The Refiner's Fire
Notes
Transcript
Order of Service
Order of Service
Welcome
Welcome
Prayer
Prayer
Hymn -
Hymn -
Notices
Notices
Prayer Meeting - 7:30pm
Friday 7pm - Online
Sunday Morning 11am & 6pm
Tithes & Offerings - £
Main Prayer
Main Prayer
Hymn -
Hymn -
Reading
Reading
You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?” “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and 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 fullers’ 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. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. “Then 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.
Sermon
Sermon
Silver/Gold refining
molten & impurities float
repeated until the surface is shiny & bright
reflect the image of the refiner (mirror)
Reflection of the refiner
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
In the Christian that process is through trials and tribulations
and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Refiner in the Old Testament
I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed. Rejected silver they are called, for the Lord has rejected them.”
He purifies Christians as individuals
He also purifies the church
God is preparing the way for the Messiah...
The Situation in Judah
The Situation in Judah
Patience of God ...
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
“You have wearied the Lord”
Malachi brings to their attention the cause of God’s patience wearing thin
Malachi has already drawn attention to people’s worship being an empty charade
Flouting God’s laws
Being faithless towards God and each other
Now Malacho draws attention to their stubborn God-accusing self-righteousness
Temple - People’s Issue 1
The Temple, built by Solomon, has seen a supernatural manifestation of God dwelling in the Temple
Following their return from exile the temple had been rebuilt but God has not come in His Glory
The prophets forsaw that the coming of Jesus and his ministry in their new temple and that the flory of this second temple would eventually be greater than the first
Malachi’s contemporaries had no faith to believe it
The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’ ”
Poverty - People’s Issue 2
they self-rightously felt entitled to God’s Blessing
They dwelled on the apparent prosperity of neighbouring wicked nations
They self-righteously accuse God of being unjust ...
“Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them”
“Where is the God of Justice”
Rather than having faith to see that a loving God was seeking to bring them to repentance through their troubles
All they had to do was read the scriptures (history)
God’s Response
God’s Response
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
“I will send my Messenger” - Prophet [Malaki]
The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His Temple
The Messenger of the Covenant [Malak]
Angel of the Lord / Yahweh
Pre-incarnate manifestation of Jesus (Image of the invisable God)
NB: Simeon waited in the temple
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 fullers’ 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. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
The Lord will come to purify his People
When he does come he will judge you and people like you
“Then 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.
Malachi affirms the ultimate Justice of God
The sins listed were those being perpetrated in Israel
They had become indistinguishable from the world
They were sinning against each other and profaning the covenant
God’s judgement was immediate and he sent no more prophets for 400 years
God waited unil the hypcoritical self-righteous apparent in Malachi’s time had come to its full bitter fruit in the Pharasaical Judaism of the first century AD
The Messenger of the Covenant
The Messenger of the Covenant
The people could see this being attributed to Malachi
Jesus references Mal 3:1 in his reference to John the Baptist
This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
Jesus is the Messenger of the Covenant
He had come to purify His People and their worship of God
God addresses the state of True love for him
his temple (3:1)
his covenant
the spiritual leadership (3:3)
offerings of devotion to Him (3:4)
which is foremost in God’s concern today?
the general morality of our nation or the spirituality and love for him within the professing church?
For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
when God moves in refining he alwways begins in the church
Rapid Change in society
how do we minister to a generation which has lost all respect and confidence in the Bible?
do we love God and long for his name to be hallowed, or not?
Charasmatic movement
they lack theological basis
vast differences within the movement
many groups have terrible errors which must be avoided
but surely God is allowing it to challenge us
we are challenged not simply to attend church and believe the right things but to love God
doctrinal error and division
increasingly errors and deviation from the central truths of the Chrsitian faith are being perpetrated
the elect will discern what is of God and the foolish will be led away into error and eternal loss
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
love alone is not enough
truth alone is not enough
God’s elect will hold them together
God is refining His Church
Hymn - REFINER'S FIRE (814)
Hymn - REFINER'S FIRE (814)
Q&A
Q&A
Hymn -
Hymn -
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Doxology
Doxology