Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for bringing
us together here today to praise you, to worship
you, to grow in our relationships with you and
our knowledge and our understanding of your word.
and its context. We ask that you open our hearts
and minds to what you have to speak to us today
and help us to apply it to our lives as we leave
here. All right. Amen. So last week, of course,
we started off in the book of Malachi. We're
in chapter one, right? This week... For the eager
beavers who like to pop open their Bibles, we're
going to keep on going through Malachi. We're
actually going to be in Malachi chapter 2. So
if you want to go ahead and open your books,
your apps, whatever you use to that, we will
be in Malachi 2. Of course, last week we were
looking at the half -hearted, legalistic mentality
that was held by the Levitical priest, right?
What they practiced passed down all the way through
into society because, you know, they were the
spiritual leaders. So what they did and how they
went about things had that trickle effect, just
like it does today with leadership. Hey, brother,
welcome. And this week, we're going to continue
going through here, you know, and seeing, you
know, the fact that God called them out on this,
said, you know what, hey, you're not doing this
right. This is insulting. You're insulting yourself.
You're insulting me, right? You know, it's a
good reminder even today that we need to be very
careful in our attitudes and the way that we
go about things, right? Especially when it comes
to how we worship the Lord and how we present
ourselves. Because the way that we go about our
worship and our praise, whether we feel good
or not, reflects our relationship with God. So
if we go in and say, ah, it's going to reflect.
People are going to notice it. They're going
to pick up on it. But if we go in, it's like,
yes, this is good. Right? Even when you're tired
and you're run down, it reflects. We need to
make sure that we're giving our best every time,
no matter how tired and worn down we are. Right?
No sandbagging it. And as we go into Chapter
2 here, we're going to see more on the warnings
from God, not only for the priest of the day,
but as we go through here, we're actually going
to be going through, much like last week, but
more so. and to the effect that it had on the
people and how the people were worshiping and
going about the things of God as well. All right?
So, again, we're going to be in Malachi 2. We're
going to start off with the first two verses,
verses 1 and 2. And the Word says, And now, O
priest, this commandment is for you. If you will
not hear and you will not take it to heart, To
give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts.
I will send a curse upon you and I will curse
your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already
because you do not take it to heart. Here we
see what we're seeing. God's holding the spiritual
leaders accountable. The very people who should
know better and should be setting the example,
right? It's like the bar is here and they should
be up here, right? But they're not. They're all
the way down here. They haven't even left the
ground. So he's holding the spiritual leaders,
the teachers, because let's not forget, that's
what they're, the teachers, they're holding them
to, he's holding them to a higher standard. He's
saying, hey, shake the lead out. Let's get moving.
Bust off the rust. It's time to go to work, right?
Put some WD -40 on those joints, whatever it
takes. You know, some of us need a little bit
more than others. But he's telling them, hey,
get going. And in James 3, verse 1, we're warned.
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers,
knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
Now, especially back in that day, teaching was
seen as one of the highest jobs, right? It was
one of the most respected professions. And even
today, let's face it, our teachers, we still
give them a certain reverence, don't we? I mean,
we don't necessarily hold them up here like we
should. And I'm not just talking in the church.
I'm talking teachers in general, whether it's
daycare, preschool, Head Start, grade school,
secondary school, college, whatever. Right? Let's
face it. You know, there's some teachers a little
less than would be desirable, but that's any
job. There are a lot of great teachers out there
that put in a lot of work. And they should be
respected because they actually do want to have
an impact on the next generation. They want them
set up so that they succeed, so that they're
doing things right. Right? So it's a profession
that we should be respecting. And back then,
I mean, that was... The spiritual leaders of
David, that's who you went to. If you had a problem,
that's who you went to. If you had a question,
that's who you went to. If you needed to learn
something, that's who you went to. If something
was wrong, someone was sick, that's who you went
to. Right? In a sense, medicine back then wasn't
what it is now. Yes, there were medicines. There
were certain people who practiced it. But you
know what? Who were you most likely to call?
Your spiritual leader to come to the house and
pray. Because trying to get... a doctor or a
nurse or, you know, a wet nurse, whatever, there
or your loved one to one of them, that was a
chore. It was an undertaking. And that was if
they were even available or weren't sick themselves.
So your spiritual leaders, your spiritual teachers,
really, at that time, they were really up here,
right? They set the bar. You know, and, you know,
these are people, these are the people who should
have been setting the standard then. Just like
they set the standard today, teachers should
set the standard. They have the most influence
on our youth. Those of us as adults, when we
go back to school, we're looking to them just
like we did when we were kids, right? It doesn't
matter where we're at in our life. Our teachers
are the ones that we look up to. I still look
back on certain teachers with a great fondness.
I'm still in touch with a couple of them that
I absolutely adored. A lot of us have that effect.
Tess, not that long ago, had one of her old students
come to her classroom who's graduated now and
was like, hey, I want to be a teacher. I'm going
to go to school to be a teacher. And you're still
my favorite teacher. What was it, third grade
you had them? Yeah, third grade. She's 21 now.
Her third grade teacher is still her favorite
teacher to this day. Right? Like how awesome
is that? So we do. We revere our teachers. We
love them. We absolutely do, and we should. You
know, and it's, you know, because of the impact
on our lives, it's why we remember those teachers
that had a big impact on our lives, you know,
and just absolutely cherish them. And then those
poor teachers that we look back on, and they
just really let us down. They disappointed us,
right? And there are certain other people in
this room, myself included, who had that teacher,
like, you will never. amount to anything, you'll
never count. You'll never, you know, go far,
right? And it's just like, ha -ha, showed you.
That's right, Twinkie. That's right. But, you
know, God's already warned them, though. God
has a warning out there. He's saying, hey, you
better straighten up and fly right. Get your
act together. Stop using my name in vain. Stop
using the platform I gave you in disrespect,
right? It's like you better teach these people
and you better set the example because if you're
not going to set the example, I will make an
example out of you. My kids hate when I say that.
Even now, working in APS, get the kids that are
acting up. It's like, hey, you're the older kid
in here. You should be setting the example. If
you don't want to set the example, I'll make
an example out of you. Ooh, they don't like that
one. I learned it from God. But either way, these
teachers, they didn't listen. The Levitical priests,
they did not listen, and the people didn't listen.
Instead, they went about their days very nonchalant,
right? They had stopped loving God. They had
turned. They had walked away. They could have
cared less. How sad is that? They could have
cared less about God. And because they could
have cared less, they didn't hear his warnings.
Whatever. Phooey. It's like, you don't mean it.
You love us, right? Yeah. Sure. Where are you
at? And that's what I'm saying. Our mindset,
it's reflected in what we do. It's reflected
in our relationship with God. And if you love
God, if you have a good, strong relationship
with him, you're going to listen to the things
he tells you. When the Holy Spirit convicts you
of something, you're like, oh, whoa, hold on
a second. You're going to hit the brakes if you're
going to listen, right? But okay, I'm messing
up. But if you don't listen, hmm, right? So those
things that lead us into those addictions and
those other things that are bad for us. It's
like, hey, you probably shouldn't do that. This
weekend, for example, you know, Tess's birthday.
We had some food that we don't usually have there
in the house. I overindulged in some cherry pie.
It wasn't just my body saying, hey, you shouldn't
have done that. She was reminding me as well.
But little things that remind us, hey, you probably
shouldn't do that. Or we go a little far, a little
bit later, that heartburn sets in like, oh, oh,
okay, I'm paying the price. Shouldn't have done
that, right? It's like, what caused that? It's
probably that last donut that fell on his chest.
Right? Even with the little things, it happens.
And this didn't happen overnight, right? I joke,
I'm a growing boy, I shouldn't be. None of it
should be. Looking at you, Albert. But our mindset,
it reflects in how we live our lives. Our relationship,
it starts by hearing the word. Just hearing it,
reading it. And we take it to heart, we take
it to mind, we meditate on it. And very soon
afterwards, we start applying it to our lives
because now we're actually, we're not just hearing
it, we're listening to it. And there's a difference
between listening and hearing, right? But we're
listening, so we're applying it to our lives.
So we start doing things differently. We start
talking differently. We go about our lives differently.
And things really start to change at that point.
A lot of things for the better. Not saying it's
easy street, because it's not. You know, in Psalm
119, verse 105. This is one a lot of us are familiar
with. Matter of fact, a lot of Bibles, when you
open them up, one of the first pages in there
typically has this in there. Right? Psalm 119,
verse 105 says, your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path. And it's because when
we have a relationship with Jesus and we truly
love him, he becomes our shepherd and he guides
us. He guides us daily. And his voice guides
us daily. John 10 verse 27 puts it like this.
Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice and I know
them and they follow me. Why do we know his voice?
Why do we follow him? Anybody? Why do we hear
his voice? Why do we follow Jesus? What's that?
Yes, he is the good shepherd. It's because we
have a relationship with him. Plain and simple.
We know who he is. We recognize his voice. So
we trust what he's saying and we're going to
follow what he's telling us to do. Right? And
there's those of us in this room. We have someone
that we looked up to, someone that we admired,
someone that we trusted with our very lives.
Maybe they're not here with us. Maybe they live
far enough away. Maybe they're not with us here
on earth anymore. Maybe they've been... Called
home by the Lord, right? But something comes
along, and we can still hear their voice in the
back of our head, right? My Grandpa Flick has
been dead a long, long time. Long time. 2002,
2003, something like that. He's been gone a long
time, and I can still hear his voice in the back
of my head. Do the right thing for the right
reason, even if nobody's looking, right? and
a number of other things. Sports comes on the
TV. I can still hear him in the background. What
are you doing? Do something, even if it's wrong.
I, too, wah -wah. Yelling at the TV, especially
at the Cubbies we're on. He loved the Cubs. He
loved the Bulls. He was a Chicago fan, which
is interesting, being that he was a Hoosier from
Indiana. But I can still hear his voice. And
we all have those people that are just like that
in the back of our heads. We can hear them, and
we can hear their sayings, right? All right,
let's pick back up on our reading. We're going
to go back to Malachi chapter 2. So Malachi chapter
2, picking up from where we left off. And, oh,
okay, I thought I had a slide there. Apparently
not. But we're going to be verses 3 through 6.
Now, obviously, from the slide that came up,
you know where we're going to be going after
that here in a bit. But Malachi chapter 2, verses
3 through 6, the word says, Behold, I will rebuke
your descendants and spread refuse on your faces,
the refuse of your solemn feast, and one will
take you away with it. Then you shall know that
I have sent this commandment to you, that my
covenant with Levi may continue, says the Lord
of hosts. My covenant was with him. One. So he
feared me and was reverent before my name. The
law of truth was in his mouth and injustice was
not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace
and equity and turned many away from inequity.
So God... made a covenant with the leaders, in
other words, right? He made a covenant with Levi.
What's a covenant? A promise, a deal, a legal
binding deal, right? He had an agreement. There
are certain stipulations in there, though, right?
This contract. And it's an agreement that said,
in return for the Levites becoming the spiritual
leaders in the temple, and leading people to
him and teaching his word, right, that he would
bring peace and life to the people. But they
were obligated to do this, right? That was the
deal. It's like, you want it? Okay, you got it.
Here's the stipulations. Let's go to it. And
they became the spiritual leaders, the go -to
guys, the creme de la creme, the top shelf, right?
The top guys. The numero uno in the temple. They
took care of the temple they were supplied for
and cared for. When we actually go back and we
look at tithing and everything, this is a group
that was made for because they had no other source
of income to take care of themselves. That's
how much God provisioned for them. And God ordained
them to lead the people righteously. However,
They corrupted it. They corrupted the laws that
had been handed down from Levi. The teachings
that had been handed down. The example that had
been set and that they had been taught. They
corrupted that as well. Basically, everything
that had been taken and set as precedent, crumpled
up, tossed it away, right? And because of that,
they were directly responsible for the state
that society had fallen into. They were directly
responsible. All the corruption and all the stuff
that had taken over society, they're the ones
to blame. They had become so corrupt that just
the name of priest or teacher had a bitter taste
in people's mouths. Just those titles alone were
corrupted because they had failed so poorly,
so badly. The title priest had become a word
of contempt. And that's something the church
still struggles with today, isn't it? Certain
people, they want to stay away from certain titles.
Oh, I'm not a priest. I'm a minister. Oh, I'm
not a minister. I'm a pastor. All different titles
for the same thing, right? It's like, are you
still not a teacher? Are you still not a spiritual
leader, a spiritual teacher? But it leaves a
certain disdain out there. And if I just say
the word priest, and let's face it, we're all
adults in here. All of us have heard some pretty
distasteful jokes just around that one word by
itself, right? Some of them not so bad. You know,
a priest, a minister, and a rabbit walk into
a bar. I think there was a typo. It wasn't a
rabbit. It was a rabbi. You know, little kids'
jokes. But most of the time, we say priest, and
it's like, ah. It has something to do with a
little boy comes out of someone's mouth, right?
Something very distasteful, something very ugly,
disgusting. So it's something that's still struggled
with today. Why? Because the choices, the very...
Bad choices of a select group, of a select few
at that, right? But that's anywhere. That's anywhere.
You look at law enforcement, a lot of people
hate police. Oh, they're all a bunch of pigs.
They're all a bunch of scumbags, right? Why?
Because of the actions and the choices of a few.
And because of those few, all of them are getting
put on the spotlight as if they're doing the
same thing. Right? What have we had going on
here in Albuquerque for the last couple years
now? The DWI scandal, right? And because of that,
every single cop in the city, in the county,
in neighboring areas are in that spotlight like,
oh, they're all dirty. Are they all dirty, though?
No. We actually have some really good people
out there that really want to do good for their
community. But because of a few people, they
have a target on their chest. That's how bad
it was with these priests. You know, our politicians
today, we forget they're supposed to work for
us. Instead, we hand all the power over to them,
though. We expect them to fix everything, but
they're men. We should be looking to God. Absolute
power absolutely corrupts, right? That sounds
familiar. And what happens? We have a bunch of
career politicians that are as corrupt as they
come. They should be wearing, you know, I'm sure
we've all seen like the memes and everything,
and I absolutely agree. They should be wearing
like the NASCAR tech jackets with all the patches
and logos of all the people who have bought and
paid for them. Right? You look at people like
AOC, went from living in poverty to being a blowhard
that's worth millions overnight. That doesn't
happen unless you're being paid and bought. Or
I should say bought and paid for, right? I don't
care what party they're a part of because it's
on all sides. All sides, Republican, Democratic,
Green, Independent, you name it. People are bought
and paid for. Why? Because they're representing
someone. We should be looking to him and not
them. Plain and simple. But continuing on, before
I go down any more rabbit trails, draw us out
any longer. Sorry about that, guys. All right,
slide's already up. Perfect. So Malachi 2, verses
7 through 9. So verses 7 through 9, the Word
says, For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
and people should seek the law from his mouth.
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
But you have departed from the way. You have
caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted
the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts.
Therefore, I also have made you contemptible
and base before all the people, because you have
not kept my ways, but have shown partiality to
the law. See, priests, they hadn't just angered
God. There were a lot of people there. who knew
right from wrong. And they were getting pretty
angry as well. Right? Because there were people
who still loved God, still had the passion in
their heart, they were still on fire for Him
the way that we all should be. You know, even
today, a lot of people remember how churches
used to be before a lot of churches started preaching
this happy, feel -good, joy -joy, you know, prosperity
gospel. Plain and simple. It's not what the word
is. Yeah, there's a lot of really good stuff
in here. There's a lot of stuff to be very happy
about. But there's also a lot of warnings that
we should heed and a lot of other stuff that's
going on that we need to be paying attention
to and for. We don't get to skew it. You know?
Matter of fact, we have churches now that actually
celebrate sin, don't we? And when I refer to
them, I refer to these churches and fellowships
very loosely as churches and fellowships because
they're not churches of God. We should not be
celebrating anyone's sin. It should be, oh, you're
a drunkard? Okay, come in here. Let's talk about
Jesus. Not let's fly a flag and be like, hey,
all you drunks, come here. We're going to celebrate
it. We're going to have a kegger afterwards,
right? I'm using one sin as an example. That's
how it is for a lot of sins in a lot of places.
You know, there's churches out there. Adultery,
not a big thing. It's okay because even the pastor
is sleeping around. It happens. You think I'm
joking. It's sad. It's out there. It happens.
It shouldn't be. We shouldn't be tolerating these
things. We shouldn't be celebrating them. But
instead, these places, they try to justify it
for themselves. They make their own excuses.
They like to say that they're inclusive, right?
That's a fun word these days. Oh, we're inclusive.
It's okay. Come on in. It's like, no, come in.
We can talk about your sin. But you know what?
Let's talk about Jesus and how he can help you
with that sin. Because that's really what it
should be about. and how Jesus can heal us all.
Right? And back then, that's exactly what these
priests were doing. They were inclusive. It's
okay. It's okay. Like I said, they're supposed
to be the creme de la creme, the elite. And so
they left the path, and because they left the
path, they themselves had become lost, and they
were leading other people astray. And God was
calling foul, like, hey, guess what? It's all
on you, buttercup. We see the same thing. Even
churches today with poor theology, other unbiblical
teachings, you know, the word taken out of context
and twisted to try to drive a certain point,
trying to make the word say what they want it
to say. That's why I like going through things
like this, verse by verse, chapter by chapter.
Because then you can see it yourself, you can
hear it yourself, and you know it's in context,
right? If I do something wrong, you can call
me. I'll be like, hey, I don't think that's quite
right. Maybe we should talk about this, right?
In fact, there's been a couple times where I've
said something, I didn't necessarily say it the
right way. I have to have conversations with
people afterwards. In fact, even Brian and I
have had, he's like, hey, I got a question about
what you said. The way I said it wasn't necessarily
the best way I'd done it, right? We talked about
it. We're good to go afterwards. It happens,
you know. I appreciate my brother calling me
out. It was a good conversation. It's the way
it needs to happen. That's the way our family
should be, right? When we love each other, we
do that. Like, hey, let's talk about this. I
don't necessarily know if that's what you meant
or if I misunderstood, you know, but you said
this and this is the way I interpreted it, whatever.
Can you clarify that? Can you explain it? Can
we go into depth on this? You know, whatever.
That's a good thing. But not only that, the priest
at that point, Much like society today, they
started allowing people of influence, people
of wealth, to just slide, right? To break the
law. Excuse their sin. Oh, it's okay. You know,
they got the money. You know, the reason being
is because they've become so dependent on men
for their support. instead of leaning into God
and trusting that God was going to continue to
provision for them. I mean, you look at all the
things that God had done. You know, they no longer
had land. They no longer had property, right?
No sources of income, no livestock, none of this
stuff. Instead of saying, hey, you're going to
be here. You're going to take care of the temple.
And all these tribes, they're going to come together,
and they're going to do, this tribe's going to
do this, this tribe's going to do this, and they're
going to go in this order so that we're not just
draining one person or all of them at once. And
because they're all going to be doing this, And
they're all going to be doing this tithe. You're
going to be supported. You're going to have everything
that you need. Instead of trusting in him, right?
That's what faith is, is trust in God. They put
their faith over here. Like, oh, hey, you know
what? We got this. If you just put, you know,
500 more in the box over here, we'd be great.
You know? And it's like, oh, you slept with,
yeah, it's kind of, you know what? It's okay.
Just throw another 100 in the box. We're good.
We're good, right? That's how they treated it.
It's not the way it should have been handled,
though. They were looking the other way. So long
as the money was coming in. A little pride, a
little greed, right? Sin started coming out.
That corruption. Sound familiar? It's like, hey,
you're a person of influence. I'm just going
to look the other way. It's okay. Didn't see
anything. Hey, what about this? I don't know
what you're talking about. Right? Yeah, I smoked,
but I did not inhale. Everybody remember that
one? I did not have sexual relationships with
that woman. Yeah. Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did.
But that's how they treated it. And as a society,
we still treat people like that, depending on
what their background is. That special treatment
that just lets them slide, right? Their prominence.
What they can do for you, right? Like, you scratch
my back, I'll scratch yours. And that mentality
comes in at the end to justify the means, which
isn't right. Because, you know, you got to the
end. Yeah, but did you do things right? Did you
set a good example? Did you, you know, do what
the Lord instructed? Were you pointing the way
to Jesus? Or were you taking care of yourself,
right? Your own selfish needs. But unfortunately
today, for most people, it's their own selfish
needs. You know? It's that double standard of
like, oh, hey, this is a person of prominence.
We're going to let them slide. But we're going
to drop the hammer on this little guy for the
smallest infraction. Right? Now, unfortunately,
there are a lot of people in jail for that very
thing today that shouldn't be. And people who
are not locked up who absolutely should be. Right?
And that's just going by the laws of our land.
You know, it's not very Christ -like. It's not
the example that we've been given, but we allow
it. We put our parties front and center, you
know, health, wealth, all that good stuff. And
certain people, we put them up on a pedestal
like they're gods themselves, and then we act
shocked when they fall from grace. I'm going
to throw out some names. O .J. Simpson, Bill
Cosby, Michael Vick, right? Lance Armstrong,
Kevin Spacey, Tiger Woods. Ellen DeGeneres recently,
right? She's had a pretty gnarly fall. I'm not
going into their political background. Just the
fact that a lot of people looked up to them because
they're celebrities. They have a lot of wealth
and a lot of power, right? And a lot of people
absolutely adored them. They were up here, and
then what happened? Epstein Island, right? How
about the big one that's been all over the news
for the last few months? Who wants to take a
shot at that one? P. Diddy, right? Sean Combs.
That's a big one right there, a nasty one. But
we need to remember when we're looking at these
people like, oh, that's pathetic. That's disgusting.
Are we really any better? We all have sin, don't
we? Holy Spirit's convicting us of things. We
have things in our lives that we need to change.
And that's where the whole thing comes in. Pull
the plank from your eye before you, right? Instead,
we come down hard on all these guys. Like, oh,
they did this. Like, yeah, but you know what?
You're sitting too. This guy just hit somebody
and killed him for drunk driving. And what are
you doing this weekend? Oh, you're getting wasted,
aren't you? Yeah. It's like, oh, this person,
you know, they got busted. They're sleeping around.
But you've got an addiction to porn. Hmm. We're
no better. We're just as corrupt. We can be corrupted
to the max just like anybody else. Only our falls
as a little guy. It won't be so publicized, right?
Unless we do something where it ends in a big
fiery ball or blocks traffic for miles on end
and then we end up on the news for about five
seconds, right? But I mean, it's still sin. And
no matter how popular we are, no matter how wealthy
we are, we're still committing the same sins
as these people. And to God, we're just as guilty
as these people. So we need to be careful. We
need to ensure we're doing the right thing for
the right reason. And we need to make sure that
we're doing things within God's will. That we're
spending time in God's word. We're spending time
in prayer. Learning more about him and his will.
Growing in our relationship with him. You know,
this is one of those places where I can call
my wife up because there's times where I'm just
absolutely miserable with something, right? It's
tearing at me, right? Kind of poking me in the
gut. And just like anybody else, there's times
where I don't think, like, hey, we should pray.
And my lovely wife will be like, hey, you know
what? We should pray on that. And it's a good
thing. Like, yeah, absolutely, we should. Thank
you, wife. Right? And in the last part of the
chapter that we're going into now, we're going
to see how the people, because of all this and
because of this example, were being unfaithful
to God, how they were rejecting Him with their
actions. And it's because they're living lives
as though God didn't exist. It's because they
themselves have separated themselves from him,
just like the priest had done. The spiritual
leaders of the day, they were justifying themselves.
They were giving excuses. Basically, I don't
have to worry about punishment because he didn't
even exist. Or I don't have to worry about it
because he loves us anyway. We're the chosen,
right? Placing themselves higher than, better
than, that holier -than -thou attitude. So this
is one of those areas where we really need to
pay attention and learn from their mistakes so
that we don't fall into the same snares and pitfalls
that they did. So picking back up in Malachi
2, verses 10 through 12. So 10 through 12, the
Word says, Have we not all one Father? Has not
one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously
with one another by profaning the covenant of
the fathers? Judah has dealt treacherously, and
an abomination has been committed in Israel.
And in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the
Lord's institution, which he loves. He has married
the daughter of a foreign god that the Lord cut
off from the tents of Jacob. The man who does
this, being awake and aware, yet who brings an
offering to the Lord of hosts. At this point,
I mentioned it last week, the temple had been
rebuilt. People were able to go and start worshiping
again. And initially, people were really excited.
They were stoked, like, hey, the temple is back.
Yeah, baby. We're going to get to go and spend
some time doing, you know, and worship and praise
and doing the things that we used to do. It's
going to be wonderful. You know, and their passion
was on fire. As time went by, their excitement
started to wand down, right? That fire started
to die out. That excitement, that passion was
going away. Why? Because they expected the prophecies
that they had been told about for all this time
were just going to start happening. Boom, boom,
boom, boom. Right? That the Messiah all of a
sudden was going to come and was going to destroy
their enemies. Boom. Right? Like all this excitement
that they had been waiting for and that they
had been promised, hey, it's coming. They thought,
oh, hey, we're back here now. The temple is back
up. It's just boom. It's open. The floodgates
are open. But then it didn't happen the way they
expected to. It wasn't happening in the time
frame that they expected. Like, hey, it's here.
We're here. What's going on? And because it wasn't
in their way, it wasn't in their timetable, their
faith started to one with it, right? Their trust
in God. They become complacent in the way that
they live their lives. You know, in the military,
we say complacency kills, and it absolutely does.
The problem here, especially, is when it comes
to spiritual things, when you become complacent
and you become complacent in your worship and
your time with God, it kills you spiritually.
And unfortunately, we have a very limited time
here on earth to actually snap out of that complacency
and come back to God before it's too late. Right?
It's a very limited time. You know, and unfortunately,
if we don't find it, we don't correct it in that
time frame, we don't come back to Jesus. Well,
there's no recovery, is there? Unfortunately.
So carrying on in Malachi 2, verses 13 through
14, the Word says, And this is the second thing
you do. You cover the altar of the Lord with
tears, with weeping and crying, so He does not
regard the offering anymore, nor receive it with
goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, for what
reason? Because the Lord has been witness between
you and the wife of your youth, with whom you
have dealt with treacherously. Yet she is your
companion and your wife by covenant. So people
were going in with alligator tears, in other
words, right? They're upset. It's like, oh, really,
I've got to give this? I don't want it because
I have to. Right? So their heart wasn't in it.
We've talked about this. They were pointing the
finger at everything bad that was happening in
their lives instead of accepting the fact that
a lot of what was going on was their own fault.
They did not accept the responsibility for their
own actions. And we do the same thing today,
don't we? We look at politicians. We look at
policies. We look at employers and all these
other people and be like, oh, it's all because
of them. We don't take time to actually reflect
back like, oh, what did I contribute to this?
How did I get myself in this situation? Unfortunately,
there's a lot of times where we want to say the
devil made me do it. The devil didn't make us
do anything. We chose. It's on us. It was our
fault. But we don't even take a moment to consider
that, do we? You know, people... The people,
they'd been unfaithful to God and to each other.
They'd been warned by the prophets. They'd been
warned by God himself. Yet they wouldn't change
the ways. You know, and we hear the same excuses
today. Oh, I was born this way. Right? Oh, God
doesn't care. I don't have time for it. I'm too
busy. Right? Oh, I'm pretty good. I'm a good
person. I have a pretty good life. I don't need
that religion stuff. Right? Oh, it's legal now.
It's okay. We can do it. And here's a fun fact
for you. This is why when Jesus came, he said
he didn't come to get rid of the law, right?
Why didn't he come to get rid of the law? Because
the law shows us the sin in our lives. That's
why. It lets us know, hey, this is wrong, so
I shouldn't be doing it. And instead, even to
this day, we've taken that and we've corrupted
that as well. Because now we try to create laws
that allow us to sin. It's like, hey, it's okay
if I do this. It's legal now. It's like, really?
What does the Word say, though? Hmm. And even
back then, people didn't hold to their vows or
promises to each other. They're promises to God.
They didn't do things the way that they should
do. You know, you think about it. It used to
mean something. When somebody came up and you
were talking, and like, you know what? Hey, I
give you my word. Even 30 years ago, that still
carried a lot of weight, didn't it? These days,
though, somebody comes up and they say something
like that. I don't know. We're kind of hesitant
when we hear that, aren't we? It doesn't carry
it like it used to. But it should. It absolutely
should. But now it's just empty words. It's a
husk. Right? It's worthless. Kind of like when
someone says, oh, I promise. Oh, I swear. I swear
I'm going to do it. It's like, really? That's
a dangerous word you're using there, buddy. Because
I don't believe a word coming out of your mouth.
They're hollow words that have been stripped
and raped of all meaning. And because of that,
we're skeptical when we hear it. And it's really,
bless you, a big part of it is because when people
say these things, As we've been conditioned and
as we know now, people say these things and they
have meaning until they don't. Right? It's like,
oh, it means something now. But all the way over
here, it's like, oh, I changed my mind. And all
that meaning goes away. We're going to go into
our last few verses here. We're heading for home.
So still Malachi 2. Verses 15 through 17, these
are our last, last verses, guys. So Malachi 2,
15 through 17, the word says, But did he not
make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore
take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously
with the wife of his youth. For the God of Israel
says that he hates divorce, for it covers one's
garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts.
Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you
do not deal treacherously. You have wearied the
Lord with your words, yet you say, in what way
have I wearied him? And that you say, everyone
who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord,
and he delights in them. Oh, where is the God
of justice? Skepticism had become the root of
people's religious indifference. Skepticism had
become the root of people's loose morals. That
mentality of why should I? What's in it for me?
Just like today, divorce was running rampant
at that time. Right? Men were using marriage
as a way to go. shack up with the woman, and
then as soon as he was done with her or the next
thing came by, cut loose. Here, I give you your
divorce. I'm marrying her now. Right? That's
what happened. It was a tool to hook up, sleep
with who they wanted, and then on to the next
conquest. It completely disregarded the fact
that they were making vows, not just to one another,
but to God. So I went to a lot of weddings that
says, you know, we come before God. Something
along those lines are typically the words that
are uttered first thing, right? Because it is
a holy thing. And we're making a promise, not
just to one another, but to God. We're making
vows. We're making a covenant, in other words.
So it carries weight, as it should. But these
people, they were just disregarding it and doing
what they wanted to do. And the reason why God
hates this is because when we make these covenants,
when we get married, just like when we make a
bargain and we come into an arrangement with
somebody else, whether it's business or whatever,
we make these promises, these vows, these covenants,
just like in marriage. And having a family is
supposed to demonstrate our union with God as
a family. It's not just, hey, I have a relationship
with God. It's like, hey, I am part of God's
family. And when we come to our family, those
should be the people that we're closest to, that
we love the most, not the people that we just
disregard because, you know, a new cow comes
over and like, ooh, we got, that cow's ready
for slaughter. I want this one now. We got fresher
milk over here. We get some calves out of it,
right? Bring that heifer on over. Maybe we shake
it a little bit. We'll get a milkshake out of
it. I don't know. But that's how people treated
it. So we need to be wise. We need to be cautious
not to break our word when we give it. When we
promise something, we need to do our best to
make sure that we come through on it. And if
we're not able to come through on it, it should
be because of something that's not... in our
control. So when we come through and say, hey,
you know what? I did my best, but I'm not able
to deliver. Here's why. And why people respect
that at that point. Because they know you didn't
break your word. You did your best. And that
matters. That means something. Right? We need
to do everything that we can to hold true and
recognize that our vows are not just They're
not empty words, but they're contracts. They're
verbal contracts between one another and God,
and it demonstrates our love, our relationship
with Christ. It's not something we should just
throw around or break on a whim because we're
angry with somebody. Right? Holding to our promises
ensures that we include God in our lives. Because
especially in the hard times, It's like, you
know what? It's like, ooh, I want out of this
contract. But you know what? God, let me talk
to you. And God brings us through, right? We
need God. He should be first and foremost in
our lives in everything that we do. And by loving
each other as we're commanded to and honoring
each other, we honor him. We honor Jesus. We
have to remember, we've all fallen short. We've
all sinned. But, you know, the point of all this
is that while God hates sin, he hates when we
lie, when we break our promises to one another.
If we recognize what we do and we repent of it
and we come to him and we leave it, it's like,
hey, Jesus, I'm sorry. I messed up. I can't do
this on my own. I need you. And we come to him
and we drop it. We stop. We walk away from that
sin and ask him, hey, teach me. Teach me how
to break free of this. I need you to break this
chain. I can't do it. I need your strength. And
guess what? He will help you with that. He will
help you get through it, and he will forgive
you because he loves you. And that's the biggest
thing is because he's waiting for us to take
it to him and truly leave it with him and repent
of it so that he can forgive us because he loves
us. He loves you. He wants what's best for you.
And that's why he has warned us time and time
again to leave that sin. return to him, and he's
excitedly waiting there with arms wide open because
his prodigal child has come home. And we're all
prodigal sons and daughters, every single one
of us. It's not too late. It's time to come home.
And on that note, let us pray. Lord, we thank
you for this time together in your word, a reminder
of all the warnings we've received and the lessons
that we can learn from the past and apply to
our lives today. Please forgive us for our sins
and shepherd us. Lead us as only you can in your
actions and your words. Help us to live in your
will and be the light that you can use to reach
others. Help guide us and remind us that we need
to come to you when times are hard. We feel like
we're floundering because we can't do it on our
own. We need your strength to guide us through.
Help us to be the light and the salt as you called
us. Help us to find the ways that you would have
us go. And help us to... to remember our oaths
to one another and to you, and how important
it is that we keep them in Jesus' name. All those
people said? Amen and amen. Remember, as you
leave here today, you are loved and you are blessed,
so go and be the church. Thank you for joining
us at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. If this
message spoke to you, or if you would like to
help us reach more people, please like, review,
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.thecross66 .org Until next time, take care and
God bless.