The Cure For Spiritual Apathy - [Malachi 1:1-5]

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If someone were to call you and say, you know, could you help me? I'm struggling a little bit spiritually and Could you give me some advice?
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And they said to you I'm kind of spiritually apathetic Kind of listless.
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I'm not really motivated for the Lord. I'm passionless
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I Need some motivation. I need a cure for spiritual apathy. What would you tell them?
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Well, if you're like most people maybe you'd say well pick yourself up by your own bootstraps be motivated
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Be thoughtful Would you ever tell them the key to your lack of?
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Motivation for the Lord the key to undo it is you need to study the doctrine of predestination
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Predestination Sounds weird, doesn't it? Predestination you need to know about the electing love of God because it motivates you to be on fire for the
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Lord Let's take our Bibles and turn to Malachi chapter 1 this morning as we look at the cure for spiritual apathy
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And that cure is the electing love of God God elects God chooses
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God selects God Predestines and it's designed for the readers of Malachi It's designed for you even as New Testament believers in the
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Lord Jesus Christ to make you fired up to make you motivated Helen Keller said the worst evil in all the world is apathy and she just might be right spiritual evil though of being apathetic towards the
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Lord is is bad and we don't want to be Those who are not motivated
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I think of the Lord Jesus when he says to a church You've lost your first love and all of us.
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We struggle. Don't we how can we be keen for the Lord and sharp for the Lord? Motivated to love him with all our heart soul mind and strength
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What do we need to think of so that we just don't kind of fall into well? That'll do
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Lowest common denominator least amount we can do and Malachi is written to a group of people who knew the truth.
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It wasn't like they were pagans It wasn't like they were atheists. It wasn't like they were Unbelievers they knew the truth and they come back from exile and they know about sacrifices.
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They know about the Lord's Word They know about the covenant -keeping promises of God and they're just in this mode of you know sluggish kind of molasses kind of thing
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And they are apathetic the word apathy comes from feelings or emotions is the
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Greek word Pathos and then we put an a in front of it and it just negates it instead of having emotions
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We have no emotions instead of having feelings We have no feelings and back in World War one lots of people were apathetic
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Because there'd be so many bombs and so many explosions and so many concussions Around that you just get shell -shocked and you go, you know, it's too much for me to know about and you just back off There's too much stimuli too many
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Explosions too many people dying in your arms and you just like I've got to just get away. I want to be numb to this
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Something's called the bystander effect And if there's an emergency someplace and you get there and you see a lot of people helping you'll help too
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But if you get there and everybody's kind of standing there wondering what's going on and observing You will observe things with the other bystanders as well when you are affected by this lack of spiritual energy it can be very
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Infective so let's take a look at Malachi chapter 1 verses 1 through 5 this morning and we're gonna try to see how the
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Lord would address spiritual apathy and See how he uses this in the life of our
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Church, I think you're gonna like this Passage especially this morning because who in their right mind would say that the doctrine of election is the way to cure
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Spiritual apathy. I thought election was to be reserved for like Wednesday night studies
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You talk about predestination other days because hey, it just might split a church But you need to know that God Chooses people and if he's chosen you that should motivate you to know that somebody has loved you in eternity past Should be very thrilling one of my all -time favorite theologians.
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Jay Gresham Machen said this about a hundred years ago The more I have looked out on the state of the church at the present time the more
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I have contemplated recent church history The more I'm convinced that the error regarding predestination
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Leads inevitably to more and more error and often constitutes the entering wedge by which the entire
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Christian testimony of Individuals and churches is undermined In other words when you don't understand election and predestination
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It messes everything else up all kinds of errors in other Categories, this is a troubling doctrine, but I think it helps
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Christians in Such an intense way in such a great way
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Everybody says God is sovereign over my skin color my parents where I live
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He's sovereign over my DNA But is he sovereign over who goes to heaven and who?
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Doesn't let's take a look at Malachi chapter 1 verse 1 first. Let me just read that as a background
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We're coming to this book Malachi We finish Ruth and Jonah Looking at some Old Testament books and chapter 1 verse 1 of Malachi the last book in your
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English Old Testament If you can't find it just find Matthew and back up one It says the oracle of the word of the
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Lord Yahweh to Israel by Malachi So let me ask you some questions first and give biblical answers to look at the background of Malachi Then we'll get into the passage which is found in verses 2 through 5 so a little introductory work and then we'll get into the passage that talks about election and electing love of People is what motivates them to be?
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spiritually on Fire for the Lord. I don't know about you, but let's say I need to get motivated to do something
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I'm thinking I need to go to the gym I should probably go there and So if I'm not motivated the gym I can do a lot of things including drink a bunch of coffee or drink a monster drink and then
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I'm motivated to go to the gym and so if I was a New pastor,
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I would never call this kind of like a spiritual Red Bull passage But since I've been here 17 years
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You're stuck with me. It's exactly like that. It's motivating you read it and you go wait a second
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This is not how I do things when I want to motivate people. I'm like I'm guilting them
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How could you try harder get going look at the other people? They're all doing things and I try to do things with imperatives and drive people
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The way God does it is so much different he he tells them about how much he loves them, but first questions to understand the background number one
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Who's the author? Who is the author of Malachi and all these questions and answers are? Designed to help you understand the book in a better fashion since we'll be here the next couple months the
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Oracle of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi so the answer of the question who's the author his name is
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Malachi You say that's a pretty easy one you have to go to Bible school to figure that out well
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I did because Malachi means my messenger. It means my angel and so some people think it's not a personal name
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It's it's a messenger. It's a it's a description of someone not someone's name And they'll say things like do you see
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Malachi's father listed there? No it must be a messenger remember Jonah Son of Amittai you don't see a place where he's from there.
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Do you? Typically in the Old Testament prophets there'll be a father's name or a place of birth
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But that's not always true Obadiah's father's not listed Habakkuk's place of birth isn't listed
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Some will say Mordecai wrote this some will say Ezra wrote this when you look at the
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New Testament You don't see his name when he's quoted But most of the scholars most of the commentators think this is the man's name
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Malachi It's a personal name his name's Malachi and the good news is he's commissioned by God to write it question two
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How is it written? How is it written? Here's how it's written if I could
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I would pick up this trumpet right here Brian doesn't know this and I'm gonna pick up is probably five thousand dollar trumpet or something and I would pray pray a play
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Play revelry on this that's what I would do you know what I used to play the trumpet, but I better not do it
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How do we get that on video or off video I would play that trumpet and it would be wake up It's time to wake up Brian's looking at me like I think he's calling his lawyer.
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That's what he's doing It's like a bugle call It's a wake -up call as the military men would pick up the bugle and say it's time to get up in the morning
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That's the kind of writing Malachi uses. It's direct. It's preachy. It's confrontational
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He often says the Lord says because it's not just Malachi's word. It's the Bible that says something
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It's a wake -up call for slumbers kind of directness 55 verses in Malachi and in 47 of those verses the
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Lord addresses Israel in the first person Well, you know, I got a friend of a friend who's kind of spiritually listless
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That's not the way this is you can feel Nathan's finger approach your sternum as you read
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Malachi He also uses questions over and over you'll see questions and Answers they call him the
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Hebrew Socrates, but he's way better than Socrates. The Lord says preaching
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Confrontational. What about you? Question 3 when was it written before we get into our main passage verses 2 through 5?
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Just a few more questions to help us understand the direction of the book. When was it written? Israel was exiled.
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They were out of the country They were slaves and now God has brought them back into the country.
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The temple is rebuilt. It's a time of Nehemiah Sacrifices are instituted.
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They know the truth, but they're just they're just not motivated They're back in Jerusalem.
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This is a right around the 6th century or so. They're out of captivity No longer under Nebuchadnezzar no longer in Babylon Question number
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Four why was it written? Take a look at verse one Please the Oracle of the Word of the
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Lord if you have a Bible that translates it the burden That would be a better translation.
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It's a burden here. The preacher has a burden, you know Sometimes we have good news as preachers and I like to be a bearer of good news
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But sometimes when the news is judgment, it's difficult to bring It's difficult to announce things that are judgments and here for Malachi, it's a burden
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You can just imagine you have yourself hunched over and you see Christian in pilgrims progress with the huge burden on his back for Christian.
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It was a burden of sin for Malachi It's a burden this way. I have a heavy message for you and it's a message of judgment
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It's not all judgment, but it's a burden and when this word is used in the Old Testament 27 times it's used
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Except in Proverbs. It's use of judgment He's got something difficult to pick up and this is not 1960s language where hey, that's groovy.
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That's that's heavy man. This is heavy like there's there's judgment Israel is largely not apostate in Actions their apostate in their feelings and he's got a burden to try to tell them
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You know what judgments coming you better be careful. How many people know the book? shepherding a child's heart by Ted Tripp I Love what
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Ted Tripp says about teaching kids minor prophets like Malachi He said if you got teenagers regularly have your home devotions with minor prophets like Malachi Why because Malachi and the other minor prophets talk about God always judges sins and you can't hide from him
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And there's only forgiveness found in the Messiah That's a good thing to teach kids your sin is gonna be found out by God, but for Malachi It's a burden for him and it's hard for him to deliver this message
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Last question. Why should Bethlehem Bible study this old book? I mean, come on. This is so old 2 ,000 year old book
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What good can we get out of this? This is like Old Testament Old Covenant This is just so old and dusty and you know
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This is the new way and new thinking and we've got new philosophies now and new words from the
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Lord If you're a visitor, you're probably about ready to kick me out. You thought you'd get the Bible 2nd
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Timothy chapter 3 is true of these words in Malachi All scripture is what it's breathed out by God and it's good for us
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It's profitable and it helps us with all kinds of issues in life and it is relevant That's the wonderful about the
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Word of God the wonderful thing about the Word of God. It's not some old fossilized Thing that's no good.
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It's living. It's active. It helps me understand who God is and this book will teach you It's the fame of the glory of Yahweh.
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It's all about who God is It's very very applicable if you have ever been nonchalant in your faith
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If you have ever been indifferent in your faith if you ever had this kind of air of just I'm not really concerned
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You know, I don't want to really be a awful transgressor, but I can't be all out for the Lord It's fine for those other people, but not me.
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This book is great for you If you know the truth, but aren't motivated right now
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This book is awesome because here's what happened these people they knew what the word said the law had been uncovered
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They understood sacrifices. They understood what God had required. They understood the law of Moses, but they're just you know
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We know the truth, but we're not really too fired up about it. We're kind of past that I Mean think about Bethlehem Bible Church.
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Do you know the solace? I think you do Do you know the confessions? I think you do.
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Do you know the creeds? I think you do Do you know what words like monergism means? I think you do
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Justification by faith alone. I think you do but knowing all those things it could be just like Israel They knew them all but it's like okay, you know, whatever.
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I used to really excel for the Lord, but I don't want to know Too many other things going on in life.
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Just give me the bare minimum and I'll do that so this morning, let's take a look at verses 2 through 5 and it is the first step in this outline of a disputational rhetoric and that is all kinds of Debate and verbal controversy going on in this book
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Talking back to God if you could imagine And I'll show you some of these before we we dive into verses 2 through 5
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I'll show you verse 2 And we'll look at the other ones. I have loved you says the Lord, but you say how have you loved us?
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Take a look at verse 6 6 B if I'm a master, where's my fear says the
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Lord of hosts to you Oh priest who despised my name, but you say How have we despised your name?
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By offering polluted food upon my altar, but you say how have we polluted you?
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Go to chapter 2 of Malachi verse 13 Here's the second thing you do you cover the
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Lord's altar with tears weeping Groaning because he no longer regards the offering our accepts it with favor from your hand, but you say why does he not?
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Verse 17 you have wearied the Lord with your words, but you say how have we wearied him?
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Chapter 3 verse 7 be returned to me, and I will return to you says the Lord of hosts, but you say how shall we return?
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Will not our will man rob God yet. You're robbing me, but you say How have we robbed you and then finally verse 13 of chapter 3?
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Your words have been hard against me says the Lord, but you say how have we spoken?
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Against you let's take a look at verses 2 through 5 now the first section of this rhetorical disputation
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God's elective love for his people should motivate them to respond with worship and obedience
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God's elective love for his people should motivate them to respond with worship
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Anything but spiritual apathy let me read the whole section again, and we'll dissect it a little bit
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I Have loved you chapter 1 verse 2 says the Lord, but you say how have you loved us?
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Is not Esau Jacob's brother declares the Lord yet? I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated
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I've laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert if Edom says we're shattered
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But we will be rebuilt we will rebuild the ruins the Lord of Hosts says they may build But I will tear down and they will be called the wicked country and the people with whom the
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Lord is angry forever Your own eye shall see this and you shall say great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel so here's what we'll do the time we have left
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We'll see the context historically and in the canon of Malachi And then we'll ask some questions for Bethlehem Bible Church as well because when you know
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God has elected you it should affect everything About you for Israel.
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They're back in the land, and you can just imagine what they're saying You know we've got some trials going on here.
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We've got some troubles going on here the Messiah is not back He was promised to come back. He's not back yet and in light of our trials
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How can you say you love us God? How easy is that to preach these days? Something bad is going on at work at school at home with your kids with your spouse with your parents
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Something's going on and you're like God. Do you really love me? I Thought you loved me, but how can you love me in light of what's going on in my life now?
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How can you love me? That's exactly what was happening here in Malachi chapter 1?
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Now let's break this apart a little bit. I have loved you. Do you see it in verse 2? It's Hebrew tense, it's perfect that means
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I've loved you in the past and up to I loved you even now How has
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God shown love to Israel he's shown love to Israel lots of ways by the Abrahamic Covenant in chapter 12 promising
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Abraham a seed in a land a Nation how has he shown love to Israel?
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I've rescued you out of Egypt out of the house of slavery He has shown love. He's provided for them in the wilderness.
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It's like a kid going to their dad You know dad you don't love me anymore. Well, I Provided everything that you've ever had
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Hosea chapter 11 when Israel was a child God said I loved him and out of Egypt.
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I called my son I'm loving you even now in your present apostasy in your present rebellion.
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I still love you My word love is interesting. It's the love of choice
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It's the covenant love of there's lots of people to love lots of nations to love the
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Canaanites the Hittites the Jebusites They're all there if I wanted to wake you up the electro slates, you know, they're all out there and He just chooses one.
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That's the word here. It's the love of choice selection of one person or one nation to love
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The Lord's election for Israel. He just said
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I I loved you I could demonstrate the ways if you'd like you can read the Old Testament to find out and what is their response?
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I Here's an illustration how it blinds how deceitful it is In what ways have you loved us?
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How have you loved us? I mean that's hard -heartedness That's thinking
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All right Everything that God has done for me in light of my sins in light of what I've deserved and of course later
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We'll talk about Calvary and in light of what Jesus did. I'm in a hard spot I've got kids that are difficult.
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I got parents that are difficult I've got difficult situations with work and school at home and everything else and things are hard and if we're not careful
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We're gonna say this you really love me God. I don't think you do. How do you love me
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God and then amazingly God defends his love for them further demonstration of how much he loves them and he goes on to describe it is
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Not Jacob's brother Esau or Esau's Jacob's brother declares the Lord yet I have loved Jacob, but he saw
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I have Hated here's what God is going to do. I've loved you
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How have you loved us? Let me remind you who you are as a nation and who the other nations are that I didn't choose
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There's a benefit to be chosen by God. There's elective love That's wonderful And if you're not chosen by comparison by darkness is to light you'll see the difference
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Would you rather be an Edomite or an Israelite? Check it out Esau I've hated
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I Think we just better walk through this for a minute Our day and age is this
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God loves everybody He loves everybody the same and if you talk to many people Christian people
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God loves you They'll say God loves pagans. God loves Muslims God's loves Protestants.
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God loves everybody exactly the same God doesn't hate anybody and here's the text. What does the text say?
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Esau I've hated Does God hate anything or anyone? Isaiah 1 14 your new moons and your appointed feast my soul hates
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Hey, if you're gonna worship without the heart, I hate it. I hate those things That'd be like God saying you're gonna sing a praise song
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But your hearts over here and it's not directed towards me. I hate that song him 202
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I hate it when you sing that way Say well, I'm giving some money in the offering But I do it without a chill for cheerful heart and and kind of begrudgingly
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I give and God says I hate it My soul hates that same thing with Amos 5
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I hate I despise your feasts and take no delight in your solemn assemblies
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Take away from me the noise of your songs to the melody of your harps I will not listen if your hearts not in it if your repentant penitent heart isn't in it
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Then don't give me feast. Don't give me Easter and Christmas. Don't give me singing Does God hate anything?
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I mean whoever talks about hatred No wonder the burdens on the back of Malachi God hates things and he hates people and I've got to deliver that message
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Proverbs 6 there are six things that the Lord hates Seven that are an abomination to him haughty eyes a lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood a heart that devises wicked plans feet that make haste to run to evil a
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False witness who breathes out lies and the thing that he hates the most with this kind of language is and the one who sows discord among brothers
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It doesn't say he hates the discord he hates the one who sows discord does
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God hate anybody Psalm 5 God the psalmist said you hate all evildoers
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No wonder you could feel the pressure on the back of Malachi, how'd you like to preach that message?
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How'd you like to preach that message of the people and have them have a congregational vote on you later that night?
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And so here's what we do if you look at the passage there and it says Jacob have
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I loved but he saw I've hated Here's what we do. It can't be hate.
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It's got to be some other way We need to explain this hatred some way because we want to vindicate God. We don't want
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God hating people loves fine But if he hates people, we've got a problem.
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So let's rescue God and here's how people rescue God with this word They say you know what this is a degree of love
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God loves Jacob so much that by comparison it seemed like it's hate to Esau and Here's what they'll use because sometimes that is a biblical definition of the word hate.
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It's to love less and I know you'll agree with me when I read these words from Jesus in Luke 14 if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and Mother and wife and children and Brothers and sisters and yes even hate his own life
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He cannot be my disciple What does that mean to be a follower of Jesus?
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I have to hate my mom and dad Well the way Jesus is speaking there The answer is your love for the
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Lord God should be so great that by comparison that by degree Your love for your parents would seem like hate
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And that's how people try to get out of this sticky passage Esau I have I hated we'll look at Romans 9 next week to talk about that a little bit more
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This is not deep by the way. Do you see any love for Esau in that passage? Is there any love for Esau in verses 3 4 5?
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This is not I love Esau less. I love Jacob instead
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This is not hatred and love of degrees, it's I love instead of this is the love of election
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I chose Jacob and that means I didn't choose Esau Jacob have
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I loved I chose him and Esau I have hated I did not choose him
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And so what the writer Malachi is trying to do is this I've loved you and love should motivate
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But you know what your response is you haven't loved me God and Malachi says yes
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God has loved you take a look at the other nations Compared to the other nations and compared to Israel.
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You should see the love of God For Israel, I've read the text earlier and we'll look at it more next week, too
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But look at verse 3 laid waste his hill country Heritage to jackals of the deserts these proud people will will will rebuild the ruins
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We'll do whatever we want He's trying to say I've loved you and I've shown it to this particular nation
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Israel The point is when you see the love of God, it should motivate you
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Here's Israel You don't love us God and you can just hear them kind of stamping their feet like a little kid little bratty kid
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You you don't love me anymore God says I've loved you and here's what they say prove it
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Dad you don't love me anymore. Yes, I do the kid says well, then you better prove it to me dad
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Get out your checkbook and prove it Show me prove it to me. Show me the money.
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See now you all woke up with popular culture stuff. Everybody wakes up You ought not to be watching things like that.
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And this is we'll develop it more next week, too But let's just stop and think through this for a second. This is a fallen world
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We're sinful people and we have trials in our lives temptations in our lives Difficulties in our lives.
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They're hemmed. They're hemming us in it's difficult. It's like a straitjacket I can't believe and the response of the immature the response of the sinful one is
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God now You don't love me. My trials are proving. You don't love me. My situation is proving.
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You don't love me God You're not showing your love to me. And so we want to run from anything like that We never want to say to God You know what?
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You don't love me and for the the lethargy of Israel the writer
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Malachi says God's love should motivate you It's I don't know if you've ever been loved by a person
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When I found out that Kim loved me This was 26 years ago We were dating and you know
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You're kind of you're dating someone and then you throw out these trial balloons, you know Kind of like if I ever do ask her to marry me,
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I'm hoping she says yes So let's figure out a way to do that ahead of time, you know, hypothetically Speaking and when
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I asked him to marry me this true story I know right where I was when I asked her and I said will you marry me and She said yes
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And I said I want to make sure I get this right. I'm gonna ask one more time. Will you marry me? She said yes,
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I mean, I just wanted to jump up and down for joy It was like this double mint commercial, you know jumping up kicking my heels running around.
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I'm like somebody loves me To be loved by another person and by the way four weeks later.
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We were married Because while God's love is unchanging My sinful attitudes are prevalent and I wanted to make sure
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Kim said yes because it was till death do us part because if she really got to know me then she would of course say no and Now we're gonna look at this passage and it'll make us be reminded about God's electing love
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God knew everything about you every sin you would ever commit past present and future and if you're a
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Christian He put his love on you He chose you he didn't have to choose you and he chose you and you think
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That should motivate me Now, I normally don't like kind of emotional tear -jerking stories to make a point because I just think it's poor preaching
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But I'm gonna do it now because it's It draws in does if somebody loves you will it motivate you to think that if if if another person
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And I remember back in the day I'd fly to Los Angeles. I was single 10 million people in Los Angeles and my mom would say
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Who's gonna pick you up from the airport Mike? I'm just gonna take a cab because I don't know anybody well enough to pick me up from the airport
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I look over my mom. She's crying There's 10 million people in LA and you don't know one well enough that somebody can say, you know,
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I'll do you a favor There's just one if I could have one person that would say I love you.
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It's motivating Ted Stollard Had a teacher named Miss Thompson and he was a backward kid of behind kid.
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He wasn't up to par emotionally and academically and This is what his record stated
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Ted shows promise first grade with his work and attitude, but has poor home situation Second grade
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Ted could do better mother seriously ill receives little hope help from home Third grade
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Ted is a good boy, but too serious. He's a slow learner His mother died this year Fourth grade
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Ted is very slow, but well -behaved his father shows no interest whatsoever Christmas comes they all deliver the
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Presents to the teacher's desk Ted brought one to wrapped in brown paper and some nasty scotch tape
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They all opened their watch to open the presents in front of the other kids Out of Ted's package fell a gaudy rhinestone
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Bracelet with half the stones missing and a cheap bottle of perfume and all the kids laughed
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She high silenced them by splashing some of the perfume on her wrist and letting them smell it and then she put the bracelet on to Miss Thompson, you smell just like my mother and the bracelet looks real pretty on you.
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I'm glad you like my presence And this lady was broken and she began to minister and to serve and to pour herself out for this humble little boy
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And he started to improve Graduation came she didn't hear anything then she got this in the mail dear miss
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Thompson wanted you to know in college I'm graduating second in my class Four years later dear miss
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Thompson. They told me I'll be graduating first in my graduate class. I wanted you to know University has not been easy, but I liked it four more years later dear miss
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Thompson as of today I am Theodore Stollard MD. How about that?
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I wanted you to be the first to know I'm getting married next month the 27th to be exact I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive.
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You're the only family. I have now dad died last year And miss
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Thompson attended the wedding and sat where Ted's mother would have sent sat If only somebody would love me
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I Could be motivated and if I am touched by such a story thinking if someone would just love someone
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How motivating that I I'm loved not in the sappy Sentimental kind of way but a love that gives and I got a love of course highlighted by Jesus on the cross.
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I love you Then that's gonna motivate me. Well. I love you.
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Well. I'm gonna give you half -baked worship. I love you well You know what I'm just not gonna really serve You know as long as as long as I don't get in trouble with the elders and just do enough to keep my membership
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But I love you And that's exactly what's happening to Malachi let me give you four motivational aspects of God's love as We wrap up this message for motivational aspects of God's love that if you grasp.
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I think you'll be motivated I don't know what the Lord will have us go through this year, but I think if we
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Understand the elective love of God Will be ready for anything God's love for you number one is distinguishing
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It's distinguishing in Other words. It's a sovereign love in other words God chooses
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Jacob and not Esau and he's chosen you, but not other people He hasn't chosen other people.
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He's chosen you Turn to Ephesians chapter 1 please I just want to remind you how great
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Predestination is and how it's tied to love people say I don't want to talk about predestination. It makes me a robot
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It's unloving how could God do that friends? Think before you speak number one
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Number two don't love something about yourself, but you hate in God in other words
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Who's your favorite football team if the game was tonight at 430 we'd find out wouldn't we
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I chose my wife? Asked me what my favorite color is Asked me what
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I like to eat, and I'm a little sovereign I've been made in the likeness and image of God, and you know what
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I like to choose They're like you know what that's pretty wicked of you Mike you like to choose
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What if I had a lot of money, and I go over to Russia, and I think you know what here's 500 kids in the
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Orphanage And you know 20 grand a kid But I've got 60 grand and I pick you you and you
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And I were to come back here to Bethlehem Bible Church with three little Russian children And I were to come here and set with Kim and the kids.
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What would you be thinking about me? Here's what I think you'd first think we knew he was always crazy now
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He's got three more kids when he should have been a grandpa And you go you know what That was nice of Mike.
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That's kind of Mike not one single person in here would say he's wicked
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That's awful. That's not fair. He could have chosen 497 of the others and he picked those three what a wicked man
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But that's exactly what people do with the Lord God Almighty when he chooses some and not others
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The question is not how could God hate Esau the question is how could love
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God love Jacob ever read Deuter? Genesis 25 This is a distinguishing love
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God didn't choose every person But if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're trusting in his representative substitutionary work confirmed by the resurrection
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He chose you and look at the language in Ephesians 1 3 Blessed be the
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God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Ephesians 1 3 who's blessed us in Christ With every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places and at the top of the list even before the cross
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Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world you ought to underline that He chose us in him before the foundation of the world
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Just like he chose Jacob before he was even born before they could believe before they could repent before they could have faith before they could
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Sin before the foundation of the world that we should be holy not because we're holy
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He didn't choose us look down the corridor of time where we were holy No that we should be holy and blameless before him and you mark this down in love
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He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ According to the purpose of his will and I'll tell you what elective love does to the praise of his glorious grace
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With she has blessed us in the beloved In love he predestined us
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May you never say oh This is how could God choose some and not others the question is how could he choose anyone?
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How could he love anyone? He chose me. He chose me I've said for years and years and years my charismatic friends.
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They want second blessing. They want to speak in tongues They want to speak in a different language. They want healing signs and wonders and all kinds of things
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I'll take this any day. It's the second blessing of God chose me. He knew all about me
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He knew every sin I would ever commit and he chose me. Anyway, he chose me
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Anyway, that is distinguishing love what makes me different than my friend Scott I grew up with Scott not
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Scott fair here at the church, but Scott labs was his name. What makes me different? Why am I now the preacher of sovereign grace and he is apostate?
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Is it found in Scott? Is it found in me? No the answer it's found in God and his will what makes people different It's the
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Lord God Almighty because he chooses sovereignly Spurgeon men will allow
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God to be everywhere except on his throne They'll allow him to be in his workshop to fashion worlds and to make stars
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They'll allow him to be in his almond tree to dispense his alms. They'll allow him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars
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The lights of the lamps of heaven, but when God ascends his throne his creatures gnash their teeth
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But we proclaim an enthroned God and his right to do as he wills with his own
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To dispose of his creatures as he thinks well without consulting them in the matter then it is that we are hissed and Excreted and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us for God on his throne is not the
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God they love But it is the God on the throne that we love to preach. It is the God upon his throne whom we trust
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God is not frustrated by human will He saves and then he he selects and he saves by his own free will
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We'll talk about this next week Just a side note for those lovers of free will and you don't think you're really a person unless you have the free will
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Free from sin free from Satan free from the fall. Just a little a little note that you could put in your your mental
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Cabinet, there's no free will in heaven and you'll love free will but you'll love heaven by the way Never free to sin in heaven and it's still gonna be heaven
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Number two God's love for you is uninfluenced What could be motivating for a
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Christian well for Israel and Malachi's day it was God's loved you by the choice of a nation for us.
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It's by the choice of salvation number one It's distinguishing number two. It's it's Uninfluenced it's unconditional
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God looks down the quarters of time and sees nothing in us that would cause him to choose us.
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I Choose people because there's something in them to be loved. I thought Kim was lovable 2nd
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Timothy 1 9 who has saved us and called us with the holy calling not According to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity
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God's love is not I see Mike believes and I choose him That's a responsive love
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God's love is an elective love a sovereign love an uninfluenced love It is the cause it is the cause of your salvation that he is the one he's the prime mover.
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He's the only mover My love is fickle. God loves motivates number three two more.
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We just got to wrap it up How am I to be motivated by God's love?
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Well, it's distinguishing and he chose me. It's uninfluenced He chose in spite of me and it's demonstrated at the cross
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It's great love with which he loved us Ephesians chapter 2 talks about Son of God Galatians to love me and gave himself
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For me, if ever you think I'm in a tough jam, and what should I do does God do you really love me?
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Then you should just think in eternity past. He said his love on me at Calvary. He said his love on me
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He makes it conspicuous at Calvary he demonstrates his own love towards us that while we were yet sinners what
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Christ died for us and Then finally number four, it's personal it's a personal love
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God's love for you is personal If you are a Christian and you have believed in the
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Lord Jesus Christ repented of your sins and turned by faith to the Lord Jesus God personally loves you.
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There's all this nation talk and he elects in these large groups. That's so wrong
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Even in Malachi 23 times God's love is used Well, it's of the
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Old Testament rather of loving individual particular people along with Israel Turn to Romans chapter 16 our last passage
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Romans 16 Romans 16 and just imagine you live at Rome and A letter is delivered to the church at Rome and it's read now.
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First of all chapter 1 Sinful we don't have our own righteousness and same thing in chapter 2 and 3 and later in chapter 3
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God provides his own righteousness the work of his son's great life and death can be credited to our account
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Chapter 5 it talks about the benefits of justification. You have peace with God You have access to God and the list goes on and you finally get to chapter 16.
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How could you be encouraged? I think 26 people are named eight ladies.
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The rest were men Look what Rufus is called I wonder if he'd be encouraged to read this greet
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John Doe chosen in the Lord to whom it may concern All those anonymous people there think about it.
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God has a book. He's written our names in the book He chooses us by name.
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He knows his sheep. He calls them all by name and here greet Rufus Remember Rome had all kinds of issues with slavery and poverty and all kinds of social issues
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What's gonna encourage Rusa Rufus? What could I say to Rufus to encourage him and Paul says greet
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Rufus chosen in the Lord That is so good chosen in the
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Lord Personal if you're a Christian, here's you what you can say in eternity past before I existed
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God said I choose Mike Abendroth He personally chose me.
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Of course, some of you might be saying yeah, but I'm not a Christian. How do I know about election? How do I know if I'm in or not?
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Here's a way to settle it right now Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved and I'll know something about you the elect ones come to faith through preaching and the only way you can know you're elected if you believe in the
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Lord Jesus Christ and When you do believe, you know, you are elect your belief doesn't cause the election. It's just a manifestation of what
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God has done in eternity past Chosen in the Lord. I leave you and I go off and retire and I want to motivate you and I write a little letter greet
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Tom Bertrand for me an Elect saint. I hope
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Tom would save that letter Chose chooses us by name
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We struggle in our spiritual life Sometimes it's like we're just our feet are stuck to the ground and we can hardly motivate
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What Malachi does and what Paul will do in Romans 9 is motivate Christians by?
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Election God chose me God elected me the Son died for me
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Somebody loves you. Let's pray father.
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I thank you for the text today Malachi You have loved us Even with a greater love than Israel Think about the spiritual blessings that we have
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We're so thankful and to Israel you love them with an everlasting love and we know the same is true for us
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You didn't have to love us But you are compassionate on those you want to show compassion to and gracious to whom you'll be gracious to Father we would admit this morning that we deserve
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Sin Consequence that is hell and when we think of other people and terrorists and abortion doctors and the wickedness that goes on in the world
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That's us except you have Redeemed us and that plan of redemption had a had a start and that start was an eternity past With you your son and your spirit and we're thankful for that.
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I pray for Bethlehem Bible Church This will be a year of trials and temptations and difficulties, but I pray it would be
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One that is motivated by your love for us that you chose us in eternity past every
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Christian here You knew them by name in eternity past and by name your son died specifically for their sins all their sins and we want to respond with praise and worship and adoration and Evangelism, of course, too.