Live Honorably - Malachi 2

I entered the Army Infantry Corps in 1944 at the age of nineteen, just a country boy, naive and with a background that made me worry about anything that would disgrace my family name. I think that I was more concerned about serving my country honorably than anything else. The thought of doing anything that would cause me to receive a dishonorable discharge was constantly on my mind. At that time in life, I had not thought of the title of this lesson as a spiritual goal, but now I see that this was exactly what it was. My background as the son of Godly parents was the reason for my concern.

The ministers of the country churches that I attended were held in high esteem and I do not remember any one in pastoral positions being involved in any activities that would bring dishonor to God and his church. After the war was over, there seemed to be an erosion of pride and honor especially among the growing numbers of televangelist that got caught up in scandals of sex, money and power. Three people come to mind that caused a mass erosion of credibility among Christian leaders—Jim Baker and Tammy in their struggle to control their followers to gain wealth and power; Jimmy Swaggart got caught in the sex scandal with a prostitute; and Jim Jones who led his congregation to become a cult that self destructed because they were brain washed by a demon.

Because of their role as spiritual leaders, the lives of ministers should be living examples for their flocks. They should accept the fact that they are expected to live HONORABLY. The bible warns spiritual leaders that they are accountable to their followers and that it would be better for them to be drowned than to mislead their listeners. Since God is no respecter of persons/people, the same rule holds for those who profess to be Christians. Our lives are the only bible some people ever read, and therefore we are expected to represent Christ in our everyday activities. No pastor should ever resent the close scrutiny of his daily life by his church members; however, he has a perfect right to expect them to join him on the pedestal where they have placed him. We are to live our lives HONORABLY thereby honoring God. “Semper Fidelis” is the motto of one of our military branches. Which one? And what does it mean? In our lesson today, Malachi issues a call to faithfulness. In this study he rebukes unfaithfulness in people; 1. Among religious leaders, 2. Dishonesty in community relations, 3. to God, by marrying pagans, and 4. To the family for practicing divorce.

In the first two verses, God left no doubts when he warned the priest that if they did not honor his name he would punish them. We too are called out to honor him by thanksgiving, praise and worship. In Psalms we learn that we enter his gates through thanksgiving, then we enter his courts through praise and finally if we want to look inside at the holly of holies we do that through our worship. If you think of your level of honor as compared to the OT tabernacle, are you still in the courtyard, just barely through the gates? Or maybe you have moved closer to the Lord through your praise and are now in the inter-courts. If you really honor him through true worship he will allow you to join him in the holy of holies. Which level of honor are you able to enjoy with him?

Even though God had warned the priest many times they still did not take him seriously…they did not set their hearts on God’s desire for their lives. God has not talked to us [today] but we find his desire for our lives by reading his word. Then we must set our hearts, mind and will on doing what he expects us to do. If we neglect our study of the word and do not practice its direction for our lives we will soon find that we are like the priest who didn’t seem to care any more.

4 to 6…Levi walked with God…and turned many from their sin. He was the ancestor of the tribe of Levites who were set apart to do service for God [Numbers 1: 47 to 54]. The Levites were God’s spokesmen first in the tabernacles and then in the temple. In our lesson today God was addressing priest who were from the same tribe of Levi…telling them that they should learn from their ancestors and do as they had done.

In 7 and 8, Malachi was angry with the priest because they did not know what God expected of them. They did no know God’s will and through their ignorance they were leading people astray. They had good examples to follow and therefore were not excused for their lack of knowledge. Pastors and leaders today are expected to know God’s word…what it says…what it means…and how it applies to our daily lives. As you attempt to carry out the work that God expects of you…how much time do you spend in his word? Are you sure your leadership is a positive influence on others? We really have no excuse and will be held accountable.

9…The priest were showing partiality to certain influential people and allowed them to break God’s law. The people realized the unfair practices of the priest and were unhappy with the practice…they despised the priest and humiliated them.

10 to 16…His people were unfaithful—they did not reject him or deny him, but they were living as though he did not exist. The church today is full of people who do not openly deny God, but their lives are surely not proof of their faith if indeed they have the faith they proclaim. The people were acting as though they were being punished and they were wondering why God refused to accept their offerings and why he refused to bless them. God is our first love, and when we place anything else in our lives before him—he will not honor or bless us. If we expect to be accepted in the holy of holies, [living in him, for him, and through his power] then our every day lives must show that we deserve that privilege.

After the people completed the walls and rebuilt the temple they expected to see the prophecies to come true. When there was a delay in the destruction of their enemies and the coming of the new King they became discouraged and grew complacent about keeping his laws. Complacency led to direct sin and they disobeyed his order to marry only their own kind and not worship idols. This is another example of their swing in and out of his will. This was a repeat of the things that Ezra and Nehemiah had confronted as problems earlier in their history. This is proof to us that God will forgive our sins…because he knows that we will continue to sin…however, God does not expect us to repeat over and over the same sins that he has already forgiven many times. His spirit will not continue to strive with those who repeat the same sins over and over.

These people were blaming God for their problems instead of looking at their own life. It was then and it is still today much easier to blame someone else for their problems…and it is very difficult to admit that we are to blame.

14-15…Divorce was a practice exclusively by men. They broke faith with their wives ignoring God’s requirement of the bonding between man and wife. The law said they should become one. They ignored the purpose of marriage which was to furnish love and guidance for offspring. They did not recognize that broken marriages were in opposition to God’s will for the family. “Guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith” means that we should have the same commitment to marriage that God has in his promises to his people. The marriage oath is a commitment to our spouse that is just as binding on us as God’s promises are binding on him when he promises that he will not leave or forsake us.

I will very seldom use long quotations from others to make a point in my teaching. But for the benefit of those who are younger and contemplating marriage or those in their marriage commitment I will make an exception and give you seven suggestions from James Dobson [an authority on marriage] on how to have a happy and lasting marriage.

1. Do not marry the person you think you can live with. Make sure you marry the person you can not live without!

2. Don’t marry someone who has characteristics that you feel are intolerable. You may plan to change him or her, but that probably will not happen.

3. Do not marry impulsively. There is no better way to mess up your life than to leap into this critical decision without careful thought and prayer.

4. If you are a committed Christian, do not allow yourself to become “unequally yoked” with an unbeliever. You may expect to win your spouse to the Lord at some future date, and that does happen on occasion, but to count on it is risky at best, fool hearted at worst.

5. Do not move in with a person before marriage. There are many reasons.

6. Don’t get married too young. Statistics show that marriages at age 14 to 17 are twice as likely to end in divorce as those who are twenty or more.

7. Finally, I’ll conclude with the ultimate secret of lifelong love. Simply put, the stability of marriage is a by-product of an iron-willed determination to make it work. If you choose to marry, enter into that covenant with a resolve to remain committed to each other for life. Never threaten to leave your mate during angry moments. Don’t allow yourself to consider even the possibility of divorce. Calling it quits must not become an option for those who want to go the distance!

SUMMARY

Living honorably requires faithfulness in four areas of life. 1. Faithfulness of religious leaders [2. 1-9] 2. Faithfulness to others [2: 10] 3. Faithfulness to God [2: 11-12] and faithfulness to family [2: 13-16]. LIVE HONORABLY!