Here is an exhortation and a promise which is renewed to us in this day: Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Joshua 3:5. God wants us prepared. Already we are walking into the judgments of God on this age. They begin in the house of the Lord, and then they flow from the house of the Lord (I Peter 4:17).
There is no mercy and there is no grace apart from judgment. Christ was judged for our sins. Isaiah 53:6 tells us, “The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” We are free from guilt because He took it upon Himself, and He was judged. The cross was a judgment—a judgment in which we participate vicariously. There cannot be mercy or grace without judgment.
It was a solemn moment when Joshua realized that he must go in and conquer the land of promise. When the Captain of the Lord’s hosts stood before him with a drawn sword, Joshua said, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” (Joshua 5:13). It was difficult for Joshua to understand. He knew the presence of the Lord. God had said that He would be with him and no man would be able to stand before him all the days of his life (Joshua 1:5). Joshua was invincible in all that he tried to do, as he walked with God. But when God approached him there on the plains of Jericho, the first thing Joshua had to do was submit afresh to the Lord and bow before Him. Like Joshua, we, too, face that heart-searching moment in which we say to God, “Lord, if we are wrong, if there is evil within our hearts, then begin the judgments right here.”
It is very necessary that you enter the battle with aggressiveness and belligerence to fight the forces which create impasses or hindrances against your doing the will of God; but be careful not to place yourself in a position where you have to fight God. If you are hanging on to sins, the dealings of God will come forth on your own life. If you walk without your heart being dedicated to God, you will place yourself in a position where God will fight against you. Then what will you do?
When God told Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses made all kinds of excuses. Later, when he reached a certain crossroad, the Lord tried to slay him. Then Moses realized that he had not set his own house in order. He had not circumcised his son because Zipporah, his wife, was not in favor of it. But now, she herself circumcised the child, saying, “A bloody husband art thou to me.” Moses had to do the will of God or he would have died. It was one thing for Moses to agree to go and fight Pharaoh, but first his own heart had to be prepared. You want mercy and grace, but remember that God starts the process with a searching of your own heart. You do not find much judgment in the book of Acts until the issues were finally resolved by two funerals, when judgment fell on Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:5–10).
Every new step in your walk with God must be characterized by the fear of the Lord. Even as you pray and intercede and praise God, be sure that you stand before His presence to purge out all the old leaven. Put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, whatever form it may take. If you are hung up on any sin that you should have out of your life, do not just try to smother it when your conscience bothers you. Get rid of it. Sweep out the leaven. If there is anything wrong in your spirit, get rid of it as quickly as you can.
The book of Malachi speaks about a people who lived one hundred years after the first waves of migration from Babylon took place. What had happened during those one hundred years? Instead of pressing on to rebuild the Temple which would be filled with the glory of God, they became indifferent and said, “What a weariness. It doesn’t pay to serve God. Nothing is going to happen anyway” (Malachi 4:14). Today we are battling that same spirit of indifference. If the enemy cannot stop you in any other way, he will let heaviness rest upon you. This is the tactic of the enemy in any period of restoration. He will do everything he can to depress your spirit down and make you feel that it is pointless to press in with all of your heart. But it is worthwhile. It is worthwhile!
When God reveals His sons, it must be with a great deal of inward purity and preparation in their hearts. The Lord will appear to those who are prepared. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. I John 3:3.
We are not praying just for an answer or two; we are praying for a positioning into a new spiritual dimension. We are believing for something more than we have seen. Young people, heed this carefully: Do not hang on to the old habits and ways of living, with one foot still in the world. Your spirit, soul, and body must be sanctified and preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord (I Thessalonians 5:23).
When God turns loose the fires of judgment, they will probably be directed into the channels of the world system; but they might devastate us, too. When God goes through His house with judgment, He will not spare anyone.
The Holy Spirit came to “convict us of sin and of righteousness and of judgment because the prince of this world is judged” (John 16:11). It all has to be tied in together. If we have not been convicted of sin and of righteousness, neither can we become the channels through which the Holy Spirit can bring judgments upon the prince of this world.
God may have cleansed your walk before, but now as you are coming closer into His presence, the level on which you have previously walked is not enough. Now everything has to go—even the little negative traits and attitudes in your disposition and in your nature. With an intensity, declare your abhorrence of everything that God abhors, your hatred of everything that He hates. Determine that you are going to love righteousness, even as He is righteous.
The Old Testament closes with a very sad picture of the reformation period of Ezra and Nehemiah. This occurred one hundred years after the return from the captivity in Babylon, just 450 years before Christ. The Israelites were not to become apostate; backsliding was not to be in the picture at all. Instead of coming up to a glorious peak because they were believing for the restoration of the Temple, instead of going on to possess Haggai’s prophecy that the glory of the latter house would be greater than the former (Haggai 2:9), they became indifferent and went into a state of decline.
Think how far the restoration has come; yet, had it not been for the constant prodding of the Holy Spirit, it would have been very easy to develop the same lethargy and indifference, to succumb to a state of heaviness, just as the people did in the day of Malachi. They never did see the glory. And God’s people today are also not going to see the latter glory of the Lord return to His house unless they are wholehearted in seeking after God. No one is going to see Him unless he prepares his heart and purifies himself.
Following a religious ritual is not enough. The Christian world, as a whole, is honeycombed with egotism, with an “I’m-doing-my-thing” attitude. There is not the dedicated discipleship that God demands. Vigorously and aggressively God’s people must counteract the heaviness and the spirit of slumber so prevalent in this end time. Let your motivation be pure as you aggressively do the will of the Lord. Seek His face to make sure that nothing remains in your heart or spirit that would displease Him.
In Malachi 1:6a, 8–9, God says, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect? But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts. “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts.
God was emphasizing the fact that the people were giving Him something less than their best. They were presenting inferior sacrifices: the blind, the lame, and the sick. The book of Malachi was written in symbolism that applies to us today. Are you one who is spiritually lame or sick or blind? Do you come to the Lord saying, “Here I am, Lord, blind to everything that is going on in the spirit world, limping along, crippled, half-sick; but I give myself completely to You, Lord.” He is bargaining for more than that.
God wants a sacrifice that is without spot or blemish. The Old Testament Passover lamb had to be the best of the flock. Christ came as the unblemished Lamb of God. And now God is saying to us today, “Don’t come to the house of God with a veil over your perception, or spiritually crippled. When you come to the house of God, present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1). This means that you have to believe for your flesh to be loosed from its corruption so that you can be the temple of God that He can honor.
Would you rather be an ordinary Christian? Remember that God is coming for a Bride, and the Word says that she will be without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27). If the sacrifice of Christ for you was perfect, then the result of His grace in your life should be just as perfect. If perfection were based on our efforts, then we would all have reason to be discouraged; but if perfection is based upon His perfection and His perfect substitution for us, then the result within our lives should be just as perfect as the sacrifice was. Otherwise the heavenly Father has given so much and received in return only a few lame, sick believers, limping along, following Him afar off. That is not the way it was intended to be.
Malachi 3:1a is an interesting prophecy about God sending His messenger. It is quoted in the New Testament with reference to John the Baptist. “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple.” This Scripture was fulfilled in a measure when Christ came and also when John the Baptist came, preparing the way of the Lord.
The prophecy of Malachi 3 continues, verses 2–3: “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” The Lord wants a pure sacrifice.
Why did He choose the tribe of Levi and not one of the other tribes? Exodus 19 tells us that the Lord wanted the whole nation to be His heritage and treasure, but He finally had to settle for the tribe of Levi and for the firstfruits, the firstborn. He never did get the whole nation, but that is still His desire. The latter-day spiritual Israel, coming forth in the end time, is to be a holy generation, a royal priesthood, a people for God’s own possession (I Peter 2:5, 9). They will love the Lord and become His total, perfect possession. The Levites were symbolical forerunners of a people who will wholly belong to the Lord, purified like gold and silver that has been refined in the fire, so that the offerings to the Lord come forth in true purity and righteousness.
“Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years.” Malachi 3:4. Once again he is prophesying the same word that came in the first chapter, verse 11: “For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts.
Throughout the book of Malachi, we see one prevailing theme: God is not pleased with a sick, lame sacrifice; the offerings are going to be pure. The priesthood in the restoration must be pure. God will have a perfected remnant. You probably have thought that you were praying in order to receive blessings from God, but God is not taking you into your Canaan land of promise only so that you can possess what has been promised; He is taking you there because He is going to possess you. It is true—you will possess what He has promised, but the real goal is that you become the possession of the Lord. You will belong to Him.
Paul wrote of this in Titus 2:14: He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works. The King James Version uses the expression “a peculiar people,” but the literal translation is “a people for His own possession.” The phrase “a peculiar people” indicates that God is calling for a people who are unique and distinctive, whom He will possess as His very own. This is what He desires.
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:5. God is saying, “I will deal with everything that is wrong, and after you come into the purity of worship, after you are refined, then I will draw near in swift judgment.” Paul wrote in II Corinthians 10:4, 6: “Our weapons are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. We are standing in readiness to judge all disobedience when your obedience is complete.” In other words, God is not going to bring down the strongholds of Babylon completely until we have purified ourselves.
It would be dangerous for God to do it in any other order. The psalmist warns, If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Psalm 130:3. If we allow sin to remain within us, then we will be guilty when the Lord comes to judge the circumcised and the uncircumcised alike (Jeremiah 9:25). Not only is the outside world going to be judged, but also the religious people who have not purified themselves and made themselves ready for the hour of judgment. Zion will be plowed as a field. Jeremiah 26:18. There was a time in history when the top of Mount Zion was literally plowed, but it is going to happen again on a spiritual level. God is going through the religious world today and plowing it up. Nothing will stand that is a corruption of tradition or a fleshly manifestation of religion that has a name that it lives but is dead (Revelation 3:1). God will do away with it.
“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ’How shall we return?’” Malachi 3:7. He was speaking here to the second and third generations, those whose fathers and grandfathers had been brought out of exile a hundred years before. The younger generation had accepted their inheritance with an indifferent spirit. Thank God that the younger generation which are growing up under the intensity of God’s dealings today are not less intense, but often more intense, than their fathers and mothers were. Often the older people find it difficult to keep up with the zeal of the young; however, something else is happening. The older generation are becoming more zealous than ever before. In their own way, they are just as intense as the young people. They are tired of the treadmill of unfulfilled promises. They are anxious to reach the day of fulfillment.
“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed Thee?’ In tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (The margin reads, “not enough room” and the King James Version reads, “not room enough to receive it.”) “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. “And all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:8–12.
We want immunity, but remember—immunity follows the intensity of our obedience to the Lord. The devourer is going to be rebuked so that he will not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will the vine in the field cast its grapes. This is part of the blessing that is poured out on you. It is a principle that works when you give with purity and with all of your heart.
Many people realize that something is missing in the tithing principle as it is usually preached. Of course, the preachers present it that way because most of them are basically interested in getting money into the church to keep their programs going. But it should not be viewed that way; God is talking about something else. He is talking about judgment and blessing and the purity of the people who come and present themselves. The sons of Levi are going to be refined as gold and silver are refined, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then what they do will be blessed of God, and He will pour out a blessing so great that there will not be room enough to receive it. But God warns, “Don’t rob Me.”
Tithing involves more than money. First you must go through the purification process yourself; then you come and offer up a pure offering to the Lord. Then you will be giving dedicated, consecrated money from consecrated hands, and you will be worshiping the Lord with your tithe.
Do not try to bargain with God in your tithe, saying in effect, “God, I’ll give You ten percent to see how You will bless me.” That will not work. No doubt some people are blessed by God when they start tithing, but many more probably would say that tithing has not worked for them. We might as well be honest about it.
Is the tither blessed? Oh, absolutely. The tither is truly blessed when he sets his heart to serve God and walk with Him. But God does not want just your money; He wants you. He wants a worshiper. He wants someone who will give everything to Him. Give yourself first; then when you bring your tithe, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so great that there will not be room enough for you to receive all of it. He will rebuke the devourers. He will see to it that nothing aborts, that the fruit does not fall from the vine. Instead, the fruit will begin to spring forth.
This principle could be a good solution for any woman who has difficulty in carrying a child through pregnancy. If a husband and wife want to have a child, they should first dedicate themselves to do the will of the Lord. This will help them to have a healthy conception. There is a promise here that the vine in the field will not cast its grapes; nothing is going to abort.
When you walk in a way that is pleasing before the Lord, you will be led by Him. He gives wonderful guidance and direction. If you start to make one wrong move, He will turn you away from it and give you a little warning. When a man of God stops communing with the Lord, he will find that he is no longer a safe oracle of the Lord. The fountain of wisdom will begin to be polluted with human reasonings, and this leads to human failure.
Of course, you want the Lord to bless you. You want things to go right, and they certainly will go right if you do the first things first. Come and present yourself wholly to the Lord. Then your tithes and offerings and the labor of your hands will all be exceedingly blessed. He will surround you with immunity and build up your defenses.
The Lord continues, speaking through the prophet: “Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. Verse 13a. When a person is not aggressive for God, one of the first things that happens is that an arrogance enters into his spirit. Usually you find in someone who is following the letter of religion an arrogance of religious pride. Few men in the Word of God rivaled the arrogance of the Pharisees. Religious pride grows in the climate of half-heartedness and indifference. When a movement draws back from the purity of the Word of God, it begins to manifest an ostentatious splendor and grandeur. An arrogance and a pride enter into it. Let us keep ourselves humble in our walk with God.
“Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against Thee?’ You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.’ ”
Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. “And they will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” Malachi 3:13b–17.
Certain ones will be marked to escape the judgments. Those who fear the Lord and prepare their hearts will not only receive the blessings of the moment, but when the great judgments come, they will be tagged for immunity because they will have already submitted to God’s judgments. The occasion for judgment has been removed and He will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. Malachi 3:18. It is not yet apparent, but eventually we will see this difference. Not until the day of the Lord will this take place. The wheat and the tares grow together.
Let there be a weeping within your spirit, as you pray, “Search me O God, and see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:23–24). Echo the prayer of the psalmist in Psalm 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”