Sermons by Ken D. Trivette from The Living Word

The Book of Malachi
IS GOD A DO NOTHING GOD?
Malachi 2:17

1. I would say that most of the people of our day would say that they believe there is a God in heaven, but I would also add that most believe He is not doing anything on earth. In this fourth accusation by the people in Malachi, there was not a denial that there was a God dwelling in heaven. It was a denial that God was doing anything on earth.

2. It was a charge that God was like a man who winds a clock and lets it run down. He had no interest  or involvement in the direction or destiny of the things happening on earth. He was an absentee God. He was a do nothing God.  

3. This was a serious charge to make against God and one that left God about fed up with the people. He had heard about all he was going to hear, and listened to about all he was going to listen to.

1. THE PATIENCE OF GOD THAT WAS EXHAUSTED!

1. We read, "Ye have wearied the Lord with your words." The word means "exhausted" and describes someone that has had about all they can take. Their cynical charges, sarcastic claims, and sinful condition had pushed God to a point where He would be merciful no more. He was weary of their sinful works and sarcastic words. His patience was exhausted.

2. The Patience of God is one of His most thrilling attributes.

Rom. 15:5 "God of patience."  
II Pet. 3:9 "God is long-suffering toward us"'  

A. It Is A Patience That Is Extremely Long.

1. I think that one of the saddest things I have heard of in a long time was the death of the little baby in our city that shaken to death. The little fellow was crying and the dad couldn't get it to stop. He finally became so mad that he grabbed the baby and shook him so hard that it caused such severe damage to its brain that  the child died.  Aren't you glad God is more patient with us than that?

2. Robert Ingersoll, known as the great agnostic, used to solemnize his audiences by reminding them of Bible passages where God had judged people for their blasphemy and irreverence. He would take his gold watch out of his pocket, place it on the table before him, and say, "I will curse God and give Him five minutes to strike me down dead." So saying, he would utter a blasphemy against God. One minute would pass. Then two minutes. At three minutes the crowd became anxious. At times women in the audience would faint. Four minutes. Five minutes. Ingersoll would snap his watch shut and exclaim, "There, you see, there is no God or else He would have struck me down dead.!" The story of his actions were told to Joseph Parker, the great London preacher. Dr. Parker reply was a classic answer to Ingersoll's act and words of defiance: "And did the American gentleman think that he could exhaust the patience of God in 5 minutes?"

3. If God's patience lasted no more than 5 minutes most would be in hell and the others would be heaven. I think the greatest example of God's patience in seen in story Methuselah. He was the oldest man that ever lived. The Bible tells us that he lived 969 years. His name has an interesting and enlightening meaning: "When he is dead, it will come," or "when he is gone, it shall happen." In Methuselah there was a prophecy of the flood and judgment to come. I believe that the very minute Methuselah died it began to rain. But is it not interesting that he was the oldest man that every lived. God was giving a world He was about to destroy nearly a thousand years to repent.

B. It Is A Patience That Is Eventually Lost.

1. His mercy may be extended indefinitely, but His patience will be exhausted eventually. That was the point He had reached with the people in Malachi's day. How patient he had been with them. He had declared His love but the people had doubted that love (1:1-2). He was a Faithful Father and a Marvelous Master yet the people had not respected Him as a Father or reverenced Him as a Master (1:6). He had called for the consecrated but the people had given Him the contemptible (1:7). Serving Him was a blessing but the people declared it was a burden (1:13). Instead of portraying His holiness they had profaned His holiness (2:11). And now instead of adoring Him they were accusing Him.  

2. God had been more than patient with them. Now His patience has tired and been exhausted. Listen to Isaiah 43:24 "But thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities."  

3. His patience may be eminently long but it can be eventually lost. There may seem to be no end to His patience, but one must not forget that somewhere there is a start to His judgment.  

1. The Patience Of God That Was Exhausted!

  2. THE PEOPLE OF GOD THAT WERE EXASPERATING!

1. An exhausted patience was due to an exasperating people. They had troubled and annoyed God to a point that He was weary with them. Malachi states that it was their words, what they saying to and about God, that were so exasperating.

2. The people responded with the typical response in Malachi to the declaration that had wearied God. They said, "Wherein have we wearied Him?"' Malachi then explains the charges they had made against God. I'm sure that Malachi was saying to himself, "I can't believe what I'm hearing."

A.  They Were Saying That God Delights In The Sight Of Iniquity.

1.  We read that they were saying, "Everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delighteth in them." This preposterous charge involved basically two things. First, GOD WAS SHOWING PARTIALITY TO THE EVIL DOERS. They claimed that those whose who did evil were good in the sight of the Lord. It was a charge that God preferred the company of the wicked over the company of the righteous and that He was not looking upon their sin as wrong.

2. Friend, nothing could be further from the truth! Listen to:

3. It grieved His heart, not gladdened His heart. Never for a moment should one ever think that God looks upon sin in our life with pleasure. It is preposterous to think that sin of any degree or fashion is good in the sight of God.  

4. Secondly, GOD WAS SHOWERING PROSPERITY ON THE EVIL DOERS. They declared that He delighted in the wicked. The word "delight" means to bestow favors and blessings upon a person. Their charge was that God was leading the wicked into prosperity and leaving the righteous in poverty.  

5. There were times in the Bible that some of God's dearest saints felt that good things were happening to bad people and bad things were happening to good people.

6. This was a claim that was often made out of hurt. But in Malachi's case, it was a claim made out of hate. In essence they were saying, that there is no good that comes to living right, and no wrong that come to living wrong. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible makes it very clear that God will bless the righteous and judge the unrighteous.

7. The missionary Henry C. Morrison and his wife were returning to New York after 40 years of service in Africa. Aboard the same ship was President Roosevelt. As they entered New York Harbor the president was greeted with a huge fanfare. No one was there to greet Morrison and his wife. He was dejected; after all he had spent 4 decades in the Lord's service. Later that night the Lord spoke to his heart and said, "But you are not home yet."

8. According to the Koran, every Mohammedan who lives a righteous life on earth will receive eternal rewards befitting a king when he dies and goes to paradise. There, after a feast of 300 courses, he will be endowed forever with the health and vigor of a young man and then given a palace with 80,000 servants and 72 gorgeous wives possessed of perpetual youth and beauty.

9. I'm not so sure about that, but I know that God will bless the righteous! He will not bless the unrighteous.

B. They Were Saying That God Dwells In A State Of Idleness.

1. They said,  "Where is the God judgment?" Now to me, this was somewhat like the pot calling the kettle black. Asking why doesn't God judge the wicked is like asking why God had not judged them. It was a claim that God was doing nothing. It was like they were saying that God is sitting up in heaven and not doing anything about what was going on in earth. Sometimes it makes us wonder where God is when we hear and see all that is going on.

2. I once read that since 1960, in this country, there has been a:

3. Even though the United States has only 6% of the worlds population, we have 80% of the divorces. We lead the world in rape, murder, and violent crime. Americans consume more than 80% of the whiskey consumed in the world.

4. It sometime appears that if God is sitting on His throne in Heaven and could care less about what is going on down here. It sometimes appears as if He is indifferent to it all and idle. God is neither indifferent nor idle. Why don't he judge all this mess. Don't get in a hurry. He will! To a sinner it is a terrifying thought that God is not idle. But to a saint it is a thrilling thought to know that God is not idle. We may not be able to trace Him but we can trust Him. We may not know what He is doing, but we know that he is doing something.

5. Are wearying God with our words? Are we making charges against God that is not true?