Malachi 1:1-5, What’s It Mean to be Reformed?

Malachi chapter 1 verses 1 to 5 here the Word of the Lord The Oracle of the

Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I Have loved you says the Lord, but you say

How have you loved us is not Esau Jacob's brother declares the Lord yet I have loved

Jacob, but Esau I have hated I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert if Edom says we are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins the

Lord of hosts says They may build but I will tear down they will be called the wicked country and The people with whom the

Lord is angry forever Your own eyes shall see this and you shall say

Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel May the Lord add his blessings to the reading of his

Holy Word Well, what's it mean to be reformed I get that question sometimes

I tell people the church's name Covenant they know sounds kind of biblical even if they don't know exactly what it means

Baptists in church are very common. But what is reforming people ask? What's reforming? Well reform shouldn't be just a slogan or a buzzword

It should be for real now the church in the Middle Ages went into captivity to paganism to superstition to the culture and was then

Reformed as informed again during the Reformation Reformed according to the

Word of God here in the South. It was sinful It was an abomination really that some churches kept out people based on race or made them kind of second -class members third -class members

They were captive To the culture and such churches also need to be reformed

Today some churches ignore direct commands of the New Testament like practice church discipline sing psalms and Structure themselves is sort of standing weekly shows kind of like theaters

Then they put on their shows every week sort of themed often themed according to the calendar

Now getting of course now they're getting geared up. They're starting to advertise For Christmas, right?

That isn't really according to the Word of God. It's just another form of cultural captivity And so we look around or by calls itself the church and we see a religion that as often with many exceptions but but as often gone into captivity to the world like Israel had gone into captivity to Babylon and So when we say we're reformed we're saying we've come back from that captivity to reconstitute to form again reform

Real worship putting the church back together again by doing right? What had been done wrong?

But we have better be careful Because like the people of Israel particularly here in the time of Malachi Here they had now they have gone into captivity

Babylon now they have returned from captivity They're back in Jerusalem and we could be like them and that we think well, we're going back to the book

They thought they were going back to the book. We're gonna do everything, right? They thought they were doing everything, right? But our hearts still be wrong

Israel here in the time of Malachi had been Reformed warmed again, but their hearts weren't in it our actions

Could be reformed But our heart could still be Deformed our worship our organization could be according to the letter of the book

But our spirit Could still be dead Well here in the first five verses of Malachi, this is again the first of six

Disputations that Malachi is made of we see four vital points for us

Crucial to keep us from being right in form but wrong in spirit first the burden

Second the birthright third the Bane and finally the blessing

What's it mean to be reformed? Well, it means you have a burden from the Lord that weighs on you

Like a like a weight bearing down on you shape you would form you So to be reformed is have this burden from God that shapes you in verse 1

Malachi begins that he has received the burden of The Word of the Lord that's literally what the word there translated as Oracle in verse 1

That's what it means literally means the burden of the Lord The burden leaving literally the burden of the

Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi or it could be by my messenger that Malachi just means my messenger

This message that has been received from God is to it's to him to this messenger.

It's a burden Something heavy isn't it's not light It's not as easy to carry the

Word of God is not a light thing. It's not something trivial and unsubstantial Just a matter of the right heated rhetoric or sort of feel -good

Slogans, it makes us feel that God is always on our side that kind of thing Learning the right catch phrases kind of like the things some of our schools are filled with little posters

You can hang in there like it's not that's not the Word of the Lord It's not what it's like just a matter of just this rhetoric that you used to whip an audience up into shouting.

Amen Leaving them with hot but light Emotions sentiments maybe about the good old days about the old time religion

But nothing weighty that puts pressure on you that leaves an impression on you that will crush your ego and squeeze out that self -righteousness

If you're tired of religion as usual that kind of empty that light stuff slogans there feel good

Inspirational phrases stuff that passes itself off as preaching but leaves people unchanged then be prepared to take up the burden to hear and carry the

Word of the Lord to feel the weight of it to let it it impress itself on to us and Shape us listen to all the

Word of God to every message even when is here The message will be a burden it'll be hard to carry and Unload what you mean to be reformed?

It means that being loved by God Is not something you've earned It's not something you deserve

You know, it's not something you just kind of You get because you're born in the right family or in the right nation. You've done the right religious works

You've got the right rituals done for you No, it's a gift from your father. It's it's a birthright a

Spiritual birthright from being born again Malachi begins with what at first may not sound like a burden at all We just just talk about how it's a burden it weighs on you.

What is it? It's gonna be something horrible right but he begins then I have loved you says the

Lord I Don't sound like our burdens of message does it almost like the kind of inspirational phrases? I just kind of mocked

Doesn't everyone like to hear that they are loved, you know So many tracks today trying to win people to the gospel begin with a simple statement.

God loves you It's meant to draw people in to start with something they will like here He is specifically speaking to the people of Israel probably about the year 430

BC around that time and they have returned from exile in Babylon, they had rebuilt the temple. They had tried to restart worship and they're all their nation all over again.

They had literally Reformed they had they seem to have learned the lessons from the past that God will punish them if they worship idol

So they're not worshiping idols anymore that they are to offer their sacrifices So they're doing that that they're to keep their religion better than their ancestors did they they assumed they think they've learned all that They think they're doing better They assumed that because the nation had been punished for wrong religion in the past that they could now buy

God's benefits with right religion They think they've learned the lessons of the past But not really

This time though. They think they're going to get it, right? They were going to earn God's blessings their ancestors had lost

God's blessings by bad behavior They were going to earn them by right behavior This time they were going to get it, right?

They're going to earn God's favor. They're going to say the right prayers. They're going to sing the right songs

They were going to give they were going to do what they had to do they're going to earn it as their right is their pay and So like all people who view

God as someone they can pay off It's our morality or our good deeds our religion that there is no need for and really no room for love or Gratitude and so when they hear

I have loved you They think how what you talking about? You know if we've got good things

Because we earned it, you know, we've done the right religion So for them, this is all one big business transaction

We do our religion we keep our morality we obey your laws God and so you do your job

God you give us what? We've now earned There's no need for love in that kind of that kind of religion

No more need for love in that then there is need for love between you and your employer Right you think

I put in my hours I get my pay I deserve it spare me to talk about love

Imagine if you've got a sticky note attached to your next paycheck from your boss saying I love you You think think how

I? earn this I Put in the hours. I've talked to me about love

I work for this and so they scoff back here It's real same the same thing. How have you loved us?

What are you talking about God in verse 2 a God answers? Well, the burden is I have loved you because I gave you your birthright you are not

God's people Israel and You are not God's people Christians because you earned it with the right religion with the right prayers and morality

It was all because you were given a birthright That you in no way earned, you know birthrights are just you're just born into it

You don't do anything to get it. Your salvation was given to you as a gift. God chose you

Simply because he made the choice to love you That's the birthright

Here's the truth it blows apart that self -righteous Smug religion so proud of itself for buying off God with the right

Faith the right family the right church the right morality the right theology God begins

I have loved you Does it doesn't begin with our loving

God now? Yes, if we are loved by him that will change us

He will change us so that we then do love him, but it doesn't begin with our love for him

It begins with his love for us. We love the Apostle John wrote because because This is the cause of our love

He first loved us So what about other people then? You know who don't love

God? Who aren't God's people? What about them? they

Why what makes us different from them Do we think it's because well, we're particularly good and we're smart and we're a better character

So we could discern that this gospel is is true that it's good news that it's worth

Believing and they couldn't Right. That's why we could see the truth We could submit to it and they couldn't so we think that God looked ahead or maybe you think of this way

God looked ahead And saw our faith and on the basis of our faith that he could see from eternity past on the basis of what he could see first in us he then decided as As a response to what he could see that would come from us

To set us apart till then love us And that set us apart from these other people that God could look to see you won't have that faith and he's not gonna love

Is that what's going on? No It was it was that he loved us

But some demand that there be there be fairness Equal opportunity for all people and so they'll insist.

Well doesn't he love all people? the same and so if some are saved and Some are not then it must be they said they're reasoning

It must be that the ones who are saved must have done something You know something simple as just believing but they must have done something that set them apart

From those other people that God also loves God loves those other people and he wants those other people say but We're set apart from them

And they could be saved now if only they did the same things that we did only did

If only they did the same the unsaved people if only they did the same things that we say people did

They didn't they would you say that's all there is to it, right? It's a matter of What we did what the same people did

I can one analogy I've heard Doesn't God give everyone The same check of salvation it says salvation they say it's like being handed a check

But you got a cash it right? It's because they're trying to get around this salvation not based on your works

Okay, it's a free gift, but then you still got a cash it. Well, that's kind of your work But never mind that but they say we don't earn it some clever ones say but we do have to cash it

Understand what they're trying to do. Isn't there something that about us? About what we do or what we don't do or what we say

That sets us apart something about us initially coming from us

It makes us saved and those other people not Is that there's something we do something we can feel a little bit proud of even it's just something as simple as is believing

If only we could get others to do it Well, they too would be safe No There isn't

We are saved because we have here with Jacob as our example. We have a birthright a

Birthright God has given us and it doesn't come from what we do But from what

God has done for us. He has loved us notice here in verse 2 God's first answer to the question

How have you loved they're asking back? You know, have you loved us? We earn this religion God. What are you talking about?

He says no It's not Esau Jacob's brother This is a basic Bible knowledge question here

We are at the very end of the Old Testament and God is asking Israel if they know this basic question Don't you know that Esau was

Jacob's brother? And of course they knew that they had just never bothered to think about what it means To ponder it they think wow

Esau was also Jacob's brother They thought well, you know, we're we're

God's people because we're born in the right family We're from we're from Abraham through Sarah and Isaac.

And so that's why we're God's people. That's why he loves us and But wait, what about Esau?

Oh, that's true for him, too They never thought that both Esau and Jacob were sons of Isaac and grandsons of Abraham through Sarah both sons of the promise

They were even twins for that matter and Esau even came out first. And so by right in their culture, he's the firstborn

He should get the birthright, but God did not choose Esau It wasn't because of anything Esau did

He Jacob was chosen before they had done anything good or bad. It was because God loved Jacob and he didn't love

Esau Now our first instinct maybe you think that's not fair and that's true.

It's not fair Understand there's a difference between justice and fairness something could be

Not fair Still be just still be right, you know y 'all of you parents you give your children

Money and you pay him through college or whatever and you don't do that for other people's children. Well, that's not fair What's wrong with you?

You should be doing for every child in the world. Well, you can't you'll just you'll treat your child different than others right

That's not fair. It's just you know, it's the right thing to do. It's just not fair fairness is everyone being treated equally

Justice is getting what you deserve Jacob didn't deserve to be saved.

He didn't deserve his birthright Wasn't something he earned he didn't deserve it

If he got what was just he should have gotten the same hatred and judgment that God gave Esau what

Esau and his descendants The Edomites what they got was just It was justice

They deserved it notice in the verses 3 & 4 God says that he he has laid them waste

He has left their heritage their birthright to jackals Because they are he calls them.

They are the wicked country So they got what they deserved as the wicked country

It was just now it wasn't fair because Israel was also wicked, but God saved them anyway, because he loved them

It's not fair that Jacob gets love and Esau gets hate

Both deserve to be hated if you want fairness, that would be fair. They were both hated Thankfully God is often not fair to us.

We don't all get justice Some of us get grace we all got what was fair if we all got what was just We'd all be condemned

We don't want God You don't really want God to be fair to you now, thankfully

God chooses to love some of us and to save us Even though that isn't fair Now Esau shows us that God did not have

To love us. He didn't have to was it required of him? Was it was it justice that made him do it?

He could have just as easily even more fairly chosen to hate us Salvation as being one of God's people is a birthright and birthrights are never earned

But they are conferred on us Before we had done anything either good or bad and Jacob had that birthright because before he had done anything

God gave it to him God loved him and Each of us becomes one of God's people of the same way today is

Because God chooses to love us To me to be reformed

It means that you believe that ultimately there are only two kinds of people there's God's people and there's the not

God's people and The only difference between them depends on God's mercy

If you are his salvation Is your birthright? but for those who are not his there is only

The Bane the Bane is the cause of ruin and destruction Why is it that some people come to ruin and Destruction what it what is the what is their

Bane? What is the cause of their ruin and destruction? well, he saw as the example he saw is it the type a person

Who comes to ruin his destruction who was destroyed in the end? What happens to Esau his descendants in the country of Eden what happened to them?

well, they were eventually attacked by Arabs from the desert they were driven out of their land and then over time they just disappeared

Probably intermarrying with people of the other nations around them and they're gone You know look at any map of the

Middle East today and look for a country called Edom. Where is it? Have you ever met or even heard of someone who describes himself as an

Edomite? I am in Edomite. No They're gone. Just as God said they would be in verses 3 and 4 here.

God says he has hated them That's their Bane and so he will send people to lay at waste leaving it to jackals from the desert and that's what happened vicious people from the desert drove them out and eventually destroyed them now they would plot to rebuild they would think they could rebuild their nation as It says in verse 4 like the

Jews had rebuilt Jerusalem They would try to do the same but God would send others to tear down what they had rebuilt.

They would be in verse 4 The people at whom the Lord is angry forever

Here we have the doctrine of hell The only way to be angry at people forever

Is that they live forever? We have an eternal soul that will exist somewhere even after this fallen body is

Dies has died and so God promises here that these people would only know his anger

Think of what he puts that the Lord will be angry at them Forever, they will only know his anger for eternity.

They would suffer forever the everlasting wrath of God Now, of course many today think that well anger is unworthy of God That God doesn't get angry

People would tell us today as though they know now God might be disappointed in us. Sometimes you might wish we do better But he always kind of oozes

Warmth and affirmation and approval no matter what we do. He's the one carrying us through the stormy parts of life

Remember, we're told all over and over again. He's not really able to stop the storms. We're told he's just feeling for us

He's sympathizing with us as we go through them and that's true He's they were told now for all people and that's a popular

God these days There are poems written about that God songs written about that God Plaques are sold celebrating that God But that's not the true

God here the true God does indeed have anger

Now in us anger is often Imperfect and self -centered just irritable and temporary

But God has a perfect permanent Anger and those who don't know

God's love Will only know his anger and that Is the bane the cause of their ruin and destruction

Well here the Edomites the descendants of Esau are examples of such people. They are the type of the person

Who will only get God's anger? They are the type of the reprobate those destined for destruction.

They will only know God's wrath now Well, why why are they only know God's wrath? Oh, we could say somebody will say well

It's because they did doesn't so they they betrayed their brother nation Israel. That's the reason why

They help foreigners attack Israel. The book of Obadiah is all about God God's anger the anger of God coming on Edom Because they did not

Love their brothers. They they allied themselves with other pagan empires to attack

Israel, but the answer here in Malachi Okay, that's what they did. But But is that really the cause of God's anger or is it the other way around?

The answer here in Malachi is clear and deeper why didn't they love their brother?

Why weren't they God's people? They were just as much descendants of Abraham as were the

Israelites. Why didn't they get the birthright? Why? It wasn't that they were not

God's people because of something they did they did doesn't so they betrayed Israel and therefore as a consequence

Of that God excluded them. No, it's the other way around They did what they did because they were not

God's people Understand they were excluded as being

God's people and because of that that's why they betrayed Israel the bane of God's judgment comes first and then

The fruit of that life right first the tree is bad or good then comes the fruit The bane of God's judgment comes first and then the life

Whatever here betrayal of their brothers our life of materialism.

Maybe today of self -centeredness or of immorality The sins that we are often judged for just as for those who have the birthright the flipside first God loves us and then that love makes the tree of our lives good and Then we bear good fruit

Why didn't the Edomites get the birthright well because they had the bane of God's choice against them to not

Savingly love them Now in Romans 9 Paul uses Jacob and Esau as representatives of types of the two kinds of people

That are in the world. There's two kinds of people in all of history and he quotes from Malachi in Romans 9

Paul quotes from Malachi chapter 1 verse 2 Jacob I love but Esau I hated and there are only two races

There's two kinds of people ultimately those who are saved and those who are not and Jacob represents those who are

He's the type of All God's people of those whom God has mercy on and so saves they are

God's people because the Lord chose first to love them But Esau Represents he is the type of all people whom

God chooses not to save whom God chooses not to have mercy on There are people around us probably people we know

Who are Esau's? Maybe decent neighbors. Maybe they make fine acquaintances and friends and co -workers

Maybe they want to support their family. They like to do their part, you know, like Esau did

Go hunting for the family Maybe they're even religious or maybe they don't really care much about spiritual things anymore.

This is not their cup of tea They'd really rather have a bowl of lentil stew They may have prayed a prayer

They may have been baptized at one time But now they just can't be bothered about the Lord others though.

They're like hostile vehement atheists No, they just not interested

They will be damned They will only know God's raging anger why

It's because they really can't just can't get interested in the church. They can't get interested in Bible study. No, not really

Because they are an Esau Because of what God has not done for them the the bane of God's choice against them

So there's no way out for them. Notice verse 4 their destruction is Unavoidable they cannot thwart

God's Determination to obliterate them. God says that he will shatter the

Edomites and they'll resolve their sure They'll resolve to rebuild their cities To bounce back but the

Lord of hosts that is he's the the Lord of the commander of armies He says and he says probably with a laugh, you know, he who sits in the heavens laughs, but he says yeah, they may rebuild

But I will tear down Again some will say that's not fair It's not fair if someone someone wants to be saved

But God will not save them because he's chosen beforehand not to do so. He's chosen to hate someone who is trying to love him

Well, we see that Kind of that cynical a really self -righteous attitude here, you know, but they were saying back.

How have you loved us God? What do you do for us? Just assuming that their relationship with God it was deserved.

It was earned. It was fair It was equally available for all people and they did the right thing to get it

We think much too highly of ourselves The truth is that people do not

Naturally love God. They do not freely choose to serve

God The faith does not come from their hearts it's in their natural condition.

It's not as though there are people Who are trying to get into God's kingdom and God is shutting the door

It's not as though there are people who really who love God, but God hates them in return

No, there are no such people Whoever will may come sure, but people only choose to come to God They only have a will to come to him

Whom God has first? Chosen to draw to himself whom he's willed to come

In Romans 9 back in Romans 9 just three verses after quoting Jacob I love but he saw

I hated Paul concludes the lesson Paul says from that verse is that It salvation

Does not depend on man's will or work but on God's mercy

Now we kind of naturally we just naturally keep trying to put ourselves

Our our choices our will our religion something about us first We keep trying to put

God in the position of having to respond to what we've done first, but here we see the humbling reality

It is always God's love God's choice That comes first What's it mean to be reformed?

It means to know That you're blessed That's why the holiday reform people left us

The next one coming was Thanksgiving the giving of thanks to God For being blessed the

Puritans rejected all the traditional holidays of the particular the church like a Christmas and Easter But they gave us

Thanksgiving for the purpose of recognizing That God has been

Unfairly good to us When we hear the Word of the Lord that the burden of his gospel that crushes our pride

We've been given the birthright Not the Bain We are then blessed and We should know it we have what an older theology.

They called the the beatific vision Sort of a realizations awareness this vision that makes us happy that gives us joy

Makes us thankful in verse 5 we are told your own eyes shall see this we will see the birthright and the

Bain God's judgment on earth is salvation to That they come only from the hand of a sovereign

God that that vision that realization Will transform us

Now the cultural Christianity that is so common in our day Has a little God That they think they can carry in their pocket and to challenge that cultural

Christianity. We need to see this God the Lord described here in Malachi the master of the universe

Who has our eternal destinies under his control?

that's the blessed vision Now the Israelites here like so many today had a vision of God that was too small

They thought he was he was just their God though. They thought they could earn his approval by Doing the right religion

That they kind of deserved it by being born in the right family Or and that God was just the

God of their nation. He was it within their boundaries the Babylonians the Persians Well, they can worship their gods and that's fine for them.

They have their gods. We have ours We're supposed to worship the Lord, especially when we're here in this land his land

Attitude was like, you know, he's the landlord here and the terms of the lease Say we have to behave like so Like keeping your rent.

You got to keep the Ten Commandments Gotta make sacrifices. You got to do your duty.

Yada. Yada. Yada He's the God who's confined they thought to the borders of this country

And so today we have those who think That they're born Christians because they were born here

He's the God of our culture but not not of other cultures so some people come to America like from some even from China and think well as long as I'm here in America, I'm gonna be a

Christian I'm gonna go to church. I'm gonna make the God of this country happy Well, I'm here because I don't want him angry at me now if I go back to China I'll go back to burning jawsticks to my ancestors.

Well, you missed something. They think Jesus is just a God in these borders

But here in verse 5 God says that his grace and his judgment will be so impressive

That will confess That he's the God Beyond all borders who breaks down borders.

The Lord is great over all the earth over all the universe He's never fenced in he's never confined to some border not confined to Israel or just to those who choose to be

Christians not confined by anything we do not even by our Free will there are no borders

That restrict him The God pictured here is the true Lord the master who loves and the people he loves are saved

Who hates and the people he hates are destroyed? He's not a wimpy

God Someone to be trifled with When you see that he says your own eyes shall see it then

You'll finally understand That this God is truly worth serving that a life

Given to this Lord is not in vain and when you finally see him no longer this kind of hand -wringing

God Nervous something may bad may happen to us, but he can't really do anything about it our friend in the sky

Who's hoping the best for us? But you know, what can he do when your eyes see him?

in all his sovereignty And all his power You will not but be able to help yourself but to exclaim

Great is the Lord That is the blessed vision that you can have right now if you will but put away your little

God and Surrender to this one But still someone complain that isn't fair You're saying that there's one exclusive God for all people beyond every border everywhere and He demands that all people come to him in the right way

But then he purposely does not provide for many people to do that. It just isn't fair But the last thing we ought to complain about is fairness we are

Naturally dead in our sins if we got what was fair and just It would be hell

What was not fair? What was by no means fair? Was the cross?

the only one Who deserved? The father's approval the only one who deserved to be spared death and wrath unfairly

Experienced it experienced judgment unfairly was flailed and beaten and nailed to a cross and died and put in a tomb

All of that the worst unfairness in the history of the world. That's unfair and he took all that unfairness

So that we could we could unfairly not suffering eternally

God's anger that we deserved So that we could be loved by God We complain about fairness

Because we have not yet Fully heard the gospel of Jesus Christ that burden of the

Lord That will crush our self -righteousness Because we have it seen

That the birthright Is purely a gift That we deserve the bane

Because we haven't had the blessed vision of who God really is the true

God He's a lot bigger a lot more powerful Than our cultural religion can fathom even much more angry even much more loving so loving

He did for us in Jesus Christ. Well, we all if we thought about it

Would admit was it fair? He saved his people

If we did see that We see that he's infinitely worth serving

He's worth reforming to worship, right We'd never asked ungratefully

How have you loved me God? We'd be amazed at the grace and the love we've already been given

See that now and say Great is the