Article for December 8, 2024
Malachi 3:1 1“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; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
They, the Jews knew from various scriptures of a messenger who will announce the coming of the Lord our savior. His temple is the body of Jesus Christ. This is the good news of that time that a savior was coming. But when Jesus returns for the second time, He will not have a messenger to announce His coming. (Matthew 24:44), we will not know the hour or the day.
Many in our time have grown tired of waiting for the second coming of the Lord. Some may even doubt Christ is coming back at all or at least in their lifetime. I’m sure there were many Jews who doubted Christ’s first coming. But Christ came the first time and Christ will return a second time. The Lord of hosts says so.
The question that is asked, (Mark 13:37), will any of us be awake when our Lord returns? We should constantly be on the watchtower looking out to see when Christ comes again, that is to be ready for His coming. We know when Jesus Christ comes again, He will come to take us who believe with Him.
Malachi 3:2–3 2But 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 fullers’ soap. 3He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.
This will be the test of our metal as Jesus will come in with a refiner’s fire. The refiner’s fire will separate the slag from the silver and make it pure. Jesus will separate the sin from the sinner. The fullers’ soap will clean away any lasting debris and make us as clean as new fallen snow. Jesus comes to purify, collect, and prepare us for our final journey which starts in heaven.
We will be clothed in Christ’s righteousness, cleansed with the very blood of the Lamb. We will be made presentable to Christ’s Father, and our Father, in heaven. As in the Old Testament, this will make us ceremonially clean forever and ever, amen. We will live forever in the presence of our God and savior and live in the pure joy of worshipping our God, praising Him and thanking Him daily.
Malachi 3:4 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Just think as we are made pure so will our offering of worship be pure, pleasing and acceptable to our Lord Jesus Christ. From the days of the Hebrew salvation that brought them out of captivity, we too will experience the freedom from the captivity of our sinful nature.
Just think, we will no longer have a sinful nature to plague us. We will be refined, cleansed, and clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We will be living under the shelter of pure joy, and the joy of God for all eternity.
Malachi 3:5 5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
The second coming of our Lord and savior will weed out the bad, the unbeliever, (Matthew 13:12), and keep the good, the believer. Know the believer is one who keeps faith in the Lord, fears Him, and believes that the Lord died for their sins.
We can endure the hardships of life, keeping our faith in the Lord. We can live our life on earth enduring the constant testing of our faith knowing that the life that holds all importance is the life we live for the Lord. For our Lord rewards even us sinners who believe in eternal life with Him.
Malachi 3:6–7b 6“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.”
For Jesus Christ says He will save all who endures. Jesus Christ forgave us our sin and our weaknesses from the cross and promised to resurrect us from our grave to live in constant relationship with Him forever and ever.
Hear the good news, God does not change, He remains the same as He was yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Hear the good news God has kept and will keep all His promises. Hear the good news God will not forsake those who continue to follow Him even in their distress. Amen.
Written by Pastor Curtis A. May
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