A man stopped at a house with a sign that said, “Talking Dog For Sale.”
The owner directed him to the backyard to see the dog.
He was pretty skeptical and called out, “You talk?”
“Yep,” the mutt replied.
The man then said, “that is amazing?”
The dog looked up and said, “Well, I discovered this gift when I was young and I wanted to help the government so I went to work for the CIA. I jetted around from country to country. I’ve spied on world leaders because no one ever figured a dog could eavesdrop. I was one of their most valuable agents. I uncovered some incredible secrets and was awarded a bunch of medals. I had a wife, a mess of puppies, and now I’m just retired.”
The guy couldn’t believe his ears! Who ever heard of a dog that talked? He was already thinking of ways he could use the dog. He turned to the owner and said, “How much do you want for him?”
The owner replied, “50 dollars.”
To which the man replied, “Your dog is amazing. Can I ask why you’re selling him?”
The owner just shook his head and said, “Because, all that he talks about is himself!”
In Malachi chapter 3, many of the faithful Israelites were disillusioned with their present situation and all they could think about was themselves. They complained to God about their problems and about the evil around them. They complained that God doesn’t do what they expect! And they started to reconsider the cost of living righteously for Him.
It was like the few faithful people of Malachi’s day were suffering from spiritual myopia or near-sightedness. Near-sighted individuals have a blurred or distorted perspective; they have trouble seeing things at a distance. They were critical of God in verse 13.
Malachi 3:13 “Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the Lord, Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?”
They had spiritual myopia and it should be called “me-optic vision.” “Me-optic vision” is near-sighted, and can only focus on self and your situation.
People that suffer with spiritual near-sightedness fail to see the needs of others, and lack an eternal perspective because they can only see the here and now.
Spiritual near-sightedness lacks the eternal perspective to see what God wants to accomplish through us during difficult times. It’s a faithful believer who will trust that God has a greater plan for them and others, than just the present situation.
Note that God heard the people’s complaining. Notice what they said in verse 14.
Malachi 3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance,
and that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts?
When spiritual people have near sightedness; all they can see are problems and evil that others seem to get away with. According to verse 15, in their eyes they saw those who didn’t serve God as having it better than they had.
Malachi 3:15 “So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ”
Their words could sound something like: “It doesn’t pay to serve the Lord; what have we gotten out of it?” Wickedness is prospering. People are freely rebelling against God.
The question is can we believe there are rewards He has prepared for all those who live righteously and there is judgement for the wicked? If you do, living righteously is one of the main ways other people will know God and receive His rewards also.
God wants His people to know the rewards He has planned; God does not want His people to lose sight of what is important and coming in the future.
The Apostle Paul was motivated to gain the reward God had prepared for him. He told the believers at Philippi, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:14.
He told the believers at Corinth, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24.
Malachi disclosed the rewards God has prepared for those who don’t give up; who keep their eye on the prize and run in such a way as to win the race.
However, before we look at the rewards of righteous living, I want us to notice something important.
We need each other at times like this!
Malachi 3:16 “Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other.”
A cure of “me-optic vision,” happened when the people of God got together to talk it over.
The Bible tells us to… “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:25.
It isn’t a new thought that we live in an evil world! But having a “Me-optic vision” will lead to a progression of negative responses, one of which is to go it alone. Let’s spend a moment on a few observations of this classic symptom.
- A person with Spiritual near-sightedness will tend to withdraw from fellowship.
As the doubts and questions grow individuals will become increasingly more and more isolated from the church. By “the church” I don’t necessarily mean just worship services or programs. Fellowship is about people investing in God’s Word and in each other. This is what we need to guide us to a godly perspective to live righteously.
When we worship God together, we build relationships with each other in order to care for one other. The result is you will be a friend that will notice when another believer retreats from their walk from God, and loses their focus.
- Spiritual near-sightedness resists submitting to one another.
Ultimately an individual will reject the authority of God’s Word and the spiritual resources around them. They become increasingly more independent. They will ignore pastors, teachers or caring friends who speak the truth of God’s word into their lives.
The Bible communicates that we need each other! Together we can encourage each other to see with an eternal perspective and to see the rewards which God has prepared for us.
So, what are the rewards God has prepared for faithful people? Verses 16, 17, and 18 will open our eyes to three rewards and motivate us not to doubt God’s promise.
REWARD #1: GOD IS FAITHFUL.
Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And 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.”
The faithful Israelites set out to enlist themselves in a written covenant to trust God in spite of what the majority of their contemporaries were doing. What they wrote helped them discern the consequences of good and evil. And this verse says that God paid attention and heard them!
“Those who feared the Lord and honored His name.” Put simply, the fear of the Lord produces obedience and obedience is the only way to honor His name.
Proverbs 14:2 “He who walks in His uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.”
Proverbs 16:6 “By the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.”
God assures faithful people that they belong to Him and that they are His treasure. He assured them that He will deal with those who did not serve Him. The next reward…
REWARD #2: GOD ESTEEMS RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE.
Malachi 3:17 “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.”
God values righteous people as His own; “They will be mine.”
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
Unfortunately, there are times God’s people don’t feel blessed by God and valued. There will be times that we will feel overwhelmed by our culture. Satan wants you to believe the lie, “that it doesn’t pay to live for God.” We shouldn’t believe it!
You are precious to God; you are His treasured possession. God sees you as valuable and willingly paid the price to make you His own.
1 Peter 1:18 -19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
We never should be distracted or discouraged by people who seem to be prospering by doing evil, because the Day of the Lord is coming. God reminds us that divine judgement is upon those who are wicked.
This is a major theological truth that is reflected in various ways throughout the Scriptures. We need to keep in mind there is a difference between the righteous and the wicked. It is not a matter of how people appear to be doing or how others are understood to be well off now. But eternally, it’s about how they will be treated by God.
Ezekiel 18:9“If he has walked in My statutes and kept My judgments faithfully— He is just; He shall surely live!” Says the Lord God.”
Psalm 1:5-6 “Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”
Beginning in Malachi 3:17 and continuing through the end of chapter 4. Malachi sees the great day when Christ will establish His kingdom once and for all. And guess what–Christ’s second coming is the focus for our next time in our study of Malachi.
Last, the third reward…
REWARD #3: JESUS WILL RETURN FOR HIS OWN.
Malachi 3:18 “Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God
and one who does not serve Him.”
The most fascinating topic to study in the book ofMalachi is how the people are not only preparing for Christ’s first coming, but God also uses this prophet to announce Christ’s second coming!
In verse 16, they wrote a document that would help each of them to revere God and commit to honoring His name. Now, in verse 18 this group of people will turn to this document to help them discern between righteousness and evil and live for Him until that Day.
On that day, He will come with His reward and make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. He will rule with righteousness and make all things right!
Jesus told of this day when He walked the earth.
Matthew 25:31-34 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. [32] All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. [33] He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. [34] “Then the King will say to those on His right, ’Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
God makes a difference between the righteous and wicked. We need to keep the end in sight and that should be enough of a motive to live differently.
What does this message of Malachi mean to us?
Tomorrow has many concerns and wickedness seems to be gaining ground. But our focus should be on the bigger picture, not the troubles or fears of our current times.
- We can trust God to faithfully carry us through each day.
- We need to be faithful to live for Him at all costs.
- After all, we know the last chapter of the Old Testament and the New Testament!