Introduction

If you have your Bibles with you keep it open. Please, to Malachi 3:13 to 4:6. Can you tell me what this picture is? Right? It's describing a man lying down. But frankly, now he's not relaxing. There's no tropical heat, there's no beaches. There's no coconut drinks at the side. In fact, this is not a picture of relaxation, but rather is a picture of protests. This picture is describing for us a man who decided to go against the narrative of working hard. He does so by lying flat. You might have heard of the term 'the lying flat movement' were popularized in Asia, mostly. The premise of such a movement is quite simple. Many millennials, like my age. are sick and tired of working hard. They're sick and tired of hustling the 9 to 6 life, right? 9am to 9pm, six days a week. Instead, they defy the ethos of working hard, by lying flat, forgoing marriage, staying unemployed, and eschewing material ones like houses or cars.

Well, if there is one lesson that such a movement tell us, it's this. That if we don't like something,
Take for example, the recent case of a viral video recently of a St. Andrew secondary school student. Right, who came up to his teacher and told him 'I want to end your life'. Now for sure, there are some things that the boy is going through and appropriate and proper help should be given. But what this boy does is really a symptom of our culture today. If we're not happy with something, will we throw respect of the window? We air out our grievances, irregardless of who we're speaking to. Whether it's students, teachers, civilians, to authorities, and even more Christians to God.

Well, today is all about defiance. And as we close this book, in this section of Malachi, we will see the Jews blatant defiance against God. They will no longer hide under pretense. They will no longer hide under the veneer of obedience. But we will see defiance in full display. In fact, what they see is something wrong with God. And as an act of defiance, they are willing to do something about it. But before we point a finger at them and say, I will never be like them, I will never defy God. In many ways, defiance does rear its ugly head in our churches today. Perhaps many of us have been criticizing God. And have spoken out rightly against God, because we have been serving him for many years, and we have not received anything. Right? We say God, I've served you this amount of years. And what do I get? I'm not any happier. I'm not any more fulfilled. And you're ready to throw in the towel. You have had enough. Maybe today you criticize God. You defy God because He has been so inactive in your life. You say, God, where were you when I was going through a tough period in life? Where were you when my wife or husband got sick? Where were you when I got sacked from a job? If God you're really good, where were you? And maybe for some here who's a bit newer to the faith or still exploring Christianity, welcome. But today you might have criticisms of God. You say, I can't serve this God that you're serving. He's too cruel, too evil, too backward and too primitive. What I want is a God that loves all, welcomes all and does good to all. But I reckon that for many here, you may not be as brazen as others. You may not be as outspoken in your criticisms against God. But you defy God by slowly kicking Him out of your life. It's a slow fade. You stop going to church. You stop attending care groups. You stop meeting with other Christians. You stop reading the Bible. You stop praying. And it's only a matter of time until you move on from Christianity and you kick God out of your life.

As we look at a closing section of this book, my aim this morning is not to poke holes at your relationship. Nor is it to guilt trip you into repentance. That's for scripture to do. My aim is to plainly show you through the text, the folly and the consequences of defying God, as what the Jews of Malachi they did. And that's what Malachi does. My aim is to show you and put a spotlight in your hearts and attitudes towards God and repent and urge you to repent in areas. Areas which we need to repent on. Well, if the book of Malachi ended at 3:12, it will have been great, right? The Jews finally saw through their excuses, and they finally returned to God. But it doesn't. Instead, what we see is actually an escalation. What we see is a gradual escalation of hypocrisy, blossoming into all out defiance. Right. Two weeks ago, we saw this idea of them being hypocrites. The priests, they were supposed to regulate temple worship. They were supposed to only accept unblemished sacrifices. But instead, they accepted subpar offerings and sacrifices. And the sad thing is, they did nothing about it. Well, it's not only the priests, it's also the people. They weep and wailed in the altar of the Lord. They mourned before the Lord. But in reality, in their own homes, in their own private lives, they inter-married. And they rather divorce the wives of their youth then stick with them. Again, they did nothing about it. And last week, we saw how God saw and exposed their facade, right? Their hearts of rebellion were exposed. They were in the Lord by asking God, where is the God of justice? Where is the God of justice? Yeah, despite asking such a good question, they were blind to their own injustices. They disregarded a covenant, disrespected the name of God, and pilfer the types that meant for God alone. So, what will we see in this passage? Well, we'll see utter and blatant defiance. No more pretense, no more beating around the bush, no more sugarcoating of words, but true, utter, blatant defiance. Well, how does God respond? Well, God says, return to me, I will return to you. You might think, well, surely, the Jews have finally come to their senses, right? Well, surely, they will return to God. But well, they didn't. Because the first verse in our passage today says that your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. So instead of owning up their sins, instead of returning to God, they persist in outright and blatant defiance. For all this talk of defying God, how are these people actually defiant? Well, I got three points for us this morning.

The Issue of Defying God (Malachi 3:13-15)

And the first point I want to raise is the issue of defying God. How were the Jews actually defiant against God? Let's look at their argument. This is what God says about them. Right? Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. In other words, they say to God harsh things, and God felt He was insulted. But instead of owning up, this is what they say. They gave an excuse. Again, in verse 13. But you say, how have we spoken against you? Where God? Since when? And this is what God says, you have insulted me in this way by saying, it is vain to serve God. What is the profit of keeping His charge of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts. And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper, but they put God to the test and they escaped. One of the habits that I didn't really believe in ever since I was single, and I'm slowly changing now that I'm married, is the habit of making up my own bed. Now, if you guys do not make up your bed, there are a lot of reasons. But maybe the best reason I can think of is this. What's the point of making up your bed if one day you're gonna crawl back in and make a mess of it again? So, you say, what's the point of making your bed? It's not like making up your bed increases your productivity rate by 100%. Sure, sleeping and looking at a nice bed, encourages you to do a lot more. It's not like making your bed increases drastically your sleep quality. Well, what's the point of making your bed? What's the point? That's exactly what the Jews are saying here. It's vain to serve God. God, what's the point of serving you if it doesn't pay? What's the point of a sacrificial system? What's the point of temple worship? What's the point of sticking with You if there's nothing in it for me in the first place? In fact, that's not quite enough. If you look at the verse, you can hear the absurdity of their claims. Verse 14, they say, what is the profit of keeping our charge and mourning before the Lord of hosts? And this is what they say, hold on. Are you kidding me? Keeping His charge and mourning before the Lord of hosts. If there are two things in the book of Malachi that they utterly failed to do are these two things. Rightly keeping God's charge and rightly mourning before the Lord. And in fact, it's not even enough. If you look down the line in verse 14, they even claim that the wicked are blessed and escape justice. Didn't God already say that justice will come in the future. Peeling back the layers of these excuses, what do we see? Well, we see a group of people shaking their fists at a God. We see a people who looks at their situation in life and say, God, all this is your fault. Ultimately, what we see is a group of people who only have a relationship with God via formalities or externalities. In other words, they say, God, if there's nothing in it for me, then the deal is off. I don't want to have anything to do with you.

And church, that's the problem, right? This is what happens when religion is based on mere externalities. When religion is based on forms, and not on fear, and love. If religion is based simply on form, then we'll just be comfortable with form. I'm okay with going to church. I'm okay with taking Sunday services out of my Sunday to do list. And to the other extreme, if religion is simply just about form, then we'll blame God for everything wrong that's happening in our lives. Religious externalism in full display. But the beauty of Malachi is always being this, that Malachi says their obligation to God has never been about form and religious externalities. It's not about rigid obedience. Malachi says that all along it has always been about the issues of the heart, loving God and fearing his name. While having seen through their defiance, their blatant defiance, how does God actually respond? Well, for many, God does not respond like how any politician would respond. Right? If they say that the citizens are not happy, they're not getting paid. Well, let me just write a check and give you a stimulus package, inject some currency into the economy, and then you'll be happy. You will just close the case. Well, God does not respond that way. Right, God does not owe them anything, nor can God's favor be curried in this manner. God does not also respond by censoring them. He doesn't ignore the claims or just simply sweep things under the carpet. Actually, he responds them head on. He responds them by showing them the futility of persisting in defiance.

The Problem with Defying God (Malachi 3:16-4:3)

And here we come to our second point. The problem with defying God. In fact, the Jews really got it all wrong, right? They think that God doesn't care about those who serve Him. But in reality, we'll see in this passage that God does care for those who serve him. Right, here's what Malachi 3:16 says. Those who feared God spoke with one another The Lord paid attention and heard them. And a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed His name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts. In the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son, who serve Him. Unlike the Jews, who thought that serving God is just merely through forms and externalities, God remembers those who genuinely fear him. And here we were actually introduced to them. Look at how they're described. They feared. They spoke with each other about God. And they wrote. They actually took into action. They wrote a book of remembrance, which kind of serves like a register in which the names of the faithful were written. Oh, what's remarkable is how God fears, hears, remembers, and spares them on that day. What was the point of all this? Well, it's important to note that Malachi relates it back to the Jews in verse 18. Listen to it. Then once more, you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him. According to Malachi, that day, that will mark the righteous will be the day that you, o wicked Jew, will know that you are on the side of the wicked. It will be the day that will ever more confirm that you are not on the side of God.

Not everyone likes going to the dentist. I personally don't. And for obvious reasons, right? It's painful. It's scary. It's quite an intimate experience. And in the economic sense, it's quite expensive. But one reason why I personally don't like to go to the dentist is this. My teeth will always betray me. No matter how hard I tried to cover up my bad oral hygiene practices, no matter how much mouth wash I gargled. No matter how much I brushed my teeth. When I go to that checkup, right. If you have not been doing that, and you're just doing that five hours before, it will always show, And the dentists with decades of experience will always know. Right? And then you have to kind of face that post checkup, awkward conversation, Hey Hanie, you need to brush your teeth more, floss more. You need to cut down on sugar more. Well, what's the point? My point is that the day will be like a visit to the dentist office.

No matter how hard the Jews would try to protest their innocence or whitewash their reputation, that day will reveal their wickedness. That day will evermore confirm that they're on the side of the wicked. But more than affirming their defiance, that day will be a problem for those who actually defy God. Here's the unsanitized truth, that day will actually damn the defiant. In fact, the day is described in real graphic ways. Look at 4:1. For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts so that it will leave them neither root, No branch. Friends, can you see these are horrific words. Look at how it's described. It will be a day of intense heat. A day burning like an oven, a day that will rival wildfires in Australia or rival the intense fires of Jurong Island in recent history. It will be a day where fire will no longer refine, as what we saw last week but will consume. They will be stubble. It will be a day where they will be left with neither root nor branch. There will be no hope of progeny or ancestry. It will be a day of utter hopelessness. In fact, what God says in this section is not entirely new or novel. The Day of the Lord is actually a common thing. The Jews are familiar with it. And prophets of old have always prophesied about this coming day. And while biblical Revelation tells us that even us, while we in this side of salvation history have not experienced that day yet. For those who are wicked, for those who do not fear God, that day will come soon. Right, it'll only be a matter of time. And should there be any motivation for them to repent and return to God, now is the perfect time. The day is coming.
While growing up, I wasn't exactly the most well behaved kid. In fact, I was quite naughty. Right. And I've always been punished as well. And the usual instrument of torture at home is not the cane. But the belt. Right. And whenever I did something naughty, the funny thing is, if my dad's not home, then my mom will always reserve the deed for my dad. So, as a young guy, maybe like seven or eight. In fact, the actual punishment is quite simple, right? Five minutes, cleaning is done. And then you're okay, right. But when my dad's not around, and I know I did something wrong, the anticipation of that impending punishment is quite something. So, when dad is not home, and I did something wrong, I will still be punished, right? Because delayed punishment is still punishment, even if I offer my dad a great deal of cleaning the whole house the whole day. Even if I offered to give him a nice back massage at the end of the day. Because I did something wrong, that does not negate the fact that I should be punished. And true enough, although we, as people in this side of salvation history, living in the now and the not yet, judgement for the wicked is coming. And if God's Word is true that there will be a day where we will face imminent judgement. It means that it's only a matter of time, until people get their act together and face the music. Delayed punishment is still punishment.

Well, not only will the day be a day of judgement for the righteous, it will be a day of justice, where justice will finally be serve. It's unfortunate that when discussions are made on the theme of the day of the Lord, the idea of justice has always been left out. But God is clear in our passage, that there will be a day of justice, where wrongs will finally be made right. Where there will be vindication for those who fear God. Have a look at four verses two to three. But for you who fear my name, the Son of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall, and you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet. On the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. It's quite an interesting passage, right? God uses a lot of pictures. In fact, He uses three pictures in this section. He uses the picture of a son. The picture of calves leaping from a stall, and a picture of the righteous treading down the wicked. First, He uses a picture of the sun with rays of healing. And what does it mean? It means that justice will be like the sun. It will be plain and apparent for all to see. But instead of burning, instead of producing sunlight, this sun will produce healing. In other words, the wounds inflicted by the oppressors will be healed. Sufferings endured by the righteous will be restored and made right. Second, He pictures a freedom, like a calf no longer reserved but released from the stall, Right, no longer a calf reserved to be slaughtered and butchered. But a calf released from the stall. It's a picture of inexpressible joy that will be on the faces of every God fearer in history. Finally, He uses the picture of the wicked man being trampled. It's like a defeated enemy trampled down under the soles of the feet of the righteous.

So, what will the day actually look like? Well, it will be a day where justice will be served. It will be a day where oppressed Christians will no longer be oppressed. It will be a day where Christians who are hiding underground will no longer need to hide. It will be a day where us Christians, slandered for our faith, will have justice served. It will be a day where all of us will stare at anyone who has opposed our faith and say, I told you so. And collectively, it will be a day where all of us will look at our sufferings or struggles in this side of eternity and say that was all worthwhile in the end. So, what will the day be like? For the righteous? Absolutely glorious. For those who defy God, damning, absolutely damning. Well, the tone of the book has been quite bleak and dire so far and rightly so.

The Solution to Defying God (Malachi 4:4-6)

But a book of Malachi is not a book without hope. In fact, the final section of Malachi is in many ways, life giving words to the insolent and the guilty. And He does this by introducing us to two characters, two familiar characters in the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah. Right, here's what he says to Moses, in light of that day, how should the people respond? Well, God says, look at Moses, verse four, Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I've commanded him at Horeb for all of Israel. Come back to the law I gave you through your forefather Moses. In other words, before the day of the Lord, before God comes again, God says, I want you to be faithful in fulfilling your end of the bargain. Right? You have not been following my law. I want you to go back in obedience to what I told your forefather, Moses. It means this. No more accepting subpar offerings and sacrifices. No more intermarriage. No more no fault divorce. No more robbery, no more hypocrisy, no more injustice. I want you to actually get your act together. Now lest we think that the solution to the defiance is only about obeying the law and having a do over. Right, Malachi teaches us that delayed judgement motivates us to return in proper fear and love. Have a look at verses five to six. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And this is what he does, he will turn the hearts of fathers, the children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. I've spoken earlier about how delayed punishment is still punishment. But in this text, John, the Baptist will come first before the day of the Lord comes. And I guess in some ways, if there's beauty in delayed judgement, it's the actual fact that it's actually delayed.

And God is gracious to them in delaying certain judgement by pointing them towards the expectation of an Elijah like figure, which, of course we know is John, the Baptist in the New Testament. And John the Baptist will come before the great day of the Lord. Church, even as the book of Malachi ends, perhaps with a word of warning towards Israel was forsaken that God from generations to generations, we're greatly encouraged and reminded that repentance is made possible through His mercy and compassion in delaying judgement for all humankind. And that's the big solution, isn't it? And even more, the arrival of John the Baptist will look like this. Generations will re-orient their lives back to God, father and sons will now live for each other, They will no longer commit acts of injustice and treachery towards each other. And by extension, this means ensuring that the generations to come will continue in the fear of God. And that's the big question of Malachi. Whether Israel actually fears God. When a priest sin in chapters one and two. When they allowed subpar sacrifices and offerings to be offered in the temple, God did not say, create better safeguards and measures. And don't do it again. When the people rob God of their tithes and offerings, God did not say return the money to me. And I will consider that the case closed. Instead, what God does, is once and for all address the issue that really matters, which is the issue of the fear of God. Will you Israel fear me? Will you come back to me? Or will you persist in your defiance and sin?

Well, the book of Malachi ends with a note of warning, and even a curse, right? Lest I come with utter destruction. As a final prophet of the Old Testament, the people will endure 400 long years of silence before the arrival of John the Baptist. Yet if there's one thing that Malachi teaches us is this. That judgement is not the last word. That there are better words to come through the arrival of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you're new here, you might be wondering, wow your God so cruel. Wow, your God is so evil and so backward. I want to assure you that He's not. Rather He is actually gracious to save those as what our passages always said, those who fear Him, who have repented of their sins, and have turned to the Lord Jesus. If you're new here, this is the great news of the gospel. That punishment has been laid on God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ so that those who have placed their faith in Jesus will be as what Chapter 3 verse 17 says. We will be his treasured possession, remembered and spared from destruction.

So just to recap, there were three main things that we looked at. We looked at how the Jews were defying God blatantly. They think that it's profit less to serve God, because I gain nothing out of it in the first place. God responds by saying, hold up, right, the day of the Lord will come. And if you continue to persist in that defiance, it will spell doom and destruction for you. But that's not quite the end because we come to the solution where God says, go back to Moses. Anticipate the coming of Elijah like figure in John the Baptist, but most importantly, you reorient your life in proper fear, and honor and love towards God. Now, that's fine and all but what does it mean for us? I began by painting a picture of defiance. It's easy in our culture to see something wrong with society and say, I'm not happy with that. I'm going to protest against that. It's easy to be outspoken critics, especially when we see something we don't like. But more than that, I hope you see by now, that defiance is a fruitless endeavor. In fact, to a certain degree, it's a fatal one. For the Jews who shake their fists at God and for us, who defy God by mere externalities and by mere forms. We know that there will be one day where God will put an end to all things.

And perhaps this perfectly describes you. You're comfortable with mere external religion. You're comfortable with just simply going through the motions of church, attending Sunday services, attending care groups, but you do not love and honor God. You might say, well, because when I was younger, I became a Christian by raising my hand when the pastor said, raise your hands. Maybe you have that confidence because your mom is a believer. Your dad is a Christian, your siblings are Christians, and I'm with Christian friends. But deep down inside, you're not a believer. Your brand of Christianity, your relationship with God is transactional. When it's good, you're there. When life is good, you're active. But when it's not, you disappear. You neglect God. You don't want to have anything to do with God. In many ways, you look like a Christian. You speak like one, you behave like one. But you're far from one. Mainly lip service, uttering Christian lingo, but do not have the substance of loving God and honoring him. This is what Malachi says. Judgement is coming. And either you're in the sight of righteousness, or you're not. Simply uttering Christian lingo, attending services Sunday after Sunday, and pretending to be a Christian will not get you there. In fact, this is what Jesus says for many who are like that. He says, not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven.

And here it is. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Cast out demons in your name, and done many mighty works in your name? What does Jesus say? Depart from me. I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness. And perhaps, you're not in the sight of God because you think well, there's still plenty of time. You know, about the day of the Lord, theologically, what it entails but you live a life of reckless abandon. You don't care about the consequences. You defy God by indulging yourself in what life has to offer. Secret affairs, unequally relationships, inappropriate relationships, abusive parenting, abusive leadership, casual sex, porn addiction, anger, greed, being plagued by jealousy, and the list goes on and on. And if that's you like Israel, because of your utter defiance and your persistence sin, you're storing up wrath for yourself. This is what Paul says. Again, and again, the Jews have mistaken God's patience as God turning a blind eye to sin. But how wrong are they? Paul says, do you suppose, oh man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourselves, that you will escape the judgement of God? Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your heart and impenitent heart, you're storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgement will be revealed.

In fact, Paul adds that God will be like an impartial judge, just a few verses down. Verse nine, it says, there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil. The Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. Friends, God will not turn a blind eye to sin. God will not condone sin, sweep it under the carpet, as if it never happened. If you are persisting, and your life is showing blatant defiance against God, judgement will be inescapable. To whomever I'm speaking to, I just want to say that defiance need not be your last act. And judgement need not be your final destination. If these are your struggles, I really want you to be comforted in the mercies of God in delaying that great and terrible day. In fact, in reality, we're all the same. Sinners, all in need of salvation. At one point in life, we have defied God. At one point in life, we have been God's greatest critics. At one point in life, we have shaken our fists against God in utter defiance. That all change because of the life-giving power of the Gospel. I believe I speak for many here that because of the Gospel, we have received great mercy. That because of the Gospel, we have tasted the goodness of Jesus. That because of the Gospel, we have repented of our sins, and turn to Jesus. And because of the gospel, that day will no longer be doom and gloom, but will be exceedingly glorious. So, church, defiance is fatal. And today, there's only one important response. It's either we defy him and continue in that or return to Him. We stop defying him. We come back to the gracious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Come, let's pray. Father, we thank You that despite being a Holy God,you are a God of immense love, immense grace, and immense mercy. We are thankful that in the midst of rampant sin, much injustices, blatant defiance, and intense prosecutions, you have been so gracious, not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance. We are thankful that on account of your Son, the Lord Jesus, you have made it possible for wretched and defiance sinners like us, to be reconciled with you, warmly embraced by you and welcomed into the glorious future with you. But Lord, you will act. You will act injustice and judgement on that day. So, Lord, if there be any complacency in us, if there'll be any hypocrisy on our part, there'll be any impenitence in our minds, we'll change our hearts and lead us back into proper fear and love towards you, before that great and terrible day comes. Father for many here who are wearied and crying out, when will you come, oh Lord. We are thankful that these are not just simple, wishful words.

But one day you will come in justice and glory. You will make things right. You'll vindicate the righteous. And on that day, we all will say, all the sufferings that we've encountered will be worthwhile in the end. So, come Lord Jesus. Come. All these we pray, amen.