Worship is elevated by...

1) Living & Loving God's Covenant of Marriage (2:10-16) 

2) Living & Loving God's  Commitment to Men (2:17-3:6)

3) Giving & Growing Our Best (1:6-2:9) 4) Giving & Growing Our All (3:7-12)

5) Trusting & Turning to God’s Promise of Glorification of God (1:1-5) 

God is Love (v2) PAST

God is Loyal (v2-4) - PRESENT

God is Limitless (v5) - FUTURE

6) Trusting & Turning to God’s Promise of Restoration (of a Remnant) (3:13-4:6)

God will... * Reject the fearless

God will... * Remember the faithful

God will... * Restore the family

Worship is elevated by...

1) Living and Loving God's Covenant of Marriage

2) Living and Loving God's Commitment to Men

Malachi: Empty Religion or Vibrant Faith with Possessions

Worship is elevated by...

1) Giving and Growing Our Best (1:6-2:9) 

2) Giving and Growing Our All (3:6-12)

4-Month Giving Challenge - wlbc.life/four/

Here, worship is broken. It is not acceptable.

Presence & emotion are not enough! Sunday worship is only as valid as your life all week

Worship is either helped or hindered by: how we treat people - possessions - God’s promises

Malachi writes with a Chiastic structure: a literary technique working from the center outward.

Worship is elevated by… 1) Living and Loving God's Covenant of Marriage (2:10-16)

We have ONE Father... One Creator... One Lord that we follow

Yet, we profane the sanctuary (worship) of the Lord in 2 Ways:

* marrying those who do NOT follow the Lord

* divorcing a spouse that DOES follow the Lord

* 2) Living and Loving God's Commitment to Mankind (2:17-3:5)

The injustice of the people:

1) link with sorcerers (fortunetellers) - dabbling in the occult, horoscopes,

2) lust for the flesh (adulterers) - sing against your spouse or future spouse

3) language of falseness (swear falsely) - life about someone and to someone

4) larceny in finances (oppress wage earner) - stealing from othere

5) lawlessness among families (widow and fatherless/orphans) - oppressing the vulnerable, having no power to protect themselves.

6) liability toward foreigners (turn aside the alien) - people not from here and not like us

This list of injustices reveals the practices in Malachi’s time and even our own days.

This is not an exhaustive list, but does indicate areas opposed to God’s law

Antagonist or apathetic?

What’s the difference between indifference to injustice and injustice? Not much!

Or perhaps you have been an accuser. Seeing injustice, you accuse God of not caring.

Our view and actions with injustice in this world testify our relationship with God

God’s answer to the injustice… was to send 2 messengers

- 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger (John the Baptist), and he will prepare the way before

- 3:1b “the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

This last Messager will set ALL things right!

Do you trust God?

Is He your ONE FATHER…. ONE CREATOR?

How is your worship? How is it displayed in your home? In your life? In your interactions with the hurting and hopeless?

Jesus has come… has He come to you? To your heart?

Do you delight in Him and demonstrate His love to others?

Everyone can persevere by understanding 3 life-changing truths:

Truth #1: Suffering produces perseverance.

All sufferings are not the same and there are three basic types of sufferings.

a) Suffering to bring you back to God

b) Suffering for others benefit for God’s glory

c) Suffering as a Christian in a non-Christian world

Truth #2: Perseverance produces character.

Truth #3: Character produces hope

Stand for Truth - 1 Timothy 4:1-9

We are in a Spiritual War

1 Tim 4:1 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,”

Deceit is Satan’s most powerful weapon. It looks like truth from the outside, but as we get closer, sometimes it raises questions that we choose to ignore.

1 Tim 4:2 “through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,”

Other Gospels Are Present

We are in a spiritual war and there are other gospels that are being presented as truth, but they’re twisted lies from Satan trying to lure us.

1 Tim 4:3 “who (the teachers from v1) forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth...”

Pressure from our Culture

Our culture today encourages these same teachings. As a society we are bombarded about these same practices.

Knowing the truth is so important. In a world that doesn’t know truth, we have to keep our eyes focused on God’s truth, the truth above all else. That truth is found in Scripture.

1 Tim 4:4-5 “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

God only creates good things.

1 Tim 4:6 “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.”

Paul has given Timothy this warning and he wants him to spread that warning to others in the church he is leading.

This is the first act of obedience that Paul is telling Timothy to do in this section.

Become a Student of the Bible

We need a trainer. We need to train each other. If we are in a spiritual war, you don’t go to war without proper training.

Same with us as followers of Jesus. Many of us haven’t been properly trained.

Bible App Plan - Delights and Disciplines of Bible Study - 4 day plan that will get you started.

1 Tim 4:7 “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;”

Focus on obeying God. Don’t get distracted with superficial things.

1 Tim 4:8 “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

God’s Words are Supreme

When reading the Bible at least 4 times a week

* Loneliness drops 30%

* Anger drops 30%

* Getting drunk drops 55%

* Sexual sins drop 65%

1 Tim 4:9 “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.”

Stay focused on obedience to Jesus

3 consistent standards to set in order in every generation of the church

1) Raise Godly Leaders

- What Leaders are to be:

FAMILY  -  CHARACTER - GIFTING

- What Leaders are to do:

Protect the flock - Rebuke and Restore

2) Reproduce Growing Disciples

Older men - Older women 

Younger women - Younger men 

3) Reach Grace-starved People

Grace redeems us - reforms us - rewards us

Reach people by how we live in this world and by how you lead in this world

117 year anniversary of West Lynchburg Baptist Church

Eph 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Envision a church where…

1) God’s ability is exhibited (v20) - “Now to him who is able to do”

2) Our aspirations are exceeded (v20) - far more abundantly than all that we ask or think

3) The Body is empowered (v20)  - according to the power at work within us

4) Christ is exalted (v21) -   to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus

5) Discipleship is essential (v21) -  throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Let's embrace and apply Ephesians 3:20-21 and envision for the next year…

Soli Deo gloria is the motto that grew out of the Protestant Reformation and was used on every composition by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel with the letters “SDG”

Romans 11:36, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

We may often use the phrase glory of God, but what does it mean?

The glory of God is the holiness of God put on display that arrests our attention and our allegiance. That is, it is the infinite worth of God made manifest.

John Piper, “God’s glory is the outward radiance of the intrinsic beauty and greatness of His manifold perfections.”

The joy of the Christian life is in Seeing & Savoring His glory

1) We see God’s glory in His worth

Isa 6:3, John 17:5

Was Jesus’ lacking glory? No… Phil 2:6-7

2) We see God’s glory in His works

2 Thess 1:9, Psalm 19:1, Ephesians 1:6, Psalm 21:5 

Seeing His glory & Savoring His glory!

Ralph D. Winter (Missiologist) “The great sin of the world is not that the human race has failed to work for God so as to increase his glory, but that we have failed to delight in God so as to reflect his glory.”

1) We savor God’s glory in our desire

1 Cor 10:31, Isaiah 43:7

“Theologians of glory” and “Theologians of the cross”

“Theologians of glory” seek power FROM God to become great-known-strong (Philippians 3:19)

“Theologians of the cross” - Jn 3:30

Live as a Worshipper - Romans 12:1 

1 Chronicles 16:10, Psalm 105:3, Philippians 3:3, Philippians 4:19, 1 Peter 5:10

2) We savor God’s glory in our declaration - 

Ps 96:1-3, Isaiah 66:18-19, Matthew 5:16

3) We savor God’s glory in our destination

Colossians 3:4, Romans 5:2, Jude 24, Romans 8:18

David Livingstone (Scottish physician and pioneer Christian missionary) “Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this be only for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in, and for, us.”

Do you see His glory? -

Do you savor His glory?

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

2 important truths: grace means 1) God is Good 2) We are not

Romans 3:10-12, “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

1) What is Grace?

2) Why do I need Grace?

* So blind that only God could give us sight - 2 Corinthians 4:4,6

* So sinful that only God could cleanse us -Psalm 51:5, 7

* So heart sick only God can heal us - Jeremiah 17:9,14

* So lost that only God could find & save us -Luke 19:10

* So helpless that only God could change us - Jeremiah 13:23

3) What difference does GRACE make?

* GRACE destroys all human self-confidence. - Romans 3:23

* GRACE frees us from earning God’s favor. - Romans 3:24

* GRACE enables us to serve God without fear. - Romans 3:25

“Rock of Ages” - Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress, Helpless, look to Thee for grace: Foul, I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Savior, or I die.

"Grace Greater Than Our Sin”

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin

VERSE 3

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe,

All who are longing to see His face,

Will you this moment His grace receive?

There are 2 key bible passages that help us with this important doctrine.

1) What is justification?

2) Why are we unable to justify ourselves?

3) How are we justified?

To say that we are saved by ‘alien righteousness’ means that we are saved by righteousness that comes “from another place or person.” It comes not from within us as a result of our good deeds, but from outside of us entirely.

Where can a guilty sinner find righteousness “from another place?” Only in Jesus.

Romans 8:33-34, “Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us”

4) Justification includes four truths

Justified by God’s Grace - Romans 3:24 justified by his grace as a gift

Justified by Christ’s Blood - Romans 5:9 we have now been justified by his blood

Justified without Our Works - Romans 4:5 one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

Justified by Faith Alone - Romans 3:28 one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.