a. (Mt 11:10) “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

b. (Mark 1:2) "As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee."

c. (Luke 1:76) "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;"

d. (Luke 7:27) "This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee."

C. NOTICE HOW GOD IDENTIFIES HIS MESSENGER.

1. (Isa 40:3-5) "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. {4} Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: {5} And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."

a. God calls him Elijah..(Mal 4:5)

2. Jesus would later say that Elijah had come in the person of John the Baptist.

a. (Mat 11:14) "And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.”

b. (Mat 17:10-13) "And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? {11} And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. {12} But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. {13} Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."

c. (Mark 9:11-13) "And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? {12} And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. {13} But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him."

d. (Luke 1:17) "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

2. (Amos 5:18-19) "Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. {19} As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him."

3. The "shall come suddenly" implies the unpreparedness of the Jews, who, to the last of the siege, were expecting a temporal deliverer, whereas a destructive judgment was about to destroy them.

4. So shall it be at the coming of Christ again.

a. (2 Pet 3:3-4) "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, {4} And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."

5. Then ignorantly seek His coming, while really denying it

a. (Isa 5:19) "That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!"

b. (Jer 17:15) "Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now."

Note: Sad indeed is it: The one’s that talk the most about the coming of Christ are generally the least prepared for it.

c. (Ezek 12:22) "Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?"

d. (Ezek 12:27) "Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off."

6. Wherein have we wearied him? "When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?” (Vr. 17)

7. (Isa 5:20) "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

8. (Psa 73:3-5) "For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. {4} For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. {5} They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men."

C. THE WEARIED THE LORD WITH THEIR WORDS. (Vr. 17)

1. They wearied God by departing from his law.

2. They wearied God by robbing him of his tithes and offerings. (Mal 3:10-12)

3. They wearied the Lord with their words," (Mal 3:13)

4. They wearied the Lord by murmuring like their fathers.

5. (Exo 15:24) "And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?"

6. (Exo 16:2) "And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:"

7. (1 Cor 10:10) "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer."

8. The word “murmured” is found 19 times in the Scriptures.

9. Robert West said of Fault Finding: "Nothing is easier than fault-finding. No talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, is required to set up in the grumbling business. But those who are moved by a genuine desire to do good have little time for murmuring or complaint."

10. “Every one that doeth evil.” (Vr. 17) — Clark's Commentary says: "Ye say that it is right in the sight of the Lord to put away a wife, because she has no longer found favor in the sight of her husband. And because it has not been signally punished hitherto, ye

blaspheme and cry out, “Where is the God of judgment?” Were he such as he is represented, would he not speak out? All these things show that this people were horribly corrupt. The priests were bad; the prophets were bad; the Levites were bad; and no wonder that the people were irreligious, profane, profligate, and cruel."

D. NOTICE ISRAEL’S BOLD QUESTION TO GOD AGAIN. (Vr. 17c)

1. "WHERE IS THE GOD OF JUDGMEN?" (Mal 2:17) Thomas Fuller said: "God is a God of judgment: — There was lately a judge in England, whom I need not be afraid to name as the honour of his robe and profession, namely, Judge Doddridge, whom they commonly called “the sleeping judge.” Indeed, he had an affected drowsy posture on the Bench, inasmuch that many persons unacquainted with his custom, and having cases of concernment to be tried before him, have even given up all for lost, expecting no justice from a dormant judge; when he all the while did only retire himself within himself, the more seriously to consult with his own soul about the validity of what was alleged and proved unto him, as appeared afterwards by those oracles of law which he pronounced. Wicked men, in like manner, erroneously suppose God to be a sleeping God,… but in due time He will assuredly confute their mistake.

2. "Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: (Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?) (wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?")

3. They were saying: "Why does he not arise and show himself to be a God that judgeth the earth, by taking vengeance on the wicked, and granting prosperity to his people?"

4. John Gill says; “He will one day and will not be late”: (Mal 3:1; 2 Thess 1:7-9)

5. (Isa 30:18) ".....the LORD is a God of judgment:....."

II. NOTICE GOD’S PREPARING THE WAY THROUGH JOHN THE BAPTIST.

A. HE SHALL PREPARE THE WAY...(MAL 3:1)

1. Eugene Merrill says: "Prepare or make the way clear or smooth or level"

a. “In both Isaiah and Malachi, this is to be taken metaphorically to speak of the removing of obstacles to His coming."

B. “THE LORD WHOM YE SEEK.” (Mal 3:1)

1. "Whom ye seek" is spoken in irony, because they certainly did not desire, nor were they seeking the Lord in (Mal 2:17)

C. THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT WHOM YE DELIGHT IN.

1. “Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? (Mal 1-b &2a)

2. When our Lord came, few were looking for him.

3. Herod’s only interest in him was that he might kill him. (Mt. 2)

4. When our Lord came, his own rejected him. (Jn 1:11)

5. When He was crucified, his death shook the earth. (Mt 27:54)

6. When Jesus came, his message drove a wedge between those who believed and repented and those who closed up their hearts to the overtures of covenant grace. (Mt 3:6-8; 11:7-11).

D. OUR LORD IS LIKE A REFINER’S FIRE. (Mal 3:2)

1. The Silversmith: Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to read the Scriptures, and make them the subject of conversation. While reading the third chapter of Malachi they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

One lady's opinion was that this was intended to convey the view of the sanctifying influence of the grace of Christ. Then she proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them what he said on the subject.

She went accordingly and without telling the object of her errand, begged to know the process of refining silver, which he fully described to her.

"But Sir" she said, "do you sit while the work of refining is going on?" "Oh, yes, madam," replied the silversmith; "I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured." The lady at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Christ sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for them. Their trials do not come at random; "the very hairs of your head are all numbered." As the lady was leaving the shop, the silversmith called her back, and said he had forgotten to mention that the only way that he knows when the process of purifying is complete is when he sees his own image reflected in the silver."

2. Octavous Winslow said: “O my soul, what deep need is there for this refining and purifying of your Lord . . .what inward corruption, what carnality, what worldliness. what self seeking, what creature idolatry, what God dishonoring unbelief! All imperatively demand the searching, burning, purifying fires of Christ's furnace!”

III. NOTICE HOW OUR LORD DO HIS REFINING WORK (Mal 3:3)

A. HE SHALL SIT.

1. C. H. S. on this verse: "The posture would not have been mentioned had it not been instructive.

2. “Sitting looks like the attitude of indifference. There is the metal vexed with a white heat: here is the refiner sitting down.

3. “There is the child of God upon the bed of pain, and he cries, “I My Lord, come and help me”; and there the refiner sits, looks on, but does not stir a hand.

4. “The child of God is sinking in trouble; he fears, like Peter, that the next step may drown him; and there is his Lord, calm and unmoved.

5. “When the apostolic ship was out at sea, and tossed with tempest, Christ was asleep in the hinder part of the vessel Unbelief dares challenge his love because of this apparent apathy: How can he sit still and see us suffer?

6. “She mutters — “He is indifferent: he does not care.” “Carest thou not that we perish?” is the cry of unbelief; and before the heart actually utters it, it begins to think,

7. “Where is the tenderness of Christ? Where is the gentleness of God?

8. “Am I thus to be tortured? Am I thus to be tried? Am I thus to be tossed from billow to billow without a helper?”

9. “Yet after all our crying and tears the refiner sits still!

10. Yes, he to all appearance disregards our prayers and entreaties, and fulfils the description of the text — “He sits.”

B. CONSIDER THIS PHRASE ‘HE SHALL SIT’

1. C. H. S. on this verse: "The posture would not have been mentioned had it not been instructive.

2. “Sitting looks like the attitude of indifference.

3. “There is the metal vexed with a white heat: here is the refiner sitting down.

4. “There is the child of God upon the bed of pain, and he cries, “I My Lord, come and help me”; and there the refiner sits, looks on, but does not stir a hand.

5. “The child of God is sinking in trouble; he fears, like Peter, that the next step may drown him; and there is his Lord, calm and unmoved.

6. “When the apostolic ship was out at sea, and tossed with tempest, Christ was asleep in the hinder part of the vessel

7. “Unbelief dares challenge his love because of this apparent apathy: How can he sit still and see us suffer? She mutters — “He is indifferent: he does not care.”

8. “Carest thou not that we perish?” is the cry of unbelief; and before the heart actually utters it, it begins to think, “Where is the tenderness of Christ?

9. “Where is the gentleness of God? Am I thus to be tortured? Am I thus to be tried? Am I thus to be tossed from billow to billow without a helper?”

10. “Yet after all our crying and tears the refiner sits still! Yes, he to all appearance disregards our prayers and entreaties, and fulfils the description of the text — “He sits.”

C. OUR LORD SITS AS A REFINER. (Vr. 3)

1. "Our Father, who seeks to perfect His saints in holiness, knows the value of the refiner's fire.

2. “It is with the most precious metals that the assayer takes the most pains, and subjects them to the hot fire, because such fires melt the metal, and only the molten mass releases its alloy or takes perfectly its new form in the mould.

3. “The old refiner never leaves his crucible, but sits down by it, lest there should be one excessive degree of heat to mar the metal.

4. “But as soon as he skims from the surface the last of the dross, and sees his own face reflected, he puts out the fire. "

D. OUR LORD SITS AS A REFINER AND PURIFIER OF SILVER. (Vr. 3)

“Grace will complete what grace begins,

To save from sorrows or from sins;

The work that wisdom undertakes

Eternal mercy ne’er forsakes.”

1. F. B. Meyers said: “ IF you are just now in the fire, dear soul, be of good cheer-it shows at least that you are silver, and that you are capable of performing more acceptable service in God's holy Temple. If it were not so, God would not take so much pains. He chastens those whom He loves, and prunes the branches that are already bearing fruit. What a comfort it is that He surrenders this work to no other hands than his own. He may give his angels charge concerning us when we are in danger; but He keeps our purification beneath his special superintendence.”

E. CONSIDER HOW OUR LORD PURIFIES HIS CHILDREN.

1. He uses the sieve to get rid of the chaff of worldliness and to preserve the corn of consecration.

a. (Amos 9:9) "For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth."

b. C. H. S. said: “ Every sifting comes by divine command and permission. Satan must ask leave before he can lay a finger upon Job.”

2. He uses the rod of chastisment to remove from us the folly of wilfulness and to train us in the ways of righteousness.

a. (Heb 12:5-6) "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: {6} For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

3. He puts us in the crucible of refining to remove the dross of unbelief, and waits to see the face of His own character in the silver of our life.

a. (Mal 3:3).

4. He uses the knife of pruning to cut off the fruitless branches of profession, and to strengthen the fruitful branches of love.

a. (John 15:2) "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."

b. “Much of our Lord's purging work is done by means of afflictions of one kind or another.”

5. He puts us in the fire of trial to burn up the evil remnants of old habits formed in sin, and to test the reality of our faith in Christ.

a. (1 Pet 1:7) "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"

b. John Trapp says: "If affliction(which is the trial of our faith) be so exceeding precious, what is faith then, and the promises whereon faith lays hold? This faith is tried by fire. (Rev. 3:18)

c. Calvin says: "If we think so much of gold, a corruptible metal, that we prove it by fire, so that it may acquire its real value, what wonder is it that God should require a similar trial in our faith, since faith has such excellence in His eyes?

6. He puts us on the wheel of fashioning to save us from the uselessness of an aimless life, and to make us a vessel meet for His use.

a. (2 Tim 2:21) "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."

b. F. B. Meyers: “This I would be, O Lord, clay though I am. Be Thou my potter. Make of me what Thou canst and by what process Thou wilt, only let me be what Thou canst use.”

7. And He pours the metal of our inner nature into the mould of His truth, that He may keep us from the shapelessness of worldly ambition and make us answer to the humility of His character.

a. (Rom 6:17) "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you."

b. John MacArthur: “ New believers have an innate and compelling desire to know and obey God’s Word .”

c. Haldane says: "It is perhaps as probable that the reference (form) is to wax or clay or any soft matter that takes the form of the stamp or seal."

F. NOTICE THE CHANGE IN TIME WITH THE WRITER. (Vr. 4) “Then”

1. The writer shifts from the use of the words, "He", "his" of (Vr. 1-4) to "I" in (Vr. 5).

G. THE LORD’S PROMISE OF JUDGMENT ON THE SORCERERS. (Vr. 5)

1. McClintock & Strong: "In the early days, Christians were charged with practicing "Sorcery" Critics claimed that our Lord wrote books on the subject and his followers studied Sorcery down in Egypt and then preached it abroad everywhere."

2. (Exo 7:11) "Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments."

3. (Jer 27:9) "Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:"

4. (Dan 2:2) "Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king."

5. (Rev 21:8) "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

6. (Rev 22:15) "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."

H. THE LORD’S PROMISE OF JUDGEMENT ON THE ADULTERERS. (Vr. 5)

1. Arthur Hugh Clough (1819 - 1861) British poet. wrote: “Do not adultery commit; Advantage rarely comes of it.”

2. (Jere 9:2) "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men."

3. (Jer 23:10) "For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right."

4. Charles Prince of Wales (1948 - ) said: "Do you seriously expect me to be the first Prince of Wales in history not to have a mistress?

5. (Hosea 7:4) "They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened."

6. (Lk 18:11) "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican."

7. (1 Cor 6:9) "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,"

8. (Heb 13:4) "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."

9. (James 4:4) "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

I. GOD’S PROMISE OF JUDGEMENT TO THE SWEARERS. (Vr. 5)

1. This is the only time this word is found in the plural sense.

2. Lord Byron (1788 - 1824) British poet, wrote:

Jack was embarrassed,—never hero more,

And as he knew not what to say, he swore.

3. Webster's 1828 Dictionary: "SWEARER". One who swears; one who calls God to witness for the truth of his declaration. a. A profane person. b. Then the liars and swearers are fools.

4. Thomas Brooks said: ""Better to bear than to swear, and to die than to lie."

5. (Mat 26:74) "Then began he (Simon Peter) to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew."

J. GOD’S PROMISE OF JUDGEMENT UPON THOSE THAT OPPRESSED THE HIRELINGS. (Vr. 5)

1. (Lev. 19:13) "Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning."

Ill. Young man that was hired and paid only $5.00 per day years ago here in Appomattox, Va.

K. GOD’S PROMISE OF JUDGEMENT UPON THOSE THAT OPPRESS THE WIDOWS.

1. This word is found 50 times in Scripture.

2. Remember the way the Jesuits did the widows in our message last week.

3. (Job 22:9) "Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken."

4. (Mt 23:14) “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses,”

5. Boaz behaved properly towards the widows:

a. (Ruth 2:16) “And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.

L. GOD’S PROMISE OF JUDGEMENT UPON THE DEAD-BEAT FATHERS.

1. Don Feder said: "Forget global warming. There's a daddy drought that's blighting the social landscape. The National Fatherhood Initiative has compiled some startling statistics.

2. “In America today, 34 percent of all children are living in households without their biological fathers.

3. “More than a quarter of American children are raised in fatherless homes.

4. “About 40 percent of the kids who are growing up in what the group calls 'father-absent homes' haven't seen the old man in the past year.

5. “Children raised without paternal guidance are two to three times more likely to do poorly in school, be victims of child abuse, use drugs and commit crimes than their counterparts from intact families.

6. “This simple statement of fact should serve as a call to action."