Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

gifts in the Name of(by the AuthorityChrist? Is not eating a pleasure?of)And that pleasure is increased, if we eatto the Glory of God? Managers of theCunard Line do not seem to know thatfact, (how many do know it?) when theyannounce their cuisine as a delight togourmets. What is for the Glory of Godis for the good of man, and ministers tohis pleasure. We loose in every way, ifwe eat to our own lust.The Name of Christ stands for allthat He has done for us, for all that Heis doing for us, and for all that He willdo for us. Christ's Name speaks His relationship to the Father and to us. The"self-made"man has a self-made name.His name, like his purse, is trash. Thatman is poor though no one filches hisname. It is our privilege to be Christmade,and to use His Name which namenone can take from us and which makesus rich indeed.What's in a name? Perhaps it is fragrance. But if the name is cabbage, itdoes not suggest fragrance. Jacob was theusurper on whom God had mercy. Whenhis name became Israel, he was a Princewith God, whom God honored. Sometimes Israel forgot his dignity, forgot hisduty to God and man; forgot that he wasGod's authorized agent, wearing God'sName, and acting by God's authority.What greater honor than to be Ambassador of the King!PRAYER MEETING TOPICfor January 19, 1955THE BOOK OF MALACHIRev. Roy BlackwoodPsalm Suggestions:78:pages 187 and 19190: page 222116: page 282INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKThe word malechi (Mai. 3:1) means"My Messenger" and as is true in everygood sermon, the man is hidden by thesermon. There is no other mention ofMalachi in the Bible. God said,'thisbook contains "the burden" or drift, orsummary of my word as given you "bythe hand of mya critical moment.messenger." 'It came atGod had returned His chosen peoplesfrom another period of warning and suffering for their sins, the Babylonianbondage. Cyrus and Darius had helpedthem to rebuild. Ezra the scholar andNehemiah the administrator may havebeen living. Haggai had previously denounced them for their insolence inbuilding and "ceiling" their own houseswhile neglecting God's House. His message had incited them to feverish activitybut following the dedication of the temple they fell into another slump of412thoughtless indifference and open sin andwere in danger of losing the value oflessons learned in God's recent labors ofpunishment. Three sins were outstanding;1) Neglect of God's service, 2) Degenerate priesthood, 3) Divorce. God sentpoor crops and their own state of mindto punish them but they became moresullen and insolent and it was into sucha setting that God sent "MyMessenger."Preparation for MeetingIt requires approximately ten minutesto read the book and there could be nobetter preparation for this meeting. Asyou read, find the subject of the following division: 1:1-5; 1:6 through 2:9; 2:10-16; 2:17 through 3:6; 3:7-15; and 3:16 to the end. Also watch for the particular style of this writer: first, willcome a statement of fact by the Messenger; second, a sullen or insolent question or denial by the people, and third, afrank reply by the messenger exposingthem to themselves and explaining theoriginal statement. This style can be seenin verses 1:2, 2:17, 3:8, and others. Itwould not be easy to preach to peoplehaving attitudes indicated by such questions and in them we see the beginning ofthat same self-sufficient indifferenceand pride which Christ later encounteredin the Scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 9:13). God sent "My Messenger" to prepare the way for the coming of Christ,His Only Begotten Son, and He began byhaving him tell us of His continuinglove."God's Messenger" tells of God'slove of choice 1:2-5God introduces the message, gives usthe reason for it and the keynote of itin the first sentence of verse 2. Into thevery teeth of man's ingratitude He sendsa message of His love. This explains Hisclaims to honor and fear in 1:6; the attitude in 3:6; and the prophecy of 4:2.The sullen attitude of the question isthrown into sharpest contrast by thisstatement. The whole message must beseen through these 7 words in verse 2. Hesent His Messenger because He loved usand the message itself is prompted byGod's love.But messenger and message are notenough so God introduces His messageby citing His gratuitous choices (vss.2-5) as the best proof of His love. Hechose first to create man, not as dogs ordonkeys but with a Spirit. He chosesecond, one man from all those who hadalready spurned His love. He chose thirdone of Abraham's sons and fourth ONE(the second) of Isaac's rwin sons. Esau'stribe Edom and Israel were destroyed atthe same time but Israel was rebuilt andEdom could not rebuild. These men didnot DESERVE these special favors(Deut. 7:7) but God because of Hisgreat love, GAVE them to them.Hecould have chosen anyone in His worldbut He sorted out these few familiesand now He hears the ungratefulsneer,"Wherein hast thou lovedus!"Pauluses this same argument in pleading withJews of this same attitude in Rom. 9and 10. It wasn't anything they did ordeserved, it was God's free love, freelyconferred upon them (Rom. 9:15).God did not offer to prove His love bypointing to His creation of the Garden ofEden and the flaming sunset in anyevening sky; nor did He remind them ofHis providential control of the Red Seaand the history of the United States.God's works of creation and His acts ofprovidence reveal to us impressive thingsabout God many of His attributes areto be seen in them but they are made tolead men to God and it is in the comingof Jesus Christ and in His work that wesee the most complete revelation of God'slove. In choosing to use a man on earthand finally bring him to live with Himself for eternity, and in the plan of redemption which makes that possiblethat, we see our fullest revelation ofGod's love, involving the death of HisOnly Son. When His love was challenged,God pointed to His choices as conclusiveproof.This messenger is here pointing us tothose choices which God made in preparing for the coming of Christ, the Onewho would SHOW us as well as TELLus of God's love.The Usefulness of the Doctrineof ElectionThis doctrine of election, the fact presented here that God does choose to workwith certain people and finally take themto Himself, is objectionable to some people who say, "It isn't 'fair'." But unlesswe question God's "right" to create, wecannot question His "right" to choosefrom His creation, and far from provingHis injustice, God here uses these choicesto PROVE HIS LOVE.There is nothing we can DO to DESERVE such choice; it is God who hasgiven so freely and these thoughts shouldmake us humble and dependent, insteadof sullen and proud of our self-sufficienceyas were these Jews. Thesethoughts given us here by God shouldprepare us to receive the Messiah"My Messenger" intended them to do(Ps. 51:17; Eph. 2:8, 9).This view of God's gratuitous love, farfrom making us DISCOURAGED andindifferent and unconcerned for the soulsof others, should make us ever zealousand watchful lest we, like these Jewsprove our unworthiness by our ingratitude. If we spurn His Lordship) Hisdaily control of our lives it is one of thebest evidences that we have spurned HisinasCOVENANTER WITNESS