LIVING in the Light of the Gospel

LIVING in the Light of the Gospel Big Idea If we are going to live for Christ, the Gospel must function as the central core that informs and fuels every area of our lives.

Our study thus far… • Haggai – What are our priorities? • Hosea – Extent of God’s love? • Jonah – Who does God love? • Amos – Should God judge? • Micah – What is justice? Malachi – Are we getting God’s message?

Look at our worship…

Look at our leadership…

Look at our marriages…

Look at our giving…

Background of Malachi • Written around 420 B.C. after Ezra & Nehemiah (returned from captivity, rebuilt wall & temple) • The spiritual state seems healthy enough—overt paganism and idolatry are repulsive to them, and their religious observances are directed toward the one true God. However, they have a subtle but serious problem… Most were becoming apathetic about the value of pursuing God.

Background of Malachi • Written around 420 B.C. after Ezra & Nehemiah (returned from captivity, rebuilt wall & temple) • The spiritual state seems healthy enough—overt paganism and idolatry are repulsive to them, and their religious observances are directed toward the one true God. However, they have a subtle but serious problem… Most were becoming apathetic about the value of pursuing God. Malachi 1:1 A prophecy: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.

Their core problem was distrust in the love of God. Malachi 1:2a “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’

Problem #1 – Apathetic Worship Malachi 1:6-86 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’7 “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.

Problem #1 – Apathetic Worship Malachi 1:6-86 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’7 “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty. They were giving God their scraps.

Problem #1 – Apathetic Worship Malachi 1:6-86 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’7 “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty. Do we give God our scraps?

Problem #1 – Apathetic Worship Malachi 1:11-13a11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ 13And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,”says the LORD Almighty.

Problem #1 – Apathetic Worship Malachi 1:11-13a11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ 13And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,”says the LORD Almighty. They saw knowing & serving God as a drab duty.

Problem #1 – Apathetic Worship Malachi 1:11-13a11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ 13And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,”says the LORD Almighty. Do WE see knowing & serving God as a drab duty?

The problem of consumerism

The problem of consumerism Matthew 13:44-4544 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

The problem of consumerism Matthew 13:44-4544 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Their distrust in the love of God led to apathetic worship.

God’s response? Malachi 1:1010 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

Problem #2 – Apathetic Leadership Malachi 2:5-75 “My covenant was with him (Levi), a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.

Problem #2 – Apathetic Leadership Malachi 2:5-75 “My covenant was with him (Levi), a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. 1 Timothy 4:16Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Problem #2 – Apathetic Leadership Malachi 2:8-98 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the LORD Almighty. 9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

God’s response? Malachi 2:1-31 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me. 3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.

“But we are not leaders!” 1 Peter 2:9 You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Are you an apathetic leader? • Do you see yourself as a leader? • Are you watching your life closely? • Are you watching your teaching closely? • Are you multiplying leaders? • 2 Timothy 2:1-21 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.

Are you an apathetic leader? • Do you see yourself as a leader? • Are you watching your life closely? • Are you watching your teaching closely? • Are you multiplying leaders? • 2 Timothy 2:1-21 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. Their distrust in the love of God led to apathetic leadership.

Problem #3 – Apathetic Marriages Malachi 2:11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god.

Problem #3 – Apathetic Marriages Malachi 2:13-1613 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

Problem #3 – Apathetic Marriages 15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. 16“The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the LORD Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.

Problem #3 – Apathetic Marriages 15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. 16“The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the LORD Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful. Their distrust in the love of God led to apathetic marriages.

Problem #4 – Apathetic Giving Malachi 3:8-12 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to

Problem #4 – Apathetic Giving store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

Problem #4 – Apathetic Giving store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. 2 Corinthians 8:8-98 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Problem #4 – Apathetic Giving store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. 2 Corinthians 9:11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Problem #4 – Apathetic Giving “Much financial counsel, from secular and sometimes Christian sources, serves the same purpose as instruction on how to maneuver a canoe heading toward a waterfall. It’s not only important to know how to get the canoe down the river, it’s also essential to know where the river is taking you. Before we learn the fine art of building a sturdy boat or the skill of staying in the boat as we head down the rapids, we should make certain that our desired destination is really downstream rather than upstream. Because if it’s upstream, we would do better to get off the river altogether, forget the boat, and plot our course by land. It may be a harder trip, but isn’t the whole point to arrive at the correct destination? I believe that most of the financial matters we typically discuss are on the fringes of what’s important, light years away from the core of the issue.” -Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.

Problem #4 – Apathetic Giving store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. Their distrust in the love of God led to apathetic giving.

How do you overcome apathy? 2 Corinthians 5:14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

LIVING in the Light of the Gospel