MALACHI #1- HOW HAVE YOU LOVED US - PTR ALVIN GUTIERREZ - 4PM AFTERNOON SERVICE

Malachi 1:1-5

1 A prophecy: The word of theLord to Israel through Malachi.

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord.“But you ask, ‘How have you lovedus?’

HOW HAVE YOU LOVED US?

Malachi 1:1-5

“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?”declares the Lord. “Yet I have lovedJacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, andI have turned his hill country into awasteland and left his inheritance tothe desert jackals.”


Malachi 1:1-5

4 Edom may say, “Though we havebeen crushed, we will rebuild theruins.”

But this is what the Lord Almightysays:


Malachi 1:1-5

“They may build, but I willdemolish. They will be called theWicked Land, a people alwaysunder the wrath of the Lord. 5 Youwill see it with your own eyes andsay, ‘Great is the Lord—evenbeyond the borders of Israel!’


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

Think in terms of lineage and legacy.

Think in terms of generational

impact for good or for evil.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

You’re not a believer. You don’t

know and love and serve the Lord

Jesus. Maybe you’re kind of

religious, kind of moral, kind of

spiritual, but you don’t really have a

strong connection to the Jesus of the

Bible and to the people of God.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

You do love and serve the Lord.

You know you’re not perfect, but

you are strong, you are growing, you

are giving, you are caring, you are

learning, you are serving.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

We need you to stay strong, we need

you to stand firm, we need you to

persevere, we need you to overcome

by the grace of God.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

If you’re the first link in the chain of

faith, we need you to know that you,

particularly, need to be a strong link

because there are many who are

going to then learn from your faith

and follow in your example of faith.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

You know that you are the

halfhearted one, you are the weak-

willed one, you are the uncommitted

one.


In the book of Malachi, God is

speaking to, largely, a group of

people who are weak links in a chain

of weak links. Things are not strong;

they are weak. They are not going

well; they are going poorly. The

future does not look bright; the

future looks bleak.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

In this regard, think of Malachi every

time you open or close a door. A

door separates what was from what is

next. Malachi is a door like that.


It’s the last book of the Old

Testament. It closes the Old

Testament canon of Scripture, and it

opens us to the coming of John the

Baptizer and the Lord Jesus Christ—

what is to be next in the history of

the world.


God the Father has gathered his

children who are weak links in the

chain, and some of them not yet

links in the chain of faith at all, and

he is going to passionately plead with

them.


Here’s the big idea: rather than just

asking God to speak to you, believe

that he already has and read what

he’s already written.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

“I love you, and because I love you,

you’re going to obey me. Your

obedience, rather, does not compel

me to love you. My love will compel

you to obey me.”


God did not pick you because you’re

great. God picked you because he’s

great. “I have loved you.”


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?


1. “I can’t believe they did that,”

2. “I can’t believe I still do that.”

HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

Some people are going to hell. Hell

is not the absence of God; it’s the

absence of God’s grace. It’s just the

wrath of God, the justice of God,

and the anger of God forever.



• God doesn’t pick us becausewe’re great; God picks usbecause he’s great.


• Some of you have been wronglytaught that you chose God. Youdidn’t, because the Bible saysthat no one seeks God and noone chooses God. Instead, Godchose you. Before you everchose God, God chose you.

HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

Sin is not just breaking God’s laws;

sin is breaking God’s heart. It says in

Genesis 6 that “God was grieved in

his heart that he made man because

his sin was only evil all the time.”


And here’s a parenting tip: when

your child hurts you emotionally,

continue to be their parent, not their

sibling. What God doesn’t do is

absorb a lot of hurt and then

respond like an insulted sibling.


It’s not right, but parents should never

respond like that. When you are hurt,

you have an opportunity to rise above

it, to absorb it, to lead through it, to

set an example in the midst of it, or to

descend, to come alongside, and act

like the oldest child in the family, to

act like a sibling instead of a parent.


God absorbs all of this hurt and he

maintains his fatherly disposition. He

doesn’t argue. He doesn’t slap back.

He’s still leading.


What hurt have you caused God the

Father with your words, with your

deeds? In what ways have you hurt

God the Father?


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

When you don’t see yourself as very

bad, you cannot see God as very

good.


If you see yourself as bad, it’s easier

to see God as good. There’s good

and bad. If you’re good, God’s bad.

If you’re bad, God’s good.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

Discipline is one way that God loves

us. Many of you are struggling, and

you’re suffering, and you’re

wondering if God is punishing. The

answer is no.


If you are a Christian, God does not

punish you. Jesus was already

punished in your place. It would be

injustice for God to punish him and

you. But God will discipline you.


He’ll sometimes let you reap what

you sow because he loves you, he’s

trying to help you, and he’s trying to

change you. And him doing that is

an indication that he loves you.


We do not think that we are good

people who just need to become

who we are. We believe that we are

bad people who need to become

someone else.


Parental discipline in this life is one

of the ways that God saves us from

ourselves, and the Father disciplines

us as well to save us from ourselves.

The Bible says, “No discipline seems

pleasant at the moment.”


No discipline seems pleasant at the

moment, but it reaps a harvest of

righteousness later. That’s what the

Bible says.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

He’s going to talk about their rebellion.

He’s going to talk about the guys who

say they’re believers marrying girls who

are unbelievers. Some of you are dating

someone you should not be marrying.


They don’t give generously; they’re

greedy. They don’t serve

wholeheartedly; they’re lazy. They’re not

thinking about others; they’re only

thinking about themselves, but they do

so with very religious platitudes.


These are people who are trying to

figure out what the minimum standard is

and are very unmotivated to even aspire

to that. They’re more concerned about

what they can get away with than what

they can give away. What is supposed to

be ritual, becomes, for you, routine.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

God has not failed you. God has not

failed you, and God does not owe

you. Everything else is a gift. That’s a

lot of gifts. God has not failed you.

God does not owe you.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

If you don’t appreciate all that God

has done for you, you won’t be

motivated to do what he’s asking you

to do.


The key is not to focus on what you

need to do. The key is to figure out

what he’s already done, and that is

his love for you that should compel

you to be like your Father to do the

things that he wants you to do.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

God expects us to change our

attitude even if he does not change

our circumstances. These were not

atheists, but they were angry.


God may or may not ever change

your circumstance, but he wants you

to change your attitude.


If he changes your circumstances

before you change your attitude, he’s

giving you the impression that you

are in charge of him, that it’s a

hostage negotiation, and he lost.


Maybe if you would change your

attitude, he would change your

circumstances, but it would not be a

good idea for him to change your

circumstances if you have the same

attitude.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

Apart from Jesus, who would you

be? Where would you be? What

would you be? What legacy would

you leave? And would it be better?

The answer is no. This is what God

does.


They come to him and they say,

“How have you loved us?” He says,

“Well, let’s look back. Let’s reflect

on the change that has already been

brought and wrought because of my

love for you.”


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

There’s a lot of people to love and to

save, and nations to reach, and

churches to plant, and disciples—

yeah, this is quite a road trip.


Heaven’s going to be awesome. This

is as close to hell as you’ll ever be.

For the non-Christian, this is as close

to heaven as you’ll ever be.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

Just the fact that we have a Father

who lets us yell at him means we’re

loved.


That changes everything. If you

begin with faith in the love of the

Father, it changes your mind, your

heart, your life, your direction, your

destiny, and it alters your legacy, and

that’s what he wants for you because

he loves you.


So here are the two big ideas: God

loves you and he wants you to be

living for a legacy so that others

would come to know of his love and

love him too.


HOW HAVE

YOU LOVED US?

So we want to fill your heart with some vision and some

hope for the legacy that God is setting before us next year

so that we can finish this year strong.


MALACHI #1- HOW HAVE YOU LOVED US - PTR ALVIN GUTIERREZ - 4PM AFTERNOON SERVICE

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