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Sermon Outline
- Have you ever felt
- Like being a Christian meant suffering more for doing good while evildoers get away with and are even ‘blessed’?
- Godliness should be a means to great gain? (1Tim 6:6-7)
- That when you became a Christian, your life actually became more difficult?
- I have felt all these things at times
- These thoughts/feelings which I have expressed are common to the human condition,
- Notice God’s opening charge (Mal 3:13, Ex 18:16, Dt 22:14))
- As is typical of the people, notice their response (Mal 3:13)
- Application 1: We need to be careful of the words we speak about the situations God places us in!
- It is easy to move from expressing a feeling to turning it into an accusation against God
- The Bible is not opposed to us expressing our feelings (Ps 130:1, 6:4, 22:3, 13:2, 10:1)
- But the Bible is opposed to us accusing the Lord of ignoring evil, or declaring that godly service a waste or that evil is prosperous. (Mal 3:14, Ex 20:7)
- Unprofitable Service (Dt 11:1)
- 3 reasons Why it feels like it doesn’t pay to serve God
- Arrogant are blessed (See Mt 5:3, 5:5)
- Evildoers prosper
- Wicked test God and aren’t punished
- All of this reasoning, thinking and worldly perspective is faulty and wrong. (Mal 3:16-17)
- Why we must serve God anyways
- God is watching and listening (Mal 3:16, Gen 21:17, Num 11:1, 2Chr 30:20, Ps 69:33))
- God is remembering (Mal 3:16, Rev 3:5, 20:15)
- Book of Remembrance
- God is keeping a record of his people and their walk with him.
- He calls these people, his people ‘my treasured possession’ (1Pt 2:9, Tit 2:14)
- God is coming to judge (Mal 3:18-4:3)
- God promises to come and judge and clean up and rectify all evil and wrong doing.
- Advent isn’t just about the first coming of Christ, but also about his second coming.
- God will heal his people fully!
- Conclusion
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