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I love that song.

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Do you guys like that last song?

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Yeah.

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Good.

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'cause I, I like it.

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So we're gonna keep singing it probably.

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Um, man, it sets up this message
so well, if you're looking at your

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bullet and you're seeing this sermon
is called How to Make God mad, and

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maybe you had second thoughts about
whether you wanna be here this morning

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or not after a sermon title like that.

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Um.

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But I hope you'll see that, uh,
that this is all about responding

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to what we just sang about.

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This is all about God's immense
amazing, um, love for us that

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he's shown for us in Christ.

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The hope that we have, because
Jesus Christ died on the cross for

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our sins and rose against so that
we can live with him forever, is.

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Overwhelming, and if we rightly understand
it, we'll wanna live a life that pleases

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the Lord, not so that he loves us more.

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He can't love us more than he already
has loved us by sending Christ for us.

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Not so that we change anything about
him because he's the immutable and

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unchanging God, but simply because we
love him for how much he's loved us.

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That's what the Bible says, right?

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We love because he first loved us.

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The book of Malachi is an interesting one
because it does talk about an angry God.

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But even that is unique, right?

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Because the Bible also teaches us, and in
fact, God even says in this book that I am

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unchanging and if God is immutable, which
is what we call that, the doctrine of

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his unchangeability, if God is immutable,
that that means that he can't ever become

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more of anything that he possesses.

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'cause that would be the change.

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So to break that down, that means that
God can't become more angry or more

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joyful, or more sorrowful, or more loving.

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It's what we refer to as the
doctrine of God's impassability.

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Impassability meaning that
God is without passion.

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I didn't say without emotion or
affections, but without passions.

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Let's put it this way, if you were waiting
in line, let's say that you were at

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Disneyland, which some people think is the
happiest place on earth, the one speaking

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to you exempted from that list largely
because of what I'm about to talk about.

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The massive lines.

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Say you're at Disneyland, you're
waiting in a massive line.

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That lied to you at the front, said
it was gonna be 15 minutes, and you're

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45 minutes into this line, and you've
been waiting there and you're finally

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about to get on the ride and, and
then all of a sudden, you know the

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person, there's no social awareness.

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They've never been let outside
their home ever before.

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They don't know anything
about proper decorum.

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They waltz right up to the front
of the line and just cut in front

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and they've got the boldness and
the audacity not to care about it.

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And the Disney people don't want
to offend anybody, so they're not

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gonna do anything about it, and
they cut in line without waiting.

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The 50 minutes that you've been
waiting and they get on the ride,

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how's that gonna make you feel?

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You're gonna be what?

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Angry.

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Angry?

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Yeah.

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That's gonna draw your ire.

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You're gonna get upset
about that one, aren't you?

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And maybe before you weren't.

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Maybe before you were fine.

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You were having a great day at Disneyland.

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You got your doll whip, you
got all that other stuff.

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You got to ride pirates.

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The best ride at Disneyland.

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You're just having a great time.

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But then that happens and all of
a sudden something in you changes.

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Why?

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Because as human beings,
we are not like God.

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We change and we respond
to our circumstances.

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And so we are a passionate
people in that sense.

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When somebody cuts us off on
the road, we get angry at that.

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When you get a raise at work,
you get happy about that.

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We change, we respond.

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We react to our circumstances.

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God is a God who is unchanging.

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He is immutable.

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So God, we could put it this way.

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God is angry.

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God is loving.

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God is joyful.

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God is sorrowful.

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God is patient.

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God is wrathful.

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He's all of those things in a steady
state because that's what it is to be God.

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He's unchanging.

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What we'd experience that looks like a
change is simply a different facet of

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his character, of his person based on
what is happening here in our own lives.

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He's not responding or reacting.

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It's simply we are experiencing a
different part of his character based on

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how we conduct ourselves here and now.

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This morning in the book of Malachi, we're
gonna see that there are ways that we can

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actually make God mad, and I hope that
causes a little bit of discomfort in you.

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Now as, as a Christian, he's never
gonna cast you away from his presence.

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That's a promise.

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John chapter six tells us that
John chapter 10 tells us that

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Ephesians one tells us we've
been sealed with the promise.

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Holy Spirit one Peter chapter one
says, we are being guarded by God's

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power through faith for salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time.

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Listen, God's never gonna get angry
with you and say, I, I'm done with you.

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Go away from me.

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But still, just like you love someone in
your life, whether it's your mom or your

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dad, or your spouse or your kids because
you love them, you don't wanna anger them.

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I hope as we look at this book
together this morning, we can look

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at it from the perspective of saying,
man, I, I don't want to anger God.

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Malachi is gonna help us understand,
as I'm gonna take it three ways that

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we can anger him because we're gonna
look at what the Israelites were doing.

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But hopefully you'll get the
point that we wanna do the

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opposite of these three things.

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As we get into the text, this
is our final minor prophet.

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Now I need to give a, a, a caveat
in, in somewhat of an apology to you

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that our OCD and you like fullness.

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Because I'm only preaching 10
outta the 12 minor prophets.

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I have nothing against Zechariah and Diah.

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They just didn't make
the cut this time around.

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So, um, we're shifting gears from
this and contrary, I'll, I'll let you

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know, pastor Rod was on your side.

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He was laboring for me to preach all 12
minor prophets in, in my office this week.

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And he still is.

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He's in the back, still going.

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Hey, you can still change it.

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Uh, this is not, your word is
not near infallible, pastor pj.

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You can still preach it.

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This is our last one we're
finishing with Malachi.

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He's the last you'll see on the
timeline of the minor prophets.

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In fact, he's on the doorstep
of the 400 years of silence.

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Uh, but as we get into the book a
little bit more, the, the author of the

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book is the, the namesake of the book.

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It's Malachi, this prophet.

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And he's the one that is gonna be sent
by the Lord to post exilic Israel.

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So again, we're dealing
with Israel after the exile.

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That's why the date range
here, four 80 to four 70 bc.

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So Assyria has already come and
taken out the northern kingdom.

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Babylon has already taken Israel into
the, the, the captivity and you had the

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fiery furnace and rack shack and Benny
and all that, that took place there.

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And Daniel, and the statue
and all that is already done.

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And then Cyrus, the Persian came
along that we're talking about in

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our daily Bible reading right now.

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He conquered Babylon and sent the exiles
back to Jerusalem, and now we find the

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exiles back here in Jerusalem, similar
to where we were last week as we were

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studying the book of Haggai together.

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But they're back here.

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It's around that time post Exilic Israel.

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And the theme of this book is
going to be the word honor.

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The word honor, because this is what
Israel was really failing to do with God.

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They were failing to honor him
the way that he should be honored.

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They were failing to render him what
he was due, and that, like I said

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earlier, was going to draw the ire of
God and it all is rooted and begins

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with what we read about in Malachi
chapter one verses two through five.

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Read it with me or follow
along with me in the ESV.

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It says this, I have
loved you, says the Lord.

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But you say, how have
you loved us is not Esau.

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Jacob's brother declares the Lord.

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Yet I loved Jacob, but Esau, I've hated.

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Paul picks this up in Romans chapter
nine, to talk about God's electing love.

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He's selecting his, choosing love.

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And so that's what God is
reminding Israel about.

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As the book opens, he's saying to
Israel through ha, through, not Haggin,

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Malachi, he's saying to Israel through
Malachi, I have loved you and I've

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loved you with this electing love.

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In other words, I chose
you to be my people.

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And he goes on, he talks about Issa.

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He says, look, if, if Edem says we're
shattered, but we will rebuild the

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ruins, the Lord of hosts says, well,
they may rebuild, but I will tear down.

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They will be called the wicked country.

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The people with whom the
Lord is angry forever.

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God is contrasting that with
his affections for Israel.

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He's saying of Israel, I've
got a different plan for you,

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a different future for you.

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I have loved you.

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We just sang about that great love.

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The reality is this morning, if
you're in Christ, you've experienced

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God's electing love in your life.

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He shows you from before the
foundations of the Earth.

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As Paul talks about in Romans chapter
eight, he called you, he justified

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you, he glorified you, or he sanctified
you rather, and he glorified you.

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And that's in past tense because
it's as, as good as done.

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See, God's electing love in your
life has put you where you are,

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has brought you into his family.

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And the problem with Israel is
the problem that we wanna avoid.

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The, the problem with Israel was
they were not living well in light

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of God's electing love for them.

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In fact, the recipients of this
message, you can see some of the

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descriptions up here on the screen.

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Uh, they were stubborn people
seven times in this book.

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They're gonna challenge God's
Indic indictments of them.

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God's gonna say, like he says at the very
beginning in verse two, I have loved you.

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And they're gonna say, how
have you loved us Lord?

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Seven times.

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God is gonna say, I've done
this, or you've done this.

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And they're gonna say,
how have we done that?

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Show us prove it God.

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They're stubborn people, but
they're not only stubborn, they're

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they're blasphemers as well.

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This is the main problem in chapters
one and chapter two to blaspheme

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means to take something that is
high and exalted and to treat it as

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commonplace to bring it down low.

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And so that's what they were doing to God.

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They were not rendering him the
worship that he was due, and so

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they were blaspheming the Lord.

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There were also faithless.

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Not only faithless to their wives,
but in being faithless to their wives.

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Chapter two, verses 13 through 16,
uh, they were being faithless to

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God because God had designed the
covenant of marriage for them.

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They were also idolaters in
being faithless to their wives.

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Many of them were instead marrying
the women, uh, that were the the

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sons or the, the sons, excuse me,
backup daughters of foreign gods.

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In other words, women that worshiped
foreign gods, just like their

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forefathers had done to anger the Lord.

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They were idolaters.

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And then finally they were grumbler.

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Well look at that in the very last
section here, where they are gonna

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challenge not just their circumstances,
but the very character of God.

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This is the, the people to
whom God says, I've loved you.

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And we look at this and we say,
man, that that doesn't look like

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they are responding to God's love.

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Maybe they don't understand God's love.

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And I think that's why he opens the way
that he does, saying I've loved you.

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And so he's saying that
to us this morning too.

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Christian.

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As I preach through this message
that's so important for us to remember

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that the foundation of this message
is understanding that God has loved

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me, he's loved me, such that my hope
in Jesus Christ is gonna mean that I

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don't have to fear death here anymore.

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In fact, as Dr.

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MacArthur passed away, his last
words came out this past week.

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He said, there's no sting.

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There's no fear.

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I want that, and you can
have that because of Christ.

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And this great love then informs me
how we wanna live our lives for him.

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Between now and the time
that he calls us home.

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So let's begin.

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Look at verses chapter one.

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We'll start with verse six all the
way through chapter two, verse nine.

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I'm not gonna read the whole thing for
you, but lemme start with verse six.

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He says this, the Lord does.

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The Son honors his father
and a servant, his master.

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If I then am a father, where is my honor?

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And if I'm a master, where is my fear?

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Says the Lord of host to you.

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Oh, priests who despise my name.

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Here's another one of those challenges.

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They say, how have we despised your name?

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He goes on by offering
polluted food upon my altar.

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How have we polluted you?

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By saying what the Lord's
table may be despised.

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And he goes on.

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He says, you offer blind
animals in sacrifice.

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Is that not evil?

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And when you offer those that are
lame or sick, is that not evil?

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Present that to your governor.

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Will he accept you or show you
favor, says the Lord of hosts.

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And now you entreat the favor of
God, that he may be gracious to us

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with such a gift from your hand,
will he show favor to any of you?

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And so what's happening here in these
opening sections, in these opening

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parts here is God is indicting them for
bringing unfit sacrifices before him.

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This goes back to the Old Testament.

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You don't have to turn there, but
Leviticus chapter 22 verses 20 through 25.

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In this section there, God is going
to, uh, tell the people what he wants

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as far as the, the type of animal that
was fit for an offering, and he's gonna

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describe it as animals without blemish.

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He even is gonna call them perfect.

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And this is a foreshadowing of
the ultimate perfect sacrifice.

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Who's Jesus Christ, the ultimate
spotless lamb that was gonna die

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as the sacrifice on the cross.

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And, and the sacrificial system
was meant to point to that

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ultimate final sacrifice of Christ.

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Of Christ.

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But, but here, what the people were
doing is they were going, oh, well,

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it doesn't really matter what kind of
animals we bring, God, he should just be

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happy that we're bringing him anything.

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So we're gonna bring the lame,
we're gonna bring the sick,

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we're gonna bring the blind.

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We're gonna bring the animals that we
wouldn't even throw on the barbecue

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for our neighbor if we invited them
over for dinner, because you know what?

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It's convenient for us.

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It's not gonna cost us anything, man.

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It's take an unblemished animal.

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That's pretty costly.

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God's probably gonna be fine if we just
bring him the, the, the lame with the

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broken leg or the blind goat over there.

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We don't, who cares what we bring?

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See, God had said, this is
how I want you to worship me.

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And to honor God is to worship him the
way that he's called us, to worship

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00:13:02,625 --> 00:13:05,685
him, to revere him, to reverence him.

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And the priests were involved in the
guilt with this because they were

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taking these, these lame animals.

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Rather than telling the people,
this isn't right, go back and

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bring the proper sacrifice.

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00:13:14,475 --> 00:13:16,425
They were taking these animals
and they were offering them.

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And then to make matters worse, if
you look over at chapter two, verse

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seven, the priests were not doing
what the priests were called to do

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when they were teaching as well.

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Verse seven describes how a priest
should have been teaching the people.

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00:13:26,460 --> 00:13:31,050
It says for the lips of a priest should
guard knowledge and people should

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00:13:31,050 --> 00:13:32,550
seek construction from his mouth.

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00:13:32,700 --> 00:13:34,945
For he is the messenger
of the Lord of hosts.

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But, and here's the contrast.

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But you have turned aside from the way
you have caused many to stumble by your

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00:13:42,045 --> 00:13:45,645
instruction, you have corrupted the
covenant of Levi says the Lord of Host.

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00:13:45,795 --> 00:13:51,075
And so I make you despised and ab
based before all the people in as

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00:13:51,075 --> 00:13:56,685
much as you do not keep my ways, but
show partiality in your instruction.

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In all of this.

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00:14:00,165 --> 00:14:01,214
That's the key there.

305
00:14:01,364 --> 00:14:05,714
The people were, the word
is despising, God's name.

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00:14:06,734 --> 00:14:10,035
The concept behind that word in the
Hebrew is to think lightly of something,

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00:14:10,604 --> 00:14:14,175
to treat, something flippantly, to
think, man, that that's no big deal.

308
00:14:15,135 --> 00:14:20,655
It's the way that you, the difference
between walking into the White House

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00:14:20,925 --> 00:14:22,305
and walking into the barbershop.

310
00:14:23,594 --> 00:14:27,464
One is going to demand a, a, a different
degree of decorum than the other one.

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00:14:28,860 --> 00:14:31,740
And they were despising God,
they were treating him lightly.

312
00:14:31,740 --> 00:14:32,520
They were thinking little.

313
00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:38,550
They were treating him with contempt by
contrast twice in verse 11, God says that

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00:14:38,550 --> 00:14:42,030
my name will be great among the nations.

315
00:14:43,740 --> 00:14:45,300
Again, God is calling the
people out saying, you have

316
00:14:45,300 --> 00:14:46,860
not done what I want you to do.

317
00:14:46,860 --> 00:14:48,660
You've not worshiped me the
way that I've prescribed for

318
00:14:48,660 --> 00:14:49,890
you to worship me and priest.

319
00:14:49,890 --> 00:14:52,740
You are perverting the messaging
that I've called you to preach.

320
00:14:52,740 --> 00:14:55,530
You are, are, are, are teaching
for your own gain, your own

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00:14:55,530 --> 00:14:57,120
benefit to line your own pockets.

322
00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,700
And God is saying, you are despising
my name when my name is gonna be

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00:14:59,910 --> 00:15:03,330
great among the nations church.

324
00:15:03,330 --> 00:15:06,960
We have to take note here because if we're
not careful, we can treat God the same

325
00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:08,101
way that the Israelites were treating God.

326
00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,960
We can despise him in the way
that we approach him, just like

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00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:14,670
they were despising him in the
way that they approached him.

328
00:15:15,930 --> 00:15:18,360
Point number one this morning, you
put it this way, we make God mad

329
00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:20,490
when we approach your wok flippantly.

330
00:15:21,300 --> 00:15:26,760
Approach your wok, flippantly, flippantly,
casually without much thought, lightly.

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00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:28,320
Again.

332
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:29,190
Malachi one, six.

333
00:15:29,190 --> 00:15:31,680
A son honors his father
and a servant, his master.

334
00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,830
If then I am a father, where is my honor?

335
00:15:35,310 --> 00:15:35,640
God is asking.

336
00:15:36,975 --> 00:15:39,255
He's appealing to earthly relationships
that people would've understood,

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00:15:39,255 --> 00:15:41,025
yeah, you should honor your parents.

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00:15:41,595 --> 00:15:42,885
He's saying, but, but what about me?

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00:15:43,725 --> 00:15:44,895
He's saying, where is my honor?

340
00:15:44,895 --> 00:15:46,305
Where is my reverence?

341
00:15:47,895 --> 00:15:51,585
And if I'm a master, where is my
fear, says the Lord of hosts to you.

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00:15:51,585 --> 00:15:56,805
O Priest who despise my name, who treat
it lightly, who think little of it.

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00:15:58,439 --> 00:16:02,790
Giving the lame animals abandoning
the role that the priest was to have

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00:16:02,790 --> 00:16:07,410
in instructing the people having no
regard for the grandeur and the majesty

345
00:16:07,410 --> 00:16:08,685
and the weightiness of their God.

346
00:16:10,319 --> 00:16:12,900
Reference the White House a
moment ago last year, last summer,

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00:16:12,900 --> 00:16:15,930
my family and I got to go to
Washington DC together on vacation.

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00:16:16,050 --> 00:16:19,680
And while we were there, we went into
the White House and we went into, uh,

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00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:23,040
the, the Library of Congress and we
went into the, the Capitol building.

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00:16:23,369 --> 00:16:26,040
And in all three of those,
there's a sense of grandeur.

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00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:29,099
When you walk into those buildings,
there's a weightiness that you

352
00:16:29,099 --> 00:16:30,359
feel when you walk in there.

353
00:16:30,839 --> 00:16:33,750
E even my twins, as much as they
probably wanted to go play tag in

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00:16:33,750 --> 00:16:37,109
the White House and run around, they
knew that, that that wasn't okay.

355
00:16:37,980 --> 00:16:39,840
Uh, that it's a different space.

356
00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,780
That there's a, a properness,
there's a weightiness to it.

357
00:16:44,220 --> 00:16:49,500
Versus when we let them outta the car at,
at Bucky's and they walk into Bucky's.

358
00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:51,690
There's not that same
decorum at Bucky's is there?

359
00:16:53,460 --> 00:16:56,175
Yo, when we come to church, we're,
we're not coming to Bucky's.

360
00:16:57,135 --> 00:16:59,579
When, when you pick up your
Bible, you're not picking up your

361
00:16:59,579 --> 00:17:04,890
Bible at Bucky's, you're coming
before the God of the universe.

362
00:17:05,865 --> 00:17:07,035
You're coming before the creator.

363
00:17:07,035 --> 00:17:15,464
God, the word glory in the Hebrew cavo
means wait, wait to feel that weightiness.

364
00:17:18,165 --> 00:17:19,005
Let's be honest.

365
00:17:19,065 --> 00:17:20,865
We have to work at that here.

366
00:17:21,795 --> 00:17:27,165
'cause if you didn't know we're
in a cafeteria, it used to be, uh,

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00:17:27,165 --> 00:17:30,555
of in days of old, these churches
were built as these massive

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00:17:30,555 --> 00:17:33,555
cathedrals in part because of this.

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00:17:34,185 --> 00:17:39,465
So that when you walked in, you felt
a sense of reverence, but lest we

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00:17:39,465 --> 00:17:43,155
fall prey into thinking that it's
simply about the building, it's

371
00:17:43,155 --> 00:17:45,885
more about your heart posture before
the Lord than it is where you are

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00:17:47,745 --> 00:17:53,715
honoring him, not treating him overly,
casually, not treating him flippantly.

373
00:17:54,764 --> 00:17:56,955
They had lost the Israelites,
had this sense of reverence

374
00:17:56,955 --> 00:17:57,770
and decorum in their worship.

375
00:17:58,740 --> 00:18:01,860
They were simply looking for convenience
in, in what cost them as little as

376
00:18:01,860 --> 00:18:03,360
possible in their relationship with God.

377
00:18:03,629 --> 00:18:07,530
Just hoping that God would just be
happy with something they were guilty

378
00:18:07,530 --> 00:18:08,639
of, what we might be guilty of.

379
00:18:08,639 --> 00:18:12,570
And that is domesticating God,
forgetting that though he's yes a God of

380
00:18:12,570 --> 00:18:14,399
imminence, of, of closeness, of intimacy.

381
00:18:14,399 --> 00:18:16,830
He's also the transcendent
God of the universe.

382
00:18:17,490 --> 00:18:21,419
And so we get to draw near to him, as Paul
says in Romans, and call him Abba father.

383
00:18:21,510 --> 00:18:26,129
But what's so amazing about that is the
fact that he is the God of the universe.

384
00:18:29,595 --> 00:18:31,845
Remember the beginning of
the book, I Have Loved You.

385
00:18:33,675 --> 00:18:37,845
When we consider that the God of the
universe has loved us this way, then

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00:18:37,845 --> 00:18:41,415
it should cause us to be thoughtful,
careful, intentional, reverent,

387
00:18:41,655 --> 00:18:44,835
honorable about how we approach him.

388
00:18:44,835 --> 00:18:47,535
Are you honoring God this morning?

389
00:18:47,535 --> 00:18:49,665
Whether it's convenient for you or not?

390
00:18:50,535 --> 00:18:51,976
Here's some diagnostic questions for us.

391
00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,340
When life gets busy, does your
relationship with God suffer first?

392
00:18:58,409 --> 00:19:02,820
If it does, then you might be
treating your relationship with

393
00:19:02,820 --> 00:19:05,820
God a little bit too casually, too
flippantly, not thinking enough of it.

394
00:19:07,860 --> 00:19:11,370
When you go on vacation, do
you take a vacation from God?

395
00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:18,209
If so, maybe you're treating God a
little bit too casually, too flippantly,

396
00:19:18,510 --> 00:19:20,084
not thinking highly enough of him.

397
00:19:21,945 --> 00:19:25,754
Do you pray as much after you get
what you're praying for, as you did

398
00:19:25,754 --> 00:19:27,825
before you got what you pray for?

399
00:19:30,735 --> 00:19:33,495
If so, you might be guilty of
not thinking highly enough of

400
00:19:33,495 --> 00:19:34,515
your relationship with God.

401
00:19:35,535 --> 00:19:39,795
When you show up at church, do you
eliminate distractions or on your, or are

402
00:19:39,795 --> 00:19:45,615
you on your your phone checking scores,
checking Twitter, checking news updates?

403
00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:51,270
When we sing a song that maybe you don't
know or isn't your favorite, are you

404
00:19:51,450 --> 00:19:53,430
grumbling in your heart and critiquing it?

405
00:19:53,430 --> 00:19:56,490
Or are you sitting out there thinking
about the truths of that song and

406
00:19:56,490 --> 00:20:00,600
looking for something to hold onto and
to praise God for as we sing together?

407
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:04,920
We talked about this last week, but
are you giving from the top or are

408
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:06,750
you, are you giving from the leftovers?

409
00:20:09,030 --> 00:20:12,240
Are you concerned for the loss
that God has placed around you?

410
00:20:14,790 --> 00:20:16,680
One of our distinctives here, it
comes to Bible Church is this, we

411
00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:18,090
seek to maintain a high view of God.

412
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:20,490
We seek to maintain a high view of God.

413
00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,169
There's some threats to that threat.

414
00:20:25,169 --> 00:20:26,850
Number one is putting
your walk on autopilot.

415
00:20:28,110 --> 00:20:30,180
You're not gonna have a high view
of God if you're going through,

416
00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:32,580
through your your daily time
with the Lord on cruise control.

417
00:20:34,155 --> 00:20:37,095
I mean, maybe you've got your time cut out
in the morning and, and you're spending

418
00:20:37,095 --> 00:20:38,385
10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes.

419
00:20:38,385 --> 00:20:39,705
Maybe some of you, you're
spending more than that.

420
00:20:39,705 --> 00:20:42,285
You're, you're going an hour with the
Lord in the morning 'cause you're a,

421
00:20:42,585 --> 00:20:47,055
an uber Christian, and, and yet you're
really just, you're just doing it because

422
00:20:47,115 --> 00:20:49,335
you feel like this is, well, this is
what a Christian's supposed to do.

423
00:20:50,625 --> 00:20:52,125
It's not about a relationship with him.

424
00:20:52,755 --> 00:20:55,035
It's not deepening your relationship,
your connection with him.

425
00:20:55,845 --> 00:20:59,085
You're, you're just going through and,
and really that hour is the blind animal

426
00:20:59,085 --> 00:21:01,635
that you're presenting to God going, can
you just be happy that I'm doing this?

427
00:21:03,225 --> 00:21:06,345
Putting your walk on autopilot is a way
that you might be dishonoring the Lord.

428
00:21:06,825 --> 00:21:09,105
Second, uh, the other threat to
maintaining a high view of God

429
00:21:09,105 --> 00:21:13,304
is this failing to build around
your relationship with the Lord.

430
00:21:14,745 --> 00:21:16,365
And we, we gotta be careful about this.

431
00:21:16,365 --> 00:21:21,314
Here we are in a culture, in a
society that has so many different

432
00:21:21,314 --> 00:21:22,754
ways for us to fill our calendars.

433
00:21:24,314 --> 00:21:27,435
And if we're not careful, what we can
do is we can take our relationship with

434
00:21:27,435 --> 00:21:29,054
Christ and slot it into our calendar.

435
00:21:30,525 --> 00:21:35,625
Rather than making it the hub around
which our life revolves, sometimes

436
00:21:35,625 --> 00:21:38,145
we'll take our relationship with God and
we'll slot it in next to our political

437
00:21:38,145 --> 00:21:41,625
affiliation and our, our general concern
for morals and ethics as something else

438
00:21:41,625 --> 00:21:46,815
that revolves around us at the middle of
things when reality is, if we're gonna

439
00:21:46,815 --> 00:21:49,185
seek to maintain a high view of God,
your relationship with God has to be

440
00:21:49,185 --> 00:21:51,585
the most important thing in your life
and everything else fits around that.

441
00:21:53,070 --> 00:21:56,580
You plan your life, your calendar,
your family's calendar, your kid's

442
00:21:56,580 --> 00:21:59,340
calendar around Jesus Christ.

443
00:22:01,590 --> 00:22:03,959
The third threat to maintaining a
high view of God is simply missing

444
00:22:03,959 --> 00:22:07,980
the significance of what takes
place when you pick up your Bibles,

445
00:22:08,010 --> 00:22:09,629
when you come to worship the Lord.

446
00:22:10,500 --> 00:22:14,639
In other words, this is a dynamic
relationship that you are coming

447
00:22:14,639 --> 00:22:17,730
into the presence of the the Lord
of the universe when you do this.

448
00:22:21,315 --> 00:22:25,485
God's anger burns against those who do
not honor him the way that he's due.

449
00:22:28,395 --> 00:22:30,345
Isaiah says something similar
in Isaiah chapter one.

450
00:22:30,345 --> 00:22:31,995
He says, the ox knows
its owner of the donkey.

451
00:22:31,995 --> 00:22:34,125
Its master's crib, but
Israel does not know me.

452
00:22:36,165 --> 00:22:37,305
Israel does not know me.

453
00:22:38,205 --> 00:22:41,415
First way to make God mad is to feel,
to honor him or to treat him flippantly.

454
00:22:43,125 --> 00:22:45,920
And again, this is all about
responding to his love.

455
00:22:48,105 --> 00:22:50,205
If you have not experienced the love
of God, if you have not experienced

456
00:22:50,205 --> 00:22:54,105
the love of Jesus Christ that saves
you, then this message is a legalistic

457
00:22:54,105 --> 00:22:57,255
message for you about how you can be
acceptable to God and that's impossible.

458
00:22:59,535 --> 00:23:02,715
What keeps this message from being
that is if you've got a relationship

459
00:23:02,715 --> 00:23:06,765
with God first that's founded on Christ
work and Christ work alone, and this

460
00:23:06,765 --> 00:23:09,375
is simply about responding to him
because of how much he's loved you.

461
00:23:10,515 --> 00:23:12,105
I have loved you, says the Lord.

462
00:23:12,465 --> 00:23:13,095
Let's keep going.

463
00:23:13,095 --> 00:23:14,990
Look at verses 10 through 16 with me.

464
00:23:16,170 --> 00:23:18,060
Two more problems arise here.

465
00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:21,900
So not just the the irreverence,
not just despising the Lord in

466
00:23:21,900 --> 00:23:24,600
the way that they were worshiping
him, but next in the way that they

467
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:26,790
were approaching their marriages.

468
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:31,170
The first problem that he identifies is
that they were marrying foreign women.

469
00:23:31,170 --> 00:23:35,910
Verses 11 through 12, Judah has been
faithless and abomination has been

470
00:23:35,910 --> 00:23:40,200
committed in Israel and in Jerusalem
for Judah has profaned the sanctuary,

471
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,610
the Lord, which he loves and has married
the daughter of a foreign God, meaning

472
00:23:44,610 --> 00:23:48,510
married women from other nations that
worship other gods other than Yahweh.

473
00:23:49,425 --> 00:23:52,695
This was prohibited back before the
Israelites entered into the promised land.

474
00:23:52,695 --> 00:23:53,415
Guess what happened?

475
00:23:53,415 --> 00:23:55,844
The Israelites ignored the
prohibition and did it anyways.

476
00:23:55,844 --> 00:23:56,564
So what did God do?

477
00:23:56,564 --> 00:23:57,885
He sent them into exile.

478
00:23:58,274 --> 00:24:00,375
Now they're back from
exile and what's happening?

479
00:24:00,375 --> 00:24:01,425
The same thing.

480
00:24:02,205 --> 00:24:02,925
The same thing.

481
00:24:02,925 --> 00:24:04,665
They're going after
these foreign gods again.

482
00:24:05,475 --> 00:24:09,405
And that these, these, these relationships
with these foreign women are the,

483
00:24:09,700 --> 00:24:13,365
the, the, the foothold, the snare
that's leading them into the idolatry.

484
00:24:13,605 --> 00:24:15,975
But it's worse than that because look
at this, in verse 12, he says, may the

485
00:24:15,975 --> 00:24:19,935
Lord cut off from the tens of Jacob, any
descendant of the man who does this, who

486
00:24:19,935 --> 00:24:22,095
brings an offering to the Lord of hosts.

487
00:24:22,545 --> 00:24:25,155
In other words, they were going after
these foreign women and their gods, and

488
00:24:25,155 --> 00:24:28,185
then they were still coming into the
temple thinking that God was gonna accept

489
00:24:28,185 --> 00:24:29,445
them when they came to worship him.

490
00:24:30,615 --> 00:24:32,265
And God said, what are you doing?

491
00:24:33,150 --> 00:24:38,220
This is an abomination as he
describes it, detestable, and

492
00:24:38,220 --> 00:24:40,530
so that's the first problem that
he addresses regarding marriage.

493
00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,770
But the second problem, and they may
have been related to each other, comes

494
00:24:43,770 --> 00:24:47,550
in verses 14 through 16, and this has to
do with the fact that they were divorcing

495
00:24:47,550 --> 00:24:51,629
their Israelite wives and despising
God's design for the marriage covenant.

496
00:24:52,980 --> 00:24:54,330
Look with me at verse 14.

497
00:24:55,334 --> 00:24:57,014
You say, why does he not?

498
00:24:57,014 --> 00:24:59,235
Why does he not regard
our offerings with favor?

499
00:24:59,235 --> 00:25:00,225
Is the question there?

500
00:25:00,435 --> 00:25:04,185
God answers Because the Lord was witnessed
between you and the wife of your youth

501
00:25:04,185 --> 00:25:08,415
to whom you've been faithless, though
she's your companion and your wife, by

502
00:25:08,415 --> 00:25:13,544
covenant did not God make them one with
a portion of the spirit in their union.

503
00:25:14,085 --> 00:25:15,675
And what was the one God seeking?

504
00:25:15,795 --> 00:25:17,235
Godly offspring.

505
00:25:17,595 --> 00:25:20,475
So guard yourselves in your spirit
and let none of you be faith

506
00:25:20,565 --> 00:25:21,975
faithless to the wife of your youth.

507
00:25:22,245 --> 00:25:25,425
For the man who does not love his
wife, but divorces her, says the Lord.

508
00:25:25,425 --> 00:25:29,625
The God of Israel covers his garment
with violence, says the Lord of hosts.

509
00:25:29,655 --> 00:25:34,365
So guard yourselves in your
spirit and do not be faithless.

510
00:25:35,250 --> 00:25:39,330
So God is, is dealing here in the second
part with divorce that's taking place.

511
00:25:39,330 --> 00:25:42,420
And, and some people think they're
related because some commentators say that

512
00:25:42,420 --> 00:25:45,570
the Israelites were actually divorcing
their Israelite wives and going to marry

513
00:25:45,570 --> 00:25:50,850
these foreign wives of, of these foreign
gods, regardless, one way or the other.

514
00:25:50,910 --> 00:25:52,980
God is identifying
these two problems here.

515
00:25:53,505 --> 00:25:56,265
Uh, marrying outside of the
faith, number one and number two,

516
00:25:56,415 --> 00:25:59,085
divorce being faithless to the
covenant that God had created.

517
00:25:59,085 --> 00:26:02,985
In fact, he says here, uh, that,
that God had brought them together.

518
00:26:02,985 --> 00:26:07,605
Did he not make them one with a
portion of the Spirit in their union?

519
00:26:07,815 --> 00:26:10,245
That phrase is one of
the most obscure Hebrew.

520
00:26:10,475 --> 00:26:13,955
Text in the entirety of, of the
book, the, the portion of his spirit.

521
00:26:13,955 --> 00:26:18,185
I think the best read on it is this
is, in other words, God's doing,

522
00:26:18,455 --> 00:26:20,314
that he is behind this union.

523
00:26:20,314 --> 00:26:24,215
That this is not just a, a union that
is, is built around common interest, but

524
00:26:24,215 --> 00:26:27,665
this is a different kind of relationship
that God is even giving a portion of his

525
00:26:27,665 --> 00:26:29,915
spirit to the blessing of this union.

526
00:26:30,304 --> 00:26:33,155
Similarly, in the New Testament,
what we say, what God has brought

527
00:26:33,155 --> 00:26:35,554
together, uh, let no one separate.

528
00:26:35,885 --> 00:26:38,824
And so this was the problem and,
and you might be thinking, okay.

529
00:26:39,555 --> 00:26:42,405
Mean, if I was gonna pick out all the
things that makes God mad, I don't

530
00:26:42,405 --> 00:26:43,605
know that these would've made the list.

531
00:26:43,605 --> 00:26:45,254
Hopefully they would've
made the list at some point.

532
00:26:45,284 --> 00:26:48,014
'cause we would've thought that, but maybe
we would've put other things before them.

533
00:26:48,705 --> 00:26:51,135
But again, that's why expository
preaching is what it is.

534
00:26:51,555 --> 00:26:53,264
We don't start by saying,
well, what makes God mad?

535
00:26:53,264 --> 00:26:55,815
Lemme go find the passages that,
that tell me what makes God mad.

536
00:26:56,175 --> 00:26:59,024
We go to the Bible and we say, what
does the, the Bible have to say on this?

537
00:26:59,024 --> 00:27:02,294
And Malachi is saying, God cares
about marriage and God cares

538
00:27:02,294 --> 00:27:04,875
about marriages, and it's an
expression of our love for him.

539
00:27:05,774 --> 00:27:09,344
And, and, and the reason being is
because God designed marriage and

540
00:27:09,344 --> 00:27:14,385
instituted it to be such an enormously
crucial part of his plan for mankind.

541
00:27:15,165 --> 00:27:18,764
And so that's why it shows up in this
book alongside the, the call to honor

542
00:27:18,764 --> 00:27:21,614
him and as we're gonna see in point
through the call to be faithful to him.

543
00:27:21,705 --> 00:27:24,135
See, God still loves marriage today.

544
00:27:24,645 --> 00:27:27,975
And so point number two, if you
wanna make God mad, despise God's

545
00:27:27,975 --> 00:27:33,705
gift of marriage, despise, think
lightly of God's gift of marriage.

546
00:27:35,754 --> 00:27:38,909
To, to frame this, we have
to remember just why marriage

547
00:27:38,909 --> 00:27:39,959
is such a big deal for God.

548
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,320
Shortly after creating Adam and
Eve, he brings them together and the

549
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,379
two become one flesh and, and God
announces them to be husband and wife,

550
00:27:46,379 --> 00:27:48,300
and then he gives them this mandate.

551
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:53,040
He says in Genesis 1 28, be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.

552
00:27:53,909 --> 00:27:56,159
That's what we know to
be the creation mandate.

553
00:27:56,639 --> 00:27:59,760
That God designed a husband and
wife to come together and to be

554
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,600
fruitful and to multiply and to
fill the earth for what purpose?

555
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:05,460
As his image bearers.

556
00:28:06,090 --> 00:28:10,620
That, that they were to fill the earth on
mission, to image God, to, to glorify God,

557
00:28:10,620 --> 00:28:12,389
to fill the earth with the glory of God.

558
00:28:12,570 --> 00:28:12,810
Okay?

559
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:14,070
That's Genesis one.

560
00:28:14,070 --> 00:28:15,629
Fast forward to Genesis chapter 11.

561
00:28:15,930 --> 00:28:19,470
You've got mankind already rebelling
there against God's plan, because what

562
00:28:19,470 --> 00:28:20,460
do they do with the Tower of Babel?

563
00:28:20,460 --> 00:28:22,230
They're like, well, we're
not gonna fill the earth.

564
00:28:22,649 --> 00:28:25,170
Instead, let's all get together
and build this super cool tower.

565
00:28:25,784 --> 00:28:27,165
And it's gonna go way up high.

566
00:28:27,165 --> 00:28:29,625
And, and we're gonna make
a name for ourselves.

567
00:28:29,925 --> 00:28:30,495
Instead of what?

568
00:28:30,495 --> 00:28:33,794
A name for God, God's mission
was, Hey, families spread out.

569
00:28:34,004 --> 00:28:36,074
Have kids fill the earth with my glory.

570
00:28:36,074 --> 00:28:38,625
Man said, no, we're gonna hang out
here and build a cool tower and make

571
00:28:38,625 --> 00:28:40,125
a name for ourselves, not for you.

572
00:28:40,395 --> 00:28:41,175
What did God do?

573
00:28:41,175 --> 00:28:42,554
God knock their tower over.

574
00:28:42,915 --> 00:28:44,355
And then by the way, that's biblical.

575
00:28:44,355 --> 00:28:46,395
If your kids like to knock over
each other's towers, they're

576
00:28:46,395 --> 00:28:48,044
just, they're imaging God in that.

577
00:28:48,254 --> 00:28:48,645
So.

578
00:28:49,095 --> 00:28:49,845
Don't punish them.

579
00:28:49,905 --> 00:28:51,075
It's, it's a good trait.

580
00:28:51,705 --> 00:28:53,655
Anyways, God spreads them anyways.

581
00:28:53,655 --> 00:28:54,585
He's like, fine, you're not gonna do it.

582
00:28:54,585 --> 00:28:55,515
I'm gonna do it for you.

583
00:28:55,575 --> 00:28:57,855
Here's French and German
and Spanish and Eng.

584
00:28:58,185 --> 00:29:00,795
Probably not English at that point,
but all these other languages.

585
00:29:00,885 --> 00:29:03,555
Yeah, go try to figure
out how to do life now.

586
00:29:04,605 --> 00:29:05,205
And so they do.

587
00:29:06,255 --> 00:29:08,055
Well the next chapter, what does God do?

588
00:29:08,595 --> 00:29:10,635
God goes and finds a man named Abraham.

589
00:29:11,129 --> 00:29:14,190
And God says to Abraham, Hey
Abraham, I've got a plan for you.

590
00:29:14,610 --> 00:29:18,240
And not just a plan for you Abraham,
but through one of your offspring,

591
00:29:18,389 --> 00:29:22,860
I'm going to bless all the families
of the earth offspring come from what

592
00:29:22,860 --> 00:29:25,770
according to God's design, marriage.

593
00:29:26,340 --> 00:29:29,879
So the one of the greatest covenants we
know that's still in operation today,

594
00:29:29,940 --> 00:29:33,420
the Abrahamic Covenant is contingent
upon God's design for marriage.

595
00:29:33,780 --> 00:29:36,810
That Abraham would have children and those
children would be the children of the

596
00:29:36,810 --> 00:29:40,860
promise, and one day they would ultimately
result in Mary giving birth to one named

597
00:29:40,860 --> 00:29:43,650
Jesus who would be the one to bring
blessing to all the families of the Earth.

598
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,600
So God cares for marriage.

599
00:29:45,930 --> 00:29:49,530
Fast forward through Egypt and as they're
on the doorstep of the Promised Land now.

600
00:29:50,265 --> 00:29:54,495
God is telling the people, guard,
marriage, don't intermarry, stay marrying

601
00:29:54,495 --> 00:29:56,745
within the covenant family of Israel.

602
00:29:56,745 --> 00:29:56,925
Why?

603
00:29:56,925 --> 00:30:01,155
Because that's my plan to spread
my glory through the entire earth.

604
00:30:01,185 --> 00:30:03,795
You see, the family and marriage has
always been a core part of God's plan

605
00:30:03,795 --> 00:30:07,515
to spread its glory through the whole
earth, and that's why when the Israelites

606
00:30:07,515 --> 00:30:12,435
were perverting it and abusing it and
abandoning it, God was so upset with this.

607
00:30:12,705 --> 00:30:17,235
That's why it drew God's anger, the
facet of God's character, of his anger.

608
00:30:18,210 --> 00:30:22,350
Malachi records for us that God has
incensed, that it's an abomination,

609
00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:27,300
this intermarriage with foreign women,
this intermarriage with people outside

610
00:30:27,300 --> 00:30:31,230
the covenant community of faith, this
divorce of people within the covenant

611
00:30:31,230 --> 00:30:33,480
relationship of marriage inside of Israel.

612
00:30:33,540 --> 00:30:35,730
And you say, okay, well
that's all the Old Testament.

613
00:30:36,225 --> 00:30:38,594
Uh, how about the New Testament
and the New Testament?

614
00:30:38,594 --> 00:30:41,985
It only intensifies from here because
not only is the plan still the same,

615
00:30:41,985 --> 00:30:45,104
be fruitful and multiply and fill the
earth, but now God adds to this and

616
00:30:45,104 --> 00:30:48,405
says, oh, and by the way, the way that
you interact with each other husbands

617
00:30:48,405 --> 00:30:51,524
and wives is a mirror now of the gospel.

618
00:30:51,820 --> 00:30:56,615
It's a mirror of Jesus in the church,
the bridegroom and the bride, and,

619
00:30:56,620 --> 00:31:00,250
and so now marriage takes on a totally
new meaning for us and a totally new

620
00:31:00,250 --> 00:31:03,939
weight for us that God cares about
because a biblical, godly marriage

621
00:31:03,939 --> 00:31:08,590
between two Christians is meant to
showcase the gospel to a watching world.

622
00:31:09,310 --> 00:31:12,219
And so in the New Testament
that the stakes are only raised

623
00:31:12,219 --> 00:31:13,689
on God's concern for marriage.

624
00:31:14,350 --> 00:31:18,760
So this is why God here, I think, calls
out marriage as one of the ways that

625
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:20,979
the Israelites were making him mad.

626
00:31:22,425 --> 00:31:25,845
And it's why we have to be careful to
make much of marriage today ourselves.

627
00:31:26,385 --> 00:31:27,044
How do we do that?

628
00:31:27,044 --> 00:31:29,655
Well by holding fast to
God's design for marriage.

629
00:31:29,655 --> 00:31:30,675
So let's talk about that.

630
00:31:30,915 --> 00:31:32,054
God's design for marriage.

631
00:31:32,054 --> 00:31:32,564
What is it?

632
00:31:32,925 --> 00:31:35,054
Well, first, who are the
participants in marriage?

633
00:31:35,054 --> 00:31:38,925
According to scripture,
one man, one woman, period.

634
00:31:39,044 --> 00:31:39,764
End of story.

635
00:31:40,365 --> 00:31:43,814
There are no exceptions to that
clause and there never will be.

636
00:31:44,294 --> 00:31:48,044
One man created by God, male
from birth, male from the womb.

637
00:31:48,165 --> 00:31:51,405
One female created by God, female
from birth, female from the womb.

638
00:31:51,675 --> 00:31:54,824
They are the only people,
biblically, that are qualified to

639
00:31:54,824 --> 00:31:56,264
be joined together in marriage.

640
00:31:58,814 --> 00:32:00,345
What about other qualifications?

641
00:32:00,375 --> 00:32:02,385
Well, as we're thinking about it
here within the confines of the

642
00:32:02,415 --> 00:32:05,595
church, two believers, two believers.

643
00:32:06,135 --> 00:32:09,824
Listen, as a pastor, I'm free
to marry two unbelievers.

644
00:32:10,245 --> 00:32:11,895
I'm free to marry two believers.

645
00:32:11,925 --> 00:32:14,355
What I cannot do is marry a
believer to an unbeliever.

646
00:32:15,465 --> 00:32:16,995
That's not God's design.

647
00:32:17,775 --> 00:32:20,025
Let the two not be unequally yoked.

648
00:32:20,565 --> 00:32:23,325
And you may say, well, that was
applying to a business relationship.

649
00:32:23,685 --> 00:32:24,675
I'll grant you that.

650
00:32:25,004 --> 00:32:27,495
But if that applies to business
between believers, in other words,

651
00:32:27,495 --> 00:32:30,285
don't have an unbelieving business
partner, how much more should we say

652
00:32:30,285 --> 00:32:31,875
that applies to the bedroom folks?

653
00:32:33,860 --> 00:32:33,990
Yeah.

654
00:32:33,990 --> 00:32:35,250
Don't be unequally yoked.

655
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,820
And so the, the design, its
qualifications, both believers

656
00:32:38,820 --> 00:32:41,760
within the confines of what God's
design is to be fruitful, multiply,

657
00:32:41,765 --> 00:32:42,930
and fill the earth with his glory.

658
00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:46,380
What's about its, its purpose,
what I just said, be fruitful,

659
00:32:46,380 --> 00:32:47,490
multiply, fill the earth.

660
00:32:48,210 --> 00:32:48,480
Why?

661
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,645
Because we are still
his image bearers again.

662
00:32:51,645 --> 00:32:53,970
The New Testament has ratcheted
this up because now we do so on

663
00:32:53,970 --> 00:32:58,110
mission, the great commission to go
and, and make disciples of Jesus.

664
00:32:58,200 --> 00:32:59,670
And then let's talk about its commitment.

665
00:32:59,670 --> 00:33:01,440
His commitment is till what?

666
00:33:02,220 --> 00:33:03,420
Death do us part.

667
00:33:04,470 --> 00:33:07,050
Not until irreconcilable
differences do us part

668
00:33:09,060 --> 00:33:10,110
until death do us part.

669
00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:12,990
I wanna unpack those last
two points for just a moment.

670
00:33:14,190 --> 00:33:17,070
God spoke through Malachi
saying, what was God seeking?

671
00:33:17,250 --> 00:33:17,910
Did you notice that?

672
00:33:17,970 --> 00:33:20,520
He says, and what was God
seeking in this union?

673
00:33:20,910 --> 00:33:22,110
What's the answer He was seeking?

674
00:33:22,110 --> 00:33:23,700
Godly offspring.

675
00:33:24,750 --> 00:33:27,990
A key component to God's design for
marriage is to produce children who will

676
00:33:27,990 --> 00:33:31,080
be raised in a godly home and have the
best shot at becoming Christians early on.

677
00:33:32,445 --> 00:33:34,065
As parents, can we save our children?

678
00:33:34,725 --> 00:33:35,265
No.

679
00:33:35,895 --> 00:33:39,435
If we could, there would be not a single
unbelieving child in any home, anywhere

680
00:33:39,825 --> 00:33:40,905
in the life of, of christened them.

681
00:33:42,705 --> 00:33:43,965
We can't save our children.

682
00:33:44,055 --> 00:33:50,865
However, it is undoubtedly true that the
best shot that any child has at following

683
00:33:50,865 --> 00:33:55,785
Jesus early on is to be born into and
raised in, in a Christian home with two

684
00:33:55,785 --> 00:34:00,315
godly parents who both love Jesus and
teach that child about Jesus and bring

685
00:34:00,315 --> 00:34:03,915
that child to church and put that child in
the way of the gospel every way they can

686
00:34:04,034 --> 00:34:08,145
and point them continually to Jesus that
gives them the best chance at following,

687
00:34:08,264 --> 00:34:10,574
at following Christ, and God knows that.

688
00:34:11,625 --> 00:34:14,955
And so he's called on Christian
families to come together and

689
00:34:14,955 --> 00:34:18,614
have children together because
he desires godly offspring.

690
00:34:19,304 --> 00:34:22,755
There's an article in The Atlantic
from 2024 that reported that the

691
00:34:22,755 --> 00:34:26,864
percentage of American adults under 50
who say they will never have children

692
00:34:26,985 --> 00:34:30,525
rose 10% between 2018 and 2023.

693
00:34:31,725 --> 00:34:36,014
That number of adults, 50 and under
who say we will never have children

694
00:34:36,014 --> 00:34:38,385
now sits at 47% of those polled.

695
00:34:39,675 --> 00:34:42,824
47% of adults under 50 say
we will never have kids.

696
00:34:44,715 --> 00:34:46,755
Listen, this isn't a problem.

697
00:34:46,755 --> 00:34:51,045
Just from a biblical perspective,
in a biblical worldview, this is a

698
00:34:51,045 --> 00:34:55,784
problem that the world is waking up
to child's one, China's one child

699
00:34:55,784 --> 00:34:59,775
policy that's not going well for them,
and they're reversing course on that.

700
00:35:01,515 --> 00:35:04,455
Trump is even saying, Hey, let's give a
thousand dollars to every kid that's born.

701
00:35:04,455 --> 00:35:06,225
I'm like, can you, can we
do this retroactively too?

702
00:35:07,515 --> 00:35:08,175
Is that, is that possible?

703
00:35:08,535 --> 00:35:10,275
Some of us were on board
with populating the earth.

704
00:35:10,695 --> 00:35:11,505
You know, we were there.

705
00:35:14,835 --> 00:35:15,675
I don't think that's happening.

706
00:35:16,245 --> 00:35:18,405
So the world even recognizes
this is a problem and the, the

707
00:35:18,405 --> 00:35:19,695
author of this article said this.

708
00:35:19,695 --> 00:35:20,925
He identified this as the point.

709
00:35:20,925 --> 00:35:21,735
I think it's insightful.

710
00:35:21,735 --> 00:35:24,885
He says, many in the current generation of
young adults don't seem totally convinced

711
00:35:25,185 --> 00:35:29,385
of their own notice of the language
here, purpose or the purpose of humanity

712
00:35:29,385 --> 00:35:31,095
at large, let alone that of a child.

713
00:35:31,605 --> 00:35:34,760
It may be that for many people,
absent a clear sense of meaning.

714
00:35:35,460 --> 00:35:37,890
The perceived challenges of
having children outweigh any

715
00:35:37,890 --> 00:35:39,509
subsidy the government may offer.

716
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:43,890
I think that's really insightful and I
think the Bible has an answer for this.

717
00:35:44,790 --> 00:35:47,580
The purpose for you, the purpose for your
marriage, the purpose for your family

718
00:35:47,580 --> 00:35:49,589
is to raise children to follow Jesus.

719
00:35:50,940 --> 00:35:53,460
It's to mirror the gospel and is
to create a home in which kids

720
00:35:53,460 --> 00:35:54,930
are raised to fear the Lord.

721
00:35:54,930 --> 00:35:58,830
It's, uh, to raise kids in a
home in which they learn about.

722
00:35:58,830 --> 00:36:00,720
That's why being involved in
venture club and things like

723
00:36:00,720 --> 00:36:04,500
that in our kids' ministry,
student ministry is so important.

724
00:36:05,565 --> 00:36:07,005
It is not glorified babysitting.

725
00:36:08,384 --> 00:36:10,785
We're, we're trying to come alongside
you and co champion you as the

726
00:36:10,785 --> 00:36:12,255
church to help you in this pursuit.

727
00:36:12,255 --> 00:36:12,645
Because why?

728
00:36:12,645 --> 00:36:14,235
Because God desires godly offspring.

729
00:36:14,535 --> 00:36:17,835
Now, I, I, I understand not every
godly marriage will produce children.

730
00:36:17,835 --> 00:36:18,825
I understand.

731
00:36:18,825 --> 00:36:24,134
I readily understand that, but I will
say, I think the normative principle

732
00:36:24,134 --> 00:36:28,125
for marriage between two believers is
to have children that God might one day

733
00:36:28,125 --> 00:36:29,654
have the godly offspring that he desires.

734
00:36:32,670 --> 00:36:35,100
If you're married and you've been
putting off kids because you just want

735
00:36:35,100 --> 00:36:39,150
to enjoy life a little while, travel
the world, have some fun, uh, can I

736
00:36:39,150 --> 00:36:41,250
just be honest with you, you're gonna
have a hard time justifying that.

737
00:36:41,250 --> 00:36:45,150
Biblically a really hard time
justifying that biblically.

738
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,230
And I think sometimes we, we throw
out, well, what about, isn't there

739
00:36:49,230 --> 00:36:52,440
wisdom in, in, in planning wisely?

740
00:36:53,460 --> 00:36:53,550
Sure.

741
00:36:54,660 --> 00:36:57,029
There may be some circumstances
financially or health related that

742
00:36:57,029 --> 00:36:59,399
lead you to say, it may not be the
best time for us to have a kid.

743
00:36:59,665 --> 00:37:01,200
I, I, I will admit that as well.

744
00:37:01,319 --> 00:37:03,600
But don't confuse being wise
with being self-centered.

745
00:37:05,940 --> 00:37:08,009
God's design for your
marriage is not about you,

746
00:37:10,020 --> 00:37:10,710
it's about him.

747
00:37:12,089 --> 00:37:13,140
It's about being fruitful.

748
00:37:13,140 --> 00:37:13,890
It's about multiplying.

749
00:37:13,890 --> 00:37:15,690
It's about filling the earth
with the glory of God, and it's

750
00:37:15,690 --> 00:37:18,450
about your relationship with
your spouse mirroring the gospel.

751
00:37:18,450 --> 00:37:20,069
And that's the second thing
that I wanna emphasize here.

752
00:37:21,420 --> 00:37:23,910
The Lord was witness between you and
the wife of your youth to whom you

753
00:37:23,910 --> 00:37:27,150
have been faithless, though she's your
companion and your wife by covenant.

754
00:37:28,020 --> 00:37:33,420
That final part, that commitment till
death to us part, it's a cliche phrase

755
00:37:33,420 --> 00:37:37,860
within the church to say, well, in
our family marriage is, is, is, is

756
00:37:37,860 --> 00:37:39,480
chief and divorce is not an option.

757
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:41,910
Uh, that's easy to say.

758
00:37:43,530 --> 00:37:47,010
Live it out, forgive and be forgiven.

759
00:37:48,585 --> 00:37:50,355
Refuse to walk away
and throw in the towel.

760
00:37:51,525 --> 00:37:54,525
Don't look over your neighbor's fence
to see if there's greener pastures.

761
00:37:55,215 --> 00:37:56,955
Fend off those temptations.

762
00:37:58,065 --> 00:38:01,335
Understand that marriage surrenders
your body to your spouse.

763
00:38:02,295 --> 00:38:04,725
Do the hard work to resolve
conflict biblically.

764
00:38:05,685 --> 00:38:06,585
Don't keep receipts

765
00:38:08,650 --> 00:38:10,065
and stay committed to each other.

766
00:38:11,265 --> 00:38:12,800
God desires that you should do that.

767
00:38:14,445 --> 00:38:17,775
It's requiring attentional effort on
our behalf, which is why Malachi wrote.

768
00:38:17,775 --> 00:38:20,565
So guard yourselves in your spirit
and let none of you be faithless

769
00:38:20,565 --> 00:38:21,435
to the wife of your youth.

770
00:38:23,565 --> 00:38:25,305
And again, this goes back to
the very beginning of the book.

771
00:38:25,305 --> 00:38:25,995
God has loved you.

772
00:38:27,585 --> 00:38:30,315
One way that you respond to that
love is by fulfilling his design

773
00:38:30,315 --> 00:38:31,695
for your life and for your marriage.

774
00:38:31,695 --> 00:38:35,445
The Israelites weren't doing that,
and that was drawing the ire of God.

775
00:38:35,445 --> 00:38:38,055
Marriage is far more than God
giving you somebody to watch

776
00:38:38,055 --> 00:38:39,315
Netflix with in the evenings.

777
00:38:40,725 --> 00:38:41,895
Far more significant than that.

778
00:38:43,485 --> 00:38:45,945
If you wanna find the ire of God,
ignore his plan for marriage,

779
00:38:45,975 --> 00:38:49,575
downplay it, upend it, pervert his
design for the marriage covenant.

780
00:38:50,835 --> 00:38:53,535
But finally, let's look at
chapters three and four.

781
00:38:54,615 --> 00:38:57,615
Begin with me in verse 17, it
says, you've weed the Lord.

782
00:38:57,615 --> 00:38:58,485
Chapter two, verse 17.

783
00:38:58,485 --> 00:39:01,605
You've weed the Lord with your words,
but you say, how have we weed him?

784
00:39:02,010 --> 00:39:05,610
By saying, everyone who does evil is
good in the sight of the Lord and he

785
00:39:05,610 --> 00:39:10,740
delights the Lord, delights in them, or
by asking where is the God of justice?

786
00:39:11,220 --> 00:39:14,820
Flip over in chapter three,
verses 14 through 15 says this.

787
00:39:15,030 --> 00:39:16,350
It says, you have said we have.

788
00:39:16,530 --> 00:39:18,360
It is vain to serve God.

789
00:39:18,900 --> 00:39:20,190
What is the prophet of our keeping?

790
00:39:20,190 --> 00:39:22,920
His charge of walking is in
mourning before the Lord of hosts.

791
00:39:23,505 --> 00:39:26,025
And now we call the
arrogant, blessed evil doers.

792
00:39:26,025 --> 00:39:28,995
Not only prosper, but they put
God to the test and escape.

793
00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:31,185
And, and so here what
we have is a problem.

794
00:39:31,365 --> 00:39:34,634
Israel's looking around saying, God,
it seems pointless to worship you.

795
00:39:34,634 --> 00:39:35,835
Based on our circumstances.

796
00:39:36,674 --> 00:39:40,305
We're looking at people doing evil,
doing wickedness and, and committing sin.

797
00:39:40,305 --> 00:39:42,105
And it, they're just getting away with it.

798
00:39:42,645 --> 00:39:42,884
Okay?

799
00:39:43,845 --> 00:39:45,075
This is not unique to Malachi.

800
00:39:46,095 --> 00:39:50,085
This is seen in the, the, the
psalmist's heart before God as well.

801
00:39:50,085 --> 00:39:51,195
This concept of God.

802
00:39:51,990 --> 00:39:52,650
How long?

803
00:39:52,650 --> 00:39:54,300
Oh Lord, right?

804
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:55,680
Or even habak.

805
00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:58,260
Why do you make me see evil?

806
00:40:00,210 --> 00:40:03,210
The difference here is
that they cross the line.

807
00:40:03,210 --> 00:40:07,110
That needs to carefully be avoided
by us when we find ourselves tempted

808
00:40:07,110 --> 00:40:10,260
the same way when we find ourselves
looking around going, man, I don't

809
00:40:10,260 --> 00:40:12,540
understand God, what you are doing,
and the evil are getting away with it.

810
00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:15,690
We have to be careful not to
impugn the character of God.

811
00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:18,720
It's one thing to be honest with him.

812
00:40:19,905 --> 00:40:23,385
But we have to be careful not in being
honest, not to sin in our honesty.

813
00:40:24,945 --> 00:40:29,775
And they cross that line when they
say of God that he delights in

814
00:40:29,835 --> 00:40:35,025
evil doers when he says, when they
say where is the God of justice?

815
00:40:35,025 --> 00:40:37,755
Implying God, you are an unjust God.

816
00:40:38,355 --> 00:40:43,275
I If our honesty before the Lord impugns
or challenges his character, then we

817
00:40:43,275 --> 00:40:46,335
are in the wrong in that situation.

818
00:40:47,460 --> 00:40:50,310
And so our third and final way to make
God mad, and if you can advance the

819
00:40:50,310 --> 00:40:53,549
slide for me, I lost my connection up
here, is this, we need to make sure

820
00:40:53,549 --> 00:40:57,600
that we're not making God mad, mad,
mad by challenging his character.

821
00:40:58,049 --> 00:41:02,160
You wanna make God mad,
challenge his character again.

822
00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:06,299
That's what they're doing here and
that's why we have God's response in

823
00:41:06,299 --> 00:41:07,500
chapter three verses one through five.

824
00:41:07,500 --> 00:41:08,940
He says, behold, I send my messenger.

825
00:41:09,029 --> 00:41:10,680
He will prepare the way before me.

826
00:41:10,799 --> 00:41:13,109
The Lord whom you seek will
suddenly come to his temple.

827
00:41:13,109 --> 00:41:14,940
So here we have John the
Baptist, by the way, he's gonna

828
00:41:14,940 --> 00:41:15,930
be the next voice from God.

829
00:41:16,785 --> 00:41:20,685
Which is, is really cool to see this
at the end of, uh, the, the, the word

830
00:41:20,685 --> 00:41:23,444
here in, in Malachi, and then there's
gonna be 400 years, and then this

831
00:41:23,444 --> 00:41:25,785
messenger is the next voice that the
people are gonna hear from the Lord.

832
00:41:26,205 --> 00:41:28,545
This messenger is gonna come and
prepare the way before me and

833
00:41:28,545 --> 00:41:31,245
the Lord whom you seek the one
that you're going, where are you?

834
00:41:31,245 --> 00:41:32,145
Where's your justice?

835
00:41:32,265 --> 00:41:32,580
Oh, he's coming.

836
00:41:33,390 --> 00:41:36,150
He's coming and he's gonna come into
the temple, and what's he gonna do?

837
00:41:36,150 --> 00:41:38,130
He's gonna bring his justice with them.

838
00:41:38,130 --> 00:41:39,630
He is like a refiner's fire.

839
00:41:39,630 --> 00:41:40,650
In a Fuller's soap.

840
00:41:40,710 --> 00:41:43,950
He's gonna sit as the refiner
and the purifier of sil silver.

841
00:41:43,950 --> 00:41:48,060
He's gonna purify the sons of
Levi and refine them like gold.

842
00:41:48,270 --> 00:41:52,050
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
will be pleasing to the Lord as in the

843
00:41:52,050 --> 00:41:54,390
days of old, as in the former years.

844
00:41:54,900 --> 00:41:57,150
He goes on and he says, and and,
and What have you been doing now?

845
00:41:57,150 --> 00:41:58,500
You've been robbing God.

846
00:41:58,500 --> 00:42:00,120
And they say, how have
we been robbing him?

847
00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:01,535
By not honoring him the way that he's.

848
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:02,970
He's due to be honored.

849
00:42:02,970 --> 00:42:03,690
He even challenges them.

850
00:42:03,690 --> 00:42:05,400
Why don't you, why don't
you put me to the test?

851
00:42:06,029 --> 00:42:08,040
Why don't you worship me the way
I'm calling you to worship me?

852
00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:10,650
Why don't you give the way I'm calling
you to give and see how I respond to you?

853
00:42:10,650 --> 00:42:14,670
Even so, God is, is taking Israel and, and
really putting them back in their place

854
00:42:14,670 --> 00:42:17,640
here because they've bowed up a little
bit too much such that they've crossed

855
00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:20,339
the line by challenging his character.

856
00:42:21,089 --> 00:42:22,529
You've weed the Lord with your words.

857
00:42:22,529 --> 00:42:26,129
Everyone who does evil is good in the
side of the Lord and he delights in them.

858
00:42:27,660 --> 00:42:30,870
Listen, church, it's, it's good and
right and okay for us to join with

859
00:42:30,870 --> 00:42:36,870
the psalmist in expressing questions,
frustrations even, and God is omniscient

860
00:42:36,870 --> 00:42:40,410
and knows how you feel, so it does no
good for you to, to put on a fake smile

861
00:42:40,410 --> 00:42:41,700
and just pretend that everything's okay.

862
00:42:43,049 --> 00:42:48,209
It's okay for us to go before the Lord
and, and to, to be honest in our prayers.

863
00:42:49,259 --> 00:42:51,390
We just have to be careful
in that, in doing that, that

864
00:42:51,390 --> 00:42:53,609
we don't challenge or impune.

865
00:42:54,975 --> 00:42:56,115
Defame his character.

866
00:42:57,705 --> 00:42:59,235
So for example, there's
a difference in praying.

867
00:42:59,235 --> 00:43:01,875
God, I'm frustrated that you're
not choosing right now to heal my

868
00:43:01,875 --> 00:43:04,395
mom of the cancer that she has,
even though we've been praying and

869
00:43:04,395 --> 00:43:06,135
pleading for you to act for so long.

870
00:43:07,575 --> 00:43:12,765
That's honest with the Lord, it recognizes
God, you are sovereign and you're

871
00:43:12,765 --> 00:43:14,325
right now not choosing to do this.

872
00:43:14,325 --> 00:43:15,645
And it, it frustrates me.

873
00:43:17,025 --> 00:43:19,905
That's different from the prayer
that says, God, I'm angry that

874
00:43:19,905 --> 00:43:21,225
you don't care about my mom.

875
00:43:22,140 --> 00:43:22,950
I am angry.

876
00:43:23,100 --> 00:43:25,860
You don't care about my family or
my heartache that I'm going through.

877
00:43:26,130 --> 00:43:28,770
While she wastes away from
this disease that you brought

878
00:43:28,770 --> 00:43:30,690
on her, why don't you care?

879
00:43:30,690 --> 00:43:32,280
Why are you ignoring us?

880
00:43:34,110 --> 00:43:35,700
Do you see the difference
in those two prayers?

881
00:43:37,860 --> 00:43:40,200
See, in being honest with the Lord,
we have to be careful that our

882
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:41,400
honesty doesn't lead us to sin.

883
00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:44,100
And and so how do we do that?

884
00:43:44,250 --> 00:43:45,270
How do we guard against that?

885
00:43:45,270 --> 00:43:48,450
Well, that's where possessing a
robust theology is gonna come in and

886
00:43:48,450 --> 00:43:50,430
strengthen your faith in times like this.

887
00:43:51,884 --> 00:43:54,404
If you wanna be able to weather the
storm to be able to be honest with

888
00:43:54,404 --> 00:43:57,645
God and yet not impune his character,
not challenge his goodness, then

889
00:43:57,645 --> 00:44:00,194
it's so important for us to know God.

890
00:44:01,725 --> 00:44:04,875
A w Tozer said, what comes into our
minds when we think about God is

891
00:44:04,875 --> 00:44:06,315
the most important thing about us.

892
00:44:07,305 --> 00:44:09,194
What comes into our minds
when we think about God is the

893
00:44:09,194 --> 00:44:10,605
most important thing about us

894
00:44:12,750 --> 00:44:15,210
in, in many ways we are still
children of the enlightenment.

895
00:44:15,870 --> 00:44:19,545
In, in that we still live in a world by
and large, although so many people are

896
00:44:19,545 --> 00:44:23,625
doing their best to undermine this, that
that still lives under the, the principles

897
00:44:23,625 --> 00:44:28,905
of rationality and empirical evidence, and
yet we have to acknowledge that we serve

898
00:44:28,905 --> 00:44:30,735
a God who transcends both of those things.

899
00:44:32,850 --> 00:44:36,030
There are gonna be times where
you are gonna face situations

900
00:44:36,030 --> 00:44:39,870
in life, and you're gonna have
to remember God is supernatural.

901
00:44:39,870 --> 00:44:43,650
The natural world may be governed by that,
which is rational and empirical, but God

902
00:44:43,650 --> 00:44:46,890
being supernatural transcends these things
so that you might find yourself in a

903
00:44:46,890 --> 00:44:51,870
situation where your rationality fails and
where empirical evidence doesn't add up.

904
00:44:51,870 --> 00:44:55,260
And that's the time that you have
to choose to say, God, you are, God.

905
00:44:55,260 --> 00:44:56,520
Your ways are not my ways.

906
00:44:56,520 --> 00:45:00,180
Your thoughts are not my ways, my thoughts
and, and I would do things differently.

907
00:45:01,620 --> 00:45:06,240
But I trust you because
I know who you are.

908
00:45:07,979 --> 00:45:10,649
This is about a pursuit
of a deep theology.

909
00:45:11,759 --> 00:45:15,689
You know, that's one reason why we're
doing Adventure Club, systematic

910
00:45:15,689 --> 00:45:18,359
theology for kids ages four,
all the way through fifth grade.

911
00:45:19,799 --> 00:45:22,290
They're never too young to have
the foundations put in place,

912
00:45:24,540 --> 00:45:29,819
pursue knowledge about God, a theology,
an understanding of who he is.

913
00:45:30,330 --> 00:45:32,250
But it's more than just the
intellectual understanding.

914
00:45:32,250 --> 00:45:34,500
In fact, Joel Bke puts it
this way that I find helpful.

915
00:45:34,740 --> 00:45:37,740
Joel Bke says this, the work of
learning true theology is more

916
00:45:37,740 --> 00:45:39,690
than an intellectual enterprise.

917
00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:45,150
It requires, and this is the key
faith in Christ, submission to God's

918
00:45:45,150 --> 00:45:50,370
will and pursuit of God's glory,
faith in Christ, submission to God's

919
00:45:50,370 --> 00:45:51,930
will in pursuit of God's glory.

920
00:45:52,950 --> 00:45:57,540
That's what Israel didn't have here, and
so they were impugning God's character.

921
00:45:58,484 --> 00:46:00,705
They were saying, God is
vain for us to worship you.

922
00:46:00,705 --> 00:46:02,024
What's the point in worshiping you?

923
00:46:03,404 --> 00:46:04,875
You delight in evil doers.

924
00:46:04,875 --> 00:46:06,165
You're not stopping the wicked.

925
00:46:06,285 --> 00:46:07,995
Where's you're not even a God of justice.

926
00:46:07,995 --> 00:46:09,194
Why should we even care?

927
00:46:10,395 --> 00:46:12,375
By the way, chapter four is
all about the day of the Lord.

928
00:46:13,185 --> 00:46:15,674
So God says you, you wanna know
what justice is gonna be and

929
00:46:15,674 --> 00:46:17,835
when it's coming here it is.

930
00:46:19,125 --> 00:46:20,444
The justice would indeed come.

931
00:46:23,145 --> 00:46:27,975
But church for us, we have to, to make
sure that that, that our theology is

932
00:46:28,065 --> 00:46:32,294
deep and robust and strong, so that the
trial that will come, 'cause there will

933
00:46:32,294 --> 00:46:39,254
be trials, doesn't shake your confidence
in the character of God so that you can

934
00:46:39,254 --> 00:46:44,355
express that faith and that submission
to his will in pursuit of his glory.

935
00:46:45,705 --> 00:46:46,575
How do you develop that?

936
00:46:47,234 --> 00:46:50,595
Well, read your Bibles
regularly, regularly.

937
00:46:52,350 --> 00:46:53,370
It's not less than that.

938
00:46:53,370 --> 00:46:54,090
That is for sure.

939
00:46:55,620 --> 00:46:58,830
If you're neglecting time in God's
word, you can't expect to know God.

940
00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:03,750
There's a measure of God that
we can know by spending time

941
00:47:03,750 --> 00:47:05,490
outside and looking at creation.

942
00:47:06,390 --> 00:47:07,740
It's general revelation,

943
00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:12,180
but as Christians, you've been
given the Bible and the Spirit

944
00:47:12,180 --> 00:47:13,350
to understand God's word.

945
00:47:13,350 --> 00:47:16,680
You've been given direct or
special revelation, and we have

946
00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:17,970
to know him through his word.

947
00:47:18,870 --> 00:47:19,890
Spend time in the word.

948
00:47:19,890 --> 00:47:20,670
It's not less than that.

949
00:47:21,240 --> 00:47:24,750
But I think it can be more
than that too in this area.

950
00:47:24,780 --> 00:47:26,490
Maybe you wanna pick up
a systematic theology?

951
00:47:28,230 --> 00:47:29,220
MacArthur's got one out there.

952
00:47:29,220 --> 00:47:30,390
Wayne Gru has one out there.

953
00:47:30,390 --> 00:47:32,340
Joel B's got a four volume out there.

954
00:47:33,180 --> 00:47:35,250
Come talk to us if you want
some recommendations on that.

955
00:47:35,250 --> 00:47:37,860
We'd love to, to point you in the
direction and, and again, this is not

956
00:47:37,860 --> 00:47:41,820
about just becoming a church full of
Bible nerds, it's about being able to

957
00:47:41,820 --> 00:47:45,240
weather the storms because you know, God,

958
00:47:47,790 --> 00:47:50,160
maybe you wanna pick up a book
like JI Packer's knowing God.

959
00:47:53,025 --> 00:47:54,705
Maybe you wanna pick out
one attribute of God.

960
00:47:55,575 --> 00:47:57,375
I wanna, I wanna learn more
about what it means that God is

961
00:47:57,375 --> 00:47:59,055
omniscient, that God knows all things.

962
00:48:00,045 --> 00:48:01,964
I wanna know what it means,
that he's all powerful.

963
00:48:03,225 --> 00:48:06,435
See, it says you deepen your understanding
and your knowledge of God, that then

964
00:48:06,435 --> 00:48:09,615
we can look to something like the
parable of the sower and see how you

965
00:48:09,615 --> 00:48:11,415
can avoid being in the rocky soil.

966
00:48:12,839 --> 00:48:14,265
Remember the seed scattered
in the rocky soil?

967
00:48:14,265 --> 00:48:17,745
As soon as the, the obstacles, as
soon as the, the, the sun came up,

968
00:48:17,745 --> 00:48:19,185
persecution came, it fell away.

969
00:48:21,720 --> 00:48:24,120
It's our knowledge about God that's
gonna make sure that our roots are

970
00:48:24,120 --> 00:48:26,070
deep in the rich and good soil.

971
00:48:26,070 --> 00:48:28,950
The more you know of him, the more
likely you will be to trust him

972
00:48:28,950 --> 00:48:32,040
in the valley and the less prone
you'll be to challenge his character

973
00:48:33,330 --> 00:48:34,980
or to ask, do you really love me?

974
00:48:35,490 --> 00:48:36,600
'cause remember, that's how he started it.

975
00:48:36,660 --> 00:48:37,440
I've loved you.

976
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:39,150
Do you really

977
00:48:41,820 --> 00:48:42,600
despising your walk?

978
00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:44,760
Despising your marriage and
desing God's character are three

979
00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:46,110
ways that you can make God mad.

980
00:48:48,360 --> 00:48:49,470
Or at least draw his anger.

981
00:48:49,860 --> 00:48:51,540
Like we said at the
beginning, God is unchanging.

982
00:48:52,860 --> 00:48:56,760
These are three ways that
we can draw his anger.

983
00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:03,810
There's others, but this is what
Malachi tells us and as we wrap up this

984
00:49:03,810 --> 00:49:06,270
series on the minor prophets, it's,
it's really a fitting way to do so.

985
00:49:06,270 --> 00:49:09,510
Because again, maybe if I had sat back
in my, my office at the beginning of

986
00:49:09,510 --> 00:49:12,060
the week and thought, man, I wanna
do a sermon about what makes God mad.

987
00:49:12,060 --> 00:49:13,530
So let me think about what makes God mad.

988
00:49:13,530 --> 00:49:15,780
I probably would've land
landed in different areas.

989
00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:19,320
But that's not how we do it.

990
00:49:20,940 --> 00:49:22,500
We don't bring our thoughts to the Bible.

991
00:49:23,880 --> 00:49:27,840
We bring the Bible into our thoughts.

992
00:49:28,380 --> 00:49:30,150
We bring the Bible into the pulpit.

993
00:49:31,830 --> 00:49:34,770
And so this whole series on the minor
prophets has been with the, the goal

994
00:49:34,770 --> 00:49:38,760
towards helping us to see that these
probably more obscure books for a lot

995
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:41,490
of us still speaking to our lives today.

996
00:49:42,480 --> 00:49:44,970
Like Paul told Timothy,
God's word is useful.

997
00:49:46,154 --> 00:49:49,215
For reproof and for teaching, correcting,
training, and righteousness that we

998
00:49:49,215 --> 00:49:53,475
may be equipped for every good work
and including these minor prophets.

999
00:49:55,395 --> 00:49:58,965
And so this one has been about how not
to make God or how to make God mad,

1000
00:49:58,965 --> 00:50:01,065
but I trust if you're in Christ this
morning, you don't wanna make God mad.

1001
00:50:01,904 --> 00:50:07,185
You wanna live that life in response
to his love that is gonna please him.

1002
00:50:07,395 --> 00:50:11,205
And so we could reverse these points
just as easily saying, if you don't wanna

1003
00:50:11,205 --> 00:50:13,240
make God mad, honor him with your walk.

1004
00:50:13,890 --> 00:50:16,980
Honor him with your marriage and
faithfully trust his perfect character.

1005
00:50:20,310 --> 00:50:22,260
But I just wanna end
with one final reminder.

1006
00:50:23,430 --> 00:50:27,390
If you don't first know how the
book opened, I have loved you.

1007
00:50:28,530 --> 00:50:33,000
If you haven't first experienced the
love of God and you go out and you try

1008
00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:37,380
to apply everything that I've preached
about this morning, then you're just

1009
00:50:37,380 --> 00:50:38,670
cleaning the outside of the tomb.

1010
00:50:40,530 --> 00:50:42,480
In the end, it's not
gonna do you any good.

1011
00:50:44,115 --> 00:50:47,445
This is simply about responding
to the love that we know.

1012
00:50:47,445 --> 00:50:50,385
If you are in Christ, if you've
been saved, this is about responding

1013
00:50:50,385 --> 00:50:53,025
to what God has done for you and
saying that, God, I wanna live a

1014
00:50:53,025 --> 00:50:56,625
life that honors you because of how
much you loved me through Christ.

1015
00:50:59,295 --> 00:51:01,275
And so church, God has loved you.

1016
00:51:02,235 --> 00:51:04,065
What difference has
that made in your life?

1017
00:51:04,665 --> 00:51:05,655
We stand with me as we pray.