to the third chapter of the book of Malachi. The third chapter of the book of Malachi. As we continue our series of messages on Christmas that we find in the Minor Prophets, or these prophetic words that come to us, that point us to the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We'll actually be in this passage this evening as well, as there is just really too much here for us to handle in one worship service, and the second part is also fitting for us as we come to the table tonight as well. But we'll pick it up, Malachi chapter 3, and I'll be reading verses 1 through 5. I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 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. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. And they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord. as in the days of old, as in former years. And I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me. says the Lord of hosts. Let's fire the reading of God's word. Let's bow in prayer. Gracious God and Heavenly Father, once again we open your precious word and hear it proclaimed. We pray that we will be able to apply this to our hearts and minds and soul. Pray, Lord, that you will be with Pastor Bob and give him the words to say that we may go and leave this building changed. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. A couple of points, first of all, of introduction before we actually get to the sermon outline. The first point is this, that the reason the passage comes, the deliverance of the passage is in answer to a question that we find in the previous verse before I started to read. The book of Malachi is a series of complaints that the Lord has against his people. Malachi is called to be the bringer of those judgments to the people. But it's also kind of a dialogue. There is a back and forth that takes place. There are charges made and the people will say, wait a minute, how did that happen? Explain or be clearer. And so that has taken place in chapters one and two of Malachi so far. But if you pick it up at verse 17, something is happening. You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, how have we worried him? See the exchange? God says, you've wearied me with your words. The people say, how have we done that? His answer is, by saying, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them. So one half of the people are saying, evil people are really good. Evil has become good in the society that Malachi is addressing. And that wearies the Lord. when sin is made to be a virtue. The Lord is weary of that. But there is a second thing. And the second thing is, where is the God of judgment? If these things are really so bad, why isn't God coming in judgment? Where is this God who's going to come and to judge? People who are flippant. about their sin, a society of sin. This is so bad, Malachi. Where's the God of judgment? And I want you to note that the verses we read are the answer to that question. That is the scriptural context. So the answer that we have read here in these first five verses of Malachi 3 is God's answer to where am I? I'll tell you. I'm coming. I'm coming and I'm coming in judgment. That's the first thing. The second thing about this passage is you need to understand there are actually four characters involved in these verses. First of all, there is Malachi. He's the conveyor. He's the one who's bringing the word of the Lord to the people. So he doesn't ever speak in this passage. There's no words, and Malachi said, but he's the one who is the author of them through the Holy Spirit's work, who's delivering them to the people. The second is the Father. God the Father is the active voice who is speaking. So when it says, I send my messenger, the I, is God the Father speaking. The third character is the one who is the first messenger who is mentioned in verse one. I send my messenger and he will prepare the way. Now in the sermon, I'm gonna refer to him as the preparer to kind of separate out the two messengers. Because there's a second messenger who is mentioned. He is distinct from Malachi. He isn't Malachi. He isn't the father in the sense that we're looking at it here. He isn't the preparer. He is the messenger of the covenant. And the most of the text is about this messenger of the covenant. That's where we go tonight. But for this morning, we're going to look at this one who is the preparer. The one who is mentioned in verse one, I send my messenger. Well, who is that? Who is this preparer? So that's the focus of where we are going this morning. But you need to understand the four, as it were, voices that are involved in this passage, else it gets very confusing. So. For the message itself, we're gonna have three points. One, the background of Malachi. Secondly, the identity of the preparer. What does the text tell us about the preparer? And then thirdly, the revelation of the preparer. Who is this preparer that is being spoken of in this passage? First of all, couple of notes on background of Malachi. The person, the person Malachi, the man himself. His name, and if it isn't confusing enough with the word messenger, this just adds to it a little bit. Malachi's name means messenger. So Malachi is a messenger. There are some commentators who wonder if there actually was ever a man by the name of Malachi or if Malachi as the book is just designating the messenger of God, the one who comes and delivers the message of God to his people. That seems a little Far out, that seems a little different. That doesn't seem like generally the pattern of scripture, although there are a number of things in this book that don't follow necessarily the normal pattern either. Usually prophets are identified as the son of so and so. Malachi is not identified that way. So I understand the viewpoint, okay? You have the uniqueness of his name meaning messenger and the whole book is a message. You have the uniqueness of the fact that no father or no town, no place is mentioned. It's kind of unique as well. But it would seem, okay, that the better way to understand this is there was a man by the name of Malachi, so designated as Malachi because it is his life's work to bring the message of the Lord to the people. But that being said, we know nothing else about him. He is, in a sense, a completely anonymous character. We don't know what his occupation, his background, we know nothing about this man. It's almost as if Malachi himself suddenly appears on the scene with a message. The second thing though we do know is the timing. We do know when this book was written. We do know when it was given. It is after the exile where they've been exiled for those 70 years in Babylon. The people have now returned. It is after Haggai. We've just finished a series of messages on Haggai and you know the problem, you know the situation. They had come back, had rebuilt the altar but started on the temple but gave up. Haggai is sent to encourage the people, get back to work. Well, the evidence within the book says the temple is rebuilt. There are allusions to temple worship, to sacrifices, to the order of worship at the temple again. So now the temple has been built. Likely, then we're dealing with the time probably of Nehemiah or after that. When Nehemiah comes on the scene, the temple is rebuilt but not the city walls. So Malachi is probably either in Nehemiah's time with the rebuilding of the walls or after that. But the significance of Malachi is even as you found Malachi, you'll find him as the last book of the Old Testament. But we all know, right, that the order of the books doesn't necessarily fall in the order of chronology. We know that. But Malachi does. Malachi being the last book of the Old Testament is because it is the last book. It's the last prophetic utterance of God for 400 years. After this, there will be silence. No prophetic word. No revelation coming from God. No prophet rising up to address the people. Oh, God's gonna be active. God is going to be very active in the world. We're gonna destroy the Persian Empire. We're gonna destroy the Greek Empire. We're gonna raise up the Roman Empire. The Roman Republic is gonna fall, but we're gonna have an empire. There's gonna be all sorts of things that God is doing. But the one thing God is not doing for that 400-year period of time is speaking His Word in revelation to prophets. That means that this is pretty important. Last words, then silence. What is God saying in these last utterances to His people? Well, in this passage, what it's telling us is, one, there is a preparer that's going to come. In answer to your question, where is the God of justice? The Lord is saying, the Father is saying, there is a preparer that's coming. So secondly, let's look at this identity. Chapter three, verse one. Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. Meaning that this one who is the preparer is the one who comes first. But the Hebrew would lead us to say he immediately precedes the one to come. I mean, in a certain way we could say that Adam comes before the messenger of the covenant. We could say, David comes before the messenger of the covenant. We could say that, but it would sort of be, yeah, but that's not what the passage is saying. The passage isn't just giving us a chronological order. The passage is saying there is an immediacy. The relationship between the one who is the preparer and the one who is the messenger of the covenant is close. They're tightly tied together. Their lives are internet with one another, interneted with one another. They're tied together. It's not like there's going to be the preparer and then hundreds of years. It's the preparer and then the messenger of the covenant. They're in close proximity. But we're given some other indications as to who this preparer is. If you turn over to chapter 4, we read in verses 5 and 6 the following. I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. I will send you Elijah the prophet." So, what does that mean? Verse 6. He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. Now remember the question, where is the God of judgment? In part, the answer to that question is, I am coming by sending a preparer who will be like Elijah, who will prepare the hearts of the people so that there isn't an utter destruction. That is going to be the work of this preparer, the one who comes before. Now we're not talking literally Elijah. This is hundreds of years after Elijah. A long time after. But he is going to be similar to Elijah. He is going to be Elijah-like. Well, what does it mean to be Elijah-like? Well, those of us who have been in adult Sunday school with the good, bad, and ugly kings, okay, we've gotten a little taste of Elijah. We're gonna get a little more of a taste of him this morning in class. He's a confronter. Ahab, it's not gonna rain. When Ahab says, is that you, you troubler of Israel? Elijah says, I'm not the troubler, you are. You're the cause of the problem. Let's have a contest on Mount Carmel. If the Lord is God, serve him. If Baal is God, serve him. Let's see who calls down fire. He's a confronter. That's what the preparer is going to be. He's going to be somebody who confronts people with their sin. He is going to be one who comes before the messenger of the covenant to announce the coming of that messenger, but he will do so by calling people to repentance, by calling people to obedience. before that great day of the Lord. So, that's the identity. That's what we are given. However, turn with me, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 40. We seem to have a passage here in Isaiah 40 that falls into, we would say, the same category as what we have here in Malachi. So Isaiah, who has prophesied many years before Malachi, probably close to 100, maybe even 150 years before Malachi, writes in Isaiah chapter 40, beginning at verse 3, a voice cries. In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain shall be made low. The uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. See, Isaiah prophesied about a preparation as well. That there needed to be preparation for the glory of the Lord to be revealed. Malachi is telling us that preparation is done through one specifically chosen of God to be the preparer. And he will get ready the great day of the Lord. So who is this? Who is this preparer? Well, if you've ever heard sermons on this passage, you will know, okay, that who we are speaking of is John the Baptist. He is the one who is the preparer. He's the person of verse one. The messenger who comes to prepare the way for the Lord. The messenger of the covenant is gonna be Jesus Christ, but that's for tonight. Tonight, we'll go down that road this evening. But why do we say it's John the Baptist? What leads us to say that this passage, this prophecy of Malachi, this message of Malachi that is really the word of the Father, Why do we say it's John the Baptist? And I'm gonna give you four reasons. One, because of the announcement that is made to Zechariah by Gabriel. So we're gonna set Malachi 3 aside for just a moment. Go with me to the book of Luke. We're gonna spend some time in this first chapter, first chapters of Luke. Go with me to Luke 1, verse 17. As I said, this is in the midst of the announcement that is being made to Zechariah. Zechariah, interestingly, is in the temple and he's on shift, he's on duty. He's performing the responsibilities that a priest has. Suddenly, there is an angel there, and the angel begins speaking to him. And he tells him that he and his wife, who have been barren for years, and she's old and he's old, well beyond the years of conception, are gonna have a son. Verse 16, and he will turn, this is the son now that's being prophesied to come, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and the power of Elijah. to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just and to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. Now what words do you find in there that we found back in Malachi and in Isaiah? We find such things as he comes before. We find such things as he prepares. We find such things as the way in which that preparation is going to be to prepare the hearts. We even find the name Elijah again. All evidences that what the angel Gabriel is announcing to Zachariah is that the son that he and Elizabeth are going to have, who is to be called John, is the preparer for the messenger of the covenant. He is going to be the one who comes immediately before, which we find when we go just a little bit later in Luke chapter 1. Go with me to verse 44. Verse 44. So Mary has received news from the angel that she is going to conceive and have a child, even though she's a virgin. That child is now growing within her. She goes and visits Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, who is now also pregnant. Verse 44, for behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. He will prepare the way. What, hundreds of years in between? Decades in between? Years in between? No. John as an infant growing in Elizabeth's womb. Jesus as an infant growing in Mary's womb, separated by, we calculate out about three months of time. John is about three months older than Jesus. And John is already excited. John is already in the womb of Elizabeth leaping for joy because the messenger of the covenant has come. And as a child in the womb, he already recognizes and knows Jesus. Gives you pause to think, doesn't it? Gives you pause to think for just a moment about the horror of what we're doing with abortion. child already knew Jesus. But you see, that's this close connection. And he shall prepare the way right away, immediate, just prior to, just preceding. And we're seeing that played out in this verse. But we see it also when the child actually arrives later on in Luke chapter one. Go down to verse 76. So the child has been born. John's now been born. They've named him. So now Zechariah can speak. He opens his mouth in this glorious song that we're going to sing at the close of our worship in that hymn. But in that hymn, Verse 76, speaking now of John, the preparer, he says, and you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace." Where is the God of judgment? He's coming. He's coming. There will be a preparer and that preparer will come prepare the hearts of the people for the messenger of the covenant. Because this God of judgment is a God of tender mercy. Where is the God of judgment? Oh, He's coming. He's coming. but he is also the God of tender mercy. So there is a preparer to come to get ready. Why is it John, not only the announcement, not only his arrival, go with me to chapter three of Luke. Look at the work of John. Look at what John does. Chapter three. starting at verse one. In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, tetrarch in the region of Aetria and Tractus, and Licinius, the tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. Remember, Isaiah? Repair the way, where? In the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The crooked shall become straight and the rough places shall become level ways. And all flesh shall see the salvation. God. And what does the chapter go on to say? The Elijah likeness of John as he confronts the crowds, as he confronts the Pharisees, as he confronts the soldiers with their sins. Repent. Believe. Be baptized. He's preparing the way. Preparing the hearts of the people. Where is this God of judgment? He's coming. He's coming. In a judgment, not like we often think, Because the judgment is all going to fall on the messenger of the covenant. God's coming on a great and terrible day. A day of great judgment that will fall upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ. because he is also a God of great mercy. This is the message of John. Confrontational, dealing with sin. But speaking of grace, he's preparing the way. Do we have any clearer evidences? Oh yeah. And we have a much clearer evidence, one so clear that even disciples who have so much trouble getting some things through their head get this, get this. And they get it before the crucifixion, they get it before the resurrection, they get it before the outpouring of the Spirit. It is so clear, it is so obvious that even the disciples get it figured out. because the words come from Jesus himself, the messenger of the covenant. Turn with me to the book of Matthew chapter 17. I love this passage for a number of reasons. I love this passage because there are those even yet today who advocate, oh, Elijah's still gonna come. Sometimes you just need to listen to Jesus. There are those who advocate, oh, this is still all in the future. Sometimes you just need to listen to Jesus. It would seem to me if Jesus makes a comment and a statement, we shouldn't theorize other possibilities. Listen to this exchange. Chapter 17 of Matthew, what's the event? The transfiguration. That's not where this happens. Go to verse nine. So the transfiguration occurred. Who appeared with Jesus, Elijah, and Moses in that glorious cloud? Verse nine, as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead. The disciples ask him, then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come? Now pay attention to the answer. The disciples are thinking, son of man, well, that's the messenger of the covenant, but we know that the messenger of the covenant must be preceded by the one who prepares. Why do our scribes tell us this then? Right? Because they just saw Elijah and Moses. So they're wondering about this. Probably a very illegitimate question, I would say. But listen to Jesus' answer. He answered. That is Jesus' answer. Elijah does come. And he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come. So let me ask you a question. Is Elijah still to come if Jesus just told us that Elijah has come? Don't think so. I think Jesus nails it. I think Jesus gets it perfectly right. But I tell you, Elijah has come. And they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands. Now look at the next verse. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. They understood something. How many times do we not read, Jesus said in three days, you know, I'm gonna go to Jerusalem, I'm gonna suffer and die, and so on, and the disciples, we'll get a comment, but they did not understand what he was saying. Here. Jesus makes a reference to the fact that Elijah has already come and they understand, hey, we're not talking about the guy that we just saw on the mountain. We understand that Jesus is talking about John the Baptist, the Elijah who comes. to prepare the way for the messenger of the covenant. God's justice that is coming to pay for sin. Sin will have its payment. But it's going to be found in the blood of the messenger of the covenant. Why this at Christmas? Because this is the point. This is why he comes. Christ comes to bring judgment. But he brings the judgment by taking the judgment for our sins. What a blessing to celebrate the coming of that messenger of the covenant whose way was prepared by a man by the name of John the Baptist. As we come to the table tonight, we come being reminded, where is God's judgment? in a body and in the blood of our Lord. How great the mercy of our God. Amen?