Living in the Kingdom The Blessed Nation Malachi 3:1-12

GICF Calendar Jan – June 2018 Apr 22 New Believers / Baptism course   (8 Sundays) May 12 GICF Men's Retreat May 25 Prayer / Worship Night May 27? Farewell to graduates Jun 17 Baptism

LIVING IN THE KINGDOM IMPLICATIONS so far The Kingdom is here and now! The Kingdom is supposed to be IN us! The power for living in the Kingdom has ALREADY been given to us!

Living in the Kingdom The Blessed Nation Malachi 3:1-12

Difficult questions 1 Malachi 1 The people ask God: How have you loved us? (v2) God asks: If I am the Father, Where is my Honour? (v6) Sounds like a spoilt child

Difficult questions 2 Malachi 2 God complains again: You have wearied me The people ask God: How have we wearied you? (v17) They said, “Where is the God of Justice?”

More Difficult Questions Who can stand the day of Jesus’ coming? In what way shall we return to God? In what way have we robbed God?

Malachi 3: 1-12 1 “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.

Malachi 3: 1-12 2 ​​“But who can endure the day of His coming? ​​And who can stand when He appears? ​​For He is like a refiner’s fire ​​And like launderers’ soap. 3 ​​He will sit as a refiner and a 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.

Malachi 3: 1-12 4 ​​“Then the offering of Judah & Jerusalem will be pleasant to the LORD, ​As in the days of old, ​​As in former years.

1. Who can stand the day of Jesus’ coming? Purify like silver; clean like a fuller (v2-3) Purifying is painful

REFINING SILVER Take away the dross from silver and it will go to the silversmith for jewellery Proverbs 25:6

Fuller’s Soap Fulling involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, & other impurities, and making it thicker.  In Roman times, fulling was done by slaves working the cloth while ankle deep in tubs of human urine, which was a source of ammonium salts and assisted in cleansing & whitening the cloth.

Purifying can be painful, but gets rid of impurities Purifying can be painful, but gets rid of impurities. HEAT & PRESSURE are often required

1. Who can stand the day of Jesus’ coming? Jesus’ purpose is to purify us (v2-3) When we are purified we can serve him (our offering) in righteousness (v3-4) Purifying is painful but gets rid of impurities. HEAT & PRESSURE are normal requirements Can you stand the day of Jesus coming?

Malachi 3: 1-12 5 ​​And I will come near you for judgment; ​​I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, ​​Against those who exploit wage earners & widows & orphans, & against those who turn away an alien— ​​Because they do not fear Me,” ​​Says the LORD of hosts.

Malachi 3: 1-12 6 ​​“For I am the LORD, I do not change; ​​Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 ​​Yet from the days of your fathers ​​You have gone away from My ordinances ​​And have not kept them. ​​Return to Me, and I will return to you,” ​​Says the LORD of hosts. ​​“But you said, ​‘​In what way shall we return?’

2. In what way shall we return to God? Away from specific sin (v5) To the fear of the Lord (v5 - 6); (remember that because of His unchanging nature He does not deal with us as our sin deserves) To keeping His commands (v7) In what way shall we return? The short answer is … however you need to! Inner attitude & faith, & external evidence Internal & External

Malachi 3: 1-12 8 ​​“Will a man rob God? ​​Yet you have robbed Me! ​​But you say, ​‘​In what way have we robbed You?’ ​​In tithes and offerings. 9 ​​You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, ​​Even this whole nation.

3. In what way have we robbed God? In tithes and offerings (v8) The result is a curse on the whole nation (v9)

Malachi 3: 1-12 10 ​​Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, ​​That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” ​​Says the LORD of hosts, ​​“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven ​​And pour out for you such blessing ​​That there will not be room enough to receive it. ​

Malachi 3: 1-12 11 ​​“And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, ​​So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, ​​Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” ​​Says the LORD of hosts; 12 ​​And all nations will call you blessed, ​​For you will be a delightful land,” ​​Says the LORD of hosts.

Application – Final question What does God do when He purifies, and we return to kingdom living (loving & obeying by faith)? V10-12 …All nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land Say ‘I want to be a ‘blessed person’ A blessed people

PURPOSE; PLEASURE Everything hangs on verse 1 Application …the Lord, whom you seek, ​​will suddenly come to His temple, the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight We find our purpose in life as we take pleasure in seeking Jesus and His kingdom purposes We find our purpose in life as we take pleasure in seeking Jesus & His kingdom PURPOSE; PLEASURE

Our ‘puny’ but faithful efforts are well worth it CONCLUSION Accept Jesus purifying work Return to God Don’t rob God – give Him everything Our ‘puny’ but faithful efforts are well worth it Don’t complain about God or He’ll complain about you

Living in the Kingdom What privilege to be God’s children! Let’s live up to that by living in the Kingdom.