Good morning church. Just to let you know, Andy and I went to see Henny this week and
when I went to see her last time and talked to her in November, we were planning what
looked like a funeral. When I went and saw her this week, she had, I think she had the
news up to 110. She didn't have her hearing aids in, that's for sure. And as we were
walking down the hallway, we were preparing ourselves to see what would be lying there
and no lying was happening in that room. She was sitting up, she was in good spirits, she
had great colour in her face. She laughed at some of my jokes and that's why she might
not be as well as we thought. But no, just to encourage you, please keep praying for
Henny. Her faith is strong, she loves the Lord, she has great hope to see him soon but
her body is doing great and she's not in too much pain and the nurses are very, were very
encouraging for us. Before we get into our text this morning and finish the series, would
you please join me in a word of prayer? Father, we thank you so much for the eternal word
that was settled in heaven and given to your people. We ask this morning by the work of
your Holy Spirit that you would please hold our Lord and Saviour high in our midst, that
you would draw us all, every single one of us, no matter where we are in our lives, where
we are in our walk, that we would all be drawn to you this morning and that we would leave
this place with our eyes lifted high to the gracious gospel, to our Lord Jesus Christ.
We ask for this in His name, amen. I don't know if you've ever had the chance to travel
but as an Australian living in Europe, as soon as you start to speak, you'll usually
hear the sentence, you're not from around here, are you? As an Aussie abroad it becomes
immediately apparent that you're a stranger in a strange land. But you know there's a
sense in which all of us should hear something like that said of us, regardless of our accents
and nationalities. Because if you're a Christian, you're not from around here. No, you're a
stranger from a strange land. You bear the marks of citizenship from another country.
And that's quite simply because our home is really elsewhere. We're citizens of the kingdom
of heaven and we're just passing through. And I mention this because there's a great
difference between us and the world. And in our text this morning, our prophet highlights
four areas in which that great distinction between the church and the world, between
the believer and unbeliever, ought to be seen and felt by those around us. So all who are
observing might say, you're not from around here. There's something different about you.
But first a bit of context. If you've been with us for the past few months, you'll know
that we're in a part of the Bible where the people of God's nation had started to slip
and slide back once again into an attitude of apathy. That's been apparent as we've seen
our prophet Malachi challenge God's people on their utter lack of love for God. And we've
seen this apathy in a couple of different ways. Namely, in the way that they've been
acting and also in what they've been saying. You might remember it. The whole book started
with God telling his people that he loves them and then they replied with, how have
you loved us? Again, God challenged them that they weren't giving their best and they were
like, how haven't we been giving our best? Then God challenged the men that they were
abandoning his daughters, their wives, so as to take ungodly women with their practices
into church life. And then they complained that God wouldn't bless them. These are just
some of the grievous actions that we've seen played out in this book. And when God challenged
his people on these things, we've seen their attitude. They were like, when? How? Whatever.
But you might remember that it's not just been their actions that have been grievous
to God, but their very words. Just a few weeks ago, we looked at a part of scripture where
God challenged them on their conversations that they were having with one another back
in chapter two. They were saying, all who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord and
he's pleased with them. They were even asking, where is the God of justice? Believe it or
not, they're back at it again. We heard it read for us just before and that's where our
text starts this morning in verses 13 through to 15. Malachi comes to God's people with
his word. He says, you spoken arrogantly against me, says the Lord. And you asked, what have
we said against you? You've said it's futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying
out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now
we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evil doers prosper and even when they put God to
the test, they get away with it. So church, I want you to see the first distinction that's
revealed for us here this morning in our passage. The first distinction between the attitude
of the ungodly and the attitude of those who belong to the kingdom of heaven. A distinction
that makes the people of God noticeably different from the world around us so that we might
be manifestly shown to not be from around here. We see it first with the fellowship
with one another. We see it first in our fellowship with one another. Read with me the first part
of verse 16. We read, then those who feared the Lord talked with each other. Now notice
what our prophet has to say here. There's a distinction between those who have been
sliding down into moral and spiritual rebellion against God saying that he was pleased with
evil, that he'd abandoned them and that serving him was utterly useless against those who
were communing with one another with a totally different rhetoric. And notice who they were.
Notice what they had in common. Our prophet says here that they feared the Lord. To put
it simply, they were people that highly esteemed our Lord and loved and cherished him in his
person, in his glory and in his grace. Malachi is speaking about believers here. And so we
get to the heart of the matter, don't we? There's two types of people in the nation
who are being challenged by God through his prophet. One group was responding with how,
when, whatever. But then there's these others, these others that feared the Lord and they
got together and they talked with each other. In other words, in light of all that they
were hearing from God's prophet and their own countrymen, they didn't join in with the
rebellious talk and chatter, but resorted to spiritual counsel and godly fellowship
with one another to discuss what they'd been hearing. And this is really interesting. Our
prophet goes on to say, the Lord listened and he heard. The Lord listened and he heard.
I don't want to skip over that too quickly because that's important to note. How did
God respond to his people as they got together and reflected on his word? The things that
they heard from the prophet Malachi. Well, God not only heard and listened to their conversations,
but a scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the
Lord and honoured his name. That's amazing to think about because what we see here is
that the Lord pays attention to his people when they're speaking. When we're speaking
not just to him, and that's incredible to think about it in and of itself, but when
we speak about him, when we speak to each other about him. That's what's on view here.
The living God who is high above all else, the King of Kings and seated on his glorious
throne pays attention when his people get together to encourage each other, to exhort
one another and to open scripture together and reflect on what he has to say to us. The
Lord takes note of it. That's why I love one to ones, catch ups, family worship, Bible
studies, getting together at church and doing connect groups because we're not just getting
together to speak to one another about general things. It's a time when we purposely set
time aside during the week to get together to have Christian fellowship, to exhort, challenge
and build one another up in our most holy faith. I don't know how you go about that
personally, there's so many different ways to do it. But Christian fellowship is one
of the great marks that characterise a child of God in distinction from the ungodly. A
child of God loves to speak about the things of God and we love to be around our brothers
and sisters in the faith. And so might we all be challenged here this morning. Do you
love getting around your brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you love speaking with them
about the things of God? Do you love reflecting on his word as you hear it spoken or preached
or read? Are we careful with the way in which we speak with one another? Are we mindful
that we'll give an account of all the things that will come out of our mouth? This is something
that defines the people of God in this world, a distinction that Malachi sets up for us,
if you will. It has to do with our fellowship and the quality of our communion with one
another as we speak the truth in love to each other. So first thing that defines the people
of God in this world, we love to have fellowship with one another and we love to speak about
the things of God. Second, we share the same glorious future. I'm going to read for you
verse 17 of chapter 3 and we're going to go all the way up to chapter 4 verse 3. This
is the word of God. On the day when I act, says the Lord Almighty, they, they will be
my treasured possession. I'll spare them just as a father has compassion and spares his
son who serves him. And you'll again see the distinction between the righteous and the
wicked, between those who serve God and those who don't. Surely the day is coming, it will
burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble and the day that
is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty. Not a root or branch will be
left to them, but you who revere my name, the son of righteousness will rise with healing
in its rays and you'll go out and frolic like well-fed calves and you'll trample on the
wicked. There'll be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act, says the
Lord Almighty. Now church, admittedly there is a lot to unpack in just those few verses
and we're not going to get to it all this morning, but I want you to take note of a
very specific phrase that Malachi uses there repeatedly and that's the day, the day, the
day, the day. Now what is Malachi referencing here? To put it simply with the time that
we have this morning, he's speaking of a future day that will affect every single one of us
in this room. A future day where God will come to judge all the peoples of the world,
both the living and the dead. But this is the thing that Malachi reveals to us here.
That day's coming and God will certainly judge, but that day will also reveal a difference
between the believers and the unbelievers. It'll be a day where the godly and the ungodly
will be revealed. That's clearly shown to us in these verses, particularly in verse
18. We've seen already in this series that the people have been challenged and the people
have responded to God in such incredibly offensive ways. But in this series, as we've been challenged
here and now in 21st century Perth, Western Australia, we've hopefully seen where we've
gone wrong. And unlike the rebellious that we read about in our text, unlike them, hopefully
we have confessed and repented from our wrong thinking and asked the Holy Spirit of God
to help us in our obedience. And we do that because God, God has radically changed our
values and changed us in such a way so that we look at this world, we think about our
lives totally different to those who have been hardened towards the truth of God's Word.
I say that another way, when the people of God are challenged by God's Word because of
the work of the Spirit, we want to follow our master. Because we fear the Lord, we want
to serve him. Something in us longs to do things God's way, longs to walk on the straight
and narrow, longs to walk with our Lord and Saviour, no matter the cost to ourselves.
But might I say this, that hasn't always been the case, right? No, we've all been on the
other side of the so-called Isle. We've all been defined as the wicked with our fists
up to heaven, but this is the wonderful truth of our God. The wicked can be transformed
and made into the righteous. Those who murmur and grumble and curse God can actually become
his friend. And the wicked, the wicked can be counted as righteous. How's it happen?
Not by doing any of the things that our prophet has challenged us with through the weeks perfectly.
The wicked become righteous by one way and that is by faith in Jesus Christ. That is
the only way that we might pass from death to life, from being the enemy of God to being
adopted as a precious son or daughter. Malachi makes a distinction here in these verses.
It's a serious thing to pay attention to. There will come a day and that day will reveal
the righteous and the wicked and the wicked will indeed perish under the wrath of God.
The distinction couldn't be any more clearer. There will be those who will be seen as God's
treasured possession and will be spared by God like any father would his child from devastation
and there will be those who will be revealed to be arrogant and as evildoers. The wicked
prepared for fiery judgement. That day is indeed coming. But this is the thing dear
ones. We can't make ourselves righteous by any intervention of our own. No, the only
way that we might cross from death to life, from judgement to adoption is by calling upon
the name of the Lord. And by God's grace alone, he has acted in the Lord Jesus to make that
transformation for his people possible. The Apostle Paul puts it like this in his second
letter to the Corinthians. All this is from God. All of this who reconciled us to himself
through Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, it's our God who has made any of this possible
and by means of Jesus, he clears the guilty. He justifies the sinner like you and me so
that we might be reconciled to God as we trust in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Gospel proclaims that Jesus has done everything that needs to be done to reconcile us and
to make us righteous so that when that day comes, when the sun of righteousness will
rise with healing in its rays, when Jesus comes back with a myriad of angels with a
loud trumpet, when he comes back to earth to judge as the Apostle Paul puts it, we will
go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Why? Because we will be reckoned righteous because
of the work of Jesus. Because of the work of Jesus forever reconciled to our heavenly
Father. If you're here this morning and you have called upon the name of the Lord and
your faith is in him, then you have passed from death to life. We indeed look forward
with anticipation to our coming King. But if you're here this morning and you would
say no, well friend, the Gospel is really being held out to you this morning. You're
not here by any mistake. It's really being held out so that you too might become a child
of God, to be adopted into his family. The word of God urges you to repent today while
it is still called today, to turn and trust in all that Jesus has done and call upon his
name. But hear this, hear this this morning. It's Jesus who transforms people. We don't
transform ourselves. He is the one who takes us from being wicked under condemnation, under
judgment who clothes us in his most holy righteousness so that we might look forward to meeting our
heavenly Father on that day. There's distinctions that we're hearing here
this morning, isn't there church? First, the people of God love to fellowship with one
another because second, we share the same glorious future. A future that has been purchased
for us by our Lord Jesus Christ. Third, we're defined from the world because of our faithfulness
to God's word. We read in verse four of chapter four, remember the law of my servant Moses,
the decrees and laws I gave him a horrib for all Israel. Now, as I said before, we're not
saved by our own perfect obedience to the word of God. But that's not to say that we
won't love the word of God and do everything to live by what it says. We have to get that
order right. We believe and obey not to be saved, but because we're saved, we believe
and obey. Let me say that again. We believe and obey not to be saved, but because we're
saved, we believe and obey. And that's one of the great distinctions of the Christian
in this world. It's not simply that we like to be around other Christians. It's not simply
that we look forward to a future day of our coming King, but it's that we here and now
want to know what God has to say so that we might live faithfully to his word by obeying
his commandments. That's what Malachi holds out for us here. The true children of God
don't look at the law, look at the word of God and say, that's nice, but that's just
too hard really to follow. Well, that's nice. I'll just twist it to what my itching ears
wanted to say. No, we found the yoke of Christ placed on us to be easy and his burden light.
And so because of the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we seek to know God's word so that
we might obey it. Because quite simply, we love our Lord's ways. We love his instructions
because it brings us such deep inner joy. The psalmist says it like this in chapter
119 of the Psalms, deal bountifully with your servant that I might live and keep your word.
Open my eyes that I might see marvellous things from your law. I'm a stranger on earth. I'm
a guide just passing through. Don't hide your commandments from me. My soul breaks with
longing for your judgment at all times. You rebuke the proud who stray from your commandments.
Remove from me reproach and contempt for I've kept your testimonies. Rulers sit and speak
against me but your servant meditates on your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delights.
They're my counsellors. Church, there is an incredible attack this day and age from without
and within the church on the word of God. This is actually nothing new but what makes
the true children of God distinct from those who simply pay lip service is that those who
love God, we show it by our obedience. Do you claim Jesus as your saviour? It'll be
manifested in your life by your surrendering of your ways to Jesus as your Lord. It'll
be evident because you love God's word. Church, all redeemed spirit-filled Christians strive
to live faithfully to our God's word. And when we make mistakes, when we trip, when
we sin, not if, when, and we will. Like the psalmist, we can know that for us to live
in joy once again is to go to our Father in heaven, to confess, to be honest, to ask Him
for His grace to trust and obey. And our God will never give up on His people as we strive
on this side of eternity. In fact, if you read back just a little further in Psalm 119,
the psalmist pleads that he wouldn't utterly be forsaken. And in the Lord Jesus Christ,
that promise is ours. We will never be utterly forsaken. So first, the people of God love
to fellowship with one another because second, we share the same saviour and glorious future
because of our status in Christ. Third, we're defined from the world because of our faithfulness
to God's word. Fourth and finally, we'll be distinct because of the relationships that
we have with those around us. Look with me at verses five and six. See, I'll send the
prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord. When it comes, he
will turn the hearts of the parents to the children and the hearts of the children to
their parents or else I'll come and strike the land with total destruction. Now notice
that language again, the day, Malachi talks about this day that's coming. But notice this,
before that day comes, Elijah, the prophet will come on the scene first. Now to understand
what Malachi is getting at here, we have to think about these words in light of the New
Testament. In fact, there was a great theologian of old, Augustine, who once said, in the old
concealed and in the new revealed. And because the Jews in no way believed in reincarnation,
it was never expected that Elijah, the great prophet of Ahaz's kingship, would physically
come back. So what on earth is Malachi speaking about here? In the old concealed, in the new
revealed. So if we turn to the book of Luke, particularly chapter one, when the angels
went to the father of John the Baptist, it's there that we see them say to him that John
would turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he would go before
the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their
children. It's there that they're directly drawing on Malachi's prophecy. That's what
John was born to do. He was born to make ready a people for the Lord. And he would do it
in a very similar way, in a very similar boldness to how Elijah preached to Israel against all
the odds. Jesus makes this even more clearer, telling his audience in the 11th chapter of
Matthew that all the prophets of the law prophesied until John. But if they could accept it, he
was the Elijah that Malachi spoke of. It's important for us to note, John the Baptist
came to prepare the way before the Lord Jesus Christ with a powerful preaching ministry.
And what do we read of his preaching? If we look at the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John, we see that he proclaimed that the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world had come. In other words, he preached that Jesus Christ was the one who would reconcile
the world to God through faith in him. John's message was Jesus. He preached reconciliation.
He preached grace. And it's by grace alone that we're reconciled to God. We go from rebels
to children. Through Jesus, our judgment ends, which ends our alienation with God. But might
I say it also ends our alienation with one another. The spirit of God that reconciles
us to God also leads us to heal our relationships with those around us. Church, the gospel,
it has a permeating effect throughout the whole of the life of the Christian. The reconciliation
between us and our heavenly father will have its knock on effects. We've been reconciled
to God, forgiven. And so we learn to forgive. That's the natural or supernatural result
of being born again. We begin to learn how to love and serve others. We begin to resolve
and humble ourselves and adopt a stance of obedience as we pursue reconciliation with
those around us. Paul says in Colossians 3, make allowance for each other's faults. We've
got faults, right? And forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, remember the gospel.
The Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. The truth of the gospel is that Jesus
Christ has healed the deepest wounds of our soul by his grace. And by that same grace,
he enables us more and more, it might not be straight away, but over time to desire
to mend the wounds of broken relationships with others. The apostle Paul, again speaking
to the church in Romans 12 says, give thought to do what's honourable in the sight of the
good if possible, so far as it depends on you. Live peaceably with all. Don't be overcome
with evil, but overcome evil with good. Church, we are a people of grace. We've received grace
and thus we show grace. We show undeserved favour to all. Would you say that that kind
of grace characterises relationships with those around you? Would you say that you're
prepared to show grace to those who have done you wrong? Are you prepared in your pursuit
of obedience to pursue reconciliation with those who have slandered you, who have hurt
you, who have let you down, maybe even within your own family? There's of course great wisdom
and counsel in how these relationships might be mended and how matters might be dealt with
in a godly way. But one of the great distinctions of a child of God is that we'll never be
content with leaving schism, loving and harbouring division in our relationships. So as we end
our time in this passage and in this series as we begin our new series in Galatians next
week, Malachi leaves us with a beautiful picture of the church for the world to see. Distinctions
that make us different to those around us so that they might really say you're not from
around here. There's something different about you. What are these distinctions? Well, we've
seen them this morning. Those who fear the Lord will speak with one another and encourage
one another in meaningful and joyful God-centric fellowship because we share a wonderful future
together by the gracious work of our Saviour and our relationships will be seasoned and
flavoured with a pursuit of the knowledge of the Word so that we might be faithful to
the commands of our Lord and our relationships will be gospel-centric. Gospel-centric in
that we're not harbouring division pursuing schism but pursuing self-sacrificial reconciliation
in the wisdom of God. Church, our fellowship, our futures, our faithfulness and even our
relationships is what makes us distinct in this world and it makes us distinct because
of the grace of God that has infiltrated our lives. We won't always walk in this perfectly
but let us not lose hope. Let's not get lazy. Let's not get lazy in our pursuit of holiness.
Let's not neglect meeting with one another and encouraging each other in our most holy
faith. Let us be a community of people here at Grace Christian Church that love and live
out the grace of God to one another and the world around us so that they might sit up
and pay attention and be drawn to the blessed gospel of Jesus Christ that is truly and really
held out to them as well. And let us pursue these things until the great and glorious
day when the Son of Righteousness arises with healing in his wings for his people. Would
you please pray with me? Father we are eternally grateful for the Word.
We are eternally grateful for the Word that became flesh and came to dwell among us. Father
we ask that by your Spirit not only would our eyes be drawn to the Lord Jesus this morning
but that we would have a deep desire to pursue holiness. That we would look at all the things
that we've heard this morning in our relationships, in our attitudes, in the way that we look
at your Word, the way that we ponder what you have to say to us even in our conversations,
in relationships with all those around us and that we would be a people that is ever
becoming more evident that you are at work among us. Father where we trip, where we fall,
where we rebel we would ask that we would be quick to repent, quick to look to the cross,
quick to know that you are the one who is leading and guiding us. And Lord that we would
be an example to the city of Armidale what the infiltration of the kingdom in this world
might really look like and that we would see many come through the doors, we would see
many hear the gospel, we would see many become disciples of you for the glory of your name
alone. We ask for this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, Amen.