“Faithfulness in Word and Works” (Malachi 2:1–9)

“Faithfulness in Word and Works” (Malachi 2:1–9)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, July 7, 2019

Malachi 2:1–9 (NIV)

2 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. ² If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

³ “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. ⁴ And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁵ “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. ⁶ True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.

⁷ “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. ⁸ But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁹ “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

1. The Lord Established a Covenant of Life and Peace with His People (v. 5a).

2. This Gracious Covenant Demands that His People Honor Him in Their Worship (v. 5b).

3. Honoring the Lord Demands Faithfulness to His Word (vv. 6a, 7, 8b).

4. Honoring the Lord Demands Faithfulness in Our Works (vv. 8a, 8c, 9b–c).

5. Refusing to Honor the Lord Brings the Lord’s Chastening Hand of Judgment (vv. 1–4, 9a).

Main Idea: God has loved us; let us love him in return. God has shown us grace by giving us a covenant of life and peace; let us honor him in return. We honor him through right worship, right words, and right works.