Youtube Chapters

• [39:22] - The Human Instinct for Fairness
• [41:15] - Wrestling with Injustice in the World
• [43:07] - Malachi’s Context: Disappointment and Cynicism
• [45:04] - God’s Accusation: Weariness and Blind Spots
• [49:49] - Confusing God’s Patience with Indifference
• [51:39] - God’s Answer: The Refining Presence
• [58:40] - The Refiner’s Fire: Purification and Renewal
• [63:21] - Exposing Hypocrisy: Jesus’ Teaching
• [70:19] - The Fear of the Lord and the Purpose of Refinement
• [73:40] - Surrendering to the Refiner’s Hands

Sermon Big Idea:

God answers our doubts about His justice not with explanations, but with His refining presence.

1^st Takeway: Jesus purifies our hypocrisy so we can reflect His righteousness in a broken world.

2^nd Takeaway: Jesus purifies His people as we desire the fear of the Lord.

Sermon Overview:

Our Innate Sense of Fairness

To the congregation in Poway, California, Pastor Jason opens by establishing that humans, even children as young as 12 months, have an innate disposition toward justice and equality, contradicting the common perception of children as purely selfish. Experiments cited in Scientific American show that children often reject an unfair advantage, choosing self-sacrifice for a fair distribution. This suggests that fairness is "hardwired," not merely a virtue that must be formally developed or enforced. This hardwired sense is what causes people to cry out against injustices observed in life, such as cheating students or the murder of an innocent person.

Doubting God's Justice (Malachi 2:17)

The core problem, mirrored in the experience of the Jews returning from Babylonian exile (Malachi's day), is the perception that God is absent and indifferent to injustice:

• The people's cry:"Where is the God of justice?" (Malachi 2:17)
• They felt God was pleased with evil-doers who flourished, leading tocynicism toward God.
• This doubt is dangerous because it canconfuse God's slowness to intervene with God's indifference. God is consistently just, a fact "ingrained" in ancient Israel's hope (Psalm 89:14).

 God's Three-Point Response (Malachi 3:1-5)

God's response to the people's doubt and hypocrisy is not an explanation but a promise of a refining presence.

1. Promised Answer: The Sudden Arrival (Malachi 3:1)

• God promises to send"My messenger" (Messenger A - later identified as John the Baptist) to "clear the way"for "the Lord you seek" (Messenger B - later identified as Jesus, the "Messenger of the covenant").
• The Lord will"suddenly come to His temple". The "sudden" arrival points to the unexpected manner of His coming, fulfilled when Jesus cleansed the temple (Matthew 21:12), fulfilling Malachi's prophecy and foreshadowing a greater cleansing.
• The promise of justice is thereforecentered on the ministry of Jesus.

2. Purpose of the Coming: Refining and Cleansing (Malachi 3:2–4)

• The Lord's coming will be like arefiner's fire and cleansing lye (strong soap), separating impurities from purity. The refiner knows the process is complete when he sees his own image/reflection in the purified metal.
• The purification begins with"the sons of Levi" (the priests), who were responsible for the people's religious decline, so that they may "present offerings to the Lord in righteousness."
• This foreshadowed the greater purification brought by Jesus, who came not in political power as expected, but with a message ofinward renewal and the transformation of the heart.
• Application:God's refining presence, which has come in Jesus, works by exposing our hypocrisy first, so we do not focus on the "speck" in others' eyes while ignoring the "log" in our own (Matthew 7:3-5). Like "greenwashing" in the corporate world, hypocrisy in the personal and religious realms distorts our ability to reflect God's righteousness.

3. Proof of Purification: Practicing Justice (Malachi 3:5)

• God will"come to you in judgment" and act as both witness and judge against those who commit injustice across social, economic, and spiritual realms (sorcerers, adulterers, those who swear falsely, and those who oppress the most vulnerable—widow, fatherless, wage earner, foreigner).
• The root of this sin is a failure to"fear Me," meaning a lack of deep reverence for God's holiness that motivates obedience.
• Application:Jesus' purification leads to the desire to fear the Lord. When we allow the Refiner, Lord Jesus, to work in our lives (even through trials and failures), He kindly removes the dross and shapes us into His image(Romans 8:29), fostering a greater desire to represent His name and practice justice in the world.