The Messenger (Malachi 3:1-4)
I first met Kenny, a homeless man, when I started working as the youth minister for the Main Street church in Kentucky. Kenny was a regular at our services.
I don’t mean to disparage this man made in God’s image, but Kenny smelled as though he hadn’t had a bath in years. Everyone was extremely kind to Kenny, but an odor permeated the assembly whenever Kenny was there.
One day, Kenny happened to sit down next to Nadine. Nadine was a kind sister who loved the Lord and served him diligently. However, Nadine didn’t appreciate Kenny’s aroma, and she told him, “Kenny, you are welcome to sit with me anytime you want. I will personally save you a seat, but you must take a bath!”
As far as I can ascertain, all of you bathe regularly, but have you ever known someone who came to worship who only had a passing acquaintance with soap and water? Have you been in the situation where it was the Lord’s Day, but you had no electricity or water because of an ice storm or a hurricane, and you came to worship without a shower? Have you ever sat next to someone in the assembly who smelled just fine, but who was living in sin and was beyond filthy on the inside?
God doesn’t want filthy people to worship him. “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully” (Ps 24:3-4). “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (Js 1:27).
The first sentence of our text mentions God’s sending the messenger John the Baptizer to prepare the way for Jesus. The rest of our text speaks about Jesus as the “messenger of the covenant” and how he would turn people from filth to purity. Once the people had become pure, they could offer sacrifices “pleasing to the LORD.” This passage demonstrates: “Jesus purifies for acceptable worship.”
Scripture (Malachi 3:1-4)
verse 1:
The Israelites had been asking, “Where is the God of justice?” (Mal 2:17). God’s message to the Israelites was that he was going to send his Messiah to clean things up.
But before God could send his Messiah, he would send his messenger to prepare his way. The people of Malachi’s day were very familiar with a messenger from a king. A monarch would hire a trusted servant who would communicate his message to his subjects and other rulers. This text portrays John the Baptizer as a royal messenger for the Divine. This passage refers to John, because Jesus said it did (cf. Matt 11:10).
But Malachi then turned his attention to the Messiah: “And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” John obviously isn’t the Lord—he himself said so repeatedly—nor did John bring a covenant. Malachi said that John the Baptizer would prepare Jesus’s way and then the Messiah would come.
verse 2:
The inability to stand before the Lord when he came in judgment was a common motif in the Old Testament.
The Messiah would judge in two ways. First, he would be “like a refiner’s fire.” The image here is of melting away dross from a metal to make it pure. The idea is likely a testing or trial to make God’s people stronger.
Second, the Messiah would be “like fullers’ soap.” The Hebrew term for “soap” refers to an alkaline salt that was used in ancient laundry detergent. The idea here is cleansing and making pure.
verse 3:
The Messiah would purify “the sons of Levi” so that they would “bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.” The point is that Jesus would purify the Levites in order that they might offer acceptable sacrifices unto God.
verse 4:
Once the priests and Levites had been purified, sacrifices would once again be pleasing to God.
Application
“Jesus purifies for acceptable worship.” The Lord Jesus would purify the Levites—indeed, he would purify all of Israel—to worship the Lord acceptably.
Jesus does purify from sin. “If the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb 9:13-14). “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7).
Since Jesus cleanses from sin so you may worship God acceptably, how should you live?
Step One: Peer
You need to Peer into your heart to see how pure from sin you are. Jesus does cleanse you from sin, but you cannot live in sin. “Beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1). “Let us . . . lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” (Heb 12:1).
Are you cleansing yourself “from every defilement of body and spirit?” Are you laying aside the “sin which clings so closely?” Peer into your soul to see where you need to Jesus to cleanse you.
Step Two: Proceed
After you’ve peered into your heart, Proceed to Jesus for cleansing. Jesus gave his very blood to cleanse you from sin; about the fruit of the vine, Jesus said, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:27-28).
However, you must Proceed to Jesus. The Lord said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). You cannot stay where you are and receive that rest; you must get up and Proceed to Jesus. Jesus said, “Come.” That’s action.
If you have been to Jesus for his initial cleansing, do you need to Proceed to him for renewed cleansing this morning? Simon received cleansing: “Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip” (Acts 8:13). However, when he saw that the apostles could give the miraculous measure of the Spirit, he wanted to purchase that ability. He, thus, became filthy again. Peter told him how to Proceed to Jesus: “Repent . . . of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you” (Act 8:22). Do you need to repent and pray because there is sin in your life?
Step Three: Praise
Since Jesus purifies you for acceptable worship, it’s only right that you Praise God. God—Father, Son, and Spirit—merits your Praise. David proclaimed, “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness” (1 Chr 16:29).
Did you realize that you have been cleansed from sin in order to Praise God? “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation [a cleansed people], a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9).
How is your Praise? Do you assemble with the saints on the first day of the week? Do you assemble if the mood strikes you or if you don’t have something else going on? Do you Praise God in the assembly or do you go through the motions? Where is your heart when you worship?
Honestly, where is your heart this morning? Do you need to come to Jesus for his cleansing?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.