 Okay, with all those things said, let's get into the word. We're in Malachi chapter 3. We're continuing our series here in the book of Malachi. And we'll be looking today at verses 1 through 5. It's interesting that we're going to be looking today, especially at verse 1. You'll see this. But we're going to be looking today at a prophecy related to the one who is referred to as Elijah who is to come. And we know that this is a prophecy that relates in a literal sense to Elisha, Elijah. But it also is, in a spiritual sense, identifying John the Baptist, which is interesting because how God's timing is sometimes just so interesting. This Sunday, I will be sharing on John the Baptist. And so this is almost like the introduction to our Sunday morning service as we look at this passage together here. So beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 5, Malachi chapter 3, behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord as in the days of old, as in former years. And I will come near you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wagerners and widows, the fatherless, against those who turn away an alien because they do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. Let's just go home. Now as we begin, I'm going to give you a prolonged introduction that is going to lead into chapter three. As we've been going through Malachi, for those perhaps who are joining us tonight for the first time, as we've been going through Malachi, what we've been seeing up to this point is actually an argument, an argument that God is having with the nation of Israel. After this point, the people of Israel have been arguing against God and God has been bringing things, charges against them. You can see this from the first chapter. You can see in verse two of chapter one, how he began by saying, I have loved you, says the Lord. So that's a statement God is making. And yet you say, in what way have you loved us? And so from the very beginning, the Lord is making a statement and they want to argue back. He says, I love you. And they argue and say, in what way have you loved us? They also have argued with them concerning disrespect and dishonor that they have shown to him. He had said in chapter one, verse six, a son honors his father and a servant his master. If then I am the father, where's my honor? And if I am a master, where's my reverence, says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise my name, yet you say, in what way have we despised your name? So he makes a statement and then they argue. He makes a statement and they argue. They argued with him concerning his commandment relating to the holy institution of marriage. As we've already seen, they were divorcing their wives. They were marrying pagans. In chapter two, verses 13 and 14, he said, 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 good will from your hands. Yet you say, for what reason? Then the answer, because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously. She is your companion and your wife by covenant. So the Lord is arguing with them. They wearied him and they argued that they have not wearied him. And in verse 17 of chapter two, he says, you have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, in what way have we wearied him? They are arguing with them over and over and over. So as we've continued through Malachi, we see that they continue to obstantly oppose him. They're saying that we aren't wrong. That's what they're saying in their argument. They're saying we aren't wrong. If there's anybody wrong, if there's anybody making mistakes, it's not us. It's you. So that's what you call human self-righteousness. Human beings never seem to think that they are at fault. All you need to do is, well I guess I should say it like this, all I need to do is be honest with myself and how difficult it can be for me to receive a criticism or a rebuke. How easy it is for me to say you don't understand. You don't have all the information. You don't know the circumstances. I can do that. Perhaps one or two of you can do the same. That's something that's part of our human nature. You know we are very quick to proclaim our own innocence. Even as it says in Proverbs chapter 20 verse 6, most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man? There's a writer by the name of Warren Wearsby and Wearsby said this. He said, people who argue with God rarely receive blessings from God. It is when our mouth is stopped and we submit to his will that we can experience the grace of God. And so the nation of Israel is arguing with God and they're continuing to argue. Here in verse 17 of chapter 2, another element of their argument with God is the one that refers to his justice. So notice again in verse 17 of chapter 2 how he began by saying, you have wearied the Lord with your words, yet you say in what way have we wearied him in that you say everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delights in them or where is the God of justice? So he opens up in verse 17 by saying to the people you've wearied the Lord. That word wearied simply means you've exhausted him. You've exhausted him. That's interesting because obviously the Lord never gets tired. So he's speaking about how they keep prevailing, prevailing and they're wearing away his patience. He's telling them you have exhausted the patience of the Lord. The Psalmist said in Psalm 95 verses 9 and 10, your fathers tested me. They tried me though they saw my work for 40 years. I was grieved with that generation and said it is the people who go astray in their hearts for they do not know my ways. You wearied me. You got me tired. They go astray. Isaiah 713 says here now, oh house of David, is it a small thing for you to weary men but will you weary my God also? And so the Lord is making that statement. You have wearied me. You have wearied the Lord with your words. Now it's not that the Lord is tired of hearing them speak. He's not tired of hearing them as they speak. It's what they're saying that is tiring to him. Now remember as we've been going through Malachi, they have misrepresented the Lord. He especially speaks of priests in this way. They've accepted the sacrifices that God has not received and by doing that by saying that God should be accepting those sacrifices in reality what they've done is they're saying that these things that are being offered are acceptable to God and in essence you can offer God bad sacrifices which would lead them to say well everyone who is doing this is still right with God so everyone is doing this evil would be good in the sight of God and that's what he's arguing with them about. You see they want to talk to him about his justice and they're saying everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord. Where is the God of justice? And so what that is is an expression of faithless cynicism as well as skepticism. They're saying well wait a minute we came back to the land, we rebuilt the temple, we've restored worship after doing all of this how come you're not treating us right? How come you're not blessing us? How come we're having a tough time and the heathens around us seem to be blessed by you? We'll see this in chapter 3 verse 11 there was the devourer they were more than likely having their crops devoured by locusts and he says he's making reference to what's going on in verse 11 when he says I will rebuke the devourer for your sake so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground nor shall the vine fail, the bear fruit for you in the field says the Lord of hosts. And so what he is saying is they're saying how come we're not being blessed and pagans around us are being blessed when we're offering sacrifices? We redid the temple, we came back, we've done all the things we're supposed to do and so they're arguing and saying God is not fair. Now again I was speaking to somebody not that long ago who was saying to me I know this is not correct they said but sometimes it feels as if God just isn't fair. Now I don't think anybody in this room has ever said that, right? God isn't fair. I've tried so hard I've done my best and it seems that no matter what I'm doing I just don't get ahead no matter how I try I don't seem to get ahead. We're having hard times and the pagans around here seem to be having good times. We're Christians, 21st century, we're raising our kids right. My kids not doing well in school, doesn't even want to go to school, getting in trouble when they are in school. We give them devotions, take them to church, we pray with them and the pagans across the street, they party, their kid's going to Harvard. What's up? What's with that Lord? How come? Why do you do that? Why do you seem to bless pagans and I can't get ahead? And it seems that things aren't going well for me. In the Psalms, there's a Psalm 73 verses 12 through 14 which reads, look at these arrogant people enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply. Was it for nothing that I kept my heart pure and kept myself from doing wrong? All I get is trouble all day long. Every morning brings me pain. Anybody ever say anything like that? I never have. But he goes on and he says in Psalm 73 verses 16 following, I tried to understand why the wicked prosper, but what a difficult task it is. Then one day I went into your sanctuary, oh God, and I thought about the destiny of the wicked. Truly you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction. In an instant they are destroyed, swept away by terrors. Their present life is only a dream that is gone when they awake. When you arise, oh Lord, you will make them vanish from this life. Then I realized how bitter I had become, how pained I had been by all I had seen. I was so foolish and ignorant, I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you. You are holding my right hand. You will keep on guiding me with your council leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart. He's mine forever. And so we can see sometimes even Christians today could say, Lord, I look at the prosperity of the wicked and I wonder how come? They never get sick. They have money for hospital bills when they are. They have a new car. My car it's like it makes smoke signals when I'm driving down the street. I don't get it, Lord. And so the psalmist says the same thing. He said, I thought of these things. It's just too much for me to contain then I thought of their destiny. They may have things here right now that I would like to have because it would seem to ease the burden and the pressure of my life. But what they have right now is what they have now and not for forever. But what I have right now and I'm going through right now isn't going to last forever because when you think about it, at the end I've got you and that's all I need. That's all I really need. I honestly believe this and you do too. When you get to heaven, when you get to heaven, I don't think you're going to look back and say, man, I wish I could have brought my Camaro. And maybe you will. I don't know. I don't think they let Camaro's in heaven. I'm not sure. I rather doubt that. And so they're angry at the Lord and they're arguing with God and they're saying, where's the God of justice? Listen, all these things that we've done, all these things that we've done and we think are doing that, that you want us to do. Well, in their case, they're forgetting the conditions that God had made with them, the arrangement the Lord had made with them. God had told them that it's their obedience that results in blessings. You can look in the Old Testament in Leviticus chapter 18 verse 5 and God there said to the nation, you shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which he says, if a man does, he shall live by them. I am the Lord. You keep them and when you keep them, my blessings are conditional to your obedience. When you're disobedient, I take my hand off you. When you're obedient, I will bless you. So they were disregarding his word and therefore could not expect to receive his blessings. In reality, they were offering defiled offerings. They were divorcing their wives and marrying pagans. They should have been calling God for mercy instead of justice. Be very wise about that, by the way. Be very wise about that. Don't ever get in the habit of saying, God, I want justice. No, you don't. You don't want justice. What you want is mercy because if he gave me justice, well, I wouldn't be here right now. Let's just put it that way. You don't want his justice. You want his grace and his mercy. So Melachi is answering the question where they had said, where is the God of justice? Now he speaks in answer by referring to the Messiah and his forerunner. And that's what he's saying in verse one when he said, behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. So he's saying justice is coming and this is how justice will appear. Now he promises to send his messenger. Notice that he's going to send his messenger who will prepare the way before him. Now that's a reference to a prophecy that was given earlier by the prophet Isaiah who prophesied 750 or so years before Christ. And in the book of Isaiah in chapter 40 verses three through five, the prophecy says, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. So the word is prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. This prophecy is related to both the prophet Elisha as well as John the Baptist that we find in the New Testament. As is often found in prophecy, there can be what is called the dual application. Now we know that the prophecy relates to John the Baptist because that is made clear to us in the New Testament. Remember when John had sent some men to inquire of the Lord Jesus Christ as to whether Jesus was Messiah? How that he had sent his men and he said, ask, ask Jesus, are you the coming one or should we be looking for someone else? Now the term the coming one is what is called a messianic title. So by saying are you the coming one was another way of him saying, are you Messiah? And so he sent his disciples to go and speak to Jesus and to ask, are you Messiah or should we be looking for somebody else? As you remember, you know John had been imprisoned. He had been preaching and had spoken against a man for taking his brother's wife and the result was imprisonment. He knew his days were numbered and thus he's hearing things that Christ is doing and just wants to make sure. Now John had, when you study in different things related to his life, John was the one who was baptizing. Jesus had come and had received baptism at his hands. John said, I didn't know who he was but he was sent, he said, the one whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on. This is he and he said, and so this is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and he knew through the baptism that Christ had received, this is the coming one. He knew that yet he is reconfirming that because he's about to lose his life for what he has been proclaiming and thus wants to make sure. And so these men came and they spoke to Jesus and said, are you the coming one? And in Matthew 11 verses 7 through 10 we read as they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, what did you go into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind, but what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments, indeed those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes I say to you and more than a prophet, for this is he of whom it is written, behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you. Not only was he a prophet, but he is what Jesus said, more than a prophet because not only was he a prophet, but he was an object of prophecy also. And so he points him out. And then it goes on to say in verses 13 through 15, all the prophets in the law prophesied until John, if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Then he goes on to say, he who has ears, let him hear. So he's saying that he is the Elijah who's to come. Now someone says at this point, oh so, so he's the literal Elijah. No, he's not the literal Elijah. What he is, is he's preaches, he preaches in the power and the spirit of Elijah. Elijah was a type that John was modeled after, and he, John was the one who preached in the same spirit. On one occasion, it's found in the Gospel of John chapter 1 verse 21, people asked him, are you Elijah? So that was a direct question and he said, I am not. In Luke 117, in reference to his birth and all his father was spoken to, and it says, he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and to make ready of people prepared for the Lord. And so he ministered in the power and the spirit of Elijah. He wasn't the physical Elijah, but he was one who is like Elijah. So the ministry of John was as a forerunner of Jesus Christ, and he was the one who prepared the way of the Lord. John was to prepare the way before Jesus in his first coming, which is what is also referred to theologically as his incarnation. So when you read the Gospel of Mark in chapter 1, you see in the introduction verses 1 through 3 how Mark says, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets, behold I sent my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. And so when John came, John, who was the forerunner of Messiah, had a message of repentance that he was calling people to, and he said that they were to prepare the way of the Lord. That's what he did when he came. Now the phrase, prepare the way of the Lord, is from the custom of sending people before kings who were on journeys that they might level the roads and make them passable. And so if the king were coming into town or on a journey, there would be people who would go before him and they would be removing the debris. And if there were the holes in the in the road, they would fill them. And that way when he came through with his entourage, nobody was stumbling, nobody was tripping over the trash or the debris and all, and that was called preparing the way. And so John came to encourage people to prepare themselves to give Messiah a proper reception in order that they might receive his blessing. And the way that they would be able to receive blessing and give him a proper reception would be to clear away the sinful, stumbling debris of their lives through confession and repentance. That's how you make a straight way into your heart for the Lord. That's what the picture is. It's like God saying, I want to come into fellowship with you. And yet the road that would lead into my house, my heart is filled with debris, trash and junk and rocks and broken bottles and and so what I'm supposed to do is clear the debris out. And the way I clear that out is through confession. God be merciful to me, a sinner. Repentance, moving that out of the way, getting rid of it, changing my mind concerning the things of God. Confession, repentance, and then reception. You're welcome to come in. And that's what happens guys. When John came, he said, make his path straight. Don't let anything be between you and the Lord's entrance into your life. What do you have that is worth keeping that would keep him from entering in? What do you have? When you're younger, you've got a ton of stuff that you think is worth keeping, a ton of stuff. And that stuff can accumulate in your life over time. You get older and you go into your closet for example and you know you've got that pair of shoes in here somewhere and you start moving things out of the way. I know I put it in here. Honey have you seen my shoes? They're in there. Yeah I know I put them in there but I can't find them. And you move this, you move that and then you may have a box that's stuffed in a corner and that box says stuff. And you pull the box out, right? There they are. How I forgot I put these in here. You accumulate stuff and you don't even realize it, you know. They have these programs called hoarders, right? Hoarders, right? We all are hoarders. We all are hoarders. This is important to me. You know when you have a small child and and that child, I saw this with my granddaughter just the other day. I have two granddaughters. I've got six granddaughters but two of my granddaughters the other day. You know we have the little one and you have the other one. One's three and the other's one and a half going on two. And the three-year-old has something and she's ignoring it until the other one comes in. And suddenly, oh man, that is the most important thing that I have ever had in my life, right? And we say, oh, are they ever going to stop doing that? When the husband says to the wife, I really don't want you driving my car today. Why? Well, you know, because you're going to dirty it. I'm still three. It's still mine. I don't want you to do that. Look at, we can do that. It's part of life. We accumulate stuff and the problem is that sometimes what we're accumulating is stuff that keeps the Lord from having entrance into our life. That's why Jesus would say that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses. Man's life is not the fabric of his life, that which is woven into it, that makes it what it is, is never going to be what you own. I'm not saying it's not nice to own something, of course. I mean work hard. It's nice. I'm not saying it depends on your own heart. I certainly, I certainly don't have this attitude like if that guy's rich, he's evil. I know a lot of poor evil people too. Come on, evil's evil, right? Greed is bad, but so is envy. So is envy. You know, you eat, you drink, enjoy life, but have a relationship with God. Everything's cool. But when you put things in front of God, you'll never be satisfied. Why? The Bible says it very clearly, the eyes of man are never satisfied. The millionaire is asked how much is enough and he says a little bit more. A little bit more. I don't think I've ever heard of a successful man or woman who's ever said this is enough. No more. Oh, no more. Oh, no more. I have never heard that. It's always just a little bit more. Just a little bit more. How much do you need? I don't know. I don't measure life by how much I need. I measure it by how much I have and what I can get. But how much do you need? With eating and drinking, these are the things that we can be content with, Jesus said. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. But that's not how man thinks. That's not how human beings think. We always want just a little bit more. And John says, clear the debris out of your life so that the Lord can have a straight entrance in. So that the things that stumble you and keep you from what God would have you to be can be dealt with. And those sins that are like pets in people's lives now won't rise up and destroy you some day. There are those who like to get wild animals and keep them as pets. I forget what it was. Was it a possum or a raccoon? But somebody, I think it was a raccoon. Somebody found a raccoon, a little baby raccoon. Thought it was the cutest thing and I guess they are. I don't know. They all look like a lot of thieves, thieves to me. They all have masks on. But she was raising this to be her pet. And at a certain point, you're supposed to release these wild animals because their instincts kick in. But she had the habit of putting her face next to it. Cuddling up with it until the day came when his claws came out. And he took her face and ripped both sides of it with his claws. They do that. It's the nature of the beast. They do that. Somebody was killed just the other day by a, was it a lion or was it a tiger? I forget that they'd raised since it was just a cub. They thought that they were very good. And the thing just turned on and killed. Because it's their instinct to do that. It's their instinct to do that. People keep boa constrictors. They think they're cool, but there have been instances where those boas have taken the life of an animal or a child in the house. These are animals. And yet we think that we can have them. And you know what? There are sins that we have and we think that we're safe with them too. And the Bible says, no, clear the debris out of the way. Let the Lord have his way. And that's what John had come to do. He had said, prepare the way of the Lord. And so when you see in verse one here, behold, I send my messenger. He will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he's coming, says the Lord. It has a twofold application. One, John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for the Lord. When we get to chapter four, we'll see at verse five that there is the other mention of Elijah, and that is the future ministry of Elijah. That is obviously still yet to come. Now, in its context, to understand why these words are placed here is to remember that the priests were unfaithful. So the messenger spoken up here was to have a specific task. He was to cleanse the worship and service in the temple before Messiah would come. That was John's ministry of preaching. Again, clear out the debris of your life. That obviously speaks of preparing your heart through confession of sin, repentance, and turning from your arrogance. Now, something here I want you to see. He promises to come himself. Now, it was not unusual for God to send a messenger. We see that in the Old Testament. He sent a lot of messengers. The prophets were his messengers, and he did that for centuries. But this one, he says, will prepare the way before me. And so the messenger, it says here before me, is the Lord. The Lord himself is going to be spoken up here. He says, before me, the Lord whom you seek, and I want you to see this also, will suddenly come to his temple. Jesus is the messenger of the covenant. The messenger of the covenant is another term for the Messiah. So again, the question is being asked, where is the God of justice? And the answer, the God whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple. In other words, his justice will be revealed in the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross. Now, I want to point something out here too. Notice where it says, the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. Suddenly come to his temple. That may be something that Satan used in his temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember in Matthew chapter four, how the Lord Jesus Christ endured temptations from Satan. There's an interesting temptation. It's recorded in Matthew four verses five through seven, where it says, the devil took him up into the holy city, set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, he shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Okay, here's the picture. The messenger whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. What would be more sudden than the Messiah jumping and being held up by angels? And so, if you were to go to Israel today, you wouldn't see, you wouldn't see what Jesus would have seen during that day because the pinnacle of the temple that is spoken of here is a place that we have gone to many times. And what you have is you have the highest portion of the wall there, and then it goes down into a valley floor. But during the time of Christ, it has been estimated that from the pinnacle to the bottom was over 400 feet and such huge when you think about it. And so, at least one commentator went so far as to say 450 is what he said. And so, because over the years, over the centuries, the dirt has accumulated and all, you don't get a true height distance from the top to where it would have been during that day. So if Jesus would have jumped and the angels of God would have lifted him up, there's nothing more sudden than coming into his temple in that way. And so it's possible that Satan was using this to try and get Jesus to tempt the Lord his God by doing something like that. And that's why Jesus would say you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Now moving into verse two, boy, are we blazing through this tonight. Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he's like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi, the priests. Courage them as gold and silver that they may offer to the Lord in offering of in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord as in the days of old, as in former days. And I will come near you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, purgerers, against those who exploit wage earners, widows and widows and the fatherless, and against those who turn away an alien because they do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. Now the first portion of verse one clearly refers to the first coming of Jesus, Messiah. He comes in grace, he comes in mercy, but at the same time he came with a call to purity. This is something that we can talk about for just a moment. Here's where I think Christians today need to be refreshed. We as believers need a reminder. And I have to preface it by sharing just a couple of moments and then I'll go into the point, but if there's anything that I appreciated when I first got saved, it was the message of the grace of God and I still appreciate it. Of course, the message of God's grace. Coming from a background of religion the way that I did, it was all self-effort. You had to work hard, you had to try hard and you may make it possibly if you did enough good things. I had a mentality, somehow I gained it and I think it's kind of normal. A lot of people have the same kind that there were scales of justice and that if my good deeds outweighed my bad deeds, that somehow I would be able to go to heaven based on the good things I did. That was my mindset. It was fed to me in the religious system that I was raised in, but it was also my natural inclination because I believe that bound up in the heart of a person is this sense that they are going to work for their own salvation, not work out the salvation that they receive, but work for it. And so with that said, when I heard the message of God's grace, it was such an amazing message that I have to be honest with you, I could not grasp it because in the back of my mind I kept on saying, but there's got to be something that I should be doing. And so I had friends who were saying, listen, the things that you do will always come out of the wellspring of the things that he did. God already forgave you. You are now washed and cleansed and the Bible says you are a new creation in Christ. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. God has poured his spirit into your life and God has given you abundant blessings. He's given you gifts and he's made you new and therefore live this new life out in Christ and watch what God will do. Walk in his grace, walk by the power of the spirit, love his word, seek him daily and watch what God will do as he sanctifies your life. Now these are the things that I was taught at the beginning of my walk with the Lord is to learn to enjoy the grace of God and to say it's not by my works of righteousness, but by his work of righteousness on my behalf. It isn't my sacrifice, it's his. And that's freed me to go to heaven based on his grace. And so I love the grace of God and the faith that I've been able to give to Christ so that I might have this relationship with them. I think you know what I'm trying to say, but here's what's happening. I think the word grace is misunderstood today because many who are calling it grace in reality is not grace at all. They're calling it grace within in reality, it's permission. It's permission to continue in sin and still go to heaven. And there are quite a number of people I encounter who have misunderstood the grace of God and have thought of it as giving them liberty to continue in sin and yet Paul would have argued vehemently against that. He said, what are we supposed to continue in sin because we have grace? God forbid, how can we who've been set free from sin live any longer therein? Don't you understand that God has given you grace so that you're free from its bondage, the bondage of sin, not to continue in sin and go to heaven? And yet all of us in this room at one time or another have been confused concerning that one thing. Whether it's I'm free in Christ, so I can still go to sleep with my girlfriend because before God, we're married, that kind of mentality. Or I can go out and I can still do this or whatever you want, name the sin. And I'm going to have it. But where's the sorrow? Where's the brokenness of heart? Where's the, oh, God, forgive me a sinner. When you don't see that kind of fruit, you don't see that kind of heart. You have, there's a question as to whether or not we've understood what Jesus did on that cross. And so grace is not permission to continue in sin. Grace has been extended to me to set me free from its power so that I could live for Christ and have a life that reveals that. And see, when Jesus came, Jesus did not intend to tell everybody, you know what? Just be as rotten as you want to because my grace has set you free and you can, no, he didn't do that. In Matthew chapter three, verses 11 and 12, John the Baptist was speaking and he said this. He said, I indeed baptize you with water into repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor, gather his wheat into the barn. He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Now that's Jesus meek and mild that he's speaking about. Baptizing you with fire in the spirit. He's not intending me to continue in sin. He's come to cleanse me from it and set me free from its power. And I'm supposed to be a workmanship. I'm supposed to be his poem known for the good works that I performed through his grace. Someone said, he comes to refine and purify. He comes to give a new heart to break to pieces the stony heart out of their flesh and give them soft sensitive hearts to his presence. He comes to put the spirit in them and to clothe them with garments washed in his blood, robes of righteousness. He comes to implant within their hearts faith in the redeemer. He continues to do it until the day he calls them home to be with him in heaven. This purifying refining work goes on throughout the believer's life on earth. So he came to refine us. That's why we're seeing used to seeing refiners fire because he's refining us. He's purifying us. And so the Lord Jesus Christ came with the intent to purify people for himself. But there's a second picture and that would be the second coming because the second coming of Christ is one in judgment. Now it's interesting because the people seem to be looking forward to the days of the return of the Lord. But the problem is that they're not prepared for him. You see, they're ready for blessing, but they're not aware that there's going to be judgment. In Amos chapter five verses 18 through 20, it says, Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord. Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear. As though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light? Pitch dark without a ray of brightness? Who can endure the scripture? Says in verse two, the day of his coming. And who can stand when he appears? So, Israel. Israel's an unclean nation and will be purged. Israel will be purged in the return of Messiah. And so these verses describe what will happen when Messiah does come. And he will come near for them in order that he might bring judgment. He says these things, I will come in verse five. Listen, I will come near you for judgment. And then he said, because they do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. No, here we go. We'll get into some more fun scriptures. Where's the God of justice? They had said that in verse 17 of chapter two. Where is the God of justice? So, God answers. Do you want to know where the God of justice is? He's saying the God of justice is bringing judgment. Who is he going to judge? He has a whole list here. Sorcerers. Sorcerers are those who practice witchcraft or sorcery. There's so many things. I keep looking at the time. In the New Testament, one of the works of the flesh is found in the book of Galatians, chapter five is called sorcery. In the New Testament, sorcery. Um, sorcery, the word sorcery is a word that finds its root, a Greek word, pharmacaea. The word pharmacaea, Greek, is a word that we get the word pharmaceutical from. The word pharmaceutical speaks of drugs. Sorcerers had magic potions. Sorcerers used drugs that were mind-altering. And so part of their so-called magical arts related to drug-taking. There are those who say there's nothing wrong with taking drugs. The Bible doesn't forbid it. But there are others who would argue and say, well, when you get into the book of Revelation last chapter, it says that outside are sorcerers. When you look into Galatians chapter five, it is a work of the flesh. And he says, those who practice these things will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. So sorcery is not simply alone, though it is on one level. It is the utilization of magic potions and spells and all. But it also could be, and many do believe it is. And I'm one who says, yeah, I'm inclined in this direction. The recreational use of drugs for mind-altering effects. And God says, no, you don't do that. I am going to judge you. Adulterers, Exodus chapter 20 verse 14, thou shalt not commit adultery. They will be judged. Perjurers, a perjurer. What is a perjurer? A perjurer is one who is guilty of lying under oath. That constitutes breaking the third and the ninth commandment, which would be taken the name of the Lord in vain and bearing false witness. The wage exploiters, that's interesting. I will bring judgments against those who are wage exploiters because these people are harming widows and orphans. In James chapter five in the New Testament verse four, it says, indeed, the wages of the laborers who mow your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out. And the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaat, or the Lord of the armies, the almighty God. You've been holding back the wages of those who have worked. In Leviticus 1910, do not go over your vineyard a second time, or pick the grapes that have fallen, leave them for the poor and the alien. I'm the Lord your God. God had compassion, has compassion on the poor. And I'll say this quickly, if that's possible. Many years ago, I knew somebody who owned a business, who would go and hire these fellas who were standing on corners, or the home depots, or whatever, and he would hire them, and they'd go and they'd work hard for him, and then he'd withhold their wages. He'd withhold their wages. I could go on about this because I saw this firsthand. I saw it. And the man who was doing that was a professing believer in Christ. And yet he was withholding the wages of his workers. And listen, if you hire somebody to do a job, pay them. And if you've got this thing, well, you know, they shouldn't be here. If you have that conscience, then why do you have them at your house or on the job site? Why are you doing that? If you're going to hire them, pay them. Pay them. And God, by the way, cares about those who are wage earners who need to survive. And I'm trying to be wise in how I am saying this because I've got strong feelings in a lot of areas that you don't know, and you may misunderstand even what I'm saying now. But the bottom line is, if you hire them, pay them. If you think they shouldn't be here, then don't hire them. But if you're going to have them work for you, then you pay them because that's the proper thing to do. And you don't steal from the poor because their voices cry out to God and he hears. And we need to understand that today. It's a big issue, isn't it? You know where I could go with this, but I'm not. The spirit of Trump is not upon me at the moment. The word alien will take a second stab, shall we? Very gingerly. We're in a minefield. The word alien is a man of another tribe in the Old Testament sense. Another tribe or district who comes to sojourn in a place where he was not strengthened by the presence of his own kin. And what he's doing is he puts himself under the protection of a clan or of a powerful chief. So in its context, somebody from another land will say who was not Jewish, entered into Israel. They were the aliens. They were sojourners. God says you need to remember that you at one time were sojourners yourself. So don't forget that. So when the sojourner enters in and he works, you pay him his wage because that's the right thing to do. And justice must be afforded him, especially in civil things. You see in Deuteronomy chapter 24 verses 14 and 15, it says, do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he's a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset because he is poor and counting on it. Otherwise, he may cry to the Lord against you and you will be guilty of sin. And so God says, I will bring judgment upon you for how you have done these things for your sorcery, for your adultery, for your perjury, because you've exploited wage earners, widows, fatherless aliens. And all of this is because you do not fear me. You do not fear me. Now, when he says you do not fear me, listen, the fear of the Lord. Some people say, oh, no, you're not supposed to fear the Lord. Yes, you are. Of course you are. But people say, well, you know, no, no, that's that. No, he's my father. Listen, if you're born again, indeed he is. But I have to be honest with you. I had a healthy fear of my dad. And my dad loved me to pieces. I had a healthy fear of my dad. I had a respect and a reverence for his authority, his power, his position as my father, as not only the wage earner, but the enforcer of rules in the home. I didn't have a fear that some poor babies have because their dad is just a vicious mean person. That's a different thing entirely. But there's a healthy respect that you have for your father, because he has that authority. And he doesn't have to be mean and he doesn't have to be vicious and he doesn't have to be violent. He just has to be there. And he has to be respected. And my son, David, many years ago, when he was about 10, 11 years old, was in the kitchen and he was with mom, his mama, Marie. And he had a little bit of an attitude when I walked in and he snapped at his mom and Dave, I have to be honest with you, little David, very seldom had that very seldom did he ever show any disrespect. And that's a fact. That was my son. But this day he did. But he didn't know I was standing behind him. And he spoke to his mom in a way that he shouldn't have. It just was, it was not right. And I said to him, son, and he turns around and looks at me, and I said, son, don't speak to your mom that way. I can if I want to. That's my mother. So when he woke up. So I said, son, that may be your mother, but she's my wife. And you don't speak to my wife like that. Did he, did he, did he want to get rough and tough and fight? No, of course not. He respected authority. To this day, he respects authority. And it didn't come because I brutalized him. Because they didn't. It came because I exercised loving authority in the home and he respected that. God is not my, my good buddy guy kind of hang with kind of tease with. You've got that attitude for God. You don't double date with Jesus. Okay. He's not your pal. He's your savior. He's your lord. He is the mighty God. He walks on water, raises the dead, opens the eyes of the blind and stops the ears of the deaf. He is the one who was raised the third day. He is God and because he's God, you respect him and you reverence him and you love him because of what he's done for you and what he is. He is just and he is holy and he has every, every right for me to bow my knee and my heart and my head and everything within me to him because he's God. He is God and we need to understand that. And he says to them, if you don't fear me, says the Lord of hosts. And that's why you think you can get away with the stuff that you're getting away with, but you can't. We'll look at some more of this next time we get together.