I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Malachi 3:1-4
Malachi
3:1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then
suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the
covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
2
But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he
will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner
and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold
and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in
righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to
the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
-- the movie "Henry Poole is
Here" focuses on the life of the title character, Henry Poole -- Henry is
a young man in his thirties who has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness
-- he has no friends -- no family -- so he decides to move back to the only
place that ever felt like home -- the neighborhood where he grew up in a
working-class suburb of Los Angeles -- to die alone
-- but instead, he finds himself pulled
into a story of faith and hope and life that contrasts sharply with what he had
planned
-- as Henry is moving into his new
house, his neighbor Esperanza drops by to visit him -- while she is there, she
goes into the back yard and sees an image of the face of Christ imbedded in the
stucco wall of Henry’s home -- she believes that this is a miracle from God
sent to comfort her in the recent loss of her lover, who used to live in Henry’s
home -- she becomes even more convinced it is a sign from God when the image seems
to have drops of blood falling from Jesus’ eye
-- this image of Jesus becomes a
source of hope and faith for Esperanza -- and, before long, she is sneaking
people into Henry's back yard to see the image and to experience this blessing
from Jesus for themselves
-- Henry, on the other hand, doesn’t
see Jesus when he looks at his wall -- all he sees is a water stain on the side
of his house -- and he becomes increasingly irritated with Esperanza's
acceptance of this stain as a miracle from God in light of his own impending
death
-- at one point in the movie he
yells at her, "That is nothing but a water stain -- that is not the face
of God" -- to which she replies, "You're not looking"
-- that was my favorite scene in the
movie because it reminded me of how so often we go through our lives without
looking for God -- we may sing the words, “Open my eyes, Lord, I want to see
Jesus,” but we never actually do it -- we never actually open our eyes and look
for God around us -- instead we go through life like Henry Poole -- all wrapped
up in ourselves and never looking for the presence of our God around us
-- I have a friend like that -- he won't
see God -- not that he can't see God -- he won't -- he doesn't
believe in miracles -- he doesn't believe that God is actively working in his
life -- that God is present with him as he goes about his day -- and so he
never sees the hand of God -- and, like Henry Poole, he never sees the face of
God -- not because God isn't there -- but because he is not looking
-- he’s like the child in this old
poem I once read:
“The child whispered, "God,
speak to me" -- And a meadow lark sang. -- But the child did not hear.
-- So, the child yelled, "God,
speak to me!" -- And thunder rolled across the sky -- But the child did
not listen.
-- The child looked around and said,
"God let me see you" and a star shone brightly -- But the child did
not notice
-- And the child shouted, "God
show me a miracle!" -- And a life was born -- but the child did not know.
-- So, the child cried out in
despair, "Touch me God, and let me know you are here!" -- Whereupon
God reached down and touched the child
-- But the child brushed the
butterfly away and walked away unknowingly.”
-- how often do we walk away
unknowingly -- how often do we fail to see Jesus around us -- simply because we
are not looking?
-- in the movie I talked about,
Henry Poole looked at the world only with worldly eyes -- with eyes of sadness
and anger and defeat because of the hand he had been dealt -- because of the
terminal illness that he had been diagnosed with -- and, as a result, Henry
only saw a water stain
-- Esperanza, though, looked at the
world with eyes of faith -- in spite of her deep suffering from the loss of her
great love, Esperanza was looking for God -- and when He showed up, even in the
most unlikely of places, she saw Him and she knew Him and was comforted by His
presence
-- as Christians, we are called be
like Esperanza -- to look at life through the eyes of faith instead of the eyes
of the world -- to look for Christ in the midst of the busyness and chaos of
this world -- and to point Him out to others when we see Him
-- I wanted to remind you of this
because today is the first Sunday of Advent -- the season that prepares us to
celebrate Christmas in the church
-- most of the world thinks the
Christmas season starts on Black Friday -- the day stores encourage us to start
our Christmas shopping by offering all kinds of sales and incentives
-- and because of that, we’ve gotten
this idea in our head that Christmas is simply another commercial holiday --
focused primarily on giving and getting gifts on Christmas morning
-- we may decorate and put up trees
and go to parties and cantatas, but our true focus is on the gifts -- on
finding the right gift to give on Christmas morning -- and that idea that
Christmas is all about the gift is what drives a lot of us through the month of
December
-- we rush around from store to
store or website to website -- buying things that will quickly be forgotten and
running ourselves ragged in the process -- and instead of enjoying this season
and growing closer to God, how many of you have said to yourself on the day
after Christmas, “I’m glad Christmas is over?”
-- it shouldn’t be like that
II. The Season of Advent
-- that’s why I am such a proponent
of the season of advent -- the season of Advent runs contrary to the world’s
concept of what is important this time of the year -- while the world is
rushing around looking for gifts to buy at the best price, the season of Advent
reminds us that we should be looking for Jesus instead
-- Advent is the season when we are
supposed to turn our eyes from the things of this world and to look forward to
the coming of the Messiah
-- the celebration of advent was
introduced to the church several hundred years after Christ -- but the idea of
advent is in the Bible from the very beginning
-- the word advent comes to us from
the Latin and means “coming” or “arrival” -- when you see this in your Bible,
it is usually in reference to the coming of the Messiah
-- so, advent is the season in which
we remember and anticipate the promised coming of the Messiah -- to include
both the coming of Christ at Christmas and the return of Jesus at the end of
days to usher in the Messianic Age and the Millennial Kingdom
-- some say the season of Advent
anticipates the coming of Christ from three different perspectives: the physical nativity in Bethlehem -- the
Second Coming -- and the coming of Christ into our hearts when we put our faith
and hope in Him as Savior and Lord
-- Advent became an important season
in the life of the church -- it became a time of preparation in remembrance and
anticipation of the coming of Christ -- a time of penitence and fasting -- a
time for new Christians to learn about the doctrine of the church and to
prepare themselves for baptism, which traditionally took place on the day of
Epiphany
-- over time, other celebrations
were added in the season of Advent, including the Advent Wreath, which was
first introduced in Germany in the 1800’s as a symbol of God’s never-ending
love for us in Jesus and the lighting of the candles showing the True Light has
come into the world
-- other celebrations included
adding chrismons -- Christmas decorations with Christian symbols on them -- to
our traditional Christmas trees to remind us of the true meaning of the season
-- the whole emphasis of the season
of Advent is on looking for the promised Messiah -- the One who is and was and
is to come
-- this fall, we went through a sermon
series called, “The Promise,” whereby we tracked the promise of the Messiah
through the Old Testament up through David
-- if you remember, we began our
series in the book of Genesis after the fall of man in the garden of Eden and
looked at the first promise of the Messiah that was given to Adam and Eve
-- We learned that the Messiah would
be the seed of Abraham -- In Genesis 22:18 we are told that through Abraham’s
offspring “all nations on earth will be blessed.”
-- we talked about how the Messiah
would come from the line of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson -- in Numbers 24:17 we
read: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out
of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.”
-- In Isaiah 11:1 we learned the
Messiah would come from the line of Jesse, the father of King David: “A shoot
will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit.
The spirit of the Lord will rest on him.”
-- and we looked at how the promised
Messiah would come through the line of King David -- in Jeremiah 23:5-6, it
says “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a
righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in
the land … This is the name by which he will be called: the Lord our righteous
savior.”
-- finally, we looked at the Davidic
Covenant from 2 Samuel 7:12-13, where God told David, “When your days are over
and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you,
who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the
one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever.”
-- The promise of the Messiah
continued with the prophets, and culminated in the prophecy from Malachi of the
coming of the Messiah and the Day of the Lord
-- and all through this time -- from
Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis to the nation of Israel in the days of
Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament -- God’s people looked for the
coming of the Messiah -- they anticipated His coming and they prepared their
hearts to receive Him
-- that is what the season of Advent
is all about -- looking for Jesus and getting ready for His return
III. Scripture Lesson -- Malachi 3:1-4 and Malachi
4:1-3
-- look back at Malachi 3:1
Malachi
3:1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then
suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the
covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
-- Malachi was the last prophet of
the Old Testament -- he lived in Israel in the fifth century before Christ,
after the return of the Jews to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon and after the
temple had been rebuilt
-- but even though the temple had
been rebuilt and the people had come home, the hearts of the people had not
followed -- they were just going through the motions of religion and their
hearts were distant from God
-- so, Malachi prophesied to the
nation of Israel about the coming of the Lord and reminded them of the need to
prepare their hearts for His arrival
-- here in verse 1, we read the
words of the Lord to the people of Israel, “I will send my messenger, who will
prepare the way before me” -- this is not the Father speaking, but the Messiah
-- this is Jesus foretelling the ministry of John the Baptist prior to His
coming to the nation of Israel
-- He tells them that the messenger
will come first, and then the Lord they had been seeking -- the Lord they had
been waiting for -- the Messiah that had been promised since the fall in the
Garden of Eden -- would come to the temple that had been prepared for Him
-- some translations say that the
Lord will “suddenly” come to His temple -- in other words, the Messiah is going
to come unexpectedly and instantaneously -- so, the people need to get ready and
prepare their hearts and souls for their coming
-- in the Book of Matthew, Jesus
warned us a lot about the same thing -- He told us that we need to be ready,
because the Son of Man would come like a thief in the night, when we least
expected Him -- and He told us the parable of the bridesmaids -- some of the
bridesmaids were ready when the groom got there, and they were invited into the
feast -- but others were not ready -- their lamps ran out of oil -- and they
were not invited in
-- that’s why the season of Advent
is a season of preparation -- of getting ready for the Messiah -- because He
can return at any moment -- as Adrian Rogers said, there is nothing left on the
prophetic calendar that would prevent Jesus from returning today -- so we need
to be ready for His coming -- just as Malachi warned the Israelites here to get
ready for the coming of the Messiah to the temple
-- verse 2
2
But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he
will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.
-- this verse begins with a couple
of rhetorical questions -- who can endure the day of his coming? -- who can
stand when he appears? -- the answer is only those who are ready -- only those
who are found in Him -- who are seeking Him -- who are waiting for Him
-- when He comes, it is too late --
you have to be ready before He gets here
-- when I’ve tried to talk to people
about Jesus, I’ve had people tell me that they’re going to wait until they’re
old or until they’re on their death bed to come to Jesus -- they don’t want to
come to Him now -- they’re having too much fun in their lives of sin -- but the
thing is tomorrow is never promised -- Jesus could return today and only those
who are ready will be received into His presence
-- verse 3-4
3
He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and
refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring
offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be
acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
-- notice that the Messiah is
described here by Malachi as a refiner and purifier -- not a destroyer -- not a
judge -- that’s because these verses are referring to the first coming of
Christ at Christmas -- to His death and resurrection
-- during His first coming, Jesus
came to bear our sins and pay the penalty for our transgressions -- He refined
us and made us pure and holy by taking our sins to the cross for us
-- and He continually works in our
lives to purify us and make us holy and righteous in the eyes of the Father by
interceding for us and through the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit within
us
-- this was the ministry of the
Messiah when He first came -- to purify us and refine us as gold and silver are
refined -- and His word promises that when we are purified, our offerings will
be made in righteousness and will be acceptable to the Lord because our worship
will be true and holy
-- skip over to Malachi Chapter 4,
verse 1-3
Malachi
4:1 Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and
every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on
fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2
But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing
in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. 3 Then you
will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on
the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.
-- in these verses, we read of
another advent of the Messiah -- Malachi is speaking here of the second coming
of Christ -- the day of the Lord -- when Jesus returns not as a refiner and
purifier, but as righteous judge and King
-- when Malachi talks about “the day
that is coming,” he is referring to “the day of the Lord” -- this is a term
used throughout the Bible to refer to the second coming of Christ -- to the day
when the Messiah comes as King to judge the nations and to redeem the world of
the curse
-- this is the time when the peoples
of the world will be separated -- as Jesus talked about in the Book of Matthew,
the sheep will be separated from the goats -- the wicked from the righteous -- and
the wicked will be judged for their unbelief and their refusal to trust in
Jesus for the forgiveness of sins
-- the second coming -- the day of
the Lord -- the second advent -- is what happens at the end of the book of
Revelation -- it is the culmination of the Great Tribulation as the Millennial
Kingdom of Jesus is ushered in and Jesus sets up His throne on earth
-- this is the same event that
Malachi is talking about here in these verses
-- all the wicked and every evildoer
will be set on fire, referring to the lake of fire from the book of Revelation
-- but the sun of righteousness -- a prophetic name for the Messiah -- will
rise with healing in His wings and redeem the righteous believers who put their
faith and trust in Jesus and who were ready for His second coming
IV. Closing
-- the season of Advent is about
being ready -- it’s about preparing our hearts and our souls and our spirits to
receive the coming Messiah -- it’s about living in anticipation of the return
of Jesus, while we celebrate His first advent at Christmas
-- we are people of the promise --
we are the people of Christmas and people of the cross -- we are the ones who
should be aware of the imminent return of Christ and should be pointing this
world to Him -- telling them to “Look” and “Get Ready” -- instead of rushing
around with them in the hustle and bustle that is our American Christmas season
-- we can’t forget the tragedy of
Israel -- after Malachi wrote these final words of his prophesy and warned the
nation to get ready for the coming of the Messiah, the people closed their ears
and they closed their eyes and they quit looking for the One who was to come
-- God gave them 400 years to get
ready -- 400 years to return to Him -- to repent of their sins and their
religiousity -- and to come back to Him with all their hearts and minds and
souls and strength
-- and when the time was right, the
Messiah came in a way the nation of Israel did not expect -- and they missed
Him
-- I think about the words to the
Casting Crowns song, “While you were sleeping,” a lot this time of the year --
let me share with you the opening lyrics to the song:
“Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you're lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light
For the King has left his throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight,
tonight
“Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while
you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping”
-- I pray that we are not caught
sleeping when Jesus returns as the nation of Israel was
-- the season of Advent is to wake
us up to the reality of the Messiah -- to stir us to look for His coming -- to
help us to prepare our hearts and souls for His return
-- as we begin our season of Advent
together this morning, let us remember the reason for the season -- it’s not
about gifts or decorations -- it’s all about Him and living in light of the
return of Jesus
-- so, as we close in prayer, let’s
begin to prepare our hearts and souls to receive Jesus -- let’s pray that we
would be awake and that our eyes would be opened -- so that we might be ready
when He comes
-- let us pray
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