1.    Malachi’s name means, “Messenger of Jehovah.”   He has a message for us today.  Many years ago, G. Campbell Morgan wrote a book called, Malachi’s Message For Today.  I like that title.  Malachi’s message is for today.

2.    Scofield dates the book at 397 BC; some date it a few years earlier.

3.    And yet the problems Malachi encountered 2,400 years ago are the same problems we face today.  For example, there was the problem of mixed marriage.  In II Cor. 6:14, the Bible says, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”

4.    But back in Malachi’s day, the Jews were violating God’s command to be separated from the heathen, and they were marrying idolaters (2:11).

5.    According to both the OT and the NT, God’s people are to be separate from the unsaved – saved people are not to marry the unsaved (2:11).

6.    Another problem that Malachi had to deal with was divorce: men were divorcing their wives (2:14-16).  This certainly is a big problem today.  If these surveys are accurate, apparently divorce is just as prevalent among Christians as it is among the unsaved.  That is very sad indeed!

7.    The people in Malachi’s day were so backslidden and disobedient that they were actually wearying God with their words (2:17).  They were so haughty and so backslidden that they were actually contradicting God.

8.    The book of Malachi is marked by eight instances where these haughty Israelites, insensitive to their own sinfulness, ask the LORD for evidence of their wrongdoing (1:2, 6, 7; 2:13, 14, 17; 3:7, 8, 13).

9.    We do not have the time to examine all eight of these instances, but I would for us to focus on one of them, found in Malachi 3.

10. There are three words found often in the Bible, and these three words are very similar:

·        RETURN – turn back to God (Malachi 3:7, 18; cf. Zech. 1:3).

·        REPENT – change of mind which leads to a change of direction

·        REVIVE – to come to life again.  The Psalmist wrote, “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Ps. 85:6).

I.    RETURN (MALACHI 3:7).

1.     These are strong words of rebuke – “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them…” (3:7).

2.     Yet God is gracious and longsuffering.  He lovingly stretches forth His hands of mercy and says, “Return unto me, and I will return unto you” (3:7).

3.     All they had to do was turn back to God.  If they did that God would stay His hand of judgment and He would restore them to full blessing and favor.

4.     Certainly we can apply this to our situation today.  Most churches have turned from God.  They are no longer preaching the Bible.  They no longer obey the Bible. They are developing a new form of Christianity that is unscriptural and carnal.  God is patiently pleading, “Return unto me…” (Cf. Rev. 3:14-22). 

5.     But sin had blinded the eyes of the people back in Malachi’s day, just as it has blinded the eyes of people today.  With a cold and calloused lack of conscience, they insisted that they were innocent of any wrongdoing – “Wherein (how) shall we return?” (Mal. 3:7).

6.     You cannot get someone saved till he first realizes he is lost. You tell the average sinner that he needs to get right with God and he will reply, “Why do I have to get right with God?”

7.     That’s the way it was back in Malachi’s day. There was no sense of need or of failure.  They were quite content and complacent in their backslidden condition.  They were still going through their rituals and religious routines, and so they arrogantly challenged God – “Wherein shall we return?” (3:7).

8.     I am not surprised when sinners defend their behaviour, but it is very sad to see Christians react in this very same way. When they are confronted with their sin they get defensive and even defiant. Sin has lulled them into such a spiritual stupor that they do not discern their true spiritual condition.

9.     May God help us to see things the way God sees them!  May we see the Lord high and lifted up, and like Isaiah cry out, “Woe is me! For I am undone” (Isa. 6:5).

10.May we like David pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23, 24).

II.    REPENT (MALACHI 3:8, 9).

1.     These stiff-necked sinners needed to repent.  They arrogantly said to God, “Wherein (how) shall we return?” (3:7b).

2.     The Lord pointed out their sin by answering their question with another question – “Will a man rob God?” (Mal. 3:8).  This is a shocking question indeed! 

3.     According to the US Congress, shoplifting and other robberies costs businesses over $24 billion a year.

4.     If the US Congress said that, they ought to know, for there are plenty of crooks in the US Congress.  They are experts.

5.     The eighth commandment says, “Thou shalt not steal” (Ex. 20:15), but stealing is a way of life for many people.  Many Christians consider stealing a terrible sin but yet they themselves are guilty of robbing God (3:8).

6.     Many Christians spend more money on pet food and bubblegum than they do on giving to the Lord’s work.

7.     Some Christians chafe at tithing (and it is “tithes and offerings” – 3:8), but they think nothing of spending $3 or $4 for a Starbucks coffee or spending big money on other luxuries.

8.     We need to get our priorities right.  America has become a very materialistic country and unfortunately this greedy, materialistic lifestyle has affected many Christians.

9.     We will never see revival as long as we are obsessed with money and shopping and the “keeping up with the Jones” attitude.  Shopping has become the #1 hobby for many Americans (even some Christians).

10.Some Christians spend more time in the shopping mall than they do praying and reading their Bible.

11.Let us get our priorities right! Brother, I want to be blessed by God, not cursed (3:9, 10).

12.Failure to tithe cuts off God’s blessings not only to the individual but also to his family, and even the “whole nation” (3:9).

13.Some may object and remind me that this passage is dealing with the nation Israel.  I realize that but we can certainly apply this to America.  God has blessed this nation like no other.  Even a poor man in America eats steak and potatoes, drives a Cadillac and owns a color TV!  That’s not bad.

14.There is a huge middle class here (considered very rich in most other countries) in our country, but the problem is most people are not content with what they have.  They always want more (cf. I Tim. 6:6-11).

15.I have heard much preaching about the old-time revivals. And I have read many good books and articles about the old revivals.  One thing is certain: those old-time Christians who experienced revival were not grasping after money and the things money could buy.  They gave generously and they lived very simply.

16.Consider John Wesley.  He determined how much money he needed to live on and he gave the rest away.  Over the years he made quite a bit of money through his preaching and writing, but he never raised his standard of living.  Instead he raised his standard of giving.  That is how God could use John Wesley.

17.This brings me to my third and final point – return, repent, and revive.

III.    REVIVE.

1.     We need God’s blessing.  The key to blessing is very clear here in verse 10 – “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse…”

2.     The term “storehouse” is an OT term unfamiliar to many Christians today.  It was the chamber in the temple where the tithes and offerings were kept.  Since we do not worship in the temple (in fact the temple was destroyed in AD 70), we are to bring our tithes and offerings to the local church (cf. I Cor. 16:1, 2).

3.     Some Christians have debated whether or not it is acceptable to give your tithe (or part of the tithe) to another ministry outside the local church (radio ministry, Christian school, mission project, etc.).  My personal conviction is that the tithe belongs to the local church, but the offerings can be disbursed as the Lord leads.

4.     What would you think of a man who went into a restaurant, sat down, ate a big meal, got up, walked out, and paid for his meal at the restaurant across the street?  You would say that is not right.  And yet many Christians do not support their own pastor and their own church.

5.     Carnality manifests itself in many different ways.  We do not have time to go into all of that today but one good way of putting down the old man and developing the new man is in this matter of giving (cf. II Cor. 9:6, 7).

6.     The goal of every Christian is to be like Jesus.  We must follow His example and obey His teachings (II Cor. 8:9; cf. Luke 6:38; Acts 20:35).

7.     Our Lord said quite a bit about money. When Christians carefully follow His teachings, God blesses them abundantly (Mal. 3:10).  It is a shame that Biblical teachings on stewardship have been distorted by dishonest and unscrupulous TV preachers and other religious racketeers.

8.     If we want revival, then we must meet God’s requirements.  Harry Ironside said that “an important principle is here enunciated – blessing waits on true devotion of heart.  Let all that is due to the Lord, long withheld because of our selfishness, be rendered to Him – all the tithes brought in, and He will rejoice to pour down showers of blessing upon His waiting and expectant people.  God delights to give; but our low, earthly-minded state so frequently hinders His visiting us with a gracious revival.”

9.     Oh, let us not hinder God from visiting us with a gracious, heaven-sent revival!

CONCLUSION:

1.     I mentioned earlier G. Campbell Morgan’s commentary on Malachi is entitled, Malachi’s Message For Today.  We need to apply this message today. 

2.     Some need to “return” (Mal. 3:7).  Perhaps God has spoken unto you this morning.

3.     Some need to repent.  Maybe there is some lost sinner here today who needs to repent and get right with God.

4.     And then there is this matter of revival.  We all need revival.