Rev. David Holwick R Communion
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
June 4, 2000
Malachi 3:13-18
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I. Does Christianity pay?
A. Consumer approach to faith.
1) Believing as long as there is something in it for me.
2) In a way, this is a Biblical attitude:
Hebrews 11:6 says,
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because
anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and
that he REWARDS those who earnestly seek him."
3) People don't want to believe in something for nothing.
a) They want something tangible for their commitment.
b) We are like Jerry McGuire, "Show me the BLESSINGS!"
B. In times of stress, cynicism can take hold.
1) Anti-religion backlash of 1960's.
a) Churches lost all the gains of the 1950's and then some.
b) Every mainline denomination shrank dramatically.
c) Religion didn't seem to work anymore.
2) In Malachi's day, even religious leaders were having doubts.
II. Harsh feelings about God. 3:13
A. Who is speaking in verse 13?
1) The wicked.
a) You wouldn't think religious people would say harsh
things against God.
b) "Then" in verse 16 could indicate a contrasting group
of people, obviously the righteous here.
2) The religious.
a) They made an attempt to carry out God's requirements.
1> The wicked made no attempt, but escaped.
b) Not unreasonable because even God's people have seasons
of despair.
B. It is futile to serve God. 3:14
1) "Futile" is used in Ten Commandments: "don't take God's
name IN VAIN."
a) What did we gain by obeying requirements (=tithing)?
b) What did we gain by being mourners (=for sins)?
2) It all seemed useless to them.
C. Religious cynicism. 3:15
1) Arrogant (who didn't tithe) are called blessed.
a) Evildoers prosper.
b) They challenge God, yet escape.
2) Age-old dilemma: why do the godless seem to do so well?
a) Sometimes, you just have to wait a little longer.
Recent trial of co-workers of notorious atheist
Madalyn Murray O'Hair ended in convictions.
She had proudly called herself the most hated woman in
America.
Her lawsuits got prayer and Bible reading out of the
public schools.
A few years ago, she disappeared.
Along with $600,000 of the organization's money.
Months went by.
Finally her son William, the one she sued the schools
over, the one who later betrayed her by becoming
a Christian, reported her missing.
No one else had.
Authorities believe her fellow atheists murdered her,
dismembered her, and stuffed her in 55 gallon drums.
Her body has never been found.
b) Perhaps those who challenge God don't escape after all.
III. Scroll of remembrance. 3:16
A. Godly commiserated with each other.
1) God heard them; he listens to believers.
B. Scroll of remembrance drawn up.
1) The idea of God keeping written records is found in several
places in the Bible.
a) Sometimes it is a book of deeds, usually (like here)
it is a list of names.
b) In Exodus, God has a list of true Israelites.
c) Jesus said we should not rejoice that demons obey us,
but rejoice because our names are in God's book.
d) The Book of Life is a prominent theme in Revelation.
2) Are you in God's book?
a) It emphasizes God's decision in choosing us.
b) Yet our response confirms that our name is in it.
c) Note that the righteous seem to be the ones who write
the scroll of remembrance in Malachi.
1> There comes a time when we must put our name on the
line.
2> Will we commit ourselves to believe, through thick
and thin?
C. God spares us. 3:17
1) This implies even the righteous deserve punishment.
2) Apart from God's grace we are doomed.
IV. The coming catastrophe.
A. There's a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. 3:18
1) God himself makes the distinction.
a) Between those who serve God and those who don't.
2) We don't always see the difference.
a) Too many Christians are lax, like Malachi's people.
b) But C.S. Lewis gets it right: every person we look at
is either getting closer to becoming an awesome
angelic-like creature, or a fiend of hell.
c) The direction of our faith now may indicate the outcome.
B. Disasters separate the "men from the boys."
1) In 4:1, Malachi mentions the Judgment Day. Are you ready?
2) Ultimate judgment turns on a person's relationship to God.
a) This is determined by our response to God's invitation
to "return." 3:7
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Draft notes
I. Harsh feelings about God. 3:13
A. It is futile to serve God. 3:14
1) What did we gain by obeying requirements (=tithing)?
2) What did we gain by being mourners (=for sins)?
B. Religious cynicism. 3:15
1) Arrogant (didn't tithe) are called blessed.
a) Evildoers prosper.
b) They challenge God yet escape.
2) (age-old dilemma: why do wicked seem to do so well?)
a) Is God unfair?
II. Scroll of remembrance. 3:16
A. Godly commiserated.
1) God heard; he listens to believers.
B. Scroll of remembrance drawn up.
1) They belong to God.
a) Day when God makes up his treasured possession.
b) (Kline - the day of God as a day of action, a creative
event. WTJ_V40 #2_Spr 78_256)
2) God will spare them. (on judgment day?) 3:17
3) (Book a list of names or deeds?)
This idea of God's keeping written records appears
occasionally in the OT (cf. Exod 32:32; Ps 69:28; Isa 4:3;
Dan 12:1). The NT mentions it many times, especially in
Revelation (cf. Luke 10:20 Phil 4:3; Heb 12:23; Rev 3:5;
13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15, 21:27). Perhaps the most beautiful
expression of the idea is in Isaiah 49:16: "See, I have
engraved you on the palms of my hands."
C. There's a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. 3:18
1) Between those who serve God and those who don't.
____________________________________
Joyce Baldwin, "Malachi," commentary, IVP
I. Sense of futility with God. Wicked or godly speaking?
A. Seems to be godly Levites who are discouraged.
B. The wicked have put God to the test by seeing how far they
could go in evil.
II. God's providence will win out in the end.
A. God knows and cares. 3:16
B. Book of remembrance.
1) Not deeds, but names.
2) His thought is that not one believer will be forgotten
by God.
C. The righteous person has nothing to his credit but has
been "spared." 3:17
1) Ultimate judgment turns on a person's relationship to God,
and that is determined by his response to God's
invitation to "return." 3:7
______________________________
Walter Kaiser, "Mastering the Old Testament: Malachi," commentary, Word
A call to take inventory.
I. God's answer to the arrogant. 3:13-15
A. Wicked are ones who doubt God.
B. It does not pay to serve him.
1) It is "in vain."
II. God's answer to the righteous. 3:16-18
A. The righteous come into view and are those who "fear God."
1) Fear is one motivation for holy living.
B. Book of remembrance.
1) Deeds as well as names.
a) Different from Book of Life.
2) God remembers them and what they have done.
C. God will make a distinction between the righteous and wicked.
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