else's daughter, but not mine.

It's so easy, isn't it? Well, there are still those other people in the assembly. That would be a good way for their children to spend their lives. But I have other plans. And then I think of this whole matter of offering to lead us to that, to fight to see in connection with our interest in the local assembly.

You know, sometimes I think that if we ran our businesses the way we take an interest in the local assembly, we'd be down at the mission for a handout. I really believe it. Why is it? Why is it that we are so careful and so punctual and so attentive in matters of business?

But when it comes to the matters of the work of the Lord, it's easy. It's easy to let them fly. And so the Lord has this word to say to the priest. And then in verse 10, there seems to be a problem here.

It's not too clear. It says in verse 10, Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for not? Neither do you kindle fire on mine altar for not? I have no pleasure in you, sister. Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering of your hand.

Well, from that verse, it seems that, at least in the King James Version, it sounds as if nobody was willing to do anything for not. You know, I couldn't help watching this week and seeing some of the dear brethren going around, sisters, too, and doing things.

It didn't seem that they'd been asked to do them, but they saw that they needed to be done, and they just pitched in and did them. And, you know, we notice this at the schools, too. Oftentimes, we see students like that who just step in, and they realize that certain things have to be done, and they do them.

They just do them with a single eye to the glory of the Lord Jesus. And oftentimes, unfortunately, they don't get very much commendation or praise for it down here. Well, you know the situation in Christendom today, the situation of preachers having stipulated fees, and pretty sizable ones, too, in order to conduct meetings in any particular area.

I hope it never speaks in among the assembly as we know them today. But, you know, in the Revised Version of the Bible, this verse has a slightly different thought. And in the Revised Version, the thought is God saying, I wish somebody would close the door of the temple.

I'm sick to death of the offerings that are coming to me from a people in this state of soul. I have no pleasure in you since the Lord opposed me, nor will I accept an offering from your hand. But then the next verse says, and just remember this, if you won't come to me and worship me the way you want to, the Gentiles will.

This touches my heart. God is not going to be robbed of that which is his right. If I don't do it, I'll miss the blessing, but God won't be the loser. And I've often said to young people this, if you don't give your all to the Lord Jesus Christ, he'll find someone else to do it.

But you'll never find a better Christ. You never will. And that's the thought, I think, of this next verse. Isn't it beautiful? For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the flame, my name shall be great among the Gentiles.

And in every place incense shall be offered unto my name. And a pure offering for my name shall be great among the heathen. That's the Lord of Hosts. And then he goes on to tell them how they proclaim the name of the Lord.

And they say, what a weariness it is to serve the Lord. They can hardly imagine it. What a weariness it is. And you've looked at it. Trust the Lord. But that isn't the worst. He said, you go out into your flock when the time comes to offer up, and you get the lame and the blind and the sick and the diseased.

Well, you can imagine the thoughts that would go through the minds of the Jews who went out into his flock, the minds of any human being. The Lord is invisible. He's up in heaven. And there is my flock.

And there are some lambs, and those lambs are without spot and blemish. And my, they bring a good price on the market. But there are some diseased, blind, lame lambs there. I can never sell lambs. I'll just give them to the Lord.

I'll just give them to him. In other words, if anything's good enough to the Lord. Give all the odds and ends to the Lord. No, he's in heaven. Go offer them to the governor. See if he'll be pleased. Is that a solemn thing to your heart, that sometimes we offer to the Lord what we wouldn't offer to the president of the United States?

Why, we thought the president was going to be at the worship meeting. The place would be crowded out, wouldn't it? Somebody greater than the president would be there. And the president would be there.

So go offer to the governor. See if he'll be pleased with your sacrifices. And of course, you know the answer. Verse 14. But cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and boweth and sacrifices unto the Lord a corrupt thing.

For I am a great thing, such a loyal thing. And my name is dreadful among the deceivers. And I think the thing that we've lost most of all in this 20th century is a true vision of the greatness and holiness.

God is spoken of today in so many quarters with a flippant attitude. The man upstairs. This type of thing. And the way you hear people speaking to him, sometimes you think they were just chatting over the telephone with a neighbor.

We've lost a vision of the greatness and the holiness of God. And it's reflected all about us in Christendom today. But then in the first nine verses of chapter two, you have God's condemnation of the priest.

Priestly Corruption and Covenant Unfaithfulness

God's condemnation of the priest. He goes back to the covenant that was made with Levi, and he speaks of some of the priests in the Old Testament and how they did go on for the Lord, but how the priests in this day have corrupted their ways and have failed to give God his due.

And then in verses 10 -6, you have a section on divorce and mixed marriages. These people coming back from exile still hadn't learned their lesson, and they were marrying the heathen. And husbands were putting away their wives, and so you had the pathetic spectacle in Malachi's day of the altar of the Lord being covered with the tears of these women who had been put away and who had no means of support.

It says, verse 13, and this had he done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with crying out in so much that he would regard it not the offering anymore or receive of it with goodwill of your hands.

Divorced women, weeping at the altar of the Lord. And God said, you can keep your offerings, I don't want them. And you know, as long as I can remember, faithful servants of the Lord have stood before the people of God and warned them against the unethical youth.

And we do it year in and year out at Emmaus Bible School. We seek to be faithful in warning young people that God forgives a believer that marries an unbeliever. It is a story to stand before any audience, and I want to tell you tonight, seriously, about how much we love the Lord Jesus.

So when a poor, unfit, unsaved fellow or girl comes along, disobey the Lord Jesus and enter into a marriage with such a person, it shows our love for Christ. And then in this same chapter, you find a people who are acting as if God didn't care.

God’s Holiness, Justice, and the Coming Messiah

Verse 17 says, and we might call this denial of God's holiness and justice. Denial of God's holiness and justice. Verse 17. Divorce and remarriage or mixed marriages was 10 through 16. We have wearied the Lord with your words.

Did he say we're in if we wearied him? When you say everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighteth in them. Or where is the God of justice? They were saying two different things.

They were saying it doesn't really matter to God. They were mixing moral distinctions. And honestly, the tenor of our times is that anything goes in many circles. As God as he could be. And they said, where is the God of justice?

He can do anything. He's got a way with it. No lightning strikes this from heaven. And that's the attitude that the people had in that day. They had light sometimes to go. This man stood up to load a book.

I didn't like the book, but I really liked the title. It was called Your God is Too Small. Very suggestive title. Your God is Too Small. And that's what we have to say to these people who are living in Malachi.

Say, Your God is Too Small. Then in the first six verses of chapter three, you have a parenthesis. A picture of the Messiah coming in judgment. A picture of the Messiah coming in judgment. We really don't have time to go over it.

But once again, the first messenger that's mentioned there is John the Baptist. And the messenger of the covenant is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And you'll see him coming here in judgment, sitting as a refiner and a purifier of silver.

Backsliding, Tithes, and Offerings

And then in verse seven, you have the backsliding of the people. They were thrown to backslide. Even from the days of your fathers, you have gone away from mine ordinance and have not kept them. Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.

But he said, Where then shall we return? How can we return? We never went away from you. And he said, Well, you're robbing God with your tithes and offerings. Tithes and offerings. Robbing God of tithes and offerings.

Verses eight through twelve. And you know, the tithe in the Old Testament was a token that everything belonged to the Lord. And I think as we found out in the book of Haggai today, everybody's tithe. Did you know that?

Well, they do. Everybody's tithe. You either tithe to the Lord or you tithe to the doctor or to the garage mechanic. Did you ever think of that? That's what God said in Haggai. He said, I know you've got more and more work and more and more jobs and more and more income.

And I suppose you don't fool God. And when the misery comes and the money starts flowing out to the banks, God would have us wake up and remember that if we had only given him his portion, it would be different.

Now, of course, once again, in the Old Testament, people were obligated to tithe to the Lord. It was a responsibility. You know, in the New Testament, it's a privilege, isn't it? It's a privilege. After all, it all belongs.

He owns his cattle in a thousand ways. He could carry on very well without our little tithe that we might give him. But all he wants to do is to do. God never asked us to do anything so much for his good as for our own.

It seems to me that everything commanded in the Bible has a reflex action on us by which he lectures us. And here they were robbing God of their tithe and offerings. But they were robbing themselves far more than they were robbing God.

False Charges and the Faithful Remnant

And then in verses 13 through 15, you have these false charges that they were bringing against God. And look at what they were saying. They were saying it's vain to serve the Lord or obey him. What profit is it that we have kept his ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts?

And once again, they were confusing moral distinctions. Now we call the proud happy, yea, they that work wickedness are set up. Yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. But then in verses 16 through 18, God says, never mind.

In every age and in every dispensation, I have a little remnant. In fact, here is a remnant of a remnant. I have a little group of people who will go on for myself in fellowship with me. You know, the word often should be omitted from that verse.

I like the verse much better without the word often. For then they that feared the Lord spake one to another. It doesn't mean spake often one to another. Dear friends, there was no lapse in the fellowship.

If they spoke so often, well, then they were on again, off again, soon again. But that isn't what it was here. It was a continual fellowship and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that sought upon his name.

The Day of the Lord and the Hope of Christ’s Return

Then verse 1 of chapter 4, you have the judgment of the witches when Christ comes again in his second advent. And in verses 2 and 3, you have a wonderful picture of the coming of the Messiah to put down his enemies and to reign in righteousness over this earth.

Then the book closes with a closing exhortation to obedience with a promise of Elijah the prophet to come before the coming of the Lord. To me, there's something very interesting here. The book of Malachi closes with the word curse.

And you know the Jewish people don't like that. They don't like their Bible to close with the word curse. And so they take verse 5 and they repeat it again after verse 6. Check that in the Jewish Bible.

They take the verse 5 and they repeat it again after the verse 6 so the Old Testament won't close with the word curse. God had a better way. He added the 27 books of the New Testament. And when he got to the end, he closed it with a blessing instead of with a curse.

Well, now God is looking for us to be a part of this little remnant today. Here he is 400 years before the advent of Christ giving a picture of what it was like in Israel at that time. A very vivid picture of conditions in our world and in the church of the present time.

And here the son of righteousness is just about to arise with healing in his wings. Well, in our day, the morning star is just about to arise. The rapture is near. The coming of the Lord draws nigh. May we ever keep this hope before us.

And may we give the Lord that which he gives you by way of reverence and honor and glory by giving him all that we are and have. I believe that's the message of the book of Malachi for our hearts tonight.