God Declares His Love

Minister:
Date: PM
Text: Malachi 1:1-5
Psalters: 320, 312, 52, 236
  1. The fact.
    1. This prophecy shows that Judah as a whole was ungrateful and thus were unfaithful with cold formalism (1:6-8,13,14; 3:8,14,15; 2:1-8,10,11,14-16,17).
    2. Malachi, like Isaiah, knows the burden (load, utterance) when God?s Word is put on one.
    3. ?I have loved you? is the (should be) heavy message ? simple and powerful.
      1. The knowledge of God?s love is the answer to formal religiosity and ungodly behavior!!!
      2. The Hebrew word refers to the action of love of strongly desiring: breathing after or longing for.
    4. Judah challenged whether God loved them by cynically asking ?Wherein hast Thou loved us??
      1. They were looking for the proof of God?s love in things and they only saw trouble and sorrow.
      2. But God?s attitude of love is NOT found in things (cf. Ps. 73).
  2. The right evidence of God?s love: it is eternal, electing, particular, and contrasted to His hatred.
    1. Note well that the proof of God?s love is found in God Himself.
      1. Nothing proves God?s love as well as God?s eternal and unchangeable election.
      2. The proof of God?s love is found also in the fact that God?s election is particular: Esau.
    2. This shows that God?s love is ...
      1. Free.
      2. Personal, i.e., for individual persons.
      3. Unto eternal salvation, not to earthly prosperity.
  3. The result of the knowledge of God?s love should be praise of God (5) and tremendous gratitude evidenced in godliness.
    1. God?s love is to be believed and confessed because the Bible tells us so; it is not to be questioned and doubted.
    2. Let us magnify (cause to grow) Jehovah together.