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[0:00] Okay, this is our next to the last session with the Minor Prophets, and today, this is being November 17, we've only got one week left to conclude this, and I think we'll be able to do that, although there's so much here that could be addressed that we just will not be able to take the time for, but we're going to open now with Malachi chapter 3, and it is right off the page something of extreme significance that really should grab everybody. Malachi says, and as he opens his chapter, Behold, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Well, Malachi is not talking about himself. When he says me, he doesn't mean me, Malachi, he means the one he is representing, and he is representing the Lord.

[1:03] He is talking about the time coming when the messenger will clear the way before me, and the messenger, of course, will be none other than who?

[1:18] John the Baptist. And keeping that in mind, before we get away, let's go, if we may, to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 11. Over just to the next book, Matthew chapter 11.

[1:42] Keep your place there in Malachi, because we'll be returning there shortly. Okay. Let's begin, if we may, with verse...

[1:59] Well, let's just read a few of these verses, because it's all connected, and it has to do with what John the Baptist is experiencing. Chapter 11, and verse 1, It came about that when Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, remember, he just called them the previous chapter.

[2:16] In chapter 10, he called the twelve. Here he's giving them instructions. He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now, when John in prison...

[2:27] This is John the Baptist. Not to be confused with John who wrote the Gospel of John. John heard... In prison, heard of the works of Christ.

[2:38] He sent word by his disciples. And that's John's disciples, not Jesus' disciples. You've got to remember that John the Baptist had disciples before Jesus ever came on the scene.

[2:53] And a disciple, in the meaning of the word, is simply a learner or a student. One who places themselves under the authority of a teacher.

[3:04] That's a disciple. Not to be confused with an apostle. An apostle is a sent one who bears the authority of the one who sent him. It's not necessarily so with the disciple.

[3:17] But a disciple is a learner. So there are multitudes of disciples. I guess we could say all apostles were disciples. But not all disciples were apostles.

[3:29] There's a real distinction there. And he sent word by his disciples, that is, John's disciples, and said to him, that is, to Jesus, Are you the coming one, or shall we look for someone else?

[3:44] Now, the main reason that John is asking that question is, if Jesus is the Messiah who was to come, then John wants to know, what am I doing in prison?

[4:01] Because I'm the one who came on the scene, who announced the coming of Jesus, and introduced him to Israel. And for this cause came I baptizing, that I might introduce the Messiah to Israel.

[4:17] And he is the one of whom John said, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. That's in John's Gospel, chapter 1. And if John the Baptist is coming to introduce Jesus as the Messiah, long since promised by Moses and the prophets, And that when the Messiah comes, he's going to bring in the kingdom.

[4:46] And all of Jesus' followers will share in that glory of the kingdom. John's saying, This does not compute. What am I doing in prison?

[4:58] Well, we know how he got in trouble. We crossed the authority with the king and chewed him out for having his brother's wife. But he's confused now.

[5:10] And John enters prison, they're scratching his head, and he calls his disciples and he says, Hey, I don't know what's going on. I want you to go and find Jesus.

[5:22] And when you find him, ask him, Are you the one that we were supposed to look for? Or is this all a mistake and we're supposed to be looking for someone else?

[5:33] So, they tell us in verse 3, Are you the coming one or shall we look for someone else? And Jesus answered and said to them, Go and report to John the things which you hear and see.

[5:47] The blind receive sight and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear and the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

[5:59] Now, what do you make of all of those things? Those things constitute the calling card of the Messiah. That's what the Messiah is going to do when he comes.

[6:11] This is what he will mean when he addresses the crowd that doesn't accept him, doesn't believe on him at all. When he says to them, The kingdom of heaven is in your midst.

[6:25] And the King James, I think, translates that. The kingdom of heaven is within you. And this leads some people to believe that the kingdom of heaven is just a spiritual thing.

[6:37] And it is in the heart and mind of the individual. And that's the meaning of that reference. The kingdom of heaven is in you. But, fellas, when you look at the context of that passage, Jesus was talking to those who were his enemies.

[6:52] He wasn't saying the kingdom of heaven is in you. Because they were completely contradictory to everything that it was about and everything that Jesus was about.

[7:03] So what he really means is the kingdom of heaven is among you. You're looking at it in his own person.

[7:14] And his credentials were demonstrated by the miracles he performed. Because characteristics of the kingdom are going to be disease and death and blindness.

[7:28] And all these things are going to be done away in the kingdom. When the kingdom of heaven comes to earth, it will be God's rule and reign on earth. And he's going to fix things. Fix all the broken stuff.

[7:39] Fix all the broken bodies. That's the answer that Jesus is giving the disciples to take back to John. Oh, are you the king? Are you the one that should come? Well, you go back.

[7:50] And you tell him, the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And my suspicion is that John, in hearing that answer, would have said, okay, okay.

[8:08] He's got the credentials. He's got the evidence. And that's what the miracles were designed to do. And he said, okay. And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over me.

[8:19] And as these were going away, Jesus began to say to the multitudes, lots of people, concerning John, that is John the Baptist, what did you go out into the wilderness to look at?

[8:33] What he's saying is, what did you expect to find when you went out into John the Baptist? What did you think he was going to say? What did you think his position would be?

[8:45] Did you go to see a reed shaken by the wind? That means, did you go to see somebody who sticks his finger in the air to see which way things are going, and then that's the way he goes?

[8:56] Well, John was anything but that. John was a thundering, fearless prophet. And he laid out the truth, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

[9:11] Bring forth the fruits, meat for repentance. He was a no-nonsense guy. And Jesus is saying, what kind of a guy do you think John was anyway?

[9:22] What did you go out to see? Some wishy-washy something or other? And then he goes on to say, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Well, you wouldn't call it camel's hair and eating wild locusts and everything.

[9:38] Those who wear soft clothing are in king's palaces. John was one rugged individual. What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, one who is more than a prophet.

[9:49] This is the one about whom it was written. Where was it written? It was written in Malachi chapter 3. That's where we are. Behold!

[10:00] If you've got a new American standard, you will see that this verse is in large type. And that large type simply indicates that it is a quote from the Old Testament.

[10:13] And you may have marginal notes that will tell you exactly where that quote is taken from in the Old Testament. It is written, It is written, This is God the Father speaking.

[10:31] He is going to send his messenger. And that will be John the Baptist. And he will prepare your way before you. That is the person of Christ.

[10:42] Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist. Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. That's a study in and of itself, but we cannot stop there.

[10:54] So let's come back now, if we may, to Malachi chapter 3. Jesus is identifying John the Baptist as Elijah, or the one who is coming in the spirit and power of Elijah.

[11:10] And then in verse 2, he says, But who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap.

[11:24] And he, this Messiah, will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver. How is ore purified?

[11:37] By applying heat to it. And you burn out the dross and the real good stuff survives. That's how you separate it. And what he is saying here is this is going to be a modus operandi of the Messiah when he comes.

[11:55] He's going to do a lot of sorting. And he goes on and says, Now we've got a problem.

[12:22] Big problem. Jesus didn't do any of these things. I mean, he did what he said in verse 1, and it is speaking of him.

[12:34] But what follows in verses 2 and 3 and 4 and 5, None of that was fulfilled.

[13:07] What's going on here? Well, what's going on here is a similar situation to what we have in Luke chapter 4. And we've looked at it before, so let's revisit it if we may.

[13:19] Luke's Gospel chapter 4. And we simply want to take a quick look at our Lord and the message that he delivered when he went to his hometown of Nazareth.

[13:34] This is right after he was baptized. Right after he was baptized. And then he was led of the Spirit of God into the wilderness to undergo the temptation by Satan for 40 days.

[13:50] And he has survived that triumphantly. And his first assignment is going to be in his hometown. And he goes to Nazareth, where he was brought up.

[14:02] And we read in verse 14 of chapter 4, And here's where he read from.

[14:32] The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Now bear in mind, fellas, New Testament didn't even exist. At this time all they had, of course, was the Old Testament.

[14:45] And it constituted the totality of the Jewish Scriptures. So Jesus turned to this portion in the book of Isaiah. And we read, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

[15:02] Sounds like Malachi, doesn't it? We just read that, didn't we? It's all connected. Everything in the Word of God is connected to everything in the Word of God. And you find this in capital letters as well in the New American Standard.

[15:15] He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

[15:32] And he closed the book, gave it back to the attendant. And it isn't recorded here, but it's recorded in the original from where this was taken. And do you remember what Isaiah went on to say?

[15:45] That Jesus stopped short of saying? Isaiah goes on to say, And the day of vengeance of our God.

[15:57] Wow. Where was that? That had not happened. Jesus did not include that, because that was not going to be realized in his first coming.

[16:10] Other things mentioned would be, but not that. What we've got here is a break. And between this passage, in this passage that I just read, in chapter 4, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

[16:31] What was the favorable year of the Lord? It was the year that Jesus arrived on earth. His first coming. That was the favorable year of the Lord.

[16:43] And it's going to extend through his adult years. And remember, when he goes into Jerusalem, stops outside the city, and weeps over it, and he says, Oh, Jerusalem, if only you had known, this, thy day.

[17:00] This, thy day. What was that day? That day was the favorable year of the Lord. That was the day he was going to ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the hosannas of the crowd.

[17:15] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna to the son of David. They recognized his royal lineage. He was a direct descendant of David the king. And Jesus wept because you did not know the day of your visitation.

[17:32] You didn't understand what this was all about. And his disciples thought he was going to ride in there in triumph and honor and glory and go to the temple and establish himself as the Messiah and drive out the Romans and all the rest of it.

[17:49] They didn't have the foggiest idea that Jesus was going to end up on a cross in another three days. Wow. You see the separation that's taking place here?

[18:02] We've got two different comings. He's going to do certain things in his first coming and certain things will be reserved to the second coming. And that's part of what we're talking about here in Malachi.

[18:13] So let's go back to it if we may please. Malachi chapter 3. And in verse 3, this is judgment. This is judgment talking.

[18:24] This verse 3 and verse 2. Enduring the day of his coming. Who can stand when he appears? That's not first coming stuff. That's second coming.

[18:37] And it's going to be radically different. And as I told you before, in his first coming, what was Jesus likened to? He was likened to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

[18:52] What will he be likened to when he comes again? The second coming. The Lion of the tribe of Judah. How much difference can you get between a lamb and a lion?

[19:03] When he comes the second time, he's coming to collect on what he paid for when he was here the first time. He's coming as a judge, as a refiner, as one who will separate the sheep from the goats.

[19:20] That's what this passage is talking about here. And what is it that interrupts it? So far, what has interrupted it is 2,000 years! 2,000 years!

[19:32] And we're still waiting. And I know some people say, well, if Jesus promised that he was coming again, and he made that promise 2,000 years ago, and he hadn't showed up yet, I'd say that's a pretty good sign that we got it all wrong.

[19:47] That he's not coming at all. Or maybe he's just coming spiritually. Well, as I've reminded you, when Jesus was promised, when the Messiah was promised as the seed of the woman, Eve, in Genesis 3, and verse 15, who would crush the head of the serpent, when that promise was given to Eve, the mother of us all, and Israel then began awaiting the time when the Messiah would come, the Messiah, the Messiah, and they waited for 4,000 years.

[20:25] 4,000 years passed from the time the Messiah was promised until the time John the Baptist could say, Behold the Lamb of God.

[20:36] So, if you think we've waited a long time for 2,000 years, just remember the Jews waited for 4,000 years. What, Joe? And when you reread in Paul's epistles and 1, 2, 3, John, Jude, all those epistles that they wrote, you've got to reread them and remember that they thought that Jesus was coming within their lifetime.

[20:58] Oh, yeah. Soon, there would be the tribulation. They knew they'd have to go through these real hard times and that's what they kept preaching. Paul preached that and so did Peter. You're going to have a rough time, boys, but boy, right after that, you're just going to be great.

[21:10] That's right. He's going to come and he's going to set up his kingdom and boy, we're going to have a great... They all felt they were going to be alive. Paul and Peter both felt they would be alive when this happened.

[21:21] Thank you, Joe. Thank you. And in addition to a lot of the content in those Christian Hebrew epistles is to encourage the people who are going to be undergoing a time of great, intense persecution.

[21:34] Yes. And he's encouraging them to hang tough and that God will see them through it and so on. So all of this contrast is very, very obvious. Then the offering, verse 4, the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

[21:54] Well, was it when Malachi was writing this stuff? No, not at all. These people were just profligate. They were, they were, they were, what shall I say?

[22:05] They were a bunch of, I guess we could say hypocrites. That's probably a pretty good expression. They were much like the Pharisees that Jesus is going to be dealing with later.

[22:19] They strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. They are inconsistent. They are contradictory. They are a stubborn people.

[22:31] And that's the people that are being described. In fact, that's what Malachi has all of this contest about. This back and forth that's going on. And we'll see that coming up right away.

[22:43] In verse 5, I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and all of this. This verse 5 as well as the verses before, that's second coming stuff.

[22:55] Not first coming. This is second coming. For I the Lord, and here's a wonderful verse. I the Lord do not change.

[23:05] Therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. And what's he saying? He's saying, you know what? If I operated like you, I would have wiped you off a long time ago, permanently, and forgotten you.

[23:21] You can be so thankful that I am the Lord. This deals with what is referred to as the senior moment.

[23:41] Can't think of it. Anyway, it has to do with his unchanging nature. What's the word I'm looking for? What's the theological term? Immutability. Immutability.

[23:52] Immutability. Thank you. Immutability means not capable of mutating. Not capable of changing. God is static within his character and being.

[24:07] In his being and essence, he is perfection of a stripe that we cannot imagine. And the reason God cannot change morally is what does that imply?

[24:25] If he could improve or become better, then he isn't perfect to start with. And if he could be less than what he is, then he would be less than perfect.

[24:37] He has to be constant. He is the one who is not moved by any shadow of turning. And we can be very, very grateful for that.

[24:48] I am the Lord, I change not. That's the only reason you people still survive. Otherwise, if I treated you like you treat me, I would have written you off a long time ago.

[25:02] And the only reason is because God made the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is an unconditional covenant and it will be fulfilled.

[25:14] and it will not be spiritualized, it will be fulfilled literally. Therefore, sons of Jacob, and this is a term that is used in speaking of all of Israel, sons of Jacob, you are not consumed.

[25:26] From the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me.

[25:37] What's the message here? Repent. Repent. You've got to change your mind. What is the basis for you changing your mind?

[25:50] Information. Always information. What's Malachi providing? Information. He is giving them a reason to reverse themselves.

[26:03] He's bringing them up to date with what the need is and then he appeals to them, get with the program. Repent. Change your ways. Change your mind.

[26:14] Change your attitude because you can. And the reason they can is because God had given them a volition, the ability to change. And it's always on the basis of information.

[26:27] And as I've told you before, fellas, when we give someone the gospel and tell them about Christ dying for their sin, all we are doing is dispensing information that enables them to respond to the information and make a decision.

[26:47] That's where the change of mind comes in and the repentance. What, Joe? That almost matches what the crowd said to Peter when you're preaching to the crowd, Peter. You know, they said, well, how can we, what do we have to do?

[27:00] You know, they realized they were wrong about Jesus, who he was. And they said, well, what should we do? It's kind of the same thing that he said here. Same message. Same message. Same message.

[27:12] Repentance, let me put it this way. you are not saved by repenting. You cannot be saved without it. And the reason we say that is because changing your mind is something that has to be done in order to receive Christ as your Savior because people who are not in Christ, people who are not saved, already have something that they're counting on.

[27:44] more often than not, it's their character or their good intentions or I've never really hurt anybody, I've never killed anybody, I've never robbed any banks, I've never done this, I've never done, I'm a nice guy.

[27:58] You've got to change your mind about that. You've got to see yourself as a member of the human race just like all the rest of us without exception. You are a sinner and you cannot save yourself.

[28:14] And when people hear that, it creates a condition in their mind, they've got to process that. And when they process it and mull it over, they're going to come to another conclusion, they may come to the conclusion, this guy's all wet, I know I'm just as good as anybody else and God will accept me, blah, blah, blah, because I've done this and I've done that.

[28:36] That's called unrepentance. They're not changing their mind about anything. They're unrepentant. But if they see themselves, and by the way, I think it was Bill Fay, and I heard him at the Church of the Brethren probably ten years ago, maybe it was before you even heard, and I remember him saying, if what you believe about God, about yourself, about salvation, if what you believe about those things is not true, would you want to know it?

[29:07] That's a pretty penetrating question, isn't it? So you are saved, not by repenting, you cannot be saved without it because you have to change your mind from the position you hold to a new position, and the new position is Christ died for your sins, you need to put your faith and trust in him for salvation, and that's what repentance will lead you to.

[29:29] Dennis? I was going to say, repentance is like going down the river with a bunch of people, and you realize your destination is up the river, you got to turn around the boat. There you go. There you go.

[29:39] Yep, absolutely. Good thought. Yes? Is the return to me an individual mandate from Jesus, or is it the nation? Well, I think in this case, I think it's probably both, because keep in mind that nations are made up of individuals, and this is a corporate thing, and that's another point that needs to be made, and needs to be really understood, and that is the relationship that God had with Israel was a national thing.

[30:07] it's completely different with you, and with me, and with the church, the body of Christ. It is an individual thing.

[30:19] You receive Christ as your personal Savior. We are not promoting a Christian nation as such.

[30:30] We are promoting a personal Savior who saves individuals from their sin, and that's radically different from the covenant that God had with Israel.

[30:46] Okay. From the days of your fathers, you've turned aside from my statutes, have not kept them, return to me, and you return to me, and I will return to you.

[30:57] What's this talking about? It's talking about reestablishing a ruptured relationship. These people were far removed from God, yet they were the covenant people.

[31:10] And when he, through Amos, reminds Israel, you only, he said, you only, Israel, you only, of all the nations of the earth have I known.

[31:22] Well, he knew all of them, but he's saying, you are the only nation on the face of the earth with whom I have a covenant entered into personal relationship.

[31:32] Didn't have it with the Egyptians, didn't have it with the Babylonians, didn't have it with the Assyrians. Law wasn't given to them, it was given to Israel. And he says, I have been a faithful, loyal husband to you as a husband would be to a wife, and you have returned me my favor by playing the harlot.

[31:56] You are like a wife who has gone a whoring after other husband, after other men. And in verse 6, I'm sorry, verse 8, will a man rob God?

[32:08] Yet, you are robbing me. But you say, how have we robbed thee? This is their defensive attitude once again, and it started way back early, and we looked at the several ones.

[32:19] This is the sixth one, where there is a contest in the discussion that's going on, and Malachi is taking the position of God, and he's also taking the position of the people.

[32:30] And he's carrying on a little conversation with himself, but he's making it public so everybody will get the situation. And he's saying, will a man rob God? You've robbed me. And Israel would come back and say, oh, that's not true.

[32:43] How have we robbed you? We haven't robbed you. That's a false accusation. In other words, these people, these straying, wandering, backsliding Israelites, have the audacity to charge God with taking a wrongful position.

[33:04] Now, fellas, that takes some kind of brass. And they had it. You know what the Jews call this? Hutzpah! Hutzpah! C-H-U-T-P-A-H.

[33:17] Hutzpah! What's that mean? Best definition of someone who has got a lot of nerve, a lot of hutzpah, is a man who murders his mother and father and then throws himself on the mercy of the court and pleads for mercy on the grounds that he's an orphan.

[33:40] That is hutzpah! And that's what these people are guilty of. And you know what? But, God still doesn't turn his back on them.

[33:53] God still loves them. Are you kidding me? Love somebody like this? Love somebody like you take to yourself and you promise to love and to cherish and she goes whoring after other men?

[34:11] And I'm supposed to love her and take her back and support her? Are you kidding me? Hey, that's what the prophet Hosea is all about.

[34:23] He uses that as an object lesson for his relationship to Israel and they're in the midst of their infidelity. And he still plays the pursuing husband.

[34:37] Fellas, I don't know what you call a love like that. I don't even think the word amazing grace is adequate.

[34:52] I don't know of a human term that can display that kind of love. And that kind of love is exactly what is going to send Jesus Christ to the cross.

[35:06] God so loved the world. And the word, little Greek word there in John 3, 16, it isn't translated in the English. You don't see it there. But it's the word hutos.

[35:18] Hutos. O-U-T-O-S. And in the English it's translated so. Two little words, two little letters.

[35:30] So. God so loved the world. And we tend to think that it means that God loved the world this much.

[35:42] Doesn't mean that at all. It means God loved the world this way. It's not quantity of love.

[35:56] It's quality. It's the kind of love, not the amount of love. That sent Jesus to the cross.

[36:08] What love is this? Wow. We just. Fellas, this love has absolutely no bottom to it. This is incredible, incredible love.

[36:21] Let's hasten on. I'll take questions in just a moment. We've got to get through this. You are cursed with a curse for you are robbing me. The whole nation of you.

[36:32] Robbing. We are not. That's not true. We are not robbing you. Bring the whole.

[36:44] Then in verse six they say. How have we robbed? In tithes and contributions. That's how you've robbed. You know. You know God does not need your money. God can use your money.

[36:56] But he doesn't need your money. God isn't dependent on you. Or me. He said through the psalmist. If I were hungry. If I were hungry. Would I ask you for a meal?

[37:08] Well. God doesn't have. God doesn't have any needs. That he cannot meet. Perfectly. Within his own character. And person. God does not have to go. Outside himself.

[37:18] To meet anything. He wants to do. He is self-sustained. And the tithes that he's so upset here. These tithes aren't for God.

[37:31] Per se. Who are they for? They're for people. They're for people. What's the tithes all about anyway? It's the money.

[37:43] That the people. Who have a source of income. Who have cattle and sheep to graze. And who have land. That they can put into agriculture.

[37:55] They are to bring that. And the money realized from it. A percentage of it. Into the temple. To provide for. The welfare. Of the priests.

[38:05] Because they have no land. And they have no job. To provide an income. They are to be supported. By the people who do. This is God's plan.

[38:17] And they were. Cheating on it. They were not bringing the tithes. They were holding back. And they were. Taking advantage of the situation.

[38:28] In verse 10. Bring the whole tithe. Into the storehouse. So that there may be. Food in my house. And. Be reminded. God isn't eating this food.

[38:40] It's for people. And the reason. That God is taking. These people to task. Is because. The people. He loves. And the people. Who serve him. Are being shortchanged.

[38:50] And their needs. Are not being met. Because these people. Are stingy. And they're keeping it. To themselves. Rather than bringing it in. And the word tithe. Literally means. A tenth.

[39:02] And when you add up. All of the tithes. That the Israelites. Were involved in. It's more like. Twenty three and a half percent. Not ten percent. But it was designed.

[39:15] In such a way. That if everyone. Did. What they were supposed to. In the amount. That they were supposed to. All the needs. Would be taken care of. But the tendency.

[39:26] Of humanity. Is. To keep back. More. Than you should. It's the. Ananias and Sapphira principle. In Acts chapter five. When they sold lands.

[39:38] Instead of. Bringing. The money. That they got. From the land. And giving it. They held back part. Was there something wrong. With holding back part. Nope.

[39:49] It was there. They were perfectly. Free to do that. But they. Lied. And they gave. The impression. That they. Brought. Everything. That the land.

[40:00] Brought. By way of money. And gave that. And they lied. And Peter. Literally said. Drop dead. And they did. And. And Peter.

[40:10] Told. Ananias. You have not. Lied to men. But you've. Lied to God. And. He was. Struck dead. And his wife. Ananias.

[40:21] Came in. Suffered the same thing. You are cursed with a curse. For you are robbing me. The whole nation. Bring the whole tithe. Into the storehouse. This is referred to. By. A lot of churches today.

[40:32] As their means of. Providing income. And this is the reference. That they use. And there probably aren't. Too many preachers. That haven't preached on this. And made the application. And it has.

[40:43] Absolutely nothing. To do. With the Christian church. Nothing. Not at all. Because we are not under law. This is law stuff. This is for Israel.

[40:54] We're not under this. We never were. We are operating. Under. Grace giving. It is the giving. Of. Second Corinthians. Where each.

[41:05] Is to lay aside. For the first of the week. Whatever. They wish. Those who give. Generously. Will reap generously.

[41:16] Those who give. Merely. Give. Will reap merely. Because. We are supposed. To give to the Lord. From the heart. Not out of compulsion.

[41:27] Not out of necessity. We are not to give. To impress people. With our generosity. In fact. The best thing to do. Is to provide.

[41:37] A way. Whereby. Giving. Can be. Confidential. So nobody. Has bragging rights. Oh look. How much. So and so. Gave. And all the rest.

[41:48] And. This goes along. I'll take questions. In just a minute. We're almost done Joe. Want to get this finished. You're cursed with a curse. You are robbing me. Bring the whole time. And. Some of the health.

[42:00] Wealth. Preachers. On television. Prosperity. Preachers. Name it. And claim it. Blab it. And grab it. They. Preach this. Stuff. And they say.

[42:11] You need to. Sow. The seed. Of faith. And the way. You can. Sow. The seed. Of faith. Is by. Sending us. Your best. Contribution. And see.

[42:23] If God. Won't make good. On his promise. And open. The heavens. And give you. A blessing. Financially. That you'll not be. Able to receive. And of course. They always have. An anecdotal.

[42:33] Reference. And here. I have a letter. From brother. So and so. In little rock. Arkansas. And he said. I was down. To my last. Hundred dollars.

[42:44] And didn't know. Where the next money. Was going to come from. And in faith. I wrote a check. To your organization. For a hundred dollars. Trusting God.

[42:54] And the next day. In the mail. There was a check. For two thousand dollars. Completely unexpected. And everybody claps. And says. Isn't that one. Now. That can happen to you. If you will sow.

[43:05] The seed of faith. Where's your faith. Send us your. Uh. You know what. And usually. Usually. It's the people. Who can afford it.

[43:15] The least. Who are taken. And by it. And this stuff. Is out there. It just permeated. It just. And you know. And people. The really sad thing.

[43:26] About this. Tad. Is. People. Associate. That kind of stuff. With the church. Yeah. And they say. I don't want to go there.

[43:37] They're just a bunch of. Money grubbing. Hypocrites. You know. And. Gives. Gives the whole body of Christ. A bad reputation. And. And really. Nothing you can do about it.

[43:48] But just. Keep sticking to your knitting. And do what you're supposed to do. Well. Verse 11. I will rebuke the devourer. So that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground.

[44:01] This is. This is. This is. Israel. This is for the Jew. This is for them. This is God making them a promise. God is saying. Listen. If you.

[44:12] Will do what you're supposed to do. I'll take care of you. I'll provide for you. I'll see to it. That. I will rebuke the devourer for you.

[44:23] So that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground. Nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes. Says the Lord of hosts. And all the nations. Will call you blessed. For you shall be a delightful land.

[44:35] Says the Lord of hosts. Your words. Have been arrogant against me. Says the Lord. Yet you say. What have we spoken against thee?

[44:46] Ooh. Like get these people. Give them the back of your hand. This is. This is so aggravating. It's just. I'll tell you what this is. This is human nature at its worst.

[45:00] Ungrateful. Wretched human beings. And fellas. We all have the potential. To reflect this kind of an attitude. And it smells to high heaven.

[45:14] You know what this is? This is nothing more. Than the flesh. That's what it is. It's the flesh. Ruling the roost. It's the flesh. You have said.

[45:25] It is vain to serve God. What profit is that? We have kept his charge. And that we have walked in mourning. Before the Lord of hosts. Now what they're saying is this. You know what? We've done everything that God has asked.

[45:40] We've been examples. We've been exemplary. We've been model citizens. We've dotted our I's. We've crossed our T's. And what good did it do us? What has God done for us?

[45:51] Nothing. He's come up short. This is the audacity that blames God. Do you see any of that today? When God doesn't do what we wanted to do.

[46:08] What's wrong with him anyway? Why doesn't God get with it? After all. I've gone to church. I've taught this class. I've given money. I've done this.

[46:19] I've done that. And now look. What do I get out of this? Cancer. Cancer. What a rotten deal. Is that any way for God to treat people that he's supposed to love?

[46:30] And now I've got cancer? Hey. It's out there. It's just flooding us. It's everywhere.

[46:42] Isn't it? This is that ungrateful attitude that we're all capable of. Your words have been arrogant. Why have we spoken against you? And you've said, it's vain to serve God.

[46:54] Well, I've served him. I've labored. I've done this. I've done that. I've preached the sermons. I've read the books. All the rest of it. I've sung the songs. Made the meetings. And what do I get out of it?

[47:05] Nothing. Nothing. You're excused, Bob. Tell your sweetie we said hi. Okay. So now, verse 15.

[47:20] Now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape. And this is Malachi's beef.

[47:32] Then those who fear the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem his name.

[47:45] And they will be mine, says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I prepare my own possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.

[47:57] So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. This is going to be second coming stuff.

[48:09] This is millennial stuff that he's talking about here. This is an Israel on a completely different track than what they're manifesting here. And my time is already gone, but, Joe, what?

[48:20] On that exact point which you finished up there with, in Hosea. In Hosea, you're going to have to turn it. I'll read it. In Hosea 15 of chapter 5, I will go away and return them to my place.

[48:34] This is Jesus talking when he went back to be at the right hand of God. He went back to his rightful place at the right hand of God because they rejected him. Then he says, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, in their affliction they will earnestly seek me.

[48:50] And this is going to happen at Armageddon? It will, absolutely. He comes and they're going to accept him. They're going to say, by God, we need him. We need God. God, please come help us.

[49:01] You know. They beg it. Then it goes on to say in the next chapter, which is a continuation, come, let us return to the Lord. Now, people say, return. For he has torn us, but he will heal us.

[49:15] Amen. He has wounded us, but he will bandage us. Now, here's the verse that I really want you to get. He will revive us after two days. Well, what does that mean?

[49:26] After two days, he will revive us. Well, remember, to God, a day is as a thousand years. And so what happened after AD 70 or at the time of Christ?

[49:38] Two thousand years have passed. In 1948, the nation was revived. Just like it says, he will revive us after two days.

[49:48] After two thousand years, he will revive us. And he did. That's a prophecy that's come true in 1948. That he will rise up on the third day. This is the third day.

[49:59] We're in the third day now. But it can go for a thousand years. So when is he going to bring in the millennial kingdom? That's what it goes on to talk about here. The millennial kingdom will happen in the third day.

[50:09] And it says that we may live before him. You see? God's going to be present on that. He's going to be there. And it will be the fulfillment of the new covenant when the Lord says that he would put, his law within their hearts and his spirit within him.

[50:25] And it will be a new covenant. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers, which they broke. But this will be a new covenant. And the way they are going to fulfill that new covenant is then they will be not only a regenerated people, they will be a glorified people.

[50:44] That's the only way that I can understand how that's going to come to pass. Because if they still have an old nature, they're going to use it. But we won't have an old nature when our bodies are glorified.

[50:56] And the remnant of Israel will be glorified then. And they will have that new body. Then they'll be the priests. They're supposed to be. They'll be the priests. And God wants them to be the priests. Right. Don? When you were referring back to the loop there, right before that, after the temptations, I never thought of this before, but correct me if I'm wrong on it, Satan says he would withdraw until more opportune time.

[51:21] Does Satan take credit for the persecution and the execution of God as well as we take credit for it as being the other way? Well, there's no question that Satan is extremely active.

[51:39] And we know that the principal methodology that he uses is deception. He deceives. And I've told you before that deception means you cause people to think that things are other than they are.

[51:57] That's deception. And then they act on the basis of what they think is true. And, of course, you get bad consequences.

[52:08] This is the whole gamut of fake news. This is the whole sphere of the lie. Because people believe things, and then they act on what they believe.

[52:20] And the result, of course, is disaster. So not only that, but it makes me wonder. And I'm not saying that we're living in that time right now with all that deception.

[52:32] But I'm not about to say we aren't. And it could get a whole lot worse later on. But I do know this. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[52:45] I do not think the planet Earth has ever faced so much confusion and uncertainty as we do right now.

[53:01] And it's not just the USA. It's global. And when people are confused, they don't know what to do.

[53:14] Because they don't know what to believe. They don't know what's true. They don't know what they ought to act on. It just leaves you dangling in the air. And boy, is that ever a really good time to know the Lord.

[53:29] So you can just rest and relax in Him, regardless of the way this crazy old world is going. We know, like the songwriter says, we don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow.

[53:42] And boy, that is everything. That is, that's first class living. Well, I've run over all my time, guys. But we wanted to get through this chapter and still didn't do it justice.

[53:53] I've never taken a verse of scripture in the Bible in the 60 years that I've been preaching. That I could ever come away and say, well, I really handled that text.

[54:08] No, I didn't. No, I didn't. But I'll tell you what. I've come away a lot of times saying, that text really handled me. And that's, that's the nature of the workshop.

[54:21]  Hey, guys, thank you for being here.