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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Amen. So welcome back to Mount Baptist Church on the Sunday afternoon. And let me get the soul winning numbers. I don't think I counted all that up. Um, I know we had a good number out today. Today is the 30th. Today is the 30th, and do we have any earlier in the week? You had two earlier on Tuesday, and then a brother Jim said he had two this past week, and then what do we have today? So two, and then I know brother Anthony and Nick, you guys had three, right? I'm looking for you over there, and you're like right here. So that's five. Brother Richie, you had one today, right? So that's six. Was there any others? So six plus four equals 10. So I can still do math, guys. So 10 saved. See, we can still do that when I'm here. That's awesome. I gave up the good work. No, but it was good. Gave up the good work with salt winning, and just an update on the salt winning times there. Monday's salt winning regional time is going to be moved to Thursday. So tomorrow is Memorial Day, so they're going to move it to Thursday. So you said around five maybe, somewhere around there. So as far as that goes, if you're thinking about going on Monday, maybe think of Tuesday or Thursday there. And obviously, Tuesday time is still there coming up this week. All the other stuff is pretty much the same as what we talked about this morning. Salt winning marathon, just be in prayer for that. And ladies, don't forget about the prayer meeting coming up this Saturday. Our chapter memory is Galatians 1, but we'll be moving that to Galatians 2 next week, or the next bulletin should be Galatians 2. Romans 8, 29 is our memory of verse for the week. And don't forget, I just want to give a reminder that kids, if you haven't won a Bible from just memorizing the names of the books of the Bible in order, that's still out there. So if you memorize the books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you can win a Bible there. So just kind of wanting to put that reminder out there. And then the sign up sheet for the retreat is over there on the fridge. So if you're going to be there the whole time, just say the whole time. If you're going to be there two days out of the three days, just let me know what days they're going to be. And if you're going to be there, so a lot of us, at least I do, usually leave on Saturday evening or somewhere around there. You can technically stay the night and leave Sunday morning. But if you're going to be there any longer on Saturday than like 10 a.m., then just go ahead and tell me you're going to be there for the whole time or for that whole time because then you don't have to worry about like I got to get everything packed up and out of there like early in the morning. So that will just give you that time, even if you're not going to stay the next night. So I'd rather just have that ease of mind that you can just kind of hang out for the day and not worry about, you know, having your whole car packed and just living out of your car for a little bit. So, but just let me know about that. I know some aren't going to be able to, or I know one family is not going to be able to come because, you know, they got to have a baby or something like that. And no, but they've decided, you know, not to end up coming just because it's real close to the due date and stuff like that. And then others, you know, wood jobs, stuff like that, other things going on. I just want to know so that we know we have enough cabins or if I need to, we pretty much have all the cabins reserved, except for, you know, where those cottages were at that we, the new ones, the four bedroom ones. We have at least two, I think we have three or four of those even, but there's still some more there. I don't know if they're available, but everything else, all those other regular cabins, we got them all. So it's mountain, Baptist, church, like campground pretty much is what it is. I'm not planning on taking any away. So if we have extras, we'll just find, we'll fill it or, you know, either way. Then we don't have to worry about people around us. So we can just be like, it's our place, you know, for that time. But anyway, that signup sheet's there. So if you can, as soon as you know, you can definitely make it or you got the time off at least, then put it on there and I'll get that all turned in there. We got all the birthdays, anniversaries, pregnancies. And so just be in prayer for those that are pregnant on the list. And I've said this before, but be in prayer for those that we don't know about yet. So there's always that chance, but you know, just be in prayer for all the ladies that are pregnant and just a blessing there to see. I don't know, have we gone, like this whole time we've been at church, have we had ever a time where there wasn't somebody pregnant? I can't think if there was like a space of time, even when we were a little smaller. But now it's like, you know, a lot of people are pregnant all the time. So that's a good thing. Besides that, I can't think of anything else. This is this will be our last sermon in this series of the prophets. So we're moving on to contradictions in the Bible. So-called. But obviously, I'm excited to go on to other, you know, other stuff. But that's that. That's all I got, so. But today is going to come sing one more song. Who's reading Malachi one for us? But Jason is going to be reading Malachi chapter one for us. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song number 22. We'll sing Are You Washed in the Blood? Song number 22. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you walking daily by the Savior's side? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Do you rest each moment in the crucified? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? When the bridegroom cometh, will your robes be white? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright and be washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin and be washed in the blood of the lamb. There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean. Oh, being washed in the blood of the lamb. Are you washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? All right. All right. Take your Bibles and turn to Malachi, chapter one. Malachi chapter one, Brother Jason, read that for us. All right, Malachi, chapter number one, the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet you say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I love Jacob and I hated Esau and laid his mountains in his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Whereas Edom, saith, we are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. They shall build, but I will throw down and they shall call them the border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord hath ending nation forever. In your eyes, your eyes shall see and you shall say the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel. A son on earth, his father and a servant, his master. If then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? I said, saith the Lord of hosts unto you, oh, priests that despise my name. And you say, wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offered, you offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And you say, wherein have we polluted thee? In that you say the table of the Lord is contemptible. And if he offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if he offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor. Will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person? Sayeth the Lord of hosts. And now I pray you beseech God that he will get that he will be gracious unto us. This hath been by your means. Will he regard your persons? Sayeth the Lord of hosts. Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for not? Neither do you kindle fire on mine altar for not. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts. Neither will I accept an offering at your hand for from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same. My name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. But you have profaned it in that you say the table of the Lord is polluted in the fruit thereof. Even his meat is contemptible. Ye said also, behold, what a weariness it is. What a weariness weariness is it? And ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts. And he brought that which was torn in the lame and the sick. Thus he brought an offering. Should I accept this of your hand, sayeth the Lord. But cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrifices unto the Lord a corrupt thing. For I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts. And my name is dreadful among the heathen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for bringing us back to the second service. Lord, I just pray that you bless the preaching. To be with Pastor Robinson as he delivers the message and and just help us all to be identified, Lord. And in Jesus name, I pray. And. So you're there in Malachi, chapter one. And like I say, we're kind of closing off or ending our our profits series. And so we went through all the major profits and went through the minor profits and we're on the last minor profit. And this doesn't really tell you the timeline as far as when it's taking place. But again, I believe all the minor profits are in chronological order. So I would say it's at least at the time when they're building the temple, rebuilding the temple because you had Haggai and then you had Zechariah, which is clearly at that time that they were rebuilding the temple. And yet Ezra, Nehemiah's day and all that. So Malachi would at least be at that time, but it could be a little after that. I have a feeling it might be a little after that, considering there's a lot of rebuke in this passage about their sacrifices and how they're doing their sacrifices and how they're not doing it the way they should be doing it. And I believe, you know, even after the revival, if you will, where they're building the temple, they were having problems, you know. And obviously, when you get to Jesus day, there's problems, isn't there? There's a lot of problems. It's not like it was all just hunky dory when Jesus was walking on the earth with how they were doing things. But Malachi one here is the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. So there's a lot in here. And really, I'm just going to go through some different points as far as things that are said in Malachi that are either quoted off in the New Testament. Girls, look up here. You're going to go back into the mother baby room. Look up at me and pay attention. Now, the thing is, is that I'm just going to be going through some of these passages. It's not going to be an all inclusive study. It's kind of like Zechariah. You know, there's plenty of stuff that I didn't touch on in Zechariah, but just things that I when I think of Malachi, I think of these these certain things. OK, the first thing we see here is it's just brought up right at the beginning is Jacob have I love, but he saw I have I hate it. And this is brought up in Romans nine. And it's interesting because I was preaching on, you know, against Calvinism and unconditional election. Well, this is where they usually in Romans nine they go to. But Malachi is actually a great place to debunk it. OK, to debunk what they're trying to say. Romans nine says, but let's read Malachi one, first of all. And verse two there, it says, I have loved you, said the Lord. Yet you say, wherein has that loved us? What's not Esau Jacob's brother said the Lord? Yet I love Jacob and I hated Esau. And laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness, and whereas Edom said we are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places. Thus said the Lord of hosts. They shall build, but I will throw down and they shall call them the border of wickedness and the people against whom the Lord had indignation forever. And your eyes shall see and you shall say the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel. Now go to Romans chapter nine, because Romans chapter nine is actually quoting what I just read as far as Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. But it's just quoting that portion. And then it goes off and it goes on to talk about, you know, whom he will, who have mercy and whom he will, he hardeneth. And it goes into this aspect of, you know, the fact that God hardens certain people like Pharaoh. Now, we already know that that hardening is talking about someone becoming a reprobate, right? We're talking about the fact that someone can become totally depraved. Now, what Calvinists believe is that those people are hardened from birth, right? They were they were hardened from the womb. And, you know, basically he hardened, you know, most people and he only has mercy on some people coming into this world, which is ridiculous. But where are they where they try to prove that point is what's being said here in Romans chapter nine. OK, notice what it says in Romans nine and verse nine. It says, for this is the word of promise at this time, will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father, Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him that call it. It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger as it is written, Jacob have I love, but Esau have I hated. Girls, stop talking. Now, the thing is that you can see what they're trying to do here. They're trying to say, OK, Jacob and Esau, when they were in the womb and done good or evil and God hated Esau and love Jacob. OK, now that's not what's being said. OK, because the person Esau and the person Jacob, OK, is what what the Calvinist wants you to believe is that in the womb, God hated Esau. That's what they're trying to prove. OK, but go back to Malachi and OK, and look at the fact that what does it say about this passage where it says Jacob have I love, but Esau have I hated. When it says as it's written, you should probably go back and get some context about what was said in that passage. Are we talking about the person Jacob and the person Esau? Or are we talking about the nation of Esau and the nation of Jacob? And I'm going to prove that without a shadow of a doubt that that's what that's talking about. It's not talking about a specific person. It's talking about the nations. It was a prophecy about nations from the womb when Jacob and Esau were in the womb. This was determined that he was going to love Israel, the nation, and he was going to hate Esau, the nation. And notice what it says here. And, you know, Malachi one, verse two, it says, I have loved you, said the Lord, yet you say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, said the Lord? Yet I love Jacob and I hated Esau and laid his mountains, wastes and his heritage, wastes for the dragons of the wilderness. Notice in verse four, whereas Edom. Now that's another term for Esau. OK, just as much as Israel is another name given to Jacob. OK, Israel basically means someone powerful and Edom means faint. So obviously two extremes there. But it says, whereas Edom saith, we are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. They shall build, but I will throw down and they shall call them the border of wickedness and the what? People against whom the Lord hath indignation forever. So are we talking about one person? And listen, I know in 2021, it's hard to tell when you say they, them, whether you're talking to one person or multiple people. But in reality, when we're not all a bunch of psychopaths and morons, they and them means multiple people. OK, and people means more than one person. So what is saying here is that Jacob, I love it. He's talking about the nation of Edom as a whole. He hates that nation. It says the people and who's you know, the Lord has indignation forever. And I preached a whole sermon on Obadiah when we went through Obadiah on the dichotomy of Israel and Edom and the fact that, spiritually speaking, Israel is the saved and Edom are the reprobates. They're the ones that God hates. OK, so you're talking about children of God, children of the devil. That's the dichotomy when it says Jacob have my love, but he's how I hate it. But the physical people, Jacob and Esau, I believe are both saved people. Now, is that not good enough for you? Well, Romans nine says this. It says it, you know, it was said unto her, the elders shall serve the younger as it is written, Jacob have I love, but Esau have I hate it. So these two phrases are two phrases that are in the Old Testament. Jacob have I love, Esau have I hate it, Malachi chapter one. The elders shall serve the younger comes from Genesis twenty five when Jacob and Esau were born. Go to Genesis twenty five. And there's going to be no doubt here that he's not talking about the person Jacob and the person Esau. He's talking about the nations. OK, and I want you to think about this, too. The elders shall serve the younger. Show me anywhere in the Bible where Esau was serving Jacob. I want to see any place where it says that. Actually, what you'll find is Jacob making obeisance to almost a ridiculous extent when he's going to meet his brother, bowing himself like every single I don't know how many times he did it. And then he's given him gifts and all this stuff. You don't see Esau coming up to him and just serving him at his feet and all that. Now, obviously, it's talking about the nations as a whole. And Edom was a servant to Israel, even in the physical aspect. And, you know, that's how it's true. Now, Genesis twenty five, verse twenty one. This is the story which Romans nine is talking about, right? Romans nine is talking about the fact that that Isaac had two sons by Rebecca. And notice what it says in verse twenty one, Genesis twenty five, verse twenty one, it says, And Isaac and treated the Lord for his wife, and because she was barren and the Lord was entreated of him and Rebecca, his wife conceived and the children struggled together within her. And she said, if it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire the Lord. So she's basically saying these these two children, she obviously knows she has twins. They're struggling. They're fighting. OK, and she's basically saying why? Verse twenty three, and the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy vows, and the one people shall be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve the younger. Does that sound like it's talking about Jacob, the person and Esau, the person, or is it talking about people, nations that are going to be at strike together and the elders going to I'm sorry, the elders going to serve the younger, meaning that Esau, Edom is going to serve Israel. It's as clear as the noses on your face that it's talking about nations as a whole, that he hated Esau, the nation, and he loved Israel, the nation, the people. OK, so only in this weird 2021 world where people are going by plural pronouns. Would you take this any other way? So that being said, Malachi is a great place to to to disprove this Calvinism view that basically God hated the person Esau from the womb. No, from the womb. He hated Esau, the nation, that hadn't even existed yet. OK, it's just like how Canaan was cursed, you know, when Ham, you know, basically said, and then it says, curse be Canaan, like Canaan is not the one that did the curse, did any anything wrong, right? Or like in that whole situation, it was Ham that did something wrong. It's like curse to be Canaan. Why? Because he's he's basically given a prophecy that Canaan is going to be cursed. Canaan is going to be the one that's going to suffer, you know, basically be completely annihilated by Israel right later on. And he's basically showing a prophecy through this. OK, not the person. Anna, turn around now. Sit down and look at me. Now, that being said, I just wanted to get that. I knew I was going to be getting into that one, so I didn't want to put that in my sermon this morning dealing with Calvinism, but they love Romans nine. Romans nine is like one of their text places to show, see, you know, Esau. Anna, go back to go back to the mother baby room. Go back to where mama's at. Now, Claire, you can stay out here and go back. So they love to use that passage. But if you go back to what's being quoted, then you understand that, hey, we're not talking about a person, the person Esau and the person Jacob. And because if it was talking about the person Esau, then that'd be hard to answer, wouldn't it? The fact that before they even were born, before they did good or evil, then God hated them, right? But when you know it's talking about a group of people, then that makes sense. And I'll say this, it has nothing to do with Malachi or, you know, Calvinism, but this has to do with Zionism. Romans 11 is dealing with the same thing. It's not dealing with people, like personal people, being like broken off or grafting in. It's talking about nations. And when you understand that that's talking about nations, then that makes a lot more sense, okay? As far as, you know, if you'll be broken off and unbelief, right? It's not talking about losing your salvation. It's talking about a nation as a whole. If a nation as a whole becomes unbelievers, they're broken off from the blessings. In America, you should listen up to that one. That's another sermon for another day. Now go on to Malachi chapter one, Malachi chapter one in verse 10. Malachi chapter one in verse 10. And I'm just going to be pointing out different passages throughout Malachi here, dealing with, you know, things that pop out to me. And one thing that popped out to me is just this foreshadowing of how the Old Testament is going to be disregarded and the New Testament is going to be instituted, okay? Now, you definitely see that in Malachi chapter three. But Malachi chapter one in verse 10 here, notice what it says. It says, Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for naught? Neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for naught. I have no pleasure in you, said the Lord of hosts. Neither will I accept an offering at your hand. Now, he just got done rebuking them for a lot of, you know, he's basically rebuking them about their sacrifices and all that stuff. He's basically saying, you know, I have no pleasure in you and I will not accept an offering at your hand. It says, verse 11, from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name. And a pure offering for my name shall be great among the heathen, said the Lord of hosts. So what are you dealing with here? The Old Testament not regarding it, not having pleasure in it, not regarding their sacrifices anymore. But he's saying, hey, there's going to be pure sacrifices and incense that are going to be offered every place. Do you see the difference between Israel as a whole, you know, that nation and the Old Testament, and it was at that temple to in the New Testament everywhere? You know, and Jesus even mentioned it says there's going to come a time where you're not going to worship God in this mountain, but in every place, right, that you're going to worship in spirit and in truth. And there is this basically difference between the Old Testament and New Testament and how that that was going to work. OK, and you kind of see this in Hebrew chapter 13, the way Hebrew chapter 13 ends. Go to Hebrew chapter 13 and verse 10 on the idea that not regarding their sacrifices anymore, not having pleasure in their sacrifices anymore. And obviously, we know the sacrifices never took away sins. We're not talking about eternal salvation. We're talking about having fellowship with God and how God, how we get right with God and how we serve God. And, you know, where's the house of the Lord? You know, that type of stuff that has obviously changed from the Old Testament, New Testament. Notice what it says in verse 10, Hebrews 13 and verse 10. It says, We have an altar where they have no right to eat, which serve the tabernacle for the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought in to the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burnt without the camp. Wherefore, Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gate. Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. See a difference? You know, they're dealing with these sacrifices to bring into this temple. But hey, we had the Lord Jesus Christ that was sacrificed and his own blood. That was that sacrifice. Keep reading there. It says, By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise. I'm sorry, I skipped the verse. Verse 14 says, For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come by him. Therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name, but to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. Notice that these are spiritual sacrifices, right? That we're, you know, it talks about we're lively stones that bring up spiritual sacrifices under our God, right? And the idea is that, yeah, we're not doing these actual animal sacrifices anymore, but we're going to have pure sacrifices from the from the west to the rising of the sun. All the Gentiles, you know, it says all the heathen are going to fear his name. And the idea here is that there's a difference between the Old Testament and New Testament. OK, the Old Testament was about that nation of Israel. The temple was the house of God. That's where you had to go to do these feasts, these sacrifices. And you had to go there for certain times. All this stuff was true back at that time. Well, then, you know, they they didn't continue in his covenant and he regarded them not. The kingdom God was taken away from them and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. And now we are that holy nation, that peculiar people, that royal priesthood, right? That peculiar people, they show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. So I kind of just see that in Malachi one, you know, just kind of pops out to you that, hey, he's not regarding their sacrifices anymore. They're polluted. They're not they're not good. You know, and but he's saying, hey, listen to heathen. They're going to bring forth pure sacrifices in every place. And you kind of see the difference between one temple, one house of God and one location, two houses of God throughout the whole world. Every local church, the pillar and ground of truth. It says that that you may know how to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And aren't there churches in every place, so to speak? I mean, all around the world, there's churches like legitimate churches that and obviously in some places more sparse than others. But, you know, that that statement is true. So I see that in Malachi there. And go to Malachi two and verse one, just to get another idea what God thinks of their sacrifices. So. God uses some strong language sometimes, and people get upset at me like, man, I can't believe you're using that type of language, like, have you read the Bible? I'm going to show you one right here. How do you think God felt about them doing sacrifices after his son was sacrificed? I want I want you to think about that. Now, obviously, in Malachi here, he's talking about how they're doing these polluted sacrifices, right? They're getting these sick and lame, you know, animals. He's like, would you give this to your governor? You know, and then you're like bringing this sickly animal to me. And you're basically just whatever you don't want, you're giving to the Lord. He's like, I'm a great king. You know, why are you giving me this stuff? And this is what he thinks about it. In verse one there, Malachi two, it says, And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name, said the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Yea, I will. I'm sorry. Yea, I have cursed them already because you do not lay it to heart. He's going to curse their blessings. And notice what it says in verse three. Behold, I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feast, and one shall take you away with it. He's like, you want to know what I think about your solemn feast? I'm going to take the dung from the animals that you're sacrificing. I'm going to spread it on your face. That's what God has to say about it. So whenever you think like a preacher's harsh, I didn't say I was going to spread dung on your faces. OK, that's what God said. That's how he feels about when it says he's not pleased with their sacrifices. That's how he feels about it. You'd be like, well, he's just a little unpleased. He wants to spread dung on their faces and not just dung, the dung of their sacrifices. You know, he's like, you know what I feel about your sacrifice? He just takes the dung and the refuge and just spreads it all over their face. So you know what? God doesn't like it, doesn't like polluted sacrifices. Now, how can we apply that to us? You know, obviously, you know, if we're giving a sacrifice to God, if we're doing something for God, it shouldn't just be like what we don't want is what we're given to God. OK, we need to give a pure sacrifice. And obviously we're not doing animal sacrifices, but, you know, when we're serving the Lord, we should give our whole heart. You know, what's the greatest commandment but the love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength, right? It's supposed to be all. Not just like, well, I'll give you this little portion that I don't really even do at all as it is, right? It's like, how about how about you give the best? Give the best you got. You go out so when you're giving your best, when you're preaching, you're giving your best. You know, when you're when you're you take your time and you're trying to give the best to God. Right. What's the best time? You know, early in the morning when you're waking up. You know what? Give that to the Lord. And he's a great king and he's worthy of it. And don't give him the refuse of your time, you know, or of your strength. You know, you should be giving them all, you know, the main of your strength and then the rest of your strength. You know, give the other things that you want to do. It should be the other way around. OK. Now, go to Amalekhi chapter two and verse 16. And again, I'm just kind of pulling out verses that that stick out. When I think of Amalekhi, I think of these verses. I think it's spreading dung on these people's faces. OK, you're like, really? That's what you think of? Yeah. I mean. When you think of that, if that's a verse in the Bible, like I think of these harsh sayings that God says sometimes. But I also the Bible talks about the Lord or God hating divorce. And the Bible uses the word putting or use the term putting away. Sometimes. And those who it says in Malachi two, verse 16, it says, for the Lord, the God of Israel, said that he hated putting away for one covered violence with his garment, said the Lord of host. Therefore, take heed to your spirit that you deal not treacherously. And so God doesn't like divorce. He doesn't like putting away. He even says in the New Testament that the the bill of divorcement was given for the hardness of your heart because, you know, basically it was from the beginning was not so. So he doesn't like it. He suffered it. He doesn't like it. OK, now go to Malachi two and verse 17. Now, when I when I read this verse, it's just like reading the newspaper. About what's going on in the world, but it also should show you that there's nothing new under the sun. Right. I don't believe this versus hearing like no one has ever dealt with this. And they're just like just taking. They're just talking about our day. Right. They've never dealt with this before. This has never happened before. Malachi is writing this to be like, you know, why am I writing this? You know, like, when does this ever going to happen? Right. No, I believe that was going on in Malachi's day. It was going on. And, you know, throughout history, this has been going on. And so we look at it and we're like, man, we're in such just horrible times. But you know what? Malachi is writing about it. Malachi two, verse 17, it says, ye have wearied the Lord with your words, yet you say, wherein have we wearied him? When you say, everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighteth in them. Or where is the God of judgment? I mean, it's like reading the newspaper, isn't it? A bunch of sodomites. Like, it's not only not wrong, but it's good in the sight of the Lord. Right. They don't want you to, you know, you saying it's sin is just like a port to them. You not only need to say it like it's not sin, but it's actually good. Like, God loves it. God likes it. No, it's an abomination that's punishable by the death penalty. But you know what? This goes for any type of thing when it comes to adultery. You know what? The mainstream media wants to just push like, oh, you know, it's just great, you know, the just pushing all this wickedness. And, you know, you need to be you and you need to if you're if you're not happy in your marriage and you just need to find someone else. That's wickedness. That's adultery. You need to know that God doesn't like it. And but people want, you know, they're out there saying evil is good in the sight of the Lord. And basically, where's the God of judgment, right? You know, all these people are saying, you know, you believe in this God. Where's this God of judgment? As these sodomites are holding up a bunch of rainbow flags, which we're about to get into their month, right? The June, which is like, you know, Pride Month or whatever. And they're just shoveling this garbage and vile crap down our throats. And they're just holding up a sign, basically saying, where's the God of judgment? Well, it's coming on America. And you keep saying that all day long, but you know what? They said that in Malachi's day. You know what? The hammer's coming. I don't know when it's going to happen. But take it to the bank, it's going to happen. You know, the Bible talks about, you know, that that we're going to wash our feet in the blood of the wicked. I'm getting ahead of myself. I think I even had that verse in my notes here and that they're going to say verily there is a God that judges. Right. It's going to happen. I don't know when it's going to happen. I don't know when, you know, that the tribulation is going to start. All that stuff. But listen, the hammer's coming. And you know what? There could be judgment that comes before even the end times. You think of Pompeii. You think that wasn't the judgment of God when a volcano just completely destroyed that sodomitic, I don't know if that's a word, city of Pompeii. You don't think that was the judgment of God? So it can definitely come and judgments can come before even the great judgment that's going to come on this world. But, you know, these certain verses, you know, they just pop out to me as far as different things that, you know, the Bible teaches that we see today and we can understand. I relate to that verse all the time. I look at that verse, I'm like, yeah, is that what everybody's saying? You know, evil is good in the sight of the Lord. And where is this God in judgment? You know, it's kind of like, where is this God in judgment to speak about? I mean, I'm not getting any judgment. You know, they're just spiting God. All these people are just spiting God, putting their their fist up to God and just, you know, this pride that's going on. You know, like all Sodom and Gomorrah, yeah, fairy tale. Yeah, well, you know what? Sodom and Gomorrah is going to be nothing compared to what God's going to do to this world. You know, when I think of all the judgment that God has done on this world, I just think about the fact that these are all just like test runs. Now, that's not biblical. OK, I'm not saying that God said these were test runs, but I'm just thinking about like, you know, he's like doing all these different plagues and different judgments and all that stuff. Well, when when you read Revelation with those seven trumpets and seven vials, I look at culmination of everything he's all he's already done and more. Right. Because you'll look through those trumpets and be like, man, I see a lot of stuff that happened in Egypt and I see a lot of stuff that happened over here. And then you see things you've never seen before. Right. You see these locusts coming out of hell. And then you see like this army of 200 million with horses that have faces of lions and their tails are like serpents that are biting people and there's fire and brimstone coming out of the mouth of the lion's mouths to go kill people. And you just think about like, oh, we haven't seen that before. Listen, it's going to be something the world has never seen. And you know what they can say all day long, where's the God of judgment? But it's coming. Now, go to Malachi, chapter three, and I think most people want to think of Malachi, they think of a prophecy of John the Baptist, rightfully so. I mean, obviously, it's it's mentioned. You know, it's one of the first things that are mentioned in the gospels because you're dealing with John the Baptist. Malachi three and verse one and says, behold, I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. Now, that is that's what's quoted. Go to Mark chapter one, Mark chapter one. And the reason I'm taking you to Mark chapter one is because there's two scriptures that are that are about John the Baptist that are quoted in New Testament. One is this one, Malachi. Behold, I send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. The other one is a voice crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way the Lord make his path straight. Well, the voice in the wilderness is in Isaiah. Right. And then I send my messenger to prepare the way before me. They're both basically talking about the same thing. Right. But one's Malachi, one's Isaiah. Notice what it says in Mark in verse one. Says the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God, as it is written in the prophets, plural. Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare you the way the Lord make his path straight. Makes perfect sense, right? Because there's two different prophets that are in this, right? You have you have Malachi and then Isaiah. You know what it says in the other versions? It says something to the effect as it is written in the prophet Isaiah. And it'll just quote off what Malachi says. And you know why? Because they're dealing with a corrupt text. That's not a translation issue. That's a corrupt Greek text right there. And you ever want to see something that's just blatantly showing falsehood? Is that they're saying that Malachi, it's written in Isaiah that says, behold, I send my messenger before thy face. And it doesn't say that, right? Now, I know we've talked about that. There's some places where it says, as it was spoken by Jeremy the prophet or said of the prophets, and it's not really written there. And there's nothing wrong with that because, you know, not everything's written in the books that they said. But it doesn't say, you know, as it was said by Jeremy the prophet, or I'm sorry, Isaiah the prophet. And so that's just a place there that, you know, the King James Bible has it right. Our text is right. They're wrong. They're telling, it's false. It's contradiction is what it is in their false versions. So you know, I'm gonna be doing a whole series on so-called contradictions in the Bible. But guess what? I'm doing it with the King James Bible. So I would never want to do it with any other person, right? Because there are contradictions in the other versions, and there's mistakes in the other versions. I'm talking about the King James Bible that I'm gonna be proving to you that doesn't have any contradictions in it, and that all these so-called contradictions are just a bunch of malarkey, if I can use, you know, that word. But in Malachi chapter three, you see, in verse one there says, Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And right after that, you see the fact, well, who's he preparing it for, right? For the Lord, obviously. And it says, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. And I think it's interesting because, you know, obviously, John the Baptist coming is, you know, it was prophesied and shown. But really, to me, the thing that sticks out to me about that verse is the fact that the Lord is coming, right? To me, obviously, I'm not against John the Baptist. I think that's great, you know, what was done there. But to me, I like the part of the verse where it says the Lord's coming to his temple, right? And it's showing you that it's not just a man. It's not just, you know, a human being. The Lord whom ye seek shall come to his temple. That means God's coming down, right? God's coming and he's preparing the way before the Lord. And the Lord Jesus Christ is God from heaven, the Lord that came down from heaven, and you're not, it just shows the deity, if you will, of Christ coming to his temple. Now, go to Malachi chapter three and verse six. Malachi chapter three and verse six. Malachi chapter three and verse six. This is a great verse to show that God doesn't change. Especially, you know, when you think of the verse in Malachi two where it's saying that everyone that does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and where is the God of judgment? You know, basically saying, wow, you know, it's 2021, you know, can't, I mean, you're telling me you're just gonna stick with that book that's thousands of years old and, you know, times have changed, yeah, but the Lord doesn't change. That's what it says in Malachi three and verse six. For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. You know, you should thank God that he doesn't change. Because he swear, you know, that he would, and he cannot lie, you know, dealing with the blessings that he's gonna give to Abraham that in the, multiplying all, multiply thee and blessing all, bless thee, and the idea that when he says that he gives us eternal life, he's not gonna change on that. Okay, he can't break his promise. The Lord will not change. And you know what, some people don't like that, but I thank God for it. You know, because that means that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. So that gift that he's given us is not gonna be changed. The eternal life that he's given us, not gonna be changed because the Lord doesn't change. And notice Hebrews chapter one, go to Hebrews chapter one, and Hebrews sits on this. And the fact that the Lord doesn't change. Now, there are cases in the Bible where a man of God and people have prayed and changed the Lord's mind, right? He basically, you know, there's an ultimatum there. And throughout the Bible, it basically says if you do righteousness, or if you, you know, like in Ezekiel, it'd be talking about like saved people and like if you turn from your unrighteousness and you get right with God, then I'll do this. But if you don't, I'm gonna do this. And it's not really that, you know, God didn't think of that. It's just the fact that you have a choice to be made here. If you want God to do this, then you do this. If you want God to punish you, then just keep doing what you're doing, okay? But in some cases, you know, in the book of Jonah, we see that the king of Nineveh says, you know, who knows if the Lord will repent? And, you know, spare us, essentially. I'm paraphrasing that. But the idea is is that God is saying, I'm gonna destroy you in 40 days, but you know what, they turned from their evil ways and God saw their works, they turned from their evil ways and the Lord repented of the evil that He said He would do on them. That's different than God changing who He is. Does that make sense? And, you know, there's the idea of the fact that when He says that He's gonna do something, a lot of times there's an ultimatum that's involved in that. Now, there are things, though. When it says Babylon is fallen, there's no change in that, okay? There's certain things that God says that aren't going to change. Like, there's no way to reverse it. You know, the words are gone in my mouth and no one can reverse it, you know? And there's different things like that. So when it comes to salvation and when He says you have eternal life, you can't reverse that because you can't lie, okay? When God vows a vow, He can't reverse it because He can't lie, right? It's impossible for God to lie so that by two immutable things, we may have strong consolation, right? And so, yeah, there's certain things that God can't take back that He said He was gonna do, but there are some times where He's basically saying, hey, if you do this, you're gonna suffer consequences. If you do this, you'll be blessed. And then in some cases, we don't know which way God will go on it, okay? So we have to basically just hope that we can sway Him to not punish us, right? And that's where you'll see in a lot of cases, like Moses, God wanted to destroy the children of Israel and Moses basically said, hey, please don't do that, all this to blot me out and God spared them for Moses' sake. And there's intercession that could be made by men of God, right? The fervent prayer of a righteous man, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, the Bible says, and dealing with the fact that people are sinning, but you're praying for that person, trying to get that person back on track, and then God has mercy on them because of that. And you can kind of sway God into having mercy on somebody and all that, but that doesn't mean that He's changing who He is. And so in Hebrews chapter one and verse 10, it says, Now, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest, and they shall all wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. So basically, all this stuff's gonna change. You know, thinking about all the earth, the heavens, all that stuff's gonna be changed. And isn't it gonna be changed? But it says, thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Hebrews 13, eight, very famous verse. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. Why, because He's the Lord and He changes not. So great verse in Malachi two, I'm sorry, Malachi three. The fact that I am the Lord and I change not. And the reason that that's important why He's saying is because therefore you're not consumed. If I did change who I was, then you'd probably be destroyed right now. Because God's long suffering, slow to anger, slow to wrath, and He's basically making a point, I'm the Lord, that's why you haven't been completely annihilated right now, right? Because I am who I am and I'm not changing, okay? Go to Malachi chapter three and verse eight, Malachi chapter three and verse eight. The other thing I think of when I think of Malachi is tithes and offerings. So there's not a lot in the Bible about tithes and offerings. And so you probably don't hear me preaching on it too much because it's just not a topic I, I mean, I'll preach on it because it needs to be preached, but I just, it's not something I'm just excited to preach on. I remember when I preached the whole sermon on tithes and I was just like, I'm not excited about this, but people had questions about it and I'm just like, I'll preach on it. And don't get me wrong, I love everything in the Bible, but it's just not something I'm just getting excited about and be like, let's talk about tithes and offerings, you know, it's just not as fun as like ripping on Calvinism or doing other doctrinal sermons. But here's a great passage on tithes and offerings. Now this isn't a whole, this is not a sermon on tithes. I do believe that tithes are to be done even today because the argument is that, well, that's just a Levitical priesthood of tithing for the priests and tithing for that stuff. Then why did Abraham tithe to Melchizedek? Was Abraham in the Old Testament? Was he under the Levitical priesthood? And it even says that Levi tithed to Melchizedek through the loins of Abraham, right? And you say, well, okay, Abraham tithed to Melchizedek and the people tithed to the Levites, but why would we need to tithe? Because Jesus Christ is the high priest after the order of Melchizedek, therefore, don't you think that you should be tithing to Melchizedek, you know, to Jesus who's after the order of Melchizedek? And you say, well, where should we do that? You know, they gave it to the house of God. Yeah, you see where I'm going with this? Because the church of God, which is the house of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, so where should you be bringing your tithes? To the house of God, okay? And you're not giving it to me, okay? And obviously, I know we're counting it and putting it in a church, but that's not my money, okay, Jesus is the head of this church, okay? We're an independent Baptist church, I'm the leader, but I'm an under shepherd. I am not the chief shepherd. I am just, I'm the pastor, but he is the chief pastor. He is the pastor that you should be looking to over everything. And so the money that's brought in from tithes and offerings, you're giving it to the Lord. And obviously, when we spend money, we should be thinking of it that way. Obviously, it's that, you know, this is the Lord's money that we're using for the cause of Christ and using for the church and using for the things that we're gonna be doing, all that's true, right? But in Malachi 3 and verse eight, it says, will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Now, this is a little different than alms, right? Alms are things that you give to people that need things, right? We're talking about tithes and offerings, we're talking about giving it to the house of the Lord. Tithe literally is just, you know, a word to mean like the 10th of something, right? And if you look at Hebrews chapter seven, when it talks about Abraham giving the 10th part of all, he gave tithes, you know, all that stuff is, it's just talking about 10%. It says in verse nine, ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts, and all nations shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts And you know what, there's a great blessing to tithing. Okay, so when it comes to this, I'm not like policing people when they, like I don't know who's actually giving their, I mean, obviously I know people give money and all that stuff, but I have no idea if you're giving 10% or if you're giving above and beyond 10%, like I'm not policing that at all. I don't care to police that, I don't want to know that, it's whatever, right? But at the same time, you know, the Bible says there's a blessing beyond that. It's like you're either robbing him or you're getting extremely blessed, right? It's kind of like this great extreme as far as that goes. And I'll tell you from experience that tithing, you say, well, 10%, that's a lot of money to be giving to God, you know, when you think about trying to live and all this stuff. Listen, I will say this, I guarantee you that I have more now from tithing than I would have had if I didn't tithe. Guaranteed, guaranteed that I've been blessed more from tithing, I've had to pay less on whatever could have broken down or could have happened or whatever that case may be. It talks about how I'm rebuking, devour, like all these different things. God is working to make sure that that tithe that you give by faith and faith in what the Bible says on that, that it will be rewarded and that he's basically saying, prove me, right? Prove me, and I believe I've gotten back more than 10% than what I've given. And if anything, we get to claim it on our taxes and we have to pay less taxes. So, you know, if I can pay less taxes, I'm good with that. That's enough blessing for me, okay? But I do believe that God has blessed me above and beyond, you know, outside of all that too. But go to Malachi chapter three and verse 16. Malachi chapter three and verse 16. So tithes and offerings, that's definitely something that's brought up, and honestly, that's one of the, one of the few passages that's on tithes and offerings. You know, obviously you have all the Levitical stuff and you have Hebrews chapter seven talking about it, but that's about it, okay? So I believe it is a New Testament thing that should be done. That's why there's meat in the house of the Lord, right? And basically you get, we pay the bills, you know, how else are we gonna pay the bills if we don't have money to put towards that, the building, the bills, like whatever. And I'm not here to say we don't have, we have plenty of money, you know, to pay the bills. I'm just saying that tithes and offerings is what pays for that. So, you know, he's basically giving the reason why you're doing it, but then also he's saying, just prove me if I don't repay that pretty much. He's basically saying, you know, your cup's gonna run over. He's like, it's gonna be like the windows of heaven opening up from the showers of blessings that are gonna be coming down because of it. So you just gotta have faith in God and just, and give, and I can guarantee, and I can speak from experience, yes. That verse is true. And so, Malachi three and verse 16. I love this passage. I've always loved this verse right here. It says, then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, said the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels. I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. I love this because it's just a great reminder that, you know, those that are fearing the Lord, they spake often one to another. And isn't that the great thing about having church, is the fact that, hey, we can speak often. You know, having church every week, and, you know, three services a week, so even that middle service on Wednesday, you know, is a great time to come in and basically speak one to another. And, you know what, it's a lot of good fellowship that'll make you stronger, but also the Lord loves that. And it says that a book of remembrance is written before them that fear them and that thought upon his name. And it basically talks about the fact that he's gonna spare them, you know. And I think about the fact that, you know, God remembers those that fear him and that speak often one to another, that fear and think upon his name, you know. And, you know, the old term, and I'm gonna mess it up, it's gonna be like that Jimmy gimme all you got thing that I said one time, you know. Birds of a feather flock together. Did I say it right? Okay. But the idea is that those that fear the Lord, we should stick together, right? You know, we should be speaking often one to another. And, you know, those obviously are like-minded believers. You wanna be around those people and the Bible's talking about the fact that the Lord has, he's got this book of remembrance written of those that fear the Lord and thought upon his name. I mean, I don't know about you, but I like the fact that God has a book written, you know, remembering that I'm thinking upon his name. Because when there's trials and tribulations and all this stuff, he's remembering that. He's like, hey, he's been thinking upon my name. He's been, you know, speaking one with another to those that fear the Lord. He's been fellowshipping with believers, not with the unrighteous and scorners and sinners and all these different things that he's trying to serve me and, you know, there's whole sermons that could be in that and the fact that I do believe God will take care of those that are serving him. All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. And you know what? Keep fearing the Lord, keep serving him, and the Lord's gonna take care of you. He remembers you, okay? Now obviously he's not gonna forget any of his own, right? It's not saying like he doesn't remember, you know, he's not gonna remember saved people, but I believe this is an extra blessing, okay? This is something on top of that to where he's gonna have this book of remembrance that he's writing for those that are fearing him and thinking upon his name. And so I love that verse and just thinking about having friendship, you know, with people that fear the Lord. That's who we should be hanging out with, right? And obviously we go out into the world and preach the gospel to sinners and to people that don't fear the Lord and all that, and that's great. I'm not saying to completely disconnect yourself from the world, but listen, who are your friends? Who do you hang out with? Who are you spending time with? Who are you speaking off in one with another, okay? I'm not gonna be speaking often with somebody that doesn't fear the Lord, okay? We're not gonna hit it off, okay? And you know, those people are gonna pull you down, but God is giving you extra blessing if you fellowship with believers and those that love him and fear him. Go to Malachi chapter four, Malachi chapter four. I am kind of just going in order here in Malachi until I trick you and be like, go back to Malachi one. You think we're almost done, right? Throw that curve ball in there. Going back through it again. Malachi four, there's a name that's given to Jesus that I love here, and it's actually in one of my, it's in one of my favorite Christmas songs, the Son of Righteousness, okay? S-U-N, Son of Righteousness. And notice what it says in verse one. It says, for behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch, but unto you that fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall and ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, and the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. So notice the dichotomy here. You have basically all the proud and all those that, the wicked, they're gonna be like stubble, burned up, but it says, but unto you that fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness arise. And so you can think about the second coming of Christ and the fact that you have all these wicked people and then the Son of Righteousness comes and how he has healing in his wings and how we're gonna tread down the wicked and all this stuff is true. And the verse that I was kinda quoting to you a little bit there is in Psalm 58. Psalm 58 in verse 10 there. And so it's interesting how Malachi kinda works together because in Malachi two, remember we saw where it says, everyone that does evil and decided the Lord is good, right? And where's the God of judgment? And then it's talking about in chapter four that he's gonna destroy all these proud and wicked people but those that fear the Lord are gonna basically be rejuvenated, all that. Verse 10 there, so Psalm 58 in verse 10 says, the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. Sound a little familiar? You shall tread down the wicked for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this. It says in verse 11, so that a man shall say, verily there's a reward for the righteous. Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. Where is the God of judgment? Right? And it's interesting how that works together. Obviously when he comes back, they're gonna be hiding themselves from the face of the lamb and from him that sits on the throne and they're gonna be saying unto the mountain, as rocks fall on us, to hide themselves of the judgment that's coming. The last thing I wanna just point out here is the two witnesses, okay? Now look at verse four of Malachi four and we're gonna read down through the rest of the chapter there which is only, it's three verses, okay? But it says, remember ye the law of Moses my servant which I commanded unto him in Horeb. All, in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and judgments. Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord and you shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. So this verse here in verse five there, verse five and six is something that we see is definitely there's a fulfillment of when Jesus came the first time and how this applies to John the Baptist. But I don't believe that's the ultimate fulfillment of it meaning that I actually believe that Elijah the person, the prophet is going to come before the great and terrible day of the Lord. Now is it true that John the Baptist came before the day of the Lord? Well yeah, I mean the day of the Lord still hasn't happened, right? So it is true that he came before the day of the Lord. Is it true that John the Baptist actually came before Jesus did? Yeah, because John the Baptist was born before Jesus was born. John the Baptist was conceived before Jesus was conceived as the Virgin Mary, right? So even John the Baptist says I was before him, he's before, he basically says that he was before me, right? And the great thing about that when he keeps saying that over and over again, John the Baptist keeps saying that the one that comes after me is before before me because he was before me, right? Is the fact that John the Baptist is older than Jesus by like three months, okay? And so it's very true that John the Baptist came before his first coming. John the Baptist definitely came before his second coming because he still hasn't come. So that is all true. And I'm gonna show you what it says as far as how he fulfills the scripture. Go to Luke chapter one, Luke chapter one. But I do believe that there's going to be a future fulfillment of this same scripture. And what we call this a lot of times is a dual prophecy, a dual prophecy. This happens a lot in the Bible where there's something that's done that fulfills that prophecy, but then it's basically even shadowing the bigger fulfillment, okay? And a lot of the prophecies about Jesus were prophecies that were fulfilled in that near future. We saw this a lot in Isaiah, right? You see that kind of that near future fulfillment, but then you see kind of like the ultimate fulfillment of it where it's like when Jesus comes or when something else is gonna happen that's like that ultimate fulfillment of it. But in Luke one, verse 17, notice what it says here. And you can have your finger in Malachi four to see the reference, because the reference is gonna show you more so verse six, but in verse 17 there, Luke one, verse 17, it says, and he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias. Does it say that he is Elias or that he's gonna be in the spirit and power of Elias? And this is obviously Elijah. It says to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just and to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. So John the Baptist, when the angels basically, and Zechariah, you know, this whole story obviously with Elizabeth, Zechariah and the angel talking about how he's gonna bring forth a son or she's gonna bring forth a son, he's saying he's gonna go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah. Kind of like Elisha had a double portion of Elijah's spirit. But Elisha was his own person, you know, but he had the spirit and power of Elijah. And notice in Matthew chapter 11 that Jesus basically is stating that, you know what, that idea of Elijah coming first? Yeah, that happened with John. Okay, so he's confirming that, hey, you know that passage in Malachi, yeah, I mean, that was fulfilled in John, you know, if you'll receive it. Notice what it says in Matthew 11 verse 13. It says, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you will receive it, this is Elias, which it was for to come. Now John the Baptist, when they asked him, art thou Elias, and he said no. Now obviously Jesus is saying, if you will receive it, this is Elias. So, you know, he's in the spirit and power of Elijah. So you can see how Jesus would say, you know, this is Elijah. I don't believe that John the Baptist was physically Elijah the person, but he was Elijah that was for to come in the fact that he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, right? So that's true. He is the Elias, which was for to come. And that's what he basically, this is Elias, which was for to come. And that's how he fulfilled it, through the spirit and power of Elijah. But I believe that Malachi 4, it's interesting because Moses is mentioned, and then Elijah is mentioned in this passage. And it's mentioned right after he gets, he's talking about the fact that, hey, there's this day coming where all the proud are gonna be completely destroyed and burned up, but all those that fear the Lord are gonna be saved in the rising of the son of righteousness and healing in his wings, right? And you can think about the second coming of Christ, but before the day of the Lord, okay? And I'm gonna prove to you, go to Revelation 11. Before Jesus comes, there's gonna be two witnesses that are gonna be prophesying, that are gonna start prophesying. And I believe that it's very clear it's Moses and Elijah, okay? There's just so much evidence for this. Malachi 4 is one of the big evidences for it, because Moses and Elijah are both brought up in the same passage. And I'm gonna show you why I believe it's Moses and Elijah but it also shows you that, hey, Elijah the person's gonna come before the day of the Lord just as much as John the Baptist, who's in the spirit and power of Elijah, just came before the Lord came, and he definitely came before the day of the Lord, okay? No doubt about that, no contradiction there. But I do believe that Elijah the person is going to be on the scene before we're raptured, before the day of the Lord, before the trumpet sounds. Elijah and Moses are gonna be here on the earth, okay? Now look what it says in Revelation 11, verse one. This is the last point I'm making, then I'll be done. It says in verse one, it says, And there was given me a reed, like unto a rod, and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles, in the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months. So it's basically saying that this temple's gonna be trodden underfoot for 42 months. Now I believe that what we're talking about is when the abomination desolation is set up, there's 42 months of the temple being trodden underfoot, they put up the abomination desolation, and it's 42 months. Well, let's see if that matches up with the prophecy. It says in verse three there that these two witnesses are gonna prophesy. It says, And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloths. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the god of the earth. Now if you remember in Zechariah, we saw these two witnesses, these two olive branches that are mentioned. These are two people that are gonna witness for one thousand two hundred and threescore days, which is 42 months, okay? 42 months is three and a half years. One thousand two hundred and sixty days is three and a half years. So if you get the timeline as far as the fact that, hey, it's gonna be trodden underfoot until this time is gonna be cleansed, where this happens, or basically, they're gonna be witnessing for three and a half years, when they die, in this passage, it's gonna talk about them dying, it's right before the seventh trumpet sounds. So we know that when the seventh trumpet sounds, that's when the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. It's like this finale and all that, and basically you have the Battle of Armageddon and everything's done, right? But if you backtrack from that point three and a half years from when they die, that's where they're coming on the scene when the temple is being trodden underfoot, which is the abomination of desolation. We are not gonna be raptured out until after the abominations of desolation and after the great tribulation. The abomination of desolation, when they're treading underfoot, the temple and all this stuff, and you have the abomination of desolation, all that stuff, we have like two and a half months of great tribulation before the Lord comes back. So that means that Moses and Elijah, which I'm gonna prove to you, I know I haven't proved that to you yet, but these two witnesses are gonna be there for those two and a half months while we're still here, and then after we're taken out, they're still here, okay? And then they're gonna die and be caught up into a cloud at the end of their witness, okay? And I don't wanna get too deep into the witnesses, but I just wanna show you that I believe this is Moses and Elijah, and I believe Malachi 4 is just putting that stamp of approval on there because it just talks about Moses and his laws, and then it talks about sending Elijah. I don't think that's a coincidence. Now look at verse five there. It says, and if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. So we're actually talking about some supernatural guys here that with fire coming out of their mouth. Notice what it says in verse six, and this is where I believe it's very clear that we're talking about Moses and Elijah. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy. Do you see how you're clearly talking about someone that has already been a prophet? Okay, in the days of their prophecy. And have power over waters to turn them to blood and smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. Hmm, what prophet caused it not to rain? Elijah, do you know how long he caused it not to rain? Three years and six months. James 5 says it, and obviously you can go back in 1 Kings where that event happened. Isn't that interesting that he's gonna prophesy for how long? Three years and six months. And in the days of his prophecy, he had power to shut heaven, that it rain not. All right, Moses. What's the big thing about Moses that he did? Turn water in the blood and smote Egypt with plagues. Do you see how it's very, like even if you, if I didn't show you anything else, and you were like, all right, who are the prophets that are these people that in their days of their prophecy did these things, you would probably think Elijah obviously is the one that shut heaven for three and a half years, and then you think of Moses and turning the water into blood. I mean, the Exodus story, right? But, and just to keep reading there, just to get the whole story here, but it says in verse seven, and when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that is sent out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them, and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also the Lord was crucified. So where is their ministry, where are they witnessing at? In Jerusalem, okay? Because that's where Jesus was crucified, which obviously is spiritually Sodom and Egypt. So that holy land over there, spiritually, Sodom, Egypt. Makes sense, Tel Aviv is like one of the number one cities, you know, when you think of Israel, you know, being Sodomite friendly. Now go to Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16, I'm gonna show you some other proof that I believe is Moses and Elijah. So I think Revelation 11 is huge evidence, but I also think the Mount of Transfiguration is also huge evidence, because it literally says their names, okay? Now it says in Matthew 16, verse 28, it says, verily I say unto you, there shall be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. Now this is where a lot of people become preterists, because they don't understand what I'm about to show you right now. Is that they're saying, there was people standing there that were gonna see Him coming in His kingdom, therefore the Lord already came. You know, yeah. So they're baffled by this, but it's interesting, if you just would have read into the next chapter, you'd understand what he's talking about. In verse 17, because it wasn't many days when they saw this, right? So when he says you're not gonna taste the death, it's like, well yeah, it was like six days later that they saw this, okay? But in verse one here of chapter 17, it says, and after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John, His brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them, and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light, and behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with Him. Coincidence? Especially when it talks about these two olive branches that are standing before the Lord of all the earth. Didn't we see that in Zechariah? Didn't we see that in Revelation chapter 11, that these two olive branches are the ones that are standing before the Lord of all the earth? What are they doing? What does it say in that verse? What are Moses and Elijah doing? There, behold, you know, it says that there appeared unto them, actually, there's another verse. I have the wrong verse when it comes to, it says in another passage that they were standing. There was two other men standing with them, okay? I just have to take my word for it, because I don't want to look it up right now. But Moses and Elijah, doesn't that seem a little random? I mean, if these are just random prophets that are meeting up with them, there's no point to why this is taking place. He just got done saying that, hey, you know, there's some that are standing here, not all of you, right? Because is it all of His disciples standing there? No, there's some of them, three of them, that shall see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom, because He was transfigured, they literally saw the glory of Him coming in His kingdom, and who was standing there as witnesses? Who was standing before Him? Moses and Elijah. To the point, remember, Peter's like, hey, I'm gonna build you three tabernacles, right? One for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah, right? And you say, well, how do you know this is talking about His coming? How do you know that that's what that event was about? Well, go, I'm glad you asked, okay? Go to 2 Peter 1, 2 Peter 1. Now, do you remember in that story, and for the sake of time, I'm not gonna show you, that you can look up that story in Matthew and all the other places that it's mentioned. You remember after he says, I'm gonna build you three temples, or we're gonna honor all three of you, that remember there's a voice that came out of heaven that says, behold, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You know when it says that there's two places where there's a voice from heaven saying that? One is at His baptism, the other time is at the Mount of Transfiguration. They're in this high mountain at the Mount of Transfiguration. Now, look at 2 Peter 1 and verse 16. Now, who wrote 2 Peter? Peter. Who was at the Mount of Transfiguration? Peter. He wasn't the only one. Obviously, he had Peter, James, and John, but Peter was there. He's one of the people that saw this and saw Moses and saw Elijah. Notice what it says in verse 16. It says, for we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power, and what? Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. Remember it says some of you shall, what does it say in Matthew 16? It says, there shall some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. And Peter says, we were eyewitnesses of it. I'm telling you about the coming of the Lord, we were eyewitnesses of it. Notice that he says that in past tense, by the way. Okay, so as he's writing, he says, past tense, I've seen this. So these preterists are out to lunch about this something that happened afterwards and after Jesus died and rose again and then he came back again and that's what he was talking about in Matthew 16. Wrong. Having it at the Mount of Transfiguration. I'm not done yet because keep reading there. Do you see, what's the subject? The coming of the Lord. They were eyewitnesses of His majesty. Verse 17, for He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, and this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with Him in the holy mount. When is that talking about? The Mount of Transfiguration. It is not talking about his baptism because he wasn't in a mountain when he was baptized. He was down in Jordan. And you look at the passage where they see Moses and Elijah, remember the cloud covers them and then they're all like falling on their faces and it says behold, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. And then they open their eyes, look up and they only see Jesus. Okay, that's the story. And Peter's saying hey listen, we're not following cunningly devised fables, we were eyewitnesses of it. Eyewitnesses, you know what? When Jesus said there's some standing here that shall not taste the death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom, He wasn't lying. Because Peter, James, and John saw it. They were eyewitnesses of it. And they saw Moses and Elijah standing there before Him. That's interesting because Malachi talks about Moses and Elijah and the fact that Elijah's gonna come before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And doesn't, according to Revelation chapter 11, don't they come before the day of the Lord? Yeah. Abomination and desolation is before the day of the Lord. And so yeah, it's true. The Bible fits together, my friends. But, so you're gonna be hard pressed to convince me otherwise that it's not Moses and Elijah because some people are like, well, I think it's Elijah and Enoch. And their reasoning is because Enoch was translated that he didn't see death and Elijah was caught up in a whirlwind so he didn't see death. And they'll say that. It's like okay, you got one little argument there but here's the thing. You know, yeah, Elijah was caught up in a whirlwind. You remember what they all wanted to do? They wanted to find his body, right? Remember that whole argument? Let's go up into the mountain and find the body and Elijah's like, no. And then he was ashamed. He's like, go look for it. And they're like, we didn't find it. It's interesting because Michael the archangel disputed about the body of Moses, didn't he? You remember when Moses died, they said they didn't know where he's buried. They didn't know the sepulchre until this day. It's interesting because what were they trying to find? His body. So both of them. And Enoch, you don't see anybody saying, where's Enoch's body? And obviously, Enoch's a picture of the rapture, you know what I mean? Like, he didn't see death and obviously a picture of that, but I don't believe it's Enoch. All right, I'm gonna end it on that. So we ended the prophets series. I know, that was a lot. I should have probably not gone too far with the two witnesses, but you know what? It's a good day. 10 people saved during this week. Let's end with a word of prayer. The heavenly father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the books of the prophets and Lord, just all that we can learn in there. And Lord, thank you for your word. I pray that you be with us throughout the week and Lord, just be with us as we go back to work and Lord, just we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, Amen. Ready to come and sing one more song? Don't be dismissed. All right, take your song books and turn to song 162. 162, we'll sing to God be the glory, if you would stand, we'll sing song 162. To God be the glory, great things he hath done, so loved he the world that he gave us his son, who yielded his life and atonement for sin, and open the life gate to him.