Malachi 4 – The Coming of the Appointed Time
Friday, 17th March 2023
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
When we point our fingers to others, at the end we are the ones who will be hurt. Because we don’t see our own problems, on the other hand, we think others don’t understand us, we think God doesn’t listen to us, and slowly we drift away from God. God’s appointed time us coming, we must be alert, do not think that the appointed time is far away from us, because it’s coming, He already said it in the Bible. Even Jesus said He didn’t know when it would come, but when He was on this earth, He continued to preach about the appointed time of God. In Malachi 4, God told His people what would happen when the appointed time comes.
Section One V1-3 God’s Righteousness Shall Arise
V1 ‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that will leave them neither root nor branch.’ The Lord of hosts is the Lord of the battle. Why does God need to battle? He is the Creator of the world; He does not need to fight any battle because everything is in His hands. He is fighting for us; He is fighting to destroy all the wickedness in our lives. The prideful, the sinful, the lustful, the rebellious… But we don’t see our wickedness, on the other hand, we are doing everything we can to make ourselves the way we think it’s good, we want to be like God, but we can never be like God, and God created us not for us to be like Him, but to have a relationship with Him.
We are not satisfied with the way God created us, we want to be like God, we use our own thinking and mindset to look at ourselves, we compare ourselves with others, and we don’t use the heart of Jesus to look at ourselves, even look at other people. Jesus never compare Himself with anyone else, He was willing to humble Himself, to deny Himself, and to accept whatever the Father instructed. He only listened to the Word of God, He didn’t follow the ways if this world, and He didn’t need to prove Himself to anyone.
Jesus knew His identity, He knew wherever He was, He had the best image in the eyes of the Father. Do we also have the same eyesight? To see the way the Father looks at us, the best image? Are we willing to walk the way our authority instructs us to walk? Do we know that God gave us authority in the church to guide us and to lead us? Even though Jesus knew His identity as the Son of God, and His mission to save all people, He was still submissive in the synagogue to listen to the teaching of the teachers, and to obey His parents on this earth when they called Him to leave.
V2 ‘But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.’ The righteousness of God is the light of God. It was the time of darkness during the time of Malachi, people did not seek God, and God was going to stop speaking to them. God does not want us to stay in the darkness, He wants to save us, and therefore He is talking to us today, to see that we are also in the darkness, but His light is coming. We must lead a life set apart as holy for Him.
V3 ‘You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this, says the Lord of hosts.’ God wants to shine His light on us, and He also wants to heal us. It’s not about doing good deeds in exchange for healing, but He wants us to trample the wicked, we must stop those who come against God to arise. When we are healed, we shall speak testimony to glorify God, to speak our weakness and how God’s light shines in our darkness. Let us uplift God’s strength, reveal our low points in life, and how God comes to our lives and saves us from these low points, the deep dark pits.
Jesus came to this world not as a king, but as a servant. When we lower ourselves like Jesus, when we humble ourselves like Jesus, and when we expose our weaknesses in life, God’s strength will come and we can trample the wicked.
Section Two V4 God’s Law Shall Be Remembered
V4 ‘Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.’ God’s Law is not for Moses but for us. When His appointed time comes, His law shall also be remembered. When we remember God’s law, then we can remember everything God has done for us in the past. Do not think that the law is there to press us down and to restrain us. But to remember the intention of God when He first made the covenant with the Israelites. God said He wanted to be the God of Israel, so they could be blessed. The law is there for us to be blessed, for us to stay away form our evil ways and the ways of this world, so we can be blessed.
Do we know how blessed we are? God saved us out of Egypt, the land of slavery, and led us into the Promised Land, so we entered His blessings. Do not think that the law is there to disciple us, but to show us God’s love.
Section Three V5-6 God’s Restoration Shall Come
V5 ‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’ God’s coming, do we believe that the second coming of Jesus is near? Do we believe the Judgement Day will come? We have been talking about it for over 2,000 years, the Temple of God was rebuilt, and the people stopped believing the second coming of Jesus.
V6 ‘And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.’ God will come and God will strike the earth with a curse, which is His judgement. Before that happens, God will turn the hearts of the children and the fathers. God will change the hearts of people, so they can repent their ways and turn to the Father. The prophets are to be sent to call the people for repentance, so the people’s hearts will turn to God. God’s time is coming, it’s been talked about so clearly without doubt, but people still chose to stay blind.
This is the end times, let us stop lying to ourselves and to others. God’s appointed time will come, He will judge, and let us live everyday with the Word of God to be the light of our path and the lamp to our feet.
玛拉基书 4 – 神的日子要来到
2023年3月17日 星期五
潘锡安牧师
从上一章的记载我们可以看到人会不断顶撞神。我们看不见自己的问题，只会指责别人甚至神，最后造成自己的亏损，慢慢走向冷淡退后。我们若用自己的想法去听道，带来的反而是对自己的伤害。神要让以色列看见，公义的神不仅还在，他所定的日子也要来到。神的日子对我们来说好像很遥远，然而，他所定的日子对我们每一个人都很重要。
一、v.1-3 神的公义要出现
V1“万军”说明神是争战的神。神本来不用争战，因为世界本来就是他的，然而他是为了我们争战。“那日”就是耶和华的日子。当神要来的时候，他为我们争战，烧毁一切“狂傲的和行恶的”。我们的骄傲从亚当夏娃的原罪而来，我们希望自己变得像神一样，然而神创造我们，是希望我们跟他产生关系，只是我们不看重这段关系。我们看自己不够好，不断改变自己，想要让自己变得更“美好”，或者跟别人比较，想要像他们一样“好”。主耶稣出生的时候并没有与周围的人比较，而是谦卑顺服、舍己利他。他没有去听别人瞧不起他木匠身份的话，只去听神跟他说的话，因为他里面是健康的。耶稣没有跟随这个世界，他知道无论在何处传道都是最好的。我们是否看自己是美好的，还是尝试用世界的方法来改变自己？骄傲会阻挡我们与神之间的关系。”行恶的”就是不行神的道。耶稣在地上的时候愿意顺服在地上的权柄，而我们却只想行自己觉得“幸福”的道路，以为神的道路会阻挡我们。在神的日子来临的时候，他要烧尽这一切不属于他的。
V2 “公义的日头”就是神的光。当时的百姓看见黑暗的环境，就怀疑神，然而神说他公义的光要出现。神要让我们在他的翅膀之下超越一切黑暗、幽暗。我们可能觉得在黑暗中随波逐流没有关系，认为要从世界中分别为圣太辛苦。但是，神的翅膀要带我们离开世上的黑暗，因为他要医治我们，他不要我们继续沉浸在黑暗中。
V3 神医治我们，不是好像其它宗教讲的“放生”一般，而是要我们能“践踏恶人”，就是能压住那些与神为敌的人，让他们不能兴起迷惑世人。我们被神医治后，不是炫耀自己有多厉害，而是让人看到我们的低点、看到自己过去如何糜烂，但因着耶和华的光来到，我们得着医治和平安。我们看到的不是自己，而是神的怜悯，我们能站在台前作见证，是因着神的恩典。我们要让我们的软弱成为神的荣耀。主耶稣来到世上时，用仆人的身份为门徒洗脚，他才是我们效法的对象 ，我们要高举的单单是我们的神！
二、v.4 神的律法要记念
神的律法是给我们的。他的日子要来，他的律法也要被记念、回想。我们可能会觉得规条律法是压制我们的，然而，我们要回想神当初为何要与以色列立约 – 神为了祝福以色列，用律法帮助他们不走出这祝福以外。当神的日子来到，回想起神的律法，就能想起我们自己是何等蒙福，因为神将我们从为奴为仆的埃及地拯救出来，进入应许之地。神给我们律法，他爱我们。
三、v.5–6 神的恢复要来到
当神说“免得我来咒诅遍地”时，说明他会有两个行动：神会来，并且会审判。当时的百姓包括祭司都不认为神的审判会来，只想苟且于当下的生活。然而，神必定会来，且“必使父亲的心转向儿女，儿女的心转向父亲”。“父亲”一词原文是一种很高的身份，代表神。先知的话帮助我们知罪悔改，当我们悔改，神的心就会转向人。人不愿意听神的话，所以玛拉基书之后神沉默了400年。神的日子必要来到，求神帮助我们不要有投机取巧的心，而是以神的话语为脚前的灯，路上的光，走在神的道路上，成为与神同行的人。