Malachi 1:1

The word that the Lord spoke to Israel by the mouth of the prophet Malachi is described in this first verse as a burden. It must indeed have been a burden for Malachi, as his responsibility was to deliver this final message to the children of God.

This message, unlike some of the earlier prophets, does not include any reference to being taken into the presence of God. There are no intercessory petitions by the prophet on behalf of Israel. It is revealed that Israel has continued to reject God as well as his laws.

The Church today has in many ways become guilty of the same sins of Israel. As Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones said during his 1946 Expository Sermons on 2 Peter, there is always a tendency for the Church to go between two extremes:

1. Justification by works, where the sinner saves himself by obedience to the law.

2. Antinomianism, where the sinner is at liberty to abound in sin as though there was no law.

He spoke against a problem in the twentieth century which has persisted and thrived in the twenty-first century. The Church of England has further rejected God and has now become almost completely apostate. But the Evangelical Church has forgotten her robust and serious theology of the past as she braced the Ecumenism movement he also spoke against during those messages.

This opening verse is a solemn reminder that the

minister of God’s word is not limited to the role of cheerleader. His role is not to entertain, cajole, or shield the flock from burden. He must be a man prepared to deliver the burden to them.

My prayer for the Church is that God the Father might send his Spirit of truth to convict the Church of her sin. I pray that he raises up young men who will carry the burden to preach grace, obedience, holiness, and purity.

May the LORD bless his word to us. Amen.