The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. Psalm 28:7, ESV
We can live with confidence and thankfulness that our God has redeemed us and promised to return to restore all things.
But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3, ESV
Our Lord will deal with those who persecute the Church and the one who attacks the faithful, especially when He returns. He will hold His faithful in His faithfulness until then.
It is about time . . . to finish a short message series.
For the past couple of months, I have uploaded short messages based on the book of Malachi. It has been basically based on the section divisions in the English Standard Version of the Bible.
No special titles. Just taking a quick look at what was said.
So read along with me, and let us study what Malachi said to his people about 2,400 years ago.
Remember that Malachi literally means “my messenger”, so he is God’s messenger, as all the Prophets were.
Chapter 1 was about God’s love for His covenant people – those who obey and love Him – versus those who refuse to listen to Him. The priests offered lame, sick, and injured animals as sacrifices, basically taking the Lord’s name in vain by calling it acceptable even though they were worthless gifts.
Chapter 2 can be called the passage about “bovine scatology”, because priests then (and many now) led people astray with false teachings. So God rebuked them and showed they are outside of the covenant.
Chapter 2 finishes with God rebuking not only the priests but any who practice what God said not to, and leads into chapter 3 in which God calls out those who call evil good and vice versa (which leads to His eventual judgment!)
Chapter 3 is largely about stealing from God, which was equated to not sharing the Gospel or giving the Church (and thus God) a bad name so that others want nothing to do with Jesus. It is like robbing God of souls. And this leads to God’s wrath on the ungodly while separating out the godly. Again, He defends those who listen to Him and obey His commands, and He defends His glory.
Now, on to discuss the Great Day of the Lord:
1 “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. 2 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. 3 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.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules[b] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 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.”
God’s Law is:
Love the Lord your God
Love your neighbor (others)
Love each other (the Church)
Elijah:
John the Baptist
Possibly one of the two witnesses in Revelation?
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10
Those who refuse to turn to Christ will be burned by and in fire as eternal punishment for disbelieving and persecuting those who do believe.
Separation from God.
The Great and Awesome Day of the Lord:
2 Peter 3:1-13
All of the heavens and the earth will be dissolved in fire
We must share the gospel
How close are we to the end?
Most deny a global flood
Most claim millions/billions of years
Most turn from God’s Law and do whatever they want
Anything is acceptable and should be celebrated
When Christ returns, He will obliterate all sinfulness from Creation and make a perfect Kingdom on a renewed Earth.
saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Luke 19:38, ESV
First the angels at His birth, and then Israelites at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, gave glory to God at Jesus’ arrival. Someday [soon], all the [believing] world will celebrate Jesus’ return for His faithful!
This is still happening online because of the current mandate for isolation for the C-19 pandemic.
As I, Daniel, am preaching for Palm Sunday, my lovely other-half, Caitlin – who is our Children’s Director at the Church Next Door – recorded a related lesson! Therefore, instead of my wonky mug, you can see her lovely face this week!
So, gather up the kiddos (or enjoy this at any age), and enjoy the collab between a youth pastor and children’s director:
Questions to consider:
Have you had to change your thinking about something? Think of a time you thought you knew what your parents or your friends were doing, but you were wrong.
Even when you have been wrong, did your family still love you? Did you change your mind or make different choices when you found out the truth?
Palm Sunday – Matthew 21:1-11
Jesus is the Son of God, God’s only Son by birth.
He was coming to save us from our sin, but how did the people see Him?
On the first Palm Sunday, when the people laid down palm branches for this king they had been expecting, they had no idea what his real mission was.
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
They saw:
A king coming to change the government
A leader kicking out the bad army
A prophet, a person who speaks God’s word, making God’s house great again.
Look at verse 11 (read again), here comes Jesus, the one everyone is calling the Savior of Israel! Finally! Here is a great prophet and king like Moses or David! He will save us!
The people expected Jesus to change the government, kick out the bad army, and make Israel God’s country, again. He did kick out the businesses selling in the Temple. And He corrected the teachers for teaching the Bible wrong.
And then Jesus, knowing what the people expected of Him, did something unexpected. He was arrested, beaten up, and killed on a cross.
They did not understand that Jesus had to save us from our sins before He stopped all the bad guys.
Remember, Jesus took everyone’s punishment for sin by giving His life, and He gives us righteousness. That does not mean he will remove all of our problems now, but He will provide the solution.
And Jesus our Prophet, speaking the word of God, did promise that His first triumphal entry into Jerusalem was not His last. He is coming back to change the world and stop all of the bad things from happening forever. And we will be with Him forever on a new Earth.
Today is Palm Sunday, everyone, and our King is coming!
Memory verse:
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:20
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9, NASB
Jesus will return, on His timetable. It is okay to long for His return, but remember that He is waiting for the full number of those who believe.
so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:28, ESV
The next time Christ comes, we shall remain with Him forever.
Do we truly love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? Maybe I can help with the mind part, at least! This is Daniel M. Klem, apparent poet, reluctant yet passionate Disciple (Peter?), and foolish man attempting to understand theology!
