The Book of Malachi

Sermon 9 “The Coming Of John The Baptist And Jesus Christ”

Chapter 3:1 - 6

 

  1. Verse 1 “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”
    1. We see two messengers in verse 1.

a.       The first messenger is John The Baptist. “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me…”

b.      The second messenger is “the messenger of the covenant…” Which is Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 

    1. The first messenger is John the Baptist which will prepare the way for the second messenger which is The Lord Jesus Christ.

a.       Isaiah 40:3 - 5 “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (4.) Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: (5.)  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”

b.      John 1:23 “He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” 

c.       John the Baptist was the forerunner to herald the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    1. “…The messenger of the covenant…” Is Jesus Christ, He will serve two purposes;

a.       He will be the answer to their question in Malachi 2:17 “…Where is the God of judgment?” Well here He is!

b.      He will also be the remedy to their disobedience toward God. To show them the error of their way and to redeem them from their crimes against God.

c.        The covenant spoken of here is the one which God made with the children of Israel. Deuteronomy 4:23 “Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.” - Of course, Israel had done the very thing which He had forbidden. However God always keeps His agreement.

    1. “…the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple…” What temple? Where is this temple?

a.       Some say it is the temple at Jerusalem.

b.      Others say it is His church, which He will start, He will build up, He will preach, and He will cleanse.

c.       His church is compared to His body which is a temple.

d.      His church is His judgment against Israel in that it is primarily Gentile.

e.       A church to show Israel that it can be done correctly.

f.       A church to show the purity of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 5:7 - 8 “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: (8.) Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

    1. John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord and assisted in building the “temple of the Lord”, Jesus Christ the Son of God and “the messenger of the covenant” followed and assembled His temple together.