How Have You Loved Us

My name is Gordon. I'm one of the pastors here.

It's great to have all of you here.

It's great to see familiar faces as always.

We also at Vita, we just love, we can say every single week

there's people visiting, looking for a home church or just trying

to figure out who is Jesus. How do I follow him?

So if you're new here, it's very, very.

It's great that you're here. Why don't you open up to the

book of Malachi? Malachi.

We're in a different book for a few weeks while you flip there.

One clarifier, if you're coming to intro to Veto, I want to make

sure you know where to go. It's in our kids building in the

elementary room. So around 12/12/15, go across

the way to our kids building and you'll find find the class

getting set up in there. OK, Malachi, how many of you

have read Malachi before? OK, All right.

That's more than I thought. You know, one of our one of our

other pastors, Josh, who was just up here, he keeps calling

it Malachi. And I think that's that says a

lot. They're like, I've never read

this before. How do you even pronounce it?

Who's this Malachi guy? And then the follow up question

might be, why in the world are we going through Malachi in our

Sunday services? We wanted to take a break from

John just for a few weeks. There was a natural break in the

book. We'll get back to the book of

John after this. But here's why Malachi.

Of all the books, here's why Malachi.

I need some participation here, so raise your hand if you've

ever felt apathetic as a Christian.

You ever felt apathy dry? Have you ever felt indifferent?

I have you ever had thoughts like I know I should be XYZ but

I don't? OK.

Have you ever thought what's the point?

What's the point of what's the point of going to church again?

What's the point of reading my Bible?

What's the point of these things?

I know I should be doing that. I'm not.

Have you ever thought he deserves it?

I get it. He deserves it.

Yeah. I wish that.

I wish that I could find it in my heart to do these things.

But OK. That's why we're in the book of

Malachi, you and I. We're not that different from

the God's chosen people from 450 BC.

OK. Long, long time ago. 11 Little

note, if you're new here, maybe newer to the faith, maybe you

wouldn't call yourself a Christian.

You come in and all these people look really put together, don't

they? But did you see how many hands

were raised? We are not put together, OK?

We're the, the truth of the matter is any Christian you see

is just trying to figure out how to live faithful to God.

We're just trying to figure out how to honor him.

And we do not have it all put together.

And that's why we need Malachi. The aim of Malachi is simple.

It's calling God's people to honor him through faithful

living. Calling God's people to honor

him through faithful living. So Malachi, maybe you found it

page numbers on the screen. If you want to use one of our

Bibles, it's OK Anyone got it? What was 8 O 18 O1?

There you go. Thanks.

All right, so before we read Malachi, just the first 5

verses, one thing we find very helpful to do before is get a

give ourselves a chance to prepare our hearts to get right

with God. We come in with all kinds of

stuff. And so this is a chance we're

just going to before I read the verses, just have a time of

quiet. And I would encourage you during

that time, just pray. God help me if you have sin, God

forgive me if you find yourself distracted, God help focus me.

And for all of us, pray that God would prepare our hearts to hear

from Him today. Malachi chapter one verse one,

the Oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi I have

loved you, says the Lord, but you say, how have you loved us?

Is not Esau Jacob's brother, declares the Lord.

Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.

I have laid waste his Hill Country and left his heritage to

jackals of the desert. If Edom says we are shattered,

but we will rebuild the ruins. The Lord of hosts says they may

build, but I will tear down and they will be called the wicked

country and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever your

own eyes shall see this and you shall say great is the Lord

beyond the border of Israel. Father, we asked you today, and

I pray on behalf of all of us, we ask you today, Lord, that You

would help us to honor you as you deserve.

All of us that would call ourselves Christians, we got a

long way to go. You are faithful.

You've loved us from the beginning.

You'll get us where we need to go.

But for where we're at right now and for all the things that we

find ourselves struggling with, Father, we ask that You would be

faithful to us. I ask, Lord, that for each

person that came today, You would send them away with like

rations for the next leg of the journey.

And we know that you're a God who can do far more abundantly

than we can ask or think or imagine.

And so even those things that we're not aware of or we don't

think to ask, I pray, Father, help us.

We pray all these things in your name, Jesus, Amen.

OK, So some of you, as we were reading through the verses,

you're like, oh boy, what's Gordon going to say about this

one? I've been asking the same thing

all week. What am I going to say about

this one? You know, one thing that I love

about preaching through books of the Bible is you can't wiggle

out of the hard verses. And one thing I love about the

Bible is that it's not just what we think we need.

It's the things we need that we don't know we need, right?

There's the whole, all of Scripture.

First Timothy says all of Scripture is breathed out by God

profitable and it goes on to say so that the man of God may be

complete and equipped for every good work.

And so we need Malachi, the 1st 5 verses to be complete and

equipped. It's God breathed and it's

profitable and I have to I get to teach it today.

Now I honestly, I'm really excited for the verses.

I think it's very a very, very good setup for the rest of the

book. So could we first, though, I

need to give some context. This is an Old Testament book,

OK. And we're going to go through

Malachi for a few weeks. And just like when you go

through a new course, those of you who are students, you go

through a new course. It's unfamiliar territory.

They have a syllabus. Before we do anything in the

course, I just need to walk you through the syllabus.

And so the first few minutes is just going to be that.

So hang with me and then we'll get into the verses.

There's three things I want to say about the book of Malachi.

First that you need to know. 1 is that it's prophetic

literature. And so from Isaiah is a prophet

or a messenger of God. They speak on God's behalf to

God's people from Isaiah to Malachi.

Malachi is the last one that is prophetic literature and Malachi

is the second thing you should know a minor prophet, but it

doesn't mean it's not important. It just means it's a shorter

book. And so Isaiah, if you read it

like major prophet, a lot of chapters, there's four for the

minor prophet Malachi. The other thing you need to know

about Malachi is it's structured in the form of 6 disputes.

OK? So we'll go through each dispute

that God is is having with his people, OK?

It's this back and forth where he is.

The people aren't necessarily even voicing these disputes.

God is just an omniscient God, meaning he's all knowing.

He knows what's in their hearts and he calls out the secret

thoughts and then he pushes back on them.

And so there's six disputes through the book and that's kind

of the structure. Now there's three terms that you

need to know before we go through the book of Malachi.

These might you might call them themes or just helpful terms.

The 1st is Israel. OK, we we hear Israel and

sometimes we don't always distinguish like Israel was a

person. OK, we'll see.

Jacob mentioned in the text. Jacob was renamed Israel.

The 12 tribes came from Israel, OK, but then you've got the land

of Israel, and there is still a nation of Israel, but the land

of Israel is kind of representative of a dwelling

place with God. And so that's just packed.

But Israel, we need to know it's a person in the land.

Another term we need to know in jumping into Malachi is

covenant. OK?

How often do you just toss around the word covenant today?

The closest thing we might have is the covenant of marriage.

But a covenant is different than a promise, maybe even different

than a vow. OK, promises today, you know how

those are like pinky promise, very different from a covenant.

A covenant is relational in nature.

It's between two parties. So a covenant between God and

man, for example. A covenant has terms and

agreements. OK, there are stipulations here.

It's like in a marriage ceremony, there's vows, like

here are the stipulations, Here's what I promised to do.

But a covenant also has consequences agreed upon.

If you do not carry out the covenant as agreed upon, this

will happen. If you do, this will happen.

There's blessing, there's cursing.

And before making the covenant, we have all the data and we say,

yes, I want to enter into that covenant.

And so there's a covenant in the background of Malachi that the

people have broken. That's important to know.

The reason why the aim of Malachi is calling people to

honor God through faithful living is because they've been

unfaithful. And you say unfaithful to what?

The covenant, the terms, OK, it's not God doesn't have like a

moving target and every day there's a new rule that we

didn't know about God reveals to us here's the target, here's

what it looks like to live faithful.

Here's what we've agreed upon and when we've broken those

agreed upon terms, we have been unfaithful to the covenant.

So let me give you an example. Joshua 24, you don't have to go

there, but just listen, I'm going to kind of bullet point

skim and Joshua 24, Joshua comes along to God's people and he's

calling them to renew their covenant that they've already

been unfaithful to. There will be lots of renewals

even before Malachi comes along. So it shows.

But here's what Joshua 24 walks through.

Joshua says, I gave you a land on which you had not labored in

cities that you hadn't built. I calls them now.

Therefore fear the Lord and serve him in in sincerity and

faithfulness. And then he's laying out terms

for them. Joshua says, but As for me in my

house, we will serve the Lord and then the people say we will

not forsake God. We agree to these terms, we'll

follow him according to the covenant.

Then verse 19, Joshua said to the people, you are not able to

serve the Lord, for he is a holy God.

He is a jealous God. And the people said to Joshua,

no, but we will serve the Lord. And then Joshua said to the

people, all right, you are witnesses against yourselves.

You've chosen to serve the Lord. And they said, yes, we are

witnesses. And Joshua goes back through the

terms again. And then Joshua made a covenant

with the people that day and put in place statutes and rules for

them at Shechem. And then the last verse in the

section, it says Joshua sent the people away, every man to his

inheritance and hold on to that verse and that word inheritance,

because that's going to be the third term we need.

But Joshua was right, they have been unfaithful to this

covenant. And he's saying you can't serve

the Lord, you can't be faithful. And history would prove that to

be true. Now, inheritance, he sent them

away to his inheritance. And there's the third big theme

that we'll see through the book of Malachi this term that we

need. We're almost done with the

syllabus. OK, OK.

When you see inheritance, what do you think of?

OK, money, possessions, a will. OK.

For them, they would have thought land, OK, when I'm left

an inheritance, I'm left land which is materials possessions.

It's prosperity, it's refuge, it's safety.

OK, there's these, all these material possessions that come

with an inheritance, but it's so much more than that, OK?

When you see the verses in Malachi, it's going to use words

like country, borders, heritage. And when you see those words,

it's not just material inheritance or possession, it's

spiritual inheritance, spiritual possession.

The best thing in the Garden of Eden was not the abundance, was

not the materials, was not the prosperity, was not the safety.

The best thing in the original Garden of Eden, the land was

that God was there. They dwelled with God.

And so when God's giving them a promised land and inheritance,

he's saying, OK, it's material inheritance, it's material

blessing, but it's much, much more than that.

You have me. I shall be your God.

You shall be my people, OK. And that's huge when we look at

the verses here today, is that it's much, much more than just

land and heritages. It's dwelling with God.

OK? I think that's all the terms.

Now we can go into Malachi, the main point for today.

God begins by saying I have always and I will always love

you. That's the main point.

So look at verse 2. God says I have loved you, says

the Lord, but you say, how have you loved us?

And so there's a question again, buried in their hearts.

They're not necessarily like waving their fists in the air

saying God, how have you loved us?

Maybe they are, but for the most part it seems like a voiceless

doubt, a suspicion. God, how have you loved us?

God sees that wondering in their heart, How have you loved us

now? There's many reasons.

There's many reasons why people might find themselves doubting

God's love. How have you loved us?

There's many reasons why someone might forget or wonder.

God, do you? Do you still love me?

But here's if you were to trace them down, here's often where

they start. Often.

God, my situation is not as you promised.

It's not as I expected. It's God.

Look at my situation. I'm hurting, I'm weary, I'm

struggling. How have you loved me?

It's not as promised. God, you promised abundance and

prosperity and material blessing.

This doesn't doesn't seem like or is it because you've broken

the covenant, but it doesn't seem like it.

OK, Israel would find themselves exiled from their land, their

inheritance. They came into the promised

land. The 12 tribes spread all over

the place. They were one great nation as

promised. And then God the the what he

warned them about. If you break the covenant,

you're going to be scattered. Other nations will come and

dispossess you, and that's what's happened.

Israel has been marched out of their land by Babylon.

They have been scattered and divided.

They're no longer a great nation.

There's a small few that by this point has been able to return,

but under Persian sponsorship. So they're under their thumb.

They don't have their own king. They're not mighty.

They're not greater than the other nations.

They aren't what they used to be.

This is not as promised. Lord, look at my situation.

How have you loved me? Or as expected?

OK, even if even if this is technically as promised, this

was in the terms, it's not as expected.

God, we returned. We've been faithful to you

again. We're with you again.

We realize that we sinned. We know why you exiled us.

But we've returned, haven't we? This isn't.

We should be farther along. You were supposed to bless me

sooner. I don't like waiting.

God, look at my situation. There's many reasons we could

doubt God. Often it's because we look at

our situation and it's not as promised or expected.

Would you agree? Have you felt that before?

God, look at my situation. This isn't what I thought, you

know. How have you loved me lately?

I can barely pay rent. How have you loved me lately?

God, this isn't as promised. You told me I'd have everything

I needed. I still have pain.

I've been praying. Why am I not healed yet?

Why did that tragedy happen? Lord, that wasn't supposed to

happen. How have you loved me lately?

My kids, they're walking away from the faith.

God, this isn't as promise. This isn't as I expected.

How have you loved me? God?

I returned. Why am I not flourishing as a

church? We might say we're 20,000 behind

budget. Lord, why haven't you loved me?

This isn't as promised or expected.

God, look at, look at all the others, other churches that are

teaching a false doctrine, prosperity gospel.

They're attracting way more people than us.

Look at them. Look at their situation compared

to us. How have you loved me?

It doesn't seem like it. OK, And I'm I'm dipping into a

second one. You might doubt because you look

at your situation. You might doubt because you look

at their situation. You look at another person, you

look at the wicked and you say, Lord, they're prospering.

How come? How have you loved me?

I thought I was in your family right with you.

I've done all these good things. I look around at my world and

look at them. They're prospering.

They're provided for. They can pay rent.

They seem happy. God, this isn't fair.

How have you loved me lately? OK, Edom is mentioned in these

verses, right? The heritage left to Edom.

OK, this was an enemy nation of Israel and Edom had not been

dispossessed. They were still for the most

part in their land. And so Israel might be looking

in on that. Say, God, look at our situation

and look at their situation. This is not fair.

Why do the wicked prosper? OK, I love Psalm.

Let's see, where is it? Psalm 37?

Go read the whole chapter. But here's the line that you see

throughout. Why do the wicked prosper in

their way? Why do the wicked prosper?

This is not fair, OK? It's a lament that every

Christian probably finds themselves in, not just once or

twice. This isn't fair, God.

Why is the wicked prospering? OK, Edom, an enemy nation.

Edom was the one that Psalm 137, eight through 9.

It says they were the ones on the day of Jerusalem that said,

Lay it bare, Lay it bare down to its foundation, O daughter of

Babylon, doomed to be destroyed. Blessed shall he be who repays

you with what you have done to us.

Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them

against the rocks. OK, this is a horrid graphic

scene. When Babylon took Israel away,

Babylon was brutal. Babylon was an enemy.

And you know who participated? Who said, Yup, lay it bare, Lay

it bare the Edomites, and they're the ones prospering.

Some of you would look at their situation and it's much more

severe. OK, there are there are men and

women who lack integrity, who cheat and steal and lie and they

get the promotion and I don't. OK, we look around and we see

all kinds of wicked that doesn't seem to go addressed.

God, where are you? How have you loved me?

Don't you see the evil in our world?

OK, do you see the evil in our world, folks?

OK, where's God? How has he loved us?

This is not as promised and it's not as expected.

That's the spot that the people of Malachi find themselves in.

And here's what I want all of us to know.

Doubt is often the poison that leads to unfaithfulness.

Doubt is often the poison that leads to unfaithfulness.

OK clarifier. Doubt is OK.

Every Christian has probably had doubt once or twice in their

life. OK, But doubt unchecked and left

there is a poison that leads to unfaithfulness.

OK, so we would we would learn from the book of Malachi that

you have this verse. How have you loved me?

And then by chapter 314, you have the people that say it is

vain to serve the Lord. And so basically what you see

through the progression of Malachi is God.

I can't think of anything you've done lately to love me.

I'm doubting, I'm wondering, I'm forgetting.

And it leads to the unfaithfulness that God is

having to correct. OK doubt is often the poison

that leads to unfaithfulness. Malachi is going to address half

hearted worship, holding back from God.

Malachi is going to address giving him the leftovers, the

scraps. Malachi is going to address

leaders not doing their jobs, they're corrupted.

Malachi is going to address not holding each other accountable.

Malachi is going to address marrying outside the faith.

Malachi is going to address divorcing the wife of your

youth, breaking that covenant. Malachi is going to address all

kinds of things that are dishonouring God and unfaithful

according to the covenant. But all of that, I think, often

can be tied back to God. How have you been faithful to

me? How have you loved me?

You seem distant. I've forgotten.

Often when doubtless is unchecked, it's a poison that

leads to unfaithfulness. You could look at a

unfaithfulness in a marital covenant and what is it often

traced back to? They lost love.

Or you could say they forgot love.

How have you loved me lately? And then unchecked that will

lead to unfaithfulness often. So here's a take away.

As doubt is often the poison that leads to unfaithfulness,

remembering God's love is the antidote, OK if doubt often

doubt in his love often leads to unfaithfulness.

Here's what we need. We need to be reminded that God

loves us. That's the antidote.

OK Often what what a a marriage that's struggling and there's

unfaithfulness what what they're need is to be secure in each

other's love. OK.

When my wife starts to doubt if I love her, if she was to ever

say, how have you loved me, Gordon?

One, I've failed if she has to ask me that question.

But two, I would say, oh, I just, I need to build her up

with my words. I need to show her affection.

I need to make her secure in my love.

And then naturally it's like you want to reciprocate.

There's faithfulness again, often what we need as the

antidote is security in God's love.

And that's why in God's wisdom, before he gives any of the other

rebukes in Malachi, he begins by securing them in his love.

They're asking, how have you loved me?

God? And he knows that's the, that's

the root of it. You need to know I love you.

And So what we're going to see today is a primary, We're going

to see lots of ways that God loves, but there's a primary

proof that God gives to that question or doubt.

How have you loved us? So let's go to the next part of

verse 2. God says is not Esau, Jacob's

brother declares the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob Esau.

I've hated, I've laid waste his Hill Country and left his

heritage, important word, heritage to jackals of the

desert. OK, let me knock one thing out

of the way real quick. If you were here a few weeks ago

in the book of John, we actually saw this loved, hated contrast,

right? It's hyperbole.

OK, Kurt was explaining then, and it's the case here.

Hated and loved hyperbole. Hyperbole is an intentional

exaggeration to make a point. And so I could say we were

playing that game and I crushed you in that game.

I did not literally crush you. I'm exaggerating and I'm making

a point. Hated refers to rejection.

Loved refers to choosing. God is saying Jacob and Esau,

they were brothers and I've loved Jacob and I have, I have

chosen Jacob. I have rejected Esau.

And so it's about God's choosing love.

He's talking to the Israelites who are descendants of Jacob.

You remember the syllabus? Jacob was renamed Israel.

OK, The Israelites. He's reminding them, I chose

your lineage. So God's aim here for the people

of Malachi is to secure them in his love, to reassure them, to

comfort them. And he doesn't say notice as a

Heavenly Father, he doesn't say, how dare you question me.

And he's not the dad that says I've simply loved you by

providing for you. Don't you know you have food on

the table? I brought you back to Jerusalem

again. He, he reminds them, He secures

them. He reassures them, I chose you.

I chose you. OK, again, back to maybe a

hypothetical example between Anna and I, my wife, if she was

to ask how have you loved me, Gordon?

I could say lots of things to answer that, but one of the best

things I could say is, hey, I chose you.

Of all the girls out there, I rejected them and I chose you.

I have a seriously, I look, Anna, I have a specific love for

you that is unlike any other love that I have for any other

human, OK? I don't love any of you the way

that I love Anna. And I would hope that in

remembering that for her, she would be secured in her love, in

my love for her. She would be comforted.

She'd be reminded. I chose you again, before God

gives any rebukes, He just reassures her.

And there's a lesson in there somewhere for dads, for

husbands, for leaders. You begin with reassuring of

love. You make sure they know that

that's often where the unfaithfulness comes from.

So Christians, when you doubt God's love, I got a catechism

for you. You know what a catechism is?

Catechism is a doctrine or a truth from Scripture that often

comes in the form of question and response.

And we see it right here in Malachi is a good one where I

would say, Christian, how has God loved you?

And you would say he chose me. OK, let's try it.

Christian, how has God loved you?

He chose me. And you can recite that, recite

that catechism, that truth to yourself over and over and over.

When you feel unsecure, insecure, when you feel doubt,

when you feel wondering, God, you feel distant, you feel far

away. I'm struggling, Lord, I'm weary.

Look at my situation. Look at their situation.

Christian, how has God loved you?

He chose me. Deuteronomy 76 through 8 will be

up on the screen. It says for you are a people

holy to your God. The Lord your God has chosen you

to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the

peoples who are on the face of the earth.

It is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath or

covenant that He swore to your Father's.

Hey, what's neat there is we've talked a lot about heritages and

inheritances, right? It's a material and a spiritual

possession. The best part is that you have

God. But you know what that verse is

saying? God has you.

He chose you. You're His treasured

inheritance, possession. That's why there's a line

throughout the whole Bible. It goes like this.

You shall be my people and I shall be your God.

That's what it's all about in the Garden of Eden.

You shall be my people and I shall be your God to revelation

in the end, when we're with them again, I shall be your God and

you shall be my people. He is our possession.

We are His possession. When we remember those things

that he chose us, we are secure in his love.

Now the this that that is the that is the reason why this

verse is in here. I've chosen you.

I've hated you, OK, but this is a classic text on the doctrine

of election. OK?

And so I want to say a few things about it.

Election is the doctrine that says God elects to or chooses to

save some, not others. And it's a hard one.

I'll just be honest, OK, but this is it's in the text.

Got to say something about it. This is such a classic example

of election that it's what Paul uses.

The Apostle Paul in Romans 9 when teaching it, he references

this. So listen to Romans 910 through

12. And not only so, but also when

Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather

Isaac, though they were not yet born and hadn't done nothing

either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election

might continue, not because of works, but because of Him who

calls she. The mother was told The older

will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I have

loved, Esau I have hated. And so it's referencing a true

story where Jacob and Esau's mom was promised before they were

born. The older will serve the younger

and this it's saying Paul is explaining this was not because

of anything good or bad that Jacob or Esau would do.

It was simply because of him who calls who chose God pre decided

that he would set his love on Abraham.

OK Abraham, the father of God's people.

He would make a covenant with Abraham.

He would carry it out through Isaac and then there would be

Jacob and Esau. But I'm going to favor Jacob,

and this is an example of it's salvation based on God, not

based on man. And then I'm going to try my

best to just say a few more things about it because we got a

lot of different people in the room.

Some of you, you don't flinch, You're like, Yep, I get it.

Others of you, it's a hard doctrine.

Some of you, you're hearing it for the first time.

OK. And so Malachi didn't go into

much depth because he's just talking to the Jacob people.

They get it, but I want to say just a few more things, but

realize people have written books trying to explain this

theology and I've got a few minutes and so I'm going to make

a little plug now. Download Church Center app,

register for our membership series class.

We'll go through our statement of faith and we'll say much more

about this doctrine. But let me say a few things I

said. One election is salvation from

God, not based on us. It is not based on merit, it's

not based on our goodness, it's not based on morality.

It's purely God's choosing. And then there's an objection in

Romans to this, right? So the objection in Romans is

some of your objection. You would say, well, if God's

sovereign to save, it's all about what he wills, who can

resist his will? That's the very question in

Romans that Paul is tackling. Who can resist his will?

Do we have any choice? OK, that's a valid objection to

which Paul would respond in Romans 9.

Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?

Will what is molded say to its molder?

Why have you made me like this? Has the Potter no right over the

clay to make out of the same lump 1 vessel for honorable use

and another for dishonorable use?

OK, that's one answer. That is one response we should

know. There is a heavenly vantage

point with God's sovereign will, and there's an earthly vantage

point with our free will. We do have free will, right?

And both exist in tandem together, OK.

As his sovereign will plays out from a heavenly perspective, so

does our will play out from an earthly perspective, and they

somehow go together. Here's two more things about

election. The first was God salvation is

from God. The second is God will not force

his spiritual heritage on anyone who chooses to reject it.

Sorry if this might be a mouthful.

God will not force on anyone his spiritual heritage who chooses

to reject it. So let's look at Esau from an

earthly vantage point, right? So you've got a guy like Esau.

OK, Jacob and Esau are born. Esau is older.

Esau would get to the point where he is the father's

favorite. He is the man's man.

He goes out and hunts and fishes.

And then you've got Jacob. He's the mama's boy that

literally says that he likes gardening.

OK, His father likes Esau. Esau's the son of promise.

He's the older. He's do the birthright, which

again, Heritage's inheritances, birthright for the older son

meant double inheritance. OK, and what does Esau do?

He chooses to reject it. Jacob, I'm not commending this.

But Jacob comes along and tricks his brother into trading the

birthright for a meal. He finds Esau in a moment of

weakness when he's famished from being out hunting.

And he says, hey, I have a pot of Stew.

I'll trade you your birthright for it.

And Esau takes them up on the deal.

Esau, remember birthright heritage.

Esau is promised the heritage of the nation of Abraham Isaac.

It could have been the nation of Esau, and I'm just playing

around here, but it could have been OK.

But he took all of that material possession, inheritance with

God, dwelling with God. He gave it all up for a single

meal that he would eat within a matter of minutes, digest within

a matter of hours, and excrete the next day.

Think about it. He gave all that up for a meal,

and that's why Moses says thus Esau despised his birthright.

OK, Esau chose to reject a heritage with God, and God will

not force it on Esau if Esau chose to reject it.

So you see a sovereign heavenly will and you see an earthly free

will working together. Jacob, on the other hand, if we

looked at him from an earthly vantage point, Jacob, I'm not

commending it, but he tricked his brother into getting the

birthright. He tricked his father into

giving him the blessing at the end of his life.

OK, he was a deceiver. It's what Jacob means, the name

deceiver. OK, Jacob wanted the heritage

and it all, maybe not for the purest motives, we don't know.

But it all culminated with there's a story in Genesis 32

where he wrestles with a mysterious man who happens to be

God. And when Jacob wrestles with

that man, he strives with him all night and demands the

blessing. And when asked his name, Jacob

acknowledges my name is Jacob Deceiver.

He acknowledges his, you could say sin.

And then he demands to get the blessing and he wrestles with

God until God gives him the blessing.

And that is the moment when Jacob would be renamed Israel.

OK. And so the the third thing you

need to know about election, God will not withhold his spiritual

heritage from anyone who chooses to seek it.

OK, He will not force it on you, but he will not withhold either.

OK, here again you see God's sovereign will and our free will

working together. And so you have to know with a

tricky doctrine, a hard to understand one like election,

you have to know if you want a heritage with God, he will not

withhold. If you want it, it's because

he's been choosing and drawing you.

And you have to know if you live a life stiff arming God,

rejecting the heritage, maybe you want the material blessing

like Esau the meal, but you don't want the heritage, the

birthright, the part that has makes you have to dwell with

God. If you reject God, God will not

force you into heaven. OK, I want to put a graphic up

on the screen just to map all this out.

OK, so here you see everything we've been talking about.

God has a path for his inheritance.

He has chosen Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and this is who he's

carrying his covenant through. Through that covenant, the

recipients will dwell in the land of Israel, which represents

dwelling with God. And if you're like Esau and you

choose to sidestep God's blessing, you reject it.

He's not going to force you to live in the land of Israel.

You have chosen a life living apart from God.

Now let me let me show you one more verse it's in and you can

leave that up on the screen. Actually, David, I'll just read

Hebrews 12. It says that no one be like

unholy Esau. And so the writer of Hebrews in

the New Testament is looking back on this and giving us a a

wider interpretation. Esau was unholy who sold his

birthright for a single meal. Hebrews says, For you know that

afterward when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was

rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it

with tears. He did not have repentant tears.

He was unholy and rejected God in need of repentance.

He had sidestepped God's blessing, and God was not going

to force him to live in a land that he did not want to live in.

Esau's descendants would go on to be the people of Edom.

Remember the ones that cursed Israel said lay it bare, lay it

bare, that was Esau. So all the descendants of Esau

too, The land of Edom has rejected God, and God will not

force them to live in a land they don't want.

And then you've got Israel's descendants who would be the

twelve sons, the tribes of Israel.

There is a nation that still exists today that bears the name

Israel. Talk about a heritage.

OK, all of this can be traced back to Israel, Jacob choosing

God. Here's a take away for us.

Any situation with God is better than any situation without God.

OK. If you looked at Israel versus

Esau? And they're over here looking at

look at my situation. Look at their situation, Edom.

They're my enemies. God is reminding, hey, I've

rejected them and they've rejected me, and I've chosen you

and you have chosen me. We are in covenant together.

And despite what it looks like, they seem to be flourishing

because they're still in their land.

You've been exiled. You're under a Persian thumb.

Despite what it may look like, any situation with me is better

than any situation without me. And that's something you can

hold on to. Christian, you look around, I

don't understand God. But remember, don't look at

material possession, don't look at material situation.

Look at spiritual possession, spiritual situation.

And any situation with God is better than any situation

without God. Give me just a SEC.

Let me talk to the ones of you that are here and you're not a

Christian and you hear all that and you realize there is a God

in heaven that has a sovereign will.

And you might find yourself asking the question whether the

God of heaven has chosen you. And I want to tell you that's

not the question you should be asking today, OK?

There's a heavenly vantage point.

There's an earthly vantage point.

The question is not whether the God of heaven from up there has

chosen you. The question is whether you from

down here will choose him. That's our concern.

Will you choose God? Will you choose the Stew, the

earthly pleasure you eat within a matter of minutes, digest

within a matter of hours it's gone the next day?

Fleeting pleasures. Will you really give up a life

and eternity with God for that? Will you opt for the material

possessions or will you opt for the spiritual one?

And remember, God will not withhold this heritage from any

who truly wants Him. To those that reject God.

God says in the verses we have today, I have laid waste his

Hill Country and left His heritage to the jackals

representing a barren reality. A life without God is a barren

reality. Will you trade that?

Will you take that trading it for a reality of blessing,

prosperity, a future Kingdom, heaven dwelling with Him

forever? And more importantly than

anything, you possess God Himself.

Like Unholy Esau. Will you miss your chance to

repent, or will you find your chance to repent?

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ came to bring a new

covenant, that it has nothing to do with what land you're from,

your ancestry. Through faith in Jesus Christ,

anybody can seek this heritage from God and find it.

All it takes is you repenting of your sin.

You realize I have broken the covenant more times than I care

to admit. I have lived unfaithful.

I need a faithful one to stand in my place and live it for me.

That's the only way the covenant can go unbroken.

Jesus Christ, sinless God, came from heaven to earth to live a

faithful life and honor the Father in a way that you and I

never could. If you repent of your sin and

place your trust in Jesus, He brings you into a new covenant,

a covenant of grace, and He will remain faithful to you until you

walk with me into the land of Israel, dwelling with God

forever. I would invite any of you here

today. If you've not placed your trust

in Jesus but you want to tell him you're sorry, ask for

forgiveness. Commit to I'm not going to live

this way anymore and choose Him and he will not withhold.

We have a time of prayer at the end of our service.

And one of the things we hope and pray for every Sunday is the

men and women like you would come up and we would have the

privilege of being able to help welcome you into the land of

Israel. All right, let's move on to the

next few verses, verse four and five.

If Edom says we are shattered, but we will rebuild.

The Lord of hosts says they may build, but I will tear down.

They will be called the wicked country and the people with whom

the Lord is angry forever. And so God's judgment is fixed.

If you spend the life rejecting Him, you can build all you want.

His judgment is fixed. Notice the posture in their

hearts. We will rebuild and God says I'm

sovereign. I will.

I will just tear you down again. There's a promise here.

OK? God has already answered.

How have you loved us? He's already answered.

I chose you. But he's saying another thing to

them I will do. I will judge justly your

enemies. My justice will go out to your

enemies, OK, The enemies of God and the enemies of his people.

My judgment is fixed. It's another way that you shall

see how I have loved you. There's a thing that often

happens in the prophetic literature called a double layer

of fulfillment or layers of fulfillment.

This would be fulfilled in one layer within the the days of

Malachi. They would see Edom get marched

out of their land and this promise will come true.

And then, ah God, you are watching out for us.

You have loved us. And then there's another layer

of fulfillment. One day all of those who have

trusted in Jesus will stand at the gates of judgment, will see

Jesus face to face, and he will March the wicked who have

rejected him out of his land forever, and he'll call others

into his land forever. And here's here's maybe the best

part of all these verses Whose eyes shall see it and say that

he's great, your eyes. OK.

It's not that when God judges the wicked.

It's not that they will finally say, oh, my gods are wrong.

You're whoa, The God of Israel, He's great.

It's not. That will happen.

You'll see that through the rest of Malachi, the nation shall

know that I'm the great king. OK?

Every knee will bow and tongue confess that I'm the Lord.

Hey, that will happen. But what God's saying here is,

hey, my people, who I've chosen, when you see this, you shall

know. You shall say the Lord is great

beyond the border of Israel. He's addressing doubt of love

and he's addressing doubt of his greatness.

God will finally say, God, you really did have a perfect plan.

You really were in control. You really have loved me.

It wasn't just within like our small little remnant of a

nation, you woe. You are great throughout all the

earth beyond the borders of Israel and here.

Here's what's really going to get us again, this is for us.

Here's what's really going to get us.

Christians, you and I will be at Judgement Day.

God will have the wicked, the enemies of God and the enemies

of us. He will have them marched away.

But you know what he'll do then He'll smile at you and me, and

he'll say, come in, enter my rest, dwell in my land.

You have me forever. And here's what's really going

to get us. We will look at them going and

we'll look at us coming in and we'll be bewildered.

You're like, are you kidding me, God?

But I'm wicked. If only we'll see God, and we'll

see our God. That should be me.

I should be marched out. I should be in exile forever.

I do not deserve God. If you know how unlovable I am,

you know how unfaithful I've been.

You know how many times I've broken the covenant?

Think about it, Christians. Do you deserve to be in the

Kingdom of Israel, of heaven with God forever?

Do you deserve to be in relationship with the holy God?

No. We'll see that happen and we'll

say great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel.

If Jacob had been saved based on his own merit, his own goodness,

his own morality, the verse would end with great is Jacob

right? Doesn't end that way.

Salvation belongs to God. God chose you, and so great is

the Lord beyond the border of Israel.

That's the culmination of these verses.

We rest secure that God loves us, and one day we will know for

certain that God is great. There's no one like him and

we'll we'll get to be with him forever and have our heritage.

You ready for the final catechism?

Not the final, the same catechism, but we're going to

end with that. Christian, how has God loved

you? Two takeaways to take home with

you today. Remember, His love is often the

antidote of doubt and unfaithfulness.

We'll see that through the rest of Malachi.

And 2nd, any situation with God is better than any situation

without God. Let's be a church that honors

God through faithful living because He is great and He

deserves it.