Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

“The Potato Creek Chair of Death” is a play which describes a chair with a shotgun attached to it that would fire at a random time. We would rightly call anyone who sat in that chair foolish. Yet many people who wouldn’t dream of sitting in that chair live a lifetime gambling that they can get away with sin.

The purpose of much of the book of Malachi, like all of the Old Testament, is to reveal our sin to us. But it does not leave us in despair over our sin. It points us in the direction of hope. The only question yet left unanswered from the book of Malachi is found in 3:7.

“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ “ (Malachi 3:7)

Everything from Malachi 3:7 to 4:1, and all of the book, has prepared us for this morning’s message. Malachi has pointed out that the Israelites have abandoned God in their actions and hearts. Many in the Christian church today seem also to have abandoned God. They may continue to attend church services and even tithe, but they live as they please without regard to God’s commands. What is the solution for those who have wandered away from God?

Malachi points out two behaviors between 3:7 and 4:1 which are not the solution. We cannot return to God simply by turning our behavior around. Specifically, though we may have robbed God of the tithe, the solution is not merely to begin tithing again. There is great benefit in trusting God with our money. God richly blesses. But ultimately God doesn’t need our money, He want our hearts. We also cannot return to God while continuing in sin. We can’t call God our Father and then speak against Him. God does not want to save us in our sin, He wants to save us from our sin. Though we will never be perfect in this life, we must be humble, calling on God’s grace.

So how are we to return to God?

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And 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.” (Mal 4:1-6 ESV)

Malachi looked forward to a day when justice would be restored. The wicked will not prosper forever. There is only a limited amount of time to return to God.

How does one return to God? (v. 2) It’s important to note that Malachi contains very little symbolism. Most of what the books contains is very straightforward, concrete language. So, I think, this verse is the turning point of the entire book. Most of the book points out Israel’s failures. But this verse is all about victory and healing and rejoicing! What do we need to do to experience this healing and joy?

1. God is pleased with those who revere His name. You must dethrone yourself as the god of your life. You must honor God as your God.

2. We are instructed also to remember the Law of Moses. The Law shows us how we might please God. The Law keeps us humble because we cannot live up to God’s requirements.

These acts of honoring God’s name and remembering the Law are still not what bring healing to your life. Don’t confuse description with causation. The Sun of Righteousness brings the healing. Though we lived in the darkness of sin, Christ, the Righteous One, came. He allows us to live in the light of God’s glory, no longer separate from God because of sin. We honor God’s name not to be saved, but because He loves us and has saved us! We remember the Law of Moses, and all of the Scriptures, because they point us to Christ! We are saved not by works, but by the grace of God.

And this is how the Old Testament closed. It closed in anticipation of the coming Messiah. He would be the One who would fulfill all of the Old Testament Scriptures. He would do for us what we could not do on our own. As the faithful remnant of Israel waited on the Messiah then, we wait for Him now. We wait for Jesus to return to fulfill this text completely. When He does, we will leap like calves from the stall. Experiencing and taking in a multitude of new sights, smells, sounds. Experiencing the joy of living life free of worry, free of constraints, and free to live!

For the Israelites, the solution to their wandering away from God was to put their hope in the coming Messiah. For us, the Messiah has already come! We must put our hope in what Christ has accomplished! God, through Christ, has paid the price for our sin, and there is no barrier between us and Him. As James tells us, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”