RETURN TO ME
Twelve Voices #10, The Book of Malachi
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Wednesday, March 24, 2025
(Malachi 1:2, NLT) “I have always loved you,” says the Lord. But you retort, “Really? How have you loved us?”
(Malachi 1:6, NLT) “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name! “But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’”
(Malachi 1:10, NLT) “How I wish one of you would shut the Temple doors so that these worthless sacrifices could not be offered! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will not accept your offerings.”
(Malachi 1:11, NLT) “But my name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
(1 Kings 17:24, NLT) “I know for sure that you are a man of God…”
(Malachi 2:5–7, NLT) “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin. “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
“No one can know the true grace of God who has not first known the fear of God.” -A. W. Tozer
- The first responsibility of a man of God is to worship God and that his work will flow from his worship of God.
- Preach the Word of God.
(Malachi 2:6, NLT) “They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me.”
- Walk with God.
(Malachi 2:6, NLT) “They walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.”
“God is on the lookout today for a man of God who will be quiet enough to get a message from Him, brave enough to preach it and honest enough to live it.” -Vance Havner
(Malachi 2:8, NLT) “But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
MARRIAGE IS GOD’S
(Malachi 2:13–16, NLT) “You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”
PROPHESY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST AND JESUS CHRIST
(Malachi 3:1, NLT) “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
CHANGE IS COMING
(Malachi 3:2–3, NLT) “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.”
GOD DOES NOT CHANGE
(Malachi 3:6, NLT) “I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.”
RETURN TO ME
(Malachi 3:7, NLT) “Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’”
HEAVEN WILL OPEN UP FOR YOU
(Malachi 3:10, NLT) “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. … Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”
A BLESSING OR A CURSE
(Malachi 3:16, NLT) “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name.”
(Malachi 4:2, NLT) “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.”
(Malachi 4:6, NLT) “His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
(Revelation 22:21, NLT) “May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.”