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May I turn in your Bibles to 
the prophet Malachi chapter 3? We'll look at Malachi chapter 
3 verses 13 to 18 this morning. God willing, we'll take up the 
latter portion of Colossians chapter 3 this evening. Malachi 3, I'll actually pick 
up reading in chapter 2 verse 17. You have wearied the Lord 
with your words, yet you say, In what way have we wearied him? 
In that you say, Everyone who does evil is good in the sight 
of the Lord, and he delights in them. Or 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, even 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 launderer's soap. He will set as a refiner and 
a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi 
and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord 
an offering in righteousness. then the offering of Judah and 
Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, 
as in former years. And I will come near you for 
judgment. I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, 
against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and 
widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien, 
because they do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. For I 
am the Lord, I do not change. Therefore, you are not consumed, 
O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers 
you have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return 
to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you 
said, In what way shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet you have 
robbed me. But you say, In what way have 
we robbed you? in tithes and offerings, your 
curse with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the 
storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And try me 
now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for 
you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing 
that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke 
the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the 
fruit of your ground. Nor shall the vine fail to bear 
fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts. And all nations 
will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says 
the Lord of hosts. Your words have been harsh against 
me, says the Lord. Yet you say, what have we spoken 
against you? You have said, it is useless 
to serve God. What prophet is it that we have 
kept his ordinance and that we have locked as mourners? before 
the Lord of hosts. So now we call the proud blessed, 
for those who do wickedness are raised up. They even tempt God 
and go free. Then those who feared the Lord 
spoke to one another. The Lord listened and heard them. 
So a book of remembrance was written before him for those 
who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name. They shall be mine, 
says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I make them my jewels. 
And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves 
him. Then you shall again discern 
between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves 
God and one who does not serve him. Amen. Let us pray. Father, thank you for this, your 
word. We pray for the ministry of your spirit now. Again, we 
pray for forgiveness as we come to study the scripture. We pray 
for sin's darkening influence to be cast out, washed away and 
purged through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask God 
in heaven that we would receive what you would have for us in 
this passage, that we would not fall prey to the same sorts of 
sins that they fell prey to in Israel of old. God, we confess 
though, as we read this section, we are convicted. We pray that 
you would wash us and purify us and help us to glorify you 
in our words. And we pray through Christ the 
Lord. Amen. One of the things that we have 
been doing in our studies through the minor prophets is seeing, 
I hope at least seeing, how relevant these prophets are to the Church 
of the Lord Jesus Christ in the 21st century. Some might even 
ask the question, why study a 5th century B.C. prophet? What possible 
benefit could Malachi have for a day such as our own? Malachi, 
of the prophets that were writing prophets in the Old Testament, 
is at least probably known by name. The reason we know Malachi 
by name is because he's the last book in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, 
that shows us something of our biblical illiteracy. All we know 
about Malachi is that his was the last book in the Old Testament. 
So as far as the writing prophets of Israel go, at least we know 
this particular man. Remember that he ministered after 
the exile. He ministered after Judah had 
gone into captivity in Babylon for those 70 years. After the 
captivity, after the people returned back to the land, back to Israel, 
back specifically to Judah. It was about 50,000 people in 
various deportations. But remember that there were 
two prophets that initially preached that the people should rebuild 
the temple. Those prophets were Haggai and Zechariah. And then about that time, there 
were two religious reformers by the names of Ezra and Nehemiah. They governed. Ezra was a priest and Nehemiah 
was the governor. And they functioned in Israel 
at this particular time. And then comes Malachi, the last 
of the writing prophets, contemporary probably with Nehemiah, ministering 
in Judah in about the 5th century BC. Probably around the 440s, 
give or take a few decades on either side. So very often when 
you read Ezra and Nehemiah, you see the sins that they are dealing 
with. It's the same sort of thing that 
Malachi takes up. There was a problem intermarrying 
with pagans. Remember that Ezra mandated divorce. They were to separate themselves 
from pagan wives. Well, what Malachi does is he 
deals with that same thing also. And when they married pagans, 
they were unfortunately leaving the wives of their youth, their 
Israelite wives, and they were putting them away. And Malachi 
speaks to that particular abuse. Another problem that Nehemiah 
prophesied, or Nehemiah taught against, rather. He wasn't a 
prophet, but he taught against tithing. Same thing that Malachi 
takes up in Malachi chapter 3. So there's a lot of similarities 
between these two religious reformers and the prophet Malachi. But 
as we look specifically at verses 13 to 18, we'll see this morning 
two types of theological speech, two types of theological speech, 
two ways of speaking about God, if not verbally, if not audibly, 
at least internally. The things that are said here 
and condemned here. I don't know that necessarily 
everybody stood on street corners and preached these things, but 
they certainly fought back. They certainly entertained bad 
theology. They certainly entertained false 
thoughts about God. And it thrust itself out in their 
conduct and oftentimes in their speech. So there's two ways of 
speaking about God in this passage. There is, first of all, in verses 
13 to 15, the ones who spoke harsh words. And then in verses 
16 to 18, there are the ones who spoke reverent words. Again, I think as we move along, 
you'll see there is nothing new under the sun. The same sorts 
of things that Malachi's contemporaries were speaking, either audibly 
or internally, about the living and true God are the same sorts 
of things that we meet with in the churches and among professing 
Christians. In fact, we oftentimes see book 
titles with the kind of language that is condemned in this particular 
section. It's interesting. Do a brief 
search on Christian books at a place like christianbook.com. 
You'll find books with the catchy titles like, Why do bad things 
happen to good people? Written by contemporaries. And 
then, of course, you'll see Thomas Watson and they're all things 
for good. His thesis is, is that good works out even for bad people 
because God is kind and gracious and merciful. But the sorts of 
things condemned specifically in verses 13 to 15 are the sorts 
of things we need to guard our hearts against. We need to watch. We need to pray. We need to be 
careful. Essentially what the people were 
saying is that it's useless to serve God. It's unprofitable 
to serve God and it's unfair to serve God. You might see there 
was a change this morning. Usually we do Malachi in the 
evening. I wanted broad exposure for this particular message because 
I suspect That if we are not verbalizing these things, they 
are latent in our hearts. And we need to guard against 
venting such blasphemy against the living and true God. So let's 
take up verses 13 to 15. First of all, the ones who spoke 
harsh words. There is a similar pattern that 
we found in the various discourses in Malachi. There is an indictment. God, the Lord, through his prophet, 
tells the people they're in sin. It's not a beautiful thing. God, 
in his kindness and in his mercy, tells us when we're in sin. We 
may not like to hear that. We certainly don't like it if 
a friend or a loved one comes to us and says, you're in sin, 
but faithful are the wounds of a friend. The only path to genuine 
healing is to find out the malady, to find out the affliction, to 
find out the problem before we can seek, by God's grace, to 
treat it. And that is precisely what the 
Lord does here in these various oracles revealed through His 
prophet Malachi. He says, Your words have been 
harsh against me, says the Lord. John Gill describes it this way, 
hard and strong. They bore very hardly upon him 
and were exceeding impudent and insolent, murmuring at his providence, 
arraigning his justice and goodness and despising his word, worship 
and ordinances. That's a great explanation of 
what it means to speak harshly against the God of heaven and 
earth. We've already seen that take 
place according to chapter 2 in verse 17. There the Lord through 
Malachi says, you have wearied me with your words. In fact, 
we just read it. You're probably not far from 
there. Please compare this for reference for this morning. You 
have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, in what way 
have we wearied him? In that you say, everyone who 
does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights 
in them. Where is the God of justice? In other words, it's 
bad theology. It's terrible theology. It is 
unsound doctrine. It is this idea that God is not 
involved in the lives of his people. God doesn't care about 
their sufferings, about their wants, about their concerns. 
God is an absentee ruler or king that really doesn't take precedence 
or doesn't act in this particular world. This is a sin. This is evil. This is wretched. This is bad. When you've got 
problems in your life, the first response ought not to be, where 
is God? But generally, isn't that our 
first response? Why is God doing this to me? Why is God inflicting me? Why are bad things happening, 
at least to this good person? What in the world is he thinking? 
It's bad theology. It is unsound doctrine, and that 
is precisely the condemnation of the indictment of chapter 
3, verse 13. But then notice, as has been 
commonplace among these people of Judah in the fifth century 
B.C., they respond with, who us? What do you mean, Lord? How have we spoken harshly against 
you, Lord? You must have us mixed up with 
someone else, Lord. It would never be my holy lips 
or my holy heart or my holy ears that would ever give vent to 
such wickedness and lawlessness as what we find here, as we have 
caused to notice throughout this book of Malachi, when God condemns 
Onan. In fact, this morning, if you 
are convicted, don't say, oh me, what are you crazy? I only operate according to sound 
doctrine of biblical theology 24-7. I never let fly any words 
of unbelief. I never entertain any thoughts 
of unbelief. I am just the most upright and 
sterling specimen of a Christian. I doubt that. I really doubt 
that. I'm growing increasingly tired 
of people confessing my sins, but I will confess this sin for 
probably most of us. You might be the exception. We 
all find ourselves in verses 14 and 15, at least to some degree 
or other. So jump on, pay attention, own 
it, and repent. Yet you say, what have we spoken 
against you? Notice the answer. It's already 
mentioned. Three. First of all, it is useless 
to serve God. We call this pragmatism. Kids, 
pragmatism is a big word that simply means this. Is it practical? Does it benefit me? Do I grow as a result of the 
use of this particular thing? pragmatism. It's hardwired in 
us. We don't like to spend time doing 
things that don't make us happy. This is what they're saying in 
the fifth century B.C. And again, I think if you listen, 
you'll hear echoes of this in the modern church. I think if 
you listen, you'll hear echoes of this in some of your friends 
that profess faith in Christ. And I think if you listen really 
hard, you'll hear echoes of this in your own soul. It is useless 
to serve God. I tried and nothing happened. I walked with the Lord and my 
life is still a mess. I said the sinner's prayer or 
I came forward in church. And you know what? My life got 
exponentially worse. What good is it? Why should I 
want to serve God? What benefit is there for me? 
How do I prosper? How do I grow? How am I realized? How is my happiness fulfilled? 
How does this world revolve around me? That's the essence of the 
complaint here. It is pragmatism. Man wants a 
practical God that will solve his problems. Man wants a practical 
God that will alleviate his difficulties. Man wants a practical God who 
will fill his bank account. A practical God who will chill 
out his wife and kids. A practical God who will benefit 
him in the workplace. Man desperately longs for, man 
desperately desires, and man is seeking after a God to serve 
him. This is what was going on in 
Malachi's day. It is useless to serve God. There's an illustration of this 
in the fall of the Northern Empire. the northern kingdom, rather, 
of Israel. That happened in about the 8th 
century BC. Samaria came in. According to 
the covenant curses written in the book of Deuteronomy, Assyria 
comes in and conquers the northern tribes. And what they do is they 
take the most of Israel and take them back to Assyria, probably 
putting them in various places along the way and then bringing 
other peoples that were conquered and putting them in Samaria, 
which was the capital of the northern kingdom. And at that 
particular time, everybody started to worship, not according to 
the written word of God, but according to their own will. 
according to their own mind. In fact, it looked very much 
like modern evangelicalism. Innovation and creativity was 
the thing of the day. Of course, Yahweh doesn't take 
kindly to that, so what does he do? He sends lions, and these 
lions start eating people. That would put a damper on your 
worship services, wouldn't it? If a lion ever runs into this 
doorway, we all dodge and hide because we've offended God in 
some way or other. So what do the peoples respond 
with? The peoples respond with this. There's still a priest and he 
happens to be living in Bethel. He's a priest of Yahweh. Let's 
use him to get enough information so that we can try to appease 
Yahweh to get rid of this lion problem. Notice pragmatism. They don't 
want to worship Yahweh according to the law. They don't want to 
bow before Him in acceptable worship with reverence and awe. 
They don't want to fear Him and celebrate Him and delight in 
His redemptive plan, delight in His glorious truth. They want 
enough of Israel's religion to stave off the lions. They want a religious exterminator, 
is what they want. It is pragmatism to the core. That's what's happening in the 
5th century B.C. It is useless to serve God. I love what Dale Wild Davis comments 
on that scene with reference to wanting the Levite, to wanting 
the priest to keep the lions from the peoples. He said, and 
some religion can be that pragmatic. This is that word, kids. Don't 
say, what's that mean? It means something practical. 
You go camping. You take items that are pragmatic. 
When you go camping, you don't take things you can't use in 
the woods. It's not pragmatic. You don't 
take your teddy bear, unless you're really attached. It's 
not practical. He's going to get dirty. You 
don't want that. But you're going to take a cup, because you want 
water, you want hot chocolate. That's a pragmatic item to take 
out into the woods. You certainly want a sleeping 
bag. You don't necessarily need your whatever sheets that you 
keep on your bed, your cowboys or your spacemen or whatever 
happen to deck your sheets. That's not pragmatic. Pragmatic 
means using something because it prospers you. You see, when 
it comes to not bringing our sheets out into the wilderness 
and bringing a sleeping bag, that pragmatism isn't bad, is 
it? In fact, that's legit. We should function that way. 
We should operate that way. But when it comes to man, the 
creatures, relation to the living and true God who inhabits eternity, 
how dare us say something this foul, this polluted in this blasphemous? It is useless to serve God. Dale Ralph Davis says, some religion 
can be that pragmatic. We must do something to get rid 
of these lions. So some create a protective faith 
that charms away troubles, that deals with threats to one's security. This is going on today. We want 
enough Jesus to protect us. We want enough Jesus to make 
us happy. We want enough Jesus to benefit 
us and to prosper us. We don't want the King of Kings 
and the Lord of Lords who tells us we need to obey him. We don't 
want the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords who tells us that 
we must worship him. We certainly don't want to read 
his word. We don't want to pray. We don't 
want to go to church, even though the gates of Zion are beautiful 
to God the Lord. It's just not for us. I mean, 
after all, it's boring. There's much more pleasing things 
I can do with my Sunday. You see, pragmatism vertically 
is wicked. He says the big question is not, 
is it true, but will it work to avoid discomfort? Much of 
modern preaching is simply that. Not is it true, but how does 
it benefit you? How does it make you happy? How 
does it make you whole? How does it make you complete? 
How does it give you a shot in the arm for your week? And I 
think some of us probably have that idea of corporate worship 
in the Lord's Day Sabbath. We come here first and foremost 
to get our batteries charged. No, we don't. I hate to break 
this to you, but we come to worship the Trident God of heaven and 
earth. Now, in his kindness, goodness 
and mercy, he recharges our batteries because he's good. The primary 
function for you to get out of bed on a Sunday morning is not 
so you'll feel better. It's so that God will be glorified 
and praise in that place that he loves. He loves the gates 
of Zion. Dale Ralph Davis says, the big 
question is not, is it true? But will it work to avoid discomfort, 
to ward off disaster? He said in the wake of catastrophes, 
like 9-11, comes the question, where is or where was God? He says nothing wrong with asking 
that question, but sometimes there's a fallacious assumption 
behind it. That means a false assumption 
behind it. Namely, that God is supposed 
always to make life safe. That God is my existential pacifier, 
and if he does not guarantee my security, of what use is he? Religion, you know, is the end 
of the quote, ought to get rid of the lions. Is that your religion? Is that 
how you treat God? Is that how you approach holy 
things? Does it work for me? Does it benefit me? You know 
what happens when the church preaches this kind of drivel? 
That's not drivel. That's a dignified term. When 
the church preaches this blasphemy and heresy, what happens to people? Sinners. Goats. They hear that 
coming to Christ means life will go well for you. They hear that 
coming to Christ is much akin to drinking a Coke. Things go 
better with Coke, don't they? So, of course, things go better 
with Jesus. But, you know, they don't realize 
that our God isn't tame. He is good, but He isn't tame. And sometimes there are trials. Sometimes there are difficulties. 
Sometimes there are great struggles to conform a man to the image 
of Jesus Christ. There is God's way of weaning. 
There is God's way of pruning. There is God's way of destroying 
so that he can build us back up. And so when the goat finds 
out that things don't go better with Jesus after all, he'll just 
go into some other field and try whatever they're serving. The church that preaches Jesus 
as Coca-Cola is a church that ought to be shut down. It is 
a synagogue of Satan. It is betrayed. It's trust. It 
is not preaching and upholding sound doctrine. And as a result, 
we ought to pray, Lord God most high, remove those lampstands. The obvious approach in this 
or the obvious problem in this approach of verse 15, it is useless 
to serve God. It is an abomination because 
it treats God like a lucky charm whose only reason for existence 
is to please us. Is everybody trafficking with 
me? Everybody tracking? You see how bad this is? There's 
an instance of this in 2 Samuel chapter 4. Israel is losing in 
the battle. And so they trot out the Ark 
of the Covenant, not in humble submission to the Lord God Almighty, 
not beseeching Him for His presence on the battlefield, but they 
trot out the Ark as if it's a lucky charm. The very presence of the 
Ark will certainly Bring death and destruction to our enemies. 
You know what God does? He brings death and destruction 
to Israel to teach them that he's not a four-leaf clover. 
He is not a holy horseshoe. He's not the rabbit's foot that 
you keep in your pocket and you rub for good luck when things 
look rough. Pragmatism. It is useless to 
serve God. It is an abomination because 
it treats God like a lucky charm whose only reason for existence 
is to make man happy. You talk to the older brothers 
and the older sisters in our church, and you say, what's it 
been like as a Christian? Have you just sang zippity-doo-dah 
through your life? Do you just whistle and dance 
and there's never been trials or difficulties? There's trials, 
man. There's difficulties. Now, by the grace of God, they're 
whistling, they're singing, they're praising. Sometimes it's couched 
in difficulty and in trial and in perplexity. Sometimes it's 
just them crawling along by the grace of God. You ask them, though, 
would you trade it for anything in the world? Absolutely not. 
You see, I had some rough edges, and if God hadn't taken me through 
those paths, I'd be the most proud, arrogant wretch in the 
world. Praise Him for His mercies and grace. So there's this idea 
of the Christian life that it's all useful. We just rub the genie 
lamp, and out pops God with our three wishes. We say, give us 
a billion wishes, God. And when He doesn't do that, 
we treat Him with contempt. It's blasphemy. It is the pathway 
to endless frustration for those who think Christianity is all 
about their happiness. I think, children, if I have 
one lesson to convey to you, if God were to take me this day, 
my instruction to you is to remember this very thought. God is the 
main thing in the Bible, not you. I think that's a fundamental 
hermeneutical principle that the sooner we get our minds wrapped 
around, the better off we'll be. Puts everything into the 
proper perspective. God is central. The Lord Most 
High is central. His glory, His worship, His praise, 
His exaltation trumps yours and mine happiness every time. Now, the saint of Christ believing 
the gospel finds nothing more delightful, finds nothing more 
joyful. He wouldn't want it the other 
way around. He doesn't want God to be an 
idolater. He doesn't want himself to be 
the center of all things. He doesn't want to be the measure 
of all things. He doesn't want God to be his servant. The saint 
of Christ, the believer in the gospel, wants things the way 
they're supposed to be. Theology first. It's useless 
to serve God. Notice, secondly, what they said. 
Verse 14, you have said it is useless to serve God. Notice 
what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance and that we 
have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts? So if the 
first statement, it being useless, indicates something of pragmatism, 
doing that which is practical and beneficial for me, This one 
is a mercenary spirit. And what mercenary means is that 
we do something for profit. We do something because it will 
put money in our pocket. We do something because it will 
increase our bank account. Tonight, brothers, we're going 
to look at, brothers and sisters, slaves and masters. Slaves work 
hard. Be diligent. Do you see a man 
who excels in his work? Solomon asks that question. He 
will stand before kings. You go to work with that spirit 
and that attitude of hard work, diligence, anti-slothfulness, 
anti-slug, anti-whatever. You go and you work hard and 
you make money and you please your master. You bring home that 
bacon for your honey and for the children and you live and 
you move and you have your being for the glory of God doing an 
honest day's work. But when you approach religion, 
when you approach God, and you approach holy things with the 
mindset of making money, you've missed the point. You've missed 
it by a long shot. You've missed it by miles. T.V. Moore said, Men who expect to 
be paid in this world for serving God have mistaken God for men. Religion is not a thing of bargain 
But of love, this is what they were saying. It is useless to 
serve God. What profit is it? Now notice 
that we have kept His ordinance. It really makes you wonder how 
they kept His ordinance, doesn't it? They're obeying so that God 
will see them and God will reward them. This mindset is condemned 
in the prophet Isaiah, chapter 58. How did the people there 
fast? They fasted by whining, they 
fasted by grumbling, they fasted by crying, they fasted in such 
a way that God will see our broken hearts and he will give us what 
we want. Does anyone wonder why Jesus says when you fast anoint 
your face with oil? Go about your normal activities. 
Don't say, I'm fasting. Aren't I righteous? Aren't I 
godly? This is condemned in the prophet 
Isaiah 58. It's condemned in the prophet 
Joel, chapter 2. Rent your hearts, not your garments. We've rent our garments, Lord. We've done all these things you've 
asked us, Lord. We've gone to church, Lord. We've 
read our Bibles, Lord. We've prayed, Lord. Now, what will you do for us? Prophet as motive in the worship 
of the true and living God? Could it be? Could it be in the 
fifth century BC among the covenant community of Israel? Could it 
be in the 21st century North American churches that we serve 
God for profit? There's a proverb that says the 
sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. And 
then it says, how much more when he brings it with evil intent? I think about that. The guy goes 
to the temple to bring his sacrifice. But while he's there, he's selling 
his goods. He's selling his servants or 
his services. He's preying on the people of 
God. He's brought his sacrifice because that's what godly men 
do. Well, God says it's an abomination, 
but when you bring it with an evil intent, When you bring it 
as a place to pray upon the people of God, and it's unfortunate, 
you'll read about those things, those instances, those occasions. 
There was a horrifying and a terrible situation that struck a Reformed 
Baptist church in Virginia, where a man was praying upon and victimizing 
little children. The sacrifice of the wicked is 
an abomination to the Lord. How much more when he brings 
it with evil intent? When his idea is there's vulnerable 
people there. There's nice people. There's 
charitable people. There's believing people. They 
don't look at everybody like they're a criminal. I'll find 
my way there. Why are you in this? Why are 
you a Christian? Is it for profit? Is it for what 
you get? Is it because your bank account 
has grown exponentially? Is that one of the things you 
muse about on Wednesday morning? Boy, thank you, Lord, for this 
great benefit that you've conveyed upon me. Not to say we ought 
not to be thankful for His temporal blessings. That's not what I'm 
suggesting. But are we in it for the temporal 
blessings? See, what's that indicative of? 
As long as the gravy train is flowing my way, I will serve 
the Lord. But as soon as that gravy train 
stops, it's unprofitable to serve God. You know, I had a successful 
business. I believed the gospel. My life 
turned to garbage. I'm going to reject the gospel 
and go back to my business. Is that the expressions of our 
hearts? It was in the fifth century B.C. 
Calvin says, it is indeed no ordinary thing in God's service 
to lay aside all pride and vain confidence. He's commenting here 
on this. We have walked as mourners before 
the Lord of hosts. Look at that in verse 14. What 
profit is it that we have kept his ordinance and that we have 
walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts? What's that mean? 
It means exactly what it says. We've walked as mourners. We've 
had long faces. We've looked distressed. Our 
religion has promoted in us an unhappiness and an austerity 
and a stoicism. And if God the Lord doesn't look 
down upon that and reward us, what good is it? Why walk around 
as a mourner if no one's going to say, hey, you're a great guy. 
You're a great girl. Check your bank account when 
you get home. I'm going to increase the digits. You see the wickedness? Again, listen to the echoes in 
the modern age. I have done this for the Lord. 
I have worked hard. I have never asked my boss for 
a raise. I haven't ever been late for 
work. Where's mine, God? God's not 
your holy horseshoe. He's not your rabbit foot. He's 
not your special penny that the train ran over. He's not your 
collection of rocks. You just feel them in your pocket 
and you say the wish and poof, you get the good thing. We are 
locked as mortars. He's not profited us. He's not 
benefited us. He's not blessed us. We've gotten 
no good thing out of it. So why do it? It's a mercenary 
spirit. We've read our Bibles. We've 
prayed. We've gone to church. I'm not 
any better off than I was, Lord. It's a mercenary spirit. Remember last week when we considered 
tithing. Oftentimes you'll hear it preached. 
You tithe so that God will bless you. No, you tithe because God 
commands you. You tithe because God commands 
it. He does say, test me in this. 
I will bless you. I will give you good things. 
Great. It's a blessed byproduct because 
God is good. But you don't give to get. You don't live keeping God's 
ordinances to get. You keep God's ordinances because 
those who believe the gospel, love Jesus, and therein keep 
his commandments. If you love me, you will keep 
my commandments. Not keep my commandments so I 
can increase your bank account by a hundredfold. So back to 
Calvin, it is indeed no ordinary thing in God's service to lay 
aside all pride and vain confidence and to walk humbly with him. 
But hypocrites, he says, like apes. Kids, don't think of a 
simian being. Don't think of a gorilla. Apes 
means to imitate. The noun is the big thing that 
has big paws and big teeth that will eat you if you get too close 
to it. The verb means to imitate. He ate something. This is what 
Calvin is saying. Please follow. It is indeed no 
ordinary thing in God's service to lay aside all pride and vain 
confidence and to walk humbly with him. But hypocrites like 
apes imitate what God requires and approves. And at the same 
time, they say nothing of changing the heart. Fear and sorrow are 
required, but hypocrites think that a dejected countenance is 
enough, and hence they often pretend sorrow while they inwardly 
please and flatter themselves. We've walked as mourners. We haven't washed our faces. 
We look like we're at a Jewish funeral. We've cried. We've agonized. We've denied 
ourselves. And what has He given us? Is that why you're in this? Is 
that why you serve the Lord? Is it because you're going to 
get good stuff? Ask Job. Is that why you serve God? Because 
you get good stuff? That's what the devil said. Oh, 
he only serves you, God, because he gets good stuff. He's only 
in this, God, because he gets good stuff. What's God say? Take his stuff from him. We'll 
see. We'll test his mettle. We'll see what he's about. Job 
says, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Paul lost 
everything coming to Jesus. Does he only end this because 
he gets good stuff? What things were gained to me? 
These I have counted lost. For the excellence of the knowledge 
of Christ Jesus, my Lord. You see, for the believer in 
Christ, the one who has tasted and seen that he is good, the 
one who has believed the gospel, Christ is the chief treasure. 
Christ is the chief benefit. Christ is the chief joy. Christ 
is everything. Christ, in the language of the 
bride, is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand You 
see, for the believer, though he has nothing in this world, 
though troubles assail him, though dangers affright, though everybody 
counts him as a nut, he's got Christ, he's got everything. 
You see, true profit in Christianity is not your bank account. True 
profit in Christianity is the Christ. The Lord Jesus, the Son 
of God, who loved us and who gave himself for us. Remember 
that pearl merchant. He sold everything so that he 
could buy that field, so that he would have that pearl. You 
see, Christ is worthy. Christ is the prophet for the 
excellence of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. He says, everything 
else I count as dung, I count as rubbish, I count as stuff 
that I don't want anymore, because now I have the Lord Jesus. You 
see, on that road to Damascus that we'll read of in probably 
about two weeks, Providence going on the way it has been for a 
while, Paul, on the road to Damascus, was breathing hates and anger 
and frustration and destruction for the church. Christ stops 
him. Christ saves him. And as far 
as Paul is concerned, all that other stuff isn't fit for dogs. I've got Jesus now. I've got 
Christ. Is that what's profit in your 
Christianity? Is that what it's about? Is that 
what you're here for? You children and you young people, 
you believe the gospel because of Christ. You want to go to 
heaven. Why? Because of Christ. You want 
the Bible because of Christ. You see, we have lived a lie 
that all this other stuff somehow matters. It really doesn't. The 
final analysis on that day where Malachi is sort of bringing us 
all that is important. It's not do you have a PhD. It's 
not how many countless millions you amass. It's not what kind 
of a legacy you left here on earth. It's are you in Him? That's what's important. That's 
what matters. That's everything. The pearl 
of great price is Jesus Christ Himself. This is why Paul in 
Colossians 3, before he tells us how to function as a church, 
before he tells us how to function as husbands, how to function 
as wives, how to function as parents, how to function as children, 
how to function as slaves and masters, he tells us as believers 
to get your mind on Christ. Because when your mind is where 
it ought to be, you'll love your wife. When your mind is where 
it ought to be, you'll respect your parents. When your mind 
is where it ought to be, you'll submit to your husband. It's 
all about Him. It's Christianity. That's not 
a mistake. We're not the center. We're not 
the measure. Jesus didn't come just to make 
us happy. Jesus came to pardon us. Jesus came to make us acceptable 
in the sight of the Father. But even more premier, even more 
high, even more noble and lofty in the mind of Christ as the 
surety of a better covenant was to bring glory to the Father. 
What Adam failed to do in the garden, Christ does in His work. You see, if you're whining because 
you're not profiting, If you're whining because your life isn't 
exponentially better as a Christian, it's questionable whether you've 
understood the gospel at all. I love what Ray Comfort says. 
Gospel doesn't answer to making man happy, but to making him 
righteous. You see, you need something far 
more important than happiness. You need something far more important 
than bank accounts. You need something far more important 
than prestige at work. You need something far more important 
than a nice parking stop. You need righteousness. You need 
to be accepted in the beloved. You need to have a righteousness 
that avails with God most high and it only comes through Christ. What these wretches are blaspheming 
God with in the fifth century B.C. is prevalent in the 21st 
century A.D. It's useless to serve God. Have 
you ever met those people? I tried Jesus. Just didn't like 
him. Wasn't for me. Again, he's at 
the level of a coke. I tried coke, didn't like it. 
I prefer Dr. Pepper. I'm an individual. I'm awesome. I'm a pepper. That's how we've treated Christ. 
And men stand in pulpits and they preach Christ in that manner. 
It's beverage. It's coke. Choose Jesus. Choose Jesus like he's an item 
in a buffet. There's lots of religious options 
out there. Why don't you try Jesus? Try 
Jesus? Has it ever dawned on us that 
Jesus Christ is the sovereign of the universe? That Jesus Christ 
wages war with the sword that proceeds from his mouth, his 
holy word. That it's Christ who saves sinners 
and not sinners who try him. The vocabulary that we've adopted, 
the constructs that we've rejected, the theology that we've thrown 
away shows that we're not much better than these blasphemers 
in the 5th century BC. It's useless to serve God. It's 
unprofitable to serve God. And then the third one, they 
say, it's unfair. It's unfair to serve God. Again, 
a denial of his attributes, a denial of his providence. Same thing 
we see in chapter 2, verse 17. Before you start going in your 
head, oh, this is going to go long, we'll stop after this point. 
We'll put off the ones who spoke reverently for next week. Remember in 2.17, everyone who 
does evil is good in the sight of the Lord. And he delights 
in them. Or where is the God of justice? Look at the crime on our streets, 
Lord. Look at the thugs in high places, 
Lord. Look at their bank accounts, 
Lord. You say in Your Word, Lord, that 
You're good, yet we see the wicked prosper. And then we see holy, 
God-fearing people struggling, agonizing, hurting. Asaph had a moment like this, 
he says in Psalm 73. Do you know what he says? He 
says, I was acting like a beast. That's not rational thought. 
That's not godly thought. That's not holy thought. He said, 
as for me, my foot nearly slipped. I gave vent to those thoughts. 
I saw the righteous not prosper. I saw the wicked prosper. It 
made me actually call into question these truths, these thoughts. It wasn't until I went into the 
sanctuary that I understood. See why church is important? 
Sometimes it gives you that Godward perspective that you need. You 
start singing these hymns, and you start singing these songs, 
and you start listening to the Scripture, and you say, oh yeah, 
God is in heaven. The thugs will perish. The righteous 
will be vindicated. The holy do prosper. They may 
not be in this world, but they live forever with God. You see 
what they say here in chapter three. So now we call the proud 
blessed. Calling to question the very 
word of God, the wickedness, proud countenance. He doesn't 
fear God. According to the Psalter, God 
is against them. God is opposed to the proud. 
But see what they're saying in the fifth century. We call the 
proud blessed. It's the proud that benefit. 
It's the proud that get everything. The humble are begging. The humble 
are famished. The humble are struggling. The 
humble are poor. It's the proud that are actually 
blessed. It calls into question God's attributes of goodness 
and righteousness and justice. It calls into question God's 
providential dealings, wherein he governs all his preachers 
and all their actions according to his most holy, wise, and powerful 
will. You see, that's what this series 
of three statements of verse 15 indicate. So now we call the 
proud blessed. For those who do wickedness are 
raised up. They're not sat down. They're 
not put down. They don't end up in prison. They don't end 
up in suffering. I mean, we read this morning. You've got believers 
in Iran. You've got believers in the Middle 
East. You've got believers in China. You've got believers throughout 
this world, and they're suffering and they're struggling. That's 
when we read their letters. If you talk to that person, what 
will they say? It'll be one of those acts five 
things. They are rejoicing because they 
are counted worthy for suffering for his name. They're not the 
ones whining. They're not the ones grumbling. 
They're not the ones complaining. Remember that instance in Acts 
5. The apostles felt the whip of the Roman Empire. When they 
left there, it wasn't licking their wounds and whining. They 
were rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer shame 
for His name. What happens to Paul and Silas 
after they're beaten in the Roman marketplace and they're brought 
into that Philippian jail? They weren't us, man. They weren't 
whiners. They weren't grumblers. They 
weren't complainers. You know what they did? At midnight, they 
were singing hymns. When was the last time you sung 
a hymn at midnight when you were healthy, strong, and wise? These guys have been beaten by 
the Roman rod. Never forget that little modifier. It was the Roman rod. You see, 
Deuteronomy law specified that you couldn't exceed 40 lashes 
with the whip. The Jews were fastidious. We'll 
give you 39. So we don't want to get near that 40. If we get 
near that 40, that will break the law of God. Do you think 
the Romans read Deuteronomy to see how many whipped lashes they 
would give? Well, wait a minute, you can't 
beat them more than 39 because, you know, they're Jews after 
all. They didn't care. They beat the men till they bled. 
They beat the men till they were bloodied. They beat the men till 
their backs were a pulp of mess. and tissue, and blood, and drip, 
and ooze, and all the stuff that we go, eh. That actually happened 
to them. They're set in the prison. Their 
feet are placed in the stocks. What's their response? Great 
is thy faithfulness, Lord on high. I don't know what they 
sang, but they sang, Be thou my vision, and can it be. They sang this song. They sang 
Psalm 87. They sang Psalm 133. They sang 
Psalm 135. They sang praises to God. You see, be careful before you 
start to, with the eye, go, oh, those poor people. Those poor 
suffering people must pay to be the proud, must pay to be 
the persecutor, must pay to be the non-Christian, because Christians 
get treated like garbage. You ask any Christian that was 
ever treated like garbage in the Bible, would you trade this 
for anything? Are you kidding me? This is for 
Jesus. Remember Polycarp? Eighty and six years I have served 
him and he has never done me any wrong. Bring the flames. Bring the flames. Our people 
die well because they know the Redeemer. So now we call the proud blessed 
For those who do wickedness are raised up, they even tempt God 
and go free. God says, with reference to tithing, 
test me in this. God Himself tested Abraham. But when a human being, a man 
or woman, tests God in this manner, it means to call upon Him To 
perform in such a way as to satisfy the man or woman. That's the 
testing. So they say they even tempt God 
and go free. It's unfair to serve him. You 
see the predation. It's useless. It's unprofitable. 
It's just flat unfair. They're denying there is a God 
in heaven who governs all things according to his most holy, wise, 
and powerful will. They are denying his attributes. 
They are denying his goodness. They are denying his justice. 
These are the words spoken by wretches. These are the words 
spoken by blasphemers. These are the words spoken, be 
they in the 5th century B.C. or in the 21st century, are an 
affront to the living God. They are an abomination to the 
living God, because they presuppose that man is the center of all 
things, and God's only purpose is to make our lives useful, 
to make our lives profitable, and to make our lives fair, as 
we define fairness. If you're convicted, please repent. If you're convicted, please forsake. If you're convicted, please return 
to the Lord God Most High. Sometimes in closing, children 
might rise up. Young people might rise up and 
say, you know, I watched my parents. They went to church. They read 
their Bibles. They prayed. What good was it? What did they get out of it? 
Sometimes children throw off the faith of their fathers because 
they, the children, have determined that the religion of Jesus was 
useless, was unprofitable, and was unfair. I saw my dad work 
so hard, not me, literally, Some, from a Christian home, say, I 
saw my dad work so hard, always get passed up for that job, always 
get passed up for that promotion. If he served Jesus, why didn't 
he get the benefit? Why didn't he get the promotion? 
Kids, do not go down that road. You ask your dad. If he's understood 
the gospel and he believes the truth, he'd rather have Jesus 
than all the jobs in the world. He'd rather have Jesus than to 
be the king of England. He'd rather have Jesus than to 
be the prime minister of Canada. He'd rather have Jesus than be 
a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. You see, kids and children, Jesus 
is everything. Christ is altogether lovely and 
chief among 10,000. You see, the Song of Solomon 
is telling us about Christ. He's the blessed one. He's the 
bridegroom. He's the one the bride delights 
in. And the believer, the one who, 
by the grace of God, believes that gospel, sees Christ as everything. So my encouragement. My admonition, 
my invitation, based on the authority of the Word of God, is to believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. Believe what the Bible says concerning 
Him. Believe what the Bible says specifically 
about His life, His death, and His resurrection. Look to Him. Believe on Him, and you shall 
be saved. And then pray to God Almighty 
that these blasphemous, harsh words would never find root in 
your heart. That you would despise them, 
that you would disdain them, that you would reject them, that 
you would repudiate them. And my Christian brothers and 
sisters, these things rise up in you. If they well up in your 
heart, smash them. Destroy them. Kill them. Agag took pieces with the sword 
of the Lord and never give vent to such godlessness as what we 
find in this passage. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for Your Word and we thank You for this prophet Malachi. 
We thank You that there is no new thing under the sun and that 
what we read so many thousands of years ago is still as relevant 
and as practical as if it was written today. God, we pray as 
Your people that You would forgive us. We would confess that we 
don't always speak those things which are according to the Scripture. 
God, forgive us and cleanse us in the blood of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And I pray for any and all who have not come to Christ, 
that you would be gracious and merciful, that you would open 
hearts by the power of your Spirit and cause the Word to find its 
mark there. And may sinners here and may 
sinners wherever the Gospel is preached today believe and be 
saved. And we ask in the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.