God’s Blessings and Our Hope

 

God’s Blessings and Our Hope 

Mal 1:3-5

SUBJECT: CHOSEN BY GOD

THEME: Be thankful for the blessings of love, privilege, and hope from God upon our personal lives, our homes, our churches, and our county.

RELEVANCE:  the Sovereign Choices of God (in the past) Concerning Israel’s General Conditions and Quality of Life Should be Viewed as an Act of His Love. 

INTRODUCTION: 

1. We have seen God’s blessings in the form of love, privileges, and now hope. Where would we be without the hope that God gives? He certainly has given us a prospering HOPE! In truth, we are inundated with a multitude of blessings from God’s generous hands and heart if we would only stop to reflect on this fact.

2. Malachi the prophet delivers God’s Word, the priests and people respond by arguing. It is a dangerous thing when people argue with God and try to defend their sinful ways.

The following insights may be seen.

MESSAGE:

I. We Enjoy Great Love from God, but Some People Ignore It (Mal. 1:1-2).

II.  We Enjoy Great Privileges from God, but Some People are Irresponsible (Mal. 1:2-3).

III. We Enjoy Great Hope in God, but Some People Still Complain (Mal. 1:3-5).

He judged the Edomites (Esau’s descendants) and gave to Israel the best of the lands. He promised Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, but, alas, their sins polluted the land. Even then, he graciously restored them to their land and delivered them from captivity.^[a]

Those, like Edom, without the sovereign blessings of God, are left in a much worse condition. Israel needed to consider what her lot would have been if she, like Edom, had not been chosen to a covenant relationship with Yahweh.

A. INSTEAD OF HOPE, GOD STOOD AGAINST THEIR PROSPERITY.  Mal. 1:3, I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

These men, the men of Edom, struggled hard to build up their kingdom and to give it wealth and power, but the product of all their labors was utterly destroyed. Their great things, their “mountains,” their wealthy things, their “heritage,” the scenes of their power, gave place to the “dragons of the wilderness.” Where is Edom now? If God has determined that the fortune you have built up after years of earnest and hard work shall be swept away, it will depart like a dream of the night. Things would be a lot worse without the blessings of God!

Israel would see the desolation of Edom, and they would acknowledge the greatness of God.^[b]

Israel, seeing God’s sovereign dealings with Edom, would have a better understanding not only of God’s love for her, but also of His greatness over all the earth^[c]

B. INSTEAD OF HOPE, GOD FRUSTRATED THEIR EFFORTS.

Malachi 1:4, Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.

Even Edom’s greatest efforts to rebuild its ruins would be frustrated by the Lord Almighty^[d]

Edom’s future prospects were as bleak as its present condition. The dispossessed Edomites boasted that they would reclaim the land and rebuild their country. Yahweh declared that they would never be able to make good on their boasts. Every time the Edomites attempted to rebuild, Yahweh would “throw them down.” The Edomites were successively beaten down by the Nabataeans, the Macedonians, the Maccabees, the Romans and the Mohammedans (1:4a).^[e]

   1.  They struggle to restore their position, labor hard to build the desolate places, but in every effort they are thwarted.  It is in vain to strive against God.

   2.  Remember that all this refers to the position or conditions of life–the material prosperity of people. God’s sovereignty is always in favor of spiritual prosperity, progress in intelligence, purity, and happiness. In all these matters men cannot labor in vain.

The Edomites shall be made the monuments of God’s justice, and he will be glorified in their utter destruction^[f]

The Israelites shall be made the monuments of his mercy, and he will be glorified in their salvation^[g]

C. INSTEAD OF HOPE, GOD ENSURED THEIR ENEMY’S PROSPERITY.

Malachi 1:5, And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel.

    1.  Edom hated Israel from the beginning, fought hard against it for centuries, struggled continually to destroy it, but all in vain. The time came when it found itself in ruins and its enemy in prosperity.

    2.  QUOTE: “The argument of these verses is this,  if you would see the difference between hatred and love, look at the different condition and prospects of Edom and Israel. The desolation with which their territory is visited is irremediable: they have no glorious future beyond: whereas the wretched condition of which you complain is but the bleakness of seed time that precedes the richest harvest.” — Dr. Dods

    3.  In Contrast, Israel was enjoying God’s blessings again with the promises of a brighter future!

Application: Being defensive and argumentative complaining is typical of feeling ashamed, hurt, guilty, or attacked by God and the prophet Malachi. When facing such convictions by the Holy Spirit a person tries to defend themselves from feeling angry, hurt, or ashamed! They perceive the truth or think that God is too harsh and critical for confronting them.

Application: Complaining is how these Jewish individuals expressed their dissatisfaction and discontentment with God. They were crying, bellyaching, and whining about how unfairly God had treated them which seem to be a part of their habitual grumbling. For them it was normal to criticize, bemoan, disagree with, and gripe about their apparent lack of hope. They saw no hope in the love of God; they didn’t even notice or counted God’s love at all.  

CONCLUSION.

Aren’t we as individuals, homes, churches, and Americans among the peoples whom God has especially blessed and smiled upon? Are these words not especially applicable to us, “I have loved you, saith the Lord”? What should we think of our country, civilization, our freedoms, our fruitful lands, our prospering hopes?

Above all, what about our Lord Jesus Christ? 1 John 4:10, Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God’s goodness being his glory, when he does us good we must proclaim him great, for that is magnifying him. It is an instance of his goodness that he has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants, and for this those that love his salvation say, The Lord be magnified, Ps. 35:27.^[h]

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have bestowed on my life. You have provided me with more than I could ever have imagined. You have surrounded me with people who always look out for me. You have given me family and friends who bless me every day with kind words and actions. There are many more blessings to thank You for, and they are as countless as the stars in the night sky. Your grace never fails to amaze me, O God.

---

^[a] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Mal 1:1–5.

^[b] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1175.

^[c] Craig A. Blaising, “Malachi,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1576.

^[d] Craig A. Blaising, “Malachi,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1576.

^[e] James E. Smith, The Minor Prophets, Old Testament Survey Series (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1994), 623.

^[f] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1596.

^[g] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1596.

^[h] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1596.

What Is Real Success? II

GENESIS 13:5-13

Beloved, the Christian who is directed by the Lord Jesus will lead a successful spiritual life. In contrast the Believer who persists in their self-satisfying plans while ignoring the leadership of the Lord is destined for serious and painful failures.

In this biblical account, the revived Abraham has learned to follow God by faith; he is leading a God-centered life. In contrast though, Lot, Abraham's nephew, persists in carnality choosing his own way living primarily by sight.  Because Abraham walks by faith he receives direction and comfort from the Lord; as a result he leads a successful spiritual life.  Lot, on the other hand, experiences one disaster after another because he habitually capitulates to his fallen motives. So, not only is Lot a Believer, he is also a Between-er!

Yes, Lot Is Also a Between-er

He loved bordering with the world. He did not really understand spiritual separation or holy insulation! He did not adequately insulate himself from the negative impact of a depraved culture. A "Between-er" avoids making the hard decisions about fully identifying with the Lord. They prefer trying to please everyone; they avoid taking a stand on anything except the need to be more tolerant. In contrast, living in intimate fellowship with the Lord makes Him our primary Influencer in daily life. Intimate fellowship with the Lord will lead to standing firmly for righteousness in loving and responsible ways. Lot appears to be straddling the fence in the OT account stalemating holy progress. Too much worldly influence or input will certainly contribute to spiritual failures. Lot's growth stagnated; he was not reaching new heights in worship, or exploring new depths of devotion to the Lord--He remains carnal (1 Cor. 3:1-3)! That within itself is a real tragedy!          

First Peter 2:2-3, says "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3, If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious."

Our Lord expects us to grow up and influence others for Him. If we are spiritually healthy people, then like a newborn baby we will have a carnivorous appetite for more milk. It is a consuming desire...we yearn for more.  A baby that is not hungry or thirsty for milk is sick! All through our Christian journey, regardless of our level of maturity, we should always have this insatiable thirst for the pure undiluted Word of God. Just like people need to eat to survive, a Christian requires spiritual nourishment from God's Word to sustain moral and holy development. If we do not hunger for the Lord, righteousness, and the Bible it may be because we have had far too much junk food from the world. Furthermore, each genuine Believer already knows that the Lord is good and gracious.  We all can testify to the fact that sitting at His table is a delicious experience indeed! O' taste and see that the Lord is good! Why not crave yearningly for more of God? 

This process of growth will stall if we are indecisive about spiritual pursuits and rather casual with God. So many Believers have one foot firmly planted in the world's values and philosophies while placing the other foot tentatively in the life of faith. Believers receive incredible doses of input from worldly venues while exposing themselves to spiritually healthy content once a week and occasionally when they remember to read the Word. So many cannot recall five minutes later what they read in the Bible. Too many never digest a Sunday sermon outside of the walls of the church. If the pastor asked his congregation what he had preached on the previous Sunday it is alarming how many Believers would struggle to recall the content. At the same time these same people can rattle off football and baseball statistics effortlessly. They can recall exactly what was said on Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, and who tore their achilles tendon in last week's football game. If you asked them to recall the sixty-six books of the Bible too many will not be able to do so. Ask them to name the twelve original disciples and they cannot. When it comes to making decisions, they do not even think of seeking the face of God for direction. They simply decide as if God does not exist! They are unsure and indecisive about the things of God, but they think and cherish godless values. Worldliness and carnal pursuits dominate the way they think, and these determine what is really important. As such they do not stand decidedly for God or righteousness. Then there are those who will take a stand or a position at the drop of a hat, but their approach is godless, worldly, mean-spirited, and carnal. They may be saying the right things, but they clearly are not saying them in the right way. Such is the case for 'Believers' who are essentially 'Between-ers'. I understand we all have a great deal of maturing yet to realize, but that too requires a deliberate choice and utter dependence on God. 

Now think with me for a moment considering carefully the following statement,

On Jupiter, 318 times more massive than the earth, gravity at the surface is so intense that an astronaut in his space suit would weigh nearly half a ton.  Even if he could safely land, we cannot yet provide him with a propulsive force strong enough to get him off again. (Source Unknown)

The massive gravitational pull of self-centered pursuits can be incredibly powerful. Such influences can appear impossible to overcome. Sometimes our unsaved friends, social media connections, the things we read, internet surfing habits, what we watch on TV, what we hear on the radio, and the goals we have set for our lives can cause us to become “Between-ers” instead of being “Distinctively Christian”. The gravitational pull of some of these  things is greater than that of Jupiter, and the only thing that will give us the propulsion we need to break away from these harmful influences is the Power of  God’s Word! But, we must want to break away...we must yearn to be free and available to the Lord Jesus. By consuming God's Word we can grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord allowing His influence in our lives to become supreme.

If you are having trouble with being a “Between-er,” then concentrate more on the Word of God--it will pry your heart, mind, and soul away from the World, Sin, and Satan. Turn your TV off and open your Bible to the Gospel of John and start reading through the Book. Log off your social media account to spend more time in the Word. Schedule this as a priority. I realize we sometimes feel impressed to be loyal to unhealthy relationships, which in effect devalues our relationship with God. If we are not careful we can become more concern with being acceptable to others while forgetting the priority of pleasing the Lord first and foremost. Too often our plan trumps God's plan without much deliberation or internal conflict. Before long we have grown accustomed to turning to God only for emergencies.... A coldness replaces the warm fellowship with the Lord, and we simply are not as bothered with this development as we once were. 

Devotion to God brings us into the reality of belonging exclusively to Him and His Plan for our life finally becomes our priority! Once again God's precious Word is the key. There is incredible power available through the living Word. This is repeated frequently in the Scriptures. The Lord Jesus says in John 15:3, "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." Cleansing of the soul, spirit, and lifestyle is through the powerful Word of God. Later in John's Gospel our Lord says in John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." This is Christ's prayer to our heavenly Father! To sanctify is to set us apart reserving us for God's uses, purposes, pleasure, and glory. Clearly God's Truth sets us apart unto Him as we appropriate its precepts and principles into our thinking and behaviors. The Word can indeed do this and multiplied millions of genuine Believers can testify to its impact in their lives. The Bible will move us off the fence!

The sweet Psalmist of Israel tells us in Psalms 119:9, saying, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word." Heeding and adhering to God's biblical instructions will result in cleansed lifestyles. This is true for the young and old alike; real changes are evident in the experience of the Believer who takes God's requirements seriously. This great chapter in the Bible also says in Psalms 119:11, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." As a strategy against habitually sinning against the Lord God we are instructed to place His Words in our hearts. That is memorizing portions of Scripture for the sake of recalling it whenever opportunity presents itself to think more on God's statements. This deepens our understanding of a passage while bringing it into different scenes of life revealing new applications and fresh ways to implement a truth in the most relevant ways. As we carry God's truth in our souls we become aware of potential violations or mild infractions against God's plan for us. Ultimately hiding the Word in our minds and hearts should result in fewer violations of God's holy standards. 
This great chapter affords one more helpful insight...God's Word can shape and inform our emotions. Read carefully Psalms 119:104, where David says, "Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way." God's precepts can increase our understanding of the Lord, His ways, and priorities. As such we become impressed with how God feels about certain issues, behaviors, and practices. Godliness in part is viewing things from His perspective; it is adopting His feelings about various things. What He hates, we in turn hate also; likewise whatever He appreciates and loves we come to love as well. Thus from deep within and because of the influence of God's Old Book we gravitate away from straddling the fence of compromise and indifference to become people of strong love and convictions. There is no question as to who we are loyal to. We live decidedly Christian.  

Beloved, ALLOW GOD TO BRAINWASH YOU WITH HIS PURIFYING TRUTH! Bring your heart and soul to God, and allow the Spirit of God to teach you life cleansing truth. For some individuals God will need to completely format their brain’s hard drives to reprogram their minds with His pure truth. Please do not feel bad, we all have been there.... First John 1:9 is still applicable to each of us and we have incredible reasons to be thankful for this gracious provision. Own your mistakes; confess them clearly to the Lord without watering them down. Ask Him for forgiveness, cleansing, power, and positive changes. Change your mind about your sin, and trust the Lord to empower positive changes. 

An illustration of genuine SPIRITUAL SUCCESS can be found in the biblical character Joshua. You recall God shared with him the key to spiritual success in Joshua 1:7-9, saying, Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 8, This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 9, Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

The same principles apply to us still today. There are no shortcuts to spiritual success, but the alternative of failure is not at all inviting. You see God has a plan for you just as He did for Joshua. He is available to encourage you to be strong and courageous as you select and pursue His plan for you. God does give spiritual success and prosperity as we walk with Him and trust Him to be our primary Influencer. Again these are spiritual blessings you and I can cash in on. No, we are not promised material riches; we actually have something much better. We have a life with Almighty God! And if all the truth is explored, we will discover that He is exceedingly gracious and generous to us. 

Therefore, Lot Was Vulnerable to Worldly Appeals

Yes, because Lot was weak in his devotions living as a Between-er, he was quite vulnerable to godless allurements and seductions. As a result he follows a path designed by Satan to lure him off the course that God had for him. Notice the steps to his plunge into compromise, worldliness and be warned. Beloved, these are the steps to spiritual failure!

       1) He Was Weak in His Devotions, No altar or direction from God    Vs 5

       2) He Experienced Strife     Vs 7

       3) He Walked By Sight    Vs 10

       4) He Chose Selfishly     Vs 11

       5) He Pitched His Tent towards Wickedness—No Separation    Vs 12

       6) He Stayed Away from God’s Man—No Spiritual Influence   Vs 12; 14:12, 13 (He would be the kind of Christian who stays away from church too much!)

       7) He sat in the Gates of Sodom (Political Power, local official) Vs 19:1

Well there you have it. Lot's trek to spiritual failures that marked his entire heritage. Again the overarching problem was the fact that he had no spiritual restraint in his life. This was the result of the fact that he was weak in his devotion to Jehovah. This predictably led to decision making without any input from the Word of God. There was little or no truth influencing this man's values and behaviors. He was piloting his own airplane and sailing his own ship. Beloved, God must be our captain! As a result he failed to realize God's plan and purpose for him. In addition, he paid an incredible price for this in his own family in multiple ways. 

I do not think I know anyone who wants to be a failure. Lot had wealth and some temporal power, but he was a failure in life. Still today many consider material wealth, power, and professional achievement as the marks of successful people. No, Lot's story is a bold warning against such thinking! We can know success in life, but only as God Himself defines it. Living oblivious of His direction and priorities will not result in real success. Such a life can only be viewed as a miserable failure. It cost Lot far more than he ever intended to pay. Let us learn from the failures of Lot and avoid making the same mistakes He did. It leads to failure on many different levels when we assume we can handle life on our own without the Lord's influence. Make a priority of living in harmony and intimate fellowship with God through prayer and His Word. Be sure to build your own altar unto God in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Spend time in the presence of God allowing Him to shape your values and direct your energies. As a result you will know real success! The kind of success and spiritual prosperity that is free of frustrations and regrets!