January 3, 2021 - Doubting God's Faithful Love (Malachi 1:1-5)

No, that's that's worth clapping over that's worth laughing over.

That's good. Amen. God we praise you we celebrate you when we clap we clap for you often out of gratitude for the giftings and the worship that we are led by from others, but we are here to praise your name alone. We're here to exalt you alone and we can't help but clap and shout and sing for Joy. When we consider the reality that everyone of us here has a sin debt to pay every one of us here deserves to receive your wrath for judgment because you're holy.

But all of that rap you poured out on your son Jesus who you gave. To live our perfect life not only to die because without a life that fulfilled all of the law his death would have been meaningless like any other martyr who died for a car, but if that's not meaningless because he lives and he fulfilled all righteousness and as the Spotless lamb that you spoke about through your word for Generations upon Generations, Jesus fulfilled all of that as the Spotless lamb he gave himself as a ransom. No one took his life from him.

And this was to prove your righteousness because you're not a God that sidesteps thin. You don't just like people inside steps in but Jesus came giving yourself as our Ransom and so we are freshly remind. That we stand here.

completely enveloped by your grace

Living with gifting out of the Overflow of your grace able to pursue you in righteousness and and an imperfect mess certainly, but pursue righteous living out of your grace out of the gifts What U Supply and you bring us together to minister to one another tips to grow up into the fullness of Christ who is our head as a body each member not indispensable member necessary for our growth is at church all by your grace.

One day you'll return and we look forward to that day. But for now there's work to do for now. There's Faith to grow in for now. There's one more step of of repentance and Faith for us to walk in today. And it will be only by your grace. But it will be. by your grace

help us as we strive for you not to earn your love. Because you have already loved us.

Couples Living Faith in Jesus name we pray amen. Amen when I ask you to take your seats.

When we get to start off the new year with the new sermon series and we're going to spend the bulk of the year in into books of the Bible will spend the bulk of the year and probably the first quarter first 8 to 10 weeks in the Book of Malachi and really excited about this and then that would take us pretty close to Easter. If not right up until Easter. I'm getting the sense more I prepare that's going to take us up to Easter. Maybe I'll be a little elasticity there and I think it will be on he will have to see butt and it will spend really the rest of the earth aside from a few breaks here and there in the book of Ephesians, which is Rich for us. And so we'll go slowly through the book of Ephesians. The book of Ephesians is applicable to each and everyone of us in many many many different ways. So wherever you're at your walk with the Lord and and similar wherever you are in your walk with the Lord The Book of Malachi that the Lord has a word for us from Malachi. And so I hope you're excited to dive into it. Now. I will say Malachi if you have your Bible go ahead and turn their it's the last book in the Old Testament so find Matthew and go back one or two pages. Well one page will get you too Malachi 2 or 3 pages will get you to chapter 1 of Malachi 4 chapters in Malachi. It's not a long book. It's only 55 vs. And I think like 49 of them are spoken by God, which makes sense cuz it's a profit. It's a prophecy book, right and what it what is prophecy what prophecy is God declaring a message directly through a man for mankind for a particular people in a specific situation. And so sometimes I can feel myself already getting ahead of self get getting ahead of ahead of myself. But sometimes we we think about the Old Testament and we think well that was for them and the New Testament is is for me or that was for then and the New Testament is for now. Right, we'll talk about this over the course of this entire time will keep revisiting this theme and all elaborated on it here in a few more minutes. But but if you do, you know, if you don't have a Bible with you, there's a Bible and a seat back probably near you that you can go ahead and grab her just open your phone and you may have a Bible app on there too. So it's always good. I always encourage scriptures on the screen. It's really as a help to help you track. I don't want that ever to become a version to using your own Bible, right? So if you have it open it open it up their butts when God spoke through Malachi to Judah to the people of Israel Judah with a tribe of the Israelites. And so you'll hear me use the term Judah or Jew diets or Israel very interchangeably in this series cuz that's the the subgroup of our particular audience. But Israel Judah was very confused with what was going on in their life. If they had crazy circumstances that when I say crazy, I don't mean God's crazy. But as you and I look at our life, we we go through situations that according to our Humanity seem crazy. It seems like it's something that we can't endure something that we can't make it through and that happened at Israel's history all the time. Remember God saved. God sent Moses to to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, right? That's the book of Exodus tells us about that and and in Deuteronomy and see what happens when they get out of they get out of Egypt and I'm telling you they lived in slavery when they were in Egypt for 40 years, right? And and as soon as they get out of there slavery, they find it they're getting kind of hungry and so they're like whole or did you just bring us out in the desert to kill us in his back to slavery so we can have good dinner. I mean, that's how we are as a people right? We're not we're not going to approach the series of Malachi like All of the things that we learn from the Old Testament now, we've got this church family. Let's let's knock it out of the park. Every generation must go through seasons and periods where they they

Are they are tested in the trials of life? God is the Refiner's Fire and he is or he is putting us through the test. So that the faith the God has given us would rise to the top or really that the drawers would rise to the top in the faith would remain as that which makes it a solid and secure and strong and that Faith the Bible tells us over and over and over is a gift from God's gracious and A hundred years or so before Malachi was written the nation of Israel was lived in captivity for several Generations. So when you kind of thumb through your Old Testament, right you read through 2nd Kings and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Lamentations these describe what's known two are kind of Bismillah some Biblical history as the Babylonian captivity, right? So has your read some other prophets write the prophet of rights to the people and says, I'm going to judge you with. This ungodly Nation they're going to come in and wipe you out some of you will remain because I'm faithful to my promise. And so I'm going to always keep a Remnant but I'm going to judge you with this nation that Unfaithful that ungodly right and habakkuk sort of like Lord. Why would you judge us with them? I mean is like, you know the conversation like it's according to how we think you had a job supposed to have you think what's right for how to judge if that makes sense a little bit. And so what happens is is part of this process, right the Babylonians they come in and they just wreak havoc in Jerusalem and realized and so they come in and and you know, you've heard of words like maybe the dispersion the Exile and this would be when they came in and they just basically say, hey we're taking over it. Basically Deport all almost all of Israel. Some people were left there and it's going to do some menial work and maintain the ground and do things like that and turn it in to take care of the ground and keep it keep it. It's good grounding what not. But but it was it was essentially indentured servitude. It was slave labor and that's what they did with the nation of Israel. And so when the nation of Israel is living in Babylon their miserable, I mean, it's like going all the way back to Egypt in a different sense right living through it again, and they begin to forget that God loves them. Have you ever been in a situation where you begin to forget that God loves you? Yeah, I have to.

I'm going to ask you to think about a time when you can remember. The last time that you began to forget that God loves you. Can you identify that time? Give me a good strong not so I can kind of get a read on us. Yeah, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I'm also not eating because I can see what happens is our memories for the way that God has demonstrated his love for us are quite short. And our tendency toward beginning to doubt God's love. Is quite strong and has quite a short fuse it doesn't take much of this doubting for us to begin to shift into.

To begin to shift into really questioning whether got even loves us, right and so the Lord challenges the nation of Israel here with this theme. So did you like Capital including the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed right you here is your thumb through the Old Testament you hear about the Lord speaks that there that day is going to come and that day came the temples destroyed their deported into Babylon and and they were there for several generations. And while they were there it was terrible. In fact Psalm 137 gives us a depiction of this one of the beautiful things about our relationship with the Lord is we don't you need we need to hear this. We don't need a fake it with God last year. We spent some time in the Psalms and in our time in the songs we looked at Psalms of Lament and and we said it really is good and right and appropriate when we are lamenting when we are grieving the trials of life to call out to the Lord to cry out the Lord. That's worship actually to go to our creator with our Lament. Because life isn't always happy life isn't always fun. But for those who are in Christ, we have joy through trials. So listen to Psalm 137. I'm going to put it up on the screen, but I'm going to read it a little slowly because I want us to really to soak this in.

By the Waters of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion in other words before we got booted out of our home town where we worship the Lord.

now in Babylon We weep.

On the Willows there we hung up our lyres. Were there are captors required of us song and our tormentors mirth saying sing us one of those songs of Zion?

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, oh Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth. If I do not remember you if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest Joy. remember O Lord against the edomites the day of Jerusalem and how they said Lay It bare Lay It bare down to its foundations.

O daughter of Babylon. to be destroyed blessed shall he be who repays you with? What you have done to us blessed shall be he who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rocks.

Go to God. in Your Grave

go to God. with your pain with your confusion

just a quick summary of wants us on 137 their their weeping because they're away from their homelands are Weeping not just because of the land but because that is where they Worship the Lord that is where they found kinship and fellowship with the Lord their God when they remember Zion, they remember the place of worship. They remember the Lord and they're saying our tempters the ones who are holding us captive.

That's going to hold it all service. The ones who are are are have us as captive. I mean, they're just mocking us. They're mocking a pig to sing to us one of your songs of Zion. We know you're miserable. We're glad about it. We're glad about it because even when they came after us, they said Lee it barely there down to the foundations destroy the whole city. God's people are saying Lord. How are we supposed to sing your song?

I can't worship another God. How are we supposed to Worship in that this captivity if I'm supposed to sing a song like this? Let me just find a willow tree and hang up my guitar. I mean hang up my liar if I'm supposed to Worship in this foreign landlord. Let my right hand forget its skill. Let my tongue be stuck to the roof of my mouth. I can't do it. I'm miserable. I'm depressed. I'm despairing. This was God's people.

Maybe about 75 years before Malachi was written. I have to say there's a little bit of variance on exactly when Malachi would have been written. But so I'm talking in generalities, but it would have been in this General Centre in this General time. Do you hear their pain? the agony and what they're saying at the end, you're like, oh, how could somebody said his old daughter of Babylon the children of those who are oppressing us Doom to be destroyed blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us blessed shall be he who takes your little ones and dashes them against The Rock now we've learned from the book of Jobe that everything in the Bible is true. Everything in the Bible is right and authoritative, but it doesn't mean as a record of History not everything in the Bible is an example of Godly living. And so we acknowledge that this is what the Israelites are feeling at this time and yet we would have firm with scripture vengeance is mine says the Lord I will repay and so it was wrong and it was a sinful thought of theirs to say we're going to repay your descendants for the way that you've treated us. We wished they would even be dashed against the Rocks. I nobody would leave here today and say yeah, that's I think that's good advice. For the upcoming week.

But it is a real bad aren't you? So thankful that God gives us a real picture. of real people enduring real difficulty

it's recorded in. perfect scripture for us

Is a terrible time and this time wouldn't be forever. So the end of the Exile come right? So King Cyrus King Cyrus comes in and he decrees and we read about this in Ezra. I'm not going to read it for us today. But in the beginning of that has read a book opens with King Cyrus's beginning of his Reign and he says return all of the captains back to their homelands, right? So he's saying all of the captives back to their whole life, that's the judite specifically and in other people that they would have conquered and in brought into their indentured servitude. And so after that exiled that the Israelites were sent back to their home and then we read Ezra Nehemiah in the Bible. You see the rebuilding of the temple. So this is sort of where we are not Biblical history. It makes sense cuz that's the last book of the Old Testament. And as I said instead of a teaser video this week in the Book of Malachi you sort of get this sense it is if you're standing in in a backyard of your sort of looking over the fence and you can smell it's like if there's two people grilling in the backyard or smoking some of the bad guy In the wind just kind of swirls around and you get the sense of both meals. You can start a smell what that you can sense the sentence the sentence but you can smell the sense of what God's cooking in the Old Testament and the old cabin and in the New Covenant you get the sense of what's been happening for a couple thousand years and you also get the sense of where the Lord is going because Malachi tells us that the Lord is taking us into a new coven. He says a new Prophet is going to come and speaking of John the Baptist that will be coming. And so we don't know exactly what it is that caused this particular people group to be forgetting the Lord's lover doubting the Lord's love but it's not too far of a stretch to think that the generation before this current generation that is Malachi's audience was bitter grieving and pain from the years that the Lord had allowed them to walk through. This would be their fault. This would not be God's fault.

When one parents one set of parents goes through difficulty it can color how they view the Lord the way they talk about the Lord. I do not work to just go through a political season. You hear kindergarteners talking about they're going to go for something like that. Right? Kindergarteners have believed this political Theory or that political Theory or whatever.

And so the sins of a generation can go for many generations because why what we just pass it down. Like we teach our children how to Worship the Lord we can't make them Worship the Lord but we just began to pass out. So worried about reading the Old Testament. Some people take the Old Testament. Like I said, well that was then and this is now and we cannot approach the Old Testament. That way we would have read the Old Testament and its original setting and we want to recognize it's a particular genre when I say John R. I just made a type of literature if I write a love letter to Cheryl in and somebody finds it on the ground and picks it up. They're going to know exactly what that is. I'm going to use language in of its intended for that one woman right there that I love.

But if I do that same letter to somebody else or if it didn't have a name on it just said mad at the bottom context will tell you, you know, Matt McGee. I would wouldn't sign my name but my last night but it would go. This is Sharon Lois letter it better be sharlands letter.

Is it I mean, that's how contacts work there's a lot that you already know about genre. We don't walk around talking about all the time, but you already know it right if I were to say that the that the Ducks were swept up in the cyclone.

You would not walk around looking for a bunch of feathers today. You wouldn't be going to the Weather Channel trying to find out what Cyclone or what Cyclones? Am I tracking with me yet? There we go. What Cyclones swept through Iowa and took up a bunch of ducks? Do you have any concept of what happened in National Collegiate football? You know, it's bull season. It's playoff season in the NFL and you know that the the that the Cyclones play The Fantastic game yet. I know where the wrong part B to be all super happy about this, but some of you are Bill. Thanks for fudge represented today, but Context tells you that that headline is referring to the Fiesta Bowl. Right and that Iowa State played a great game yesterday and decisively won. This is context when we read the Psalms like I just read we know we're reading poetry that helps us interpret it. We know it's not a little thing that we're supposed to do go dashing children against the Rocks. Okay. Now all of this is necessary as we read and as we Dive Into the Book of Malachi, and I've already taken one of my buffer weeks just telling you cuz I know you were thinking right now. How man we're going to be here for an hour and a half today not going to do that to you today? You're welcome.

This background is all incredibly important as we begin to look into what God is saying in Malachi because Malachi is applicable for you and for me today. So 2nd Corinthians or 2nd Timothy 3:16 and 17 says all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction and for training in righteousness to the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work and I want you to listen to one of the most beautiful versus but it it says a lot without saying a lot. It's like the sermon I wish I could have heard from Jesus but it's not in the Bible. Well, it is in the Bible. Just not this way here. You'll see what I mean and Luke Luke 24:27 and beginning with Moses and all of the prophets. He Jesus explained to them all of the scriptures. the things concerning himself The guys let me talk to you about what you know about in your Bible, which is our Old Testament. Let me talk to you about what you know in your Bible. Let me tell you how it all points to me. Jesus is reaching back in the Old Testament and he saying let me tell you how this points to me. Let me tell you how this points to me and we don't have a record of that entire car of that conversation, but we know that he walked with his disciples and he explained to them. all the things concerning himself

To imagine being on that walk.

So as we read Old Testament books in particular, but all of the Bible what we're looking for is this I want you to catch this phrase already enduring truths.

When we read about a letter or a prophecy written or spoken to a particular people group in a particular day and time what in a particular culture not everything in that book for that letter or that prophecy is directly. written to Dan Schantz or Matt McGee but all throughout God's word in every page of the Bible. Are enduring truths truths that the written in prophetic form to a particular people group. There are there is truth that applies to every person every culture every time or every generation you might say. And what we want to do is say Lord. What are the enduring truths? I in obedience to scripture in out of worship need to apply in my life. And that's working to begin to do as we look through this Minor Prophets call the minor Prophet because it's small in length, right some of the larger profits Isaiah Jeremiah. These are long book 55 verses in the Book of Malachi. It's not a long book going to do. I'm going to read the passage this morning. I'm going to give you an overview and I'm going to pray anywhere and come back and bring the dive into it next week. Is that okay? Yes. Okay what you say you got a roast on?

We got to run stairs already.

He was open but I hope it's okay that I we need to spend that time cuz setting up this series and thinking about how to read a minor Prophet like this and I really wanted to dive into more of it today. But I really just felt the necessity to spend this much time. Just getting our bearings and coming back from holidays and getting our spiritual brings back on maybe so I'm going to pray we're going to read the text to a very quick overview will come back and look at it in more detail. This week will need this week to process this to promise Father in Heaven. You've given us all of your word.

Every word every letter on the page and its original languages and is inspired for you. It's perfect. There's no fault in it.

It's enduringly true our lives or but grass but the word of God endures forever.

grass withers the flower fades your word never never Fades never fails. So father I ask you for help for us as we dive into this wonderful message, but convicting message. Help us to apply to our hearts.

Because when we do we'll be at people that's changed. for our good and For Your Glory We pray these things in Jesus name. amen All right. Here we go Malachi 1 1 through 5 the Oracle or word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you says the Lord but you say how have you loved us?

Esau Jacob's brother declares the Lord and yet I have loved Jacob. But Esau I have hated.

I have laid waste his Hill Country. I have left his Heritage to jackals of the desert if Edom says and you're going to see the word Edom but Edom think of Esau and the territory would be the edomites. So when you just think he's off eat them speaking about the same people in the same region.

If Edom says we are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins the Lord of host says they may build but I will tear down they will be like the wicked condoms are they will be called The Wicked country and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever. Your own eyes shall see this and you shall say great is the Lord beyond the borders of Israel.

when you and I are tempted to doubt God's love our confidence must come from how God has definitively demonstrated his love which we see in what God tells us about himself in the Bible rather than how we feel

when you doubt God's love when I doubt God look it's typically because we see something happening in our life that we either don't like we believe it's wrong. We make a moral judgment essentially that God is doing a disservice to us because something maybe even something sinful is happening in our life and when that happens what it reveals is an internal belief system that I believe God on to operate in a certain way according to my standard of right and wrong and when my standard of right and wrong gets slanted or get abused or gets pressed in against what begins to happen is if you would visualize an hourglass, right my world sometimes begins to shrink my my thinking world my believing world begins to shrink and all I can seem to do is focus on the ways that I have been wrong and I very quickly will you very quickly begins to say Lord. How could you do this to me? How could you? How does that happen to me? We just read it in Psalm 137. They're saying Lord. Let me time to hang up the guitar. I can't worship you anymore. I can't sing praises to your name. We acknowledge that you somehow brought us here, but I can't worship you going through this and like the Israelites. We begin to doubt. Woe to us to be a prideful New Covenant people. To say can you believe they did that knowing we speak of their history kind of you know, Joe violi.

But it's much easier to speak of somebody else's problems jovially. And to really just look at our own heart issues.

When I asked you to identify as we did in the beginning of the service, what is a reason? Where in your life do you find yourself doubting God's love because there are there are there are this book is filled with what you might call disputations. It's a profit but it reads a little differently than most of the prophetic book. It reads like a lawyer laying out his case and he brings a charge and it gives evidence and then he brings another charge and it gives evidence and then he brings another charge and it gives more evidence and then he sort of wraps up his case and that's what happens here. So you got the opening argument here in verses 1 through 5. And in the end of the book, you've got the closing argument and in between you got these diffusers just disputations. You've got these charges that are being brought to the people, right? And so he's going to say Hey, you failed to worship me in the right way you failed to tithe properly you failed to do any begins to list these different things right Tidings. One of them is only one of them and so but he can't begins to lift these different these Charges, but what we say right out of the gates is that Malachi is the word of the Lord in the word of the Lord stands forever and someone we begin to doubt God's love God the one who comes to the Israelites here and says children.

Let me tell you how I love you. Look at the B the beginning there. I have loved you says the Lord that have loved that stuff. That's that perfect tense in the Bible that says I have loved you the that have love means. I have loved you in a way that has an enduring effect. I have treated you in a way that is not just a I loved you with an action and then that action came off. I love you again with a display of love and then that display came off. It says I have loved you injuring Lee.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross he loved us or he showed his love for us in an endearing way. So that our acceptance by God is Not based on how God feels at the moment. God has loved you.

But you say what how have you loved us? Show me god, what have you done for us lately? How have you loved me brothers and sisters. I want to ask you this question when you're doubting God's love. This is why Romans 8:5 says but God damn has demonstrated his love for us in this while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

How do I know God loves me no matter what you go through in your life the fact that God sent his only son to be the propitiation that that the sacrifice that satisfies all of God's Wrath. It should come to you. That should be enough it is enough, but we need to recall us while we talk about preaching the gospel to ourselves time and time again, and in this little section of scripture God through Malachi unfolds the doctrine of unconditional election. Now, it's a doctrine that if treated wrongly can split churches. Right, and so we're going to be humble but we're also not going to avoid God's word if you look in Genesis 25 and really this story is 11 chapters of Genesis Genesis 25 through Genesis 36, but I want you to hear the beginning of Genesis or part of Genesis 25 here. And then we're going to wrap up here in a minute. These are the generations of Abraham's son Abraham fathered Isaac and Isaac. Was 40 years old when he took Rebecca. The daughter of Beth you alone are Amina pateron sister of Laban Arimathea and to be his wife and I like praying to the Lord for his wife because she was Barren and the Lord granted his prayer and Rebecca. His wife conceived now listen to this everybody look at me for just a minute here. Okay, I do my deliveries a little different this morning if that's okay. I want you to look what's happening on the page here and when you find areas in the Bible that you struggle with go back to the text and begin to wrestle with the Lord on what he's communicating to his people through his perfectly enduring word and a children struggled together within her in her womb and she said if this if it is this, why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord? No, I've never had birth pangs. I've never had bright all the obvious stuff that comes with pregnancy. I'll stop talking about right now cuz going to get kind of awkward but I never felt I felt baby's kicking on the outside of the womb. That's about it. I can't imagine what it is for for Mary and Elizabeth to feel John and Jesus jumping around in there. And then they walk closer together then they get all excited. Hey, that's my cousin it. How can you how do you know right? Jacob and Esau are in in her room and she's like Lord what's going on here? And he says two nations are in your womb and two peoples from in with from within you shall be divided. The one in this case the second shall be stronger than the other end the older Shall Serve the younger and when her days to give birth were completed behold there were twins in her womb the first came out read all his body like a hairy cloak and so they called his name Esau and afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel and so his name was called Jacob.

We read on to see that the East all the older. Make rash decisions and he sold his Birthright. But before he sold his Birthright, God said I've chosen Jacob.

Why what did Jacob do not a blessed thing?

God said I've chosen Jacob brothers and sisters. Jacob becomes Israel. and every we speak freely about God choosing Israel and God loving is wrong God showering his love on Israel before Israel with a nation Israel was Jacob before Jacob was Jacob you might say Jacob was in utero. And God says here and it's quoted in Romans 9 Jacob. I loved Esau I hated. Now we know from Luke went that when the Lord says anybody who doesn't hate even is Right father mother brother sister is not worthy to be called my disciples and we talked about that passage and he said well that's a term of comparison and that's true in that context. It's a term of comparison. That means you need to love me so much more than your family.

You need to be devoted to the Lord God so much more than you are to your to your your spouse your your your mother your father. You need to obey the Lord.

But this word means it doesn't mean hate in the sense that we know the word hate with this sinful vitriolic. Vengeance, no, it means I'm again. Time for Jacob and I'm against Esau.

and Rebecca what is playing out in your room right now is to Nations that are going to color. all of redemption history

Pastor Matt. Why would you bring this up today at the end of your sermon because God uses that? he takes in the end of the Old Testament he takes Judah he says you're doubting my love.

Let's go back to the beginning. Let's go back all the way to a promise. I'm a 2 Abraham when I told him I'd make a father he be the father of many nations Abraham Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And that was the refrain the thought that the god of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. That was our confidence bearing refrain. Let's go all the way back. Don't you remember that? I loved Jacob. I love Israel. And a descendants of Israel. I love you.

Is there anything more that I need to show you then when Esau's descendants the edomites? Get destroyed in this prideful people that say I'm going to make a name for myself. And God says know what let's look at the end of look at the end of the first they may be rebuild it but I'll tear it down if he says we are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins the Lord of hosts. That is the warrior name for God the Lord of hosts and it's more Malachi than many places the Lord of hosts. That means they want to have war with me and my plans for them. I will have war with them and I am God and I will win they say, hey we're going to rebuild God says they may build with I will tear down they make they will be called The Wicked country and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever your own eyes children Sons daughters. Whom I love those who are doubting my name right now in church families on back in with us closing hear that what he says is children whom I loved. Entering Lee though you've gone.

I know you've gone. through excruciating circumstances

I have loved you. And I'm going to take you all the way back trailer. Don't you remember that? I said Jacob I loved and Esau I hated and all the while.

The edomites a well we're going to rebuild milk, but rebuild if you want I have a plan.

I'm going to call the people to my name. Toby build Destroy again

Sometimes when we hear about the doctrine of unconditional election.

We explained it away by saying well God just knew who was going to make the choice to become a Christian. Of course. Knew that I don't not arguing the point. But it doesn't deal with this particular text. Jacob I loved Esau I'm against

now do that brings questions in our mind. What do we do with the questions? enclosing

this morning. I went out to start the car. And last night I got home and I knew I'd be leaving before anybody was really moving around this morning and I park on the left side of the garage before you that's over here. And so I typically Park pretty close. Just what I need to get this body out of the car. Anyway, I can park a little bit closer to left right now, but the all days growing up I get to the car and I step in this pile of sand and what has happened is in the snow. I've been driving this car around all over town and whatnot. What's happened is my car is picked up sediment from all over the place and then add the water melt. It is deposited right there in four piles in my garage right some of it drips on me you get the idea. Brothers and sisters as we drive around or we navigate more and more of God's word. We spend more and more time and God's word. We pick up sediment of enduring truth reality that God has unfolded in Salvation history Redemption history and is brought in in the Holy Spirit and the memories that God has given us in the situations where God has applied a particular situation that particular reality to our lives begin to hold roof and are sediment pile of God's word gods and during truth begins to get bigger and bigger and bigger and we say wow.

Wonder about who you are. That's exactly what it is.

And we joke about it, but it's true. But if we avoid text that are difficult if we avoid realities that are difficult we miss entire swaths. Of who God is and brothers and sisters. We began with the Oracle of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.

You and I when we're tempted to doubt God's love must only find our confidence and how God has demonstrated his love. with enduring

fact-checking checking fact-checked scripture. That is true.

And for the Old Testament, he says look children. 60 year old children Remember Jacob number. I love him.

Brothers and sisters that's part of our history. That's part of our heritage. But now we say, brother sister As you doubt God's love.

Look through it all of the Bible. Yes, but you look to Jesus. What did Jesus on Calvary what he did for you? How he gave his life for you? Does God need to do anything more to prove to you his love?

So we walk by faith.

Not by sight not by what we feel. Who say Lord? I don't get it right now and we write our own Psalm 137 and we give it to the Lord.

Go forward in faith is God's people leaning on his love demonstrated to us? And walking with strong confidence for the future that God has broke Grove Christian Church. Heavenly Father you are all together good you are far and above our understanding of who you are. And so we submit that to you but we submit to you as we learn your word as we grow in an understanding of who you are broaden our perspective not with creativity of Our Own Strength not by limiting what we confess about you because it makes sense to our feeble Minds.

In ways that we find difficult to understand Lord. You have elected those who are in Christ to be your children. And that should cause us to worship you. So may we worship you in spirit and in truth?

May we teach our children. The gift of God's grace that they would be able to hear the word of God and their church and in their homes. And maybe do it all to your grace. In Jesus name we pray.