Relinquishing Righteousness

Injustice, it's all around us. It seems the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper.

This was the case in Israel during the days of Malachi the prophet. Then, as now, we learn that true justice only comes when Jesus the Messiah comes. Today, a look at relinquishing righteousness. From Chicago, welcome to The Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller. In a moment, a time of worship and teaching as we return to our series on tough love and tender mercies taken from the book of Malachi.

We'll learn that one day Jesus will purify us, leaving behind pure gold where sin once reigned. Here now is Pastor Philip, along with Assistant Pastor Larry McCarthy. So we're gathered this morning. We're going to worship the name of the Lord who is worthy to be praised.

Amen. And we're going to continue our series in Malachi as the Lord continues to press his people with his tough love to fall on his tender mercies and discover the beauty of all that he's going to do ultimately through Jesus Christ. And so as we gather this morning, would you stand with me and let's pray to the Lord. Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning and we thank you that you've put us right here. We're a gospel lighthouse right in the heart of Chicago to shine and share the good news of Jesus. And so Father, we want to be your church. We want to live for the glory of your name.

Would you come and teach us more how to do that as we lift our voices to you. In Jesus' name we pray. And all God's people said, amen.

Amen. This is God's holy word. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.

And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in a land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them from afar and greeted them, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles in the land. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. And it also says, consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. By faith and not by sight, by faith our fathers wronged the earth, with the power of his province in their hearts, of a holy city built by God of zonair, a place where peace and justice reign. By faith the prophets honored him, when the longed-force Iowa appeared, with the power to break the chains of sin and death.

And rise triumphant from the grave. By faith the church was tall to the bone, with the power of the Spirit to the lost, to deliver captives and to preach the news to every corner of the earth. We will stand as children of the promise, we will face our eyes on him for sure as we want, till the race is finished and the work is done. We'll walk by faith and not by sight. By faith this mountain shall be moved, and the power of the gospel shall prevail.

For we know in Christ the things are possible, for all who call upon is they. We will stand as children of the promise, we will face our eyes on him for sure as we want, till the race is finished and the work is done. We'll walk by faith and not by sight.

We'll walk by faith and not by sight. What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer? There is no more for heaven now to give. He is my joy, my righteousness and free. My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace.

To this I hope, my hope is only Jesus. For my life is wholly bound to Him. Oh, how strange and divine I can see, all is fine and not I, but through Christ in me. The night is dark, but I am not the Savior, for by my side the Savior He will stay. I labor on in weakness and rejoicing, for in my deep His power is displayed. To this I hope, my shepherd will defend me.

Through the deepness valley He will lead. Oh, the life has been won and I shall overcome, yet not I, but through Christ in me. No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven, the future sure, the price it has been paid. For Jesus bled and suffered for my heart, and He was raised to overthrow the grave. To this I hope, my sin has been defeated. Jesus, thou and ever is my plea.

Oh, the chains are released, I can see, I am free, and not I, but through Christ in me. With every breath I long to follow Jesus, for He has said that He will bring me home. And day by day I know He will renew, until I stand with joy before the throne. To this I hope, my hope is only Jesus.

All the glory evermore to Him. When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat, yet not I, but through Christ in me. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. Father, we come into your presence and we just cry out for mercy. We understand there'll be no peace unless you bring it.

But our hope and our trust is in you and we know that you can and that you're able. In fact, the benediction that was offered when you manifest yourself in the flesh here, peace on earth, goodwill towards men. You are the prince of peace and so, Father, we cry out to you for mercy, for peace, Father. Your children are beset on every side, in every neighborhood, in every city. We need peace, Father.

We cry out for the neighborhoods of Chicago, where many of its citizens haven't been able to sleep because of the rancor and the noise and the crime. It's an impossible mission for anybody and anyone else, but not for you. And so hear the cries of your people, I pray. And we'll always be quick to give you the credit, to give you the honor, to give you the glory, to give you the worship, to give you the praise. Now we believe that you can.

We know that you can. So hear our cry, Father, this morning. We pray in the matchless name of Yeshua, Jesus, and Amen. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah in chapter 12 verse 1 asks these questions. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? I know a follower of Jesus who a couple years ago lost a promotion to a colleague because he wouldn't fudge the numbers and his colleague would. So he retained his integrity, but he lost out on the promotion. You know, one of the hardest things for those of us who are trying to live life God's way is when we look out on the world and there are people who couldn't care less what God wants, who seem to be getting ahead.

When those who exploit the poor get away with it, when those who make backroom deals aren't held accountable, when those who sleep around end up with the most eligible partners, or when those who are greedy and selfish end up with comfortable retirements. I mean, what is the point in righteous living if unrighteous people are the ones who are getting ahead? That's exactly where God's people were in Malachi's day. They'd come back from exile with fervor and intention to dedicate themselves to living for God, and then things didn't turn out the way they were hoping.

The temple was small, the nation was struggling, their power was limited, and it seemed like the ungodly nations and the ungodly peoples around them were prospering. And God kept letting them get away with it. So they began giving up hope that living God's way was actually worth it. If God wasn't going to step in, if God wasn't going to intervene, if God wasn't going to bring justice to the earth, why bother being righteous? That was their question. And as they lost hope in the justice of God, they began to relinquish their righteousness. They just sort of gave it up.

They were like, what's the point? And if we're honest, we can fall into the same kind of trap today. Why lead a godly life when ungodly people seem to be the ones getting ahead? And so it's not just people in Malachi's day that need a word from the Lord, it's us. We need to hear the voice of the Lord as well. So grab your Bibles. We're going to be in Malachi, chapter 2, verses 17, down to chapter 3, verse 6.

And we're going to straddle from chapter 2 to chapter 3. If you'll listen as I read, this is the word of the Lord. You have wearied the Lord with your words, but you say, how have we wearied him? By saying, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.

Or by asking, where is the God of justice? Chapter 3, verse 1. Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming?

Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like a fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. And they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.

Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, as in former years. Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner. And do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. For I, the Lord, do not change, therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

Thanks be to the Lord for the reading of his word. We are now stepping into the fourth dispute between God and the people as they argue back and forth. And in this fourth dispute, we really see three things. We see wearisome waiting, purifying presence, and jarring justice. This is our outline for this morning.

Wearisome waiting, purifying presence, and jarring justice. Would you bow your heads? Let's pray together as we jump in. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would open our eyes to see your truth this morning.

Help us to understand what you're doing in the world. We pray sometimes you don't bring justice as quickly as we would like. Father, help us to trust you in the waiting, to know that your promises are true and faithful, and you will do all that you have pledged yourself to do. And so we trust you and cling to you in Jesus' name.

And all good people said? Amen. Amen. Number one, wearisome waiting.

Wearisome waiting. Chapter 2, verse 17, you've worried the Lord with your words. And they say, how have we wearied him? By saying, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delights in them. Or by asking, where is the God of justice?

So here's the scene. God's people are looking around at all the wicked people who seem to be prospering. They're saying to one another, well, I guess God's okay with evil. He's blessing these people. He must delight in evil doing.

They're apparently good in his sight. After all, he does nothing. He never intervenes. He never shows up. What's the point in all of us being good when evil goes unpunished like this? Where is the God of justice?

Where is he? You see. And God says, you've wearied me. You've wearied the Lord with your words.

And notice it's capital L-O-R-D. This is the covenant name of God, Yahweh. They're calling his very character into question, aren't they? This is the same Lord, the Lord who passed before Moses in glory and pronounced the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love to thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty. And he's saying, look, you're accusing me of clearing the guilty, of not caring about justice, of just letting everyone off the hook. And that's not me.

That's not who I am. And let me, I want you to hear clearly, the Lord says, just because my justice isn't coming on your timetable doesn't mean it's not coming at all. In fact, I promise you, justice is on the way. Chapter three, verse one. Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

You want justice, God says. The Lord whom you seek, he will come suddenly to his temple. The Lord, the God of justice, he will take his rightful place in Jerusalem and the Holy One will set things to rights. And in that day, you will see true justice for the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, he is coming.

And of course this prophecy is a reference anticipating Jesus himself. The Lord, the Messiah, the messenger of the covenant who comes to fulfill the old covenant and usher in the new covenant who came into his own temple first at the age of 12 and he said, did you not know I had to be in my father's house? And then he later cleared the temple, driving out the money changers, you remember, and he said, my house shall be called a house of prayer but you have made it into a den of robbers. And in his death upon the cross, remember, in his death the curtain was torn in two, the curtain dividing the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple, the curtain was torn in two from top to bottom because in his atoning death on our behalf, he granted access to us forever to the holiness of God.

He is the one who said, destroy this temple and in three days I shall raise it up because he himself is the temple, the dwelling place of God on earth. He came, he tabernacled amongst us, we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only who is from the Father. And having been raised to life, he is now ascended to the Father's right hand, whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. And the wicked will one day have their day in court for all shall stand before the crucified, risen and exalted Son of God and every one of us will answer for what we have done, justice will be served upon the earth. And the Lord says, justice is in fact coming, his name is Jesus, right? And today's mercies, this is very important, today's mercies do not negate tomorrow's justice. Today's mercies do not negate tomorrow's justice. God says, look, just because I'm bearing with patience the sins that are committed right now in this world doesn't mean that justice will never come. Do not think that today's mercies negate tomorrow's justice.

Justice is coming and his name is Jesus. And you will know he is on his way because I will send my messenger who will prepare the way of the Lord. That's what he says in this passage. He makes it even more clear in a passage we'll look at in a couple weeks in Malachi chapter 4 verses 5 and 6. This is how the book actually ends with this promise. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. And we know from the New Testament that this prophecy is actually a reference to John the Baptist. John the Baptist whom the angel Gabriel announced when he was about to be born in Luke chapter 1 verse 17 that he would go before Jesus the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

And Jesus himself in Matthew chapter 11 verses 13 and 14 said for all the law and prophets prophesied up until John and if you are willing to accept it he is Elijah who is to come. So when you hear the voice of John the Baptist the one crying in the wilderness make straight the way of the coming of the Lord then you shall know the Lord says that judgment is drawing near for the God of justice will come to his own and the great and awesome day of the Lord will be at hand. And so when he shows up now he's going to unpack what that looks like and his coming will be a purifying presence.

A purifying presence. Look at verse 2. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like a fuller's soap.

So these are rhetorical questions aren't they? Who can endure the day of his coming? Answer, no one.

Right? Who can stand when he appears? Answer, nobody.

Why? For he comes like a refiner's fire like a blazing furnace that chars away all the dross and dirt until only gold remains. He comes to consume and purify. And he's like a fuller's soap. A fuller is a washer like someone doing laundry. He's like a caustic chemical agent. They use things like undiluted lye that can blind you. This was what they used in those days to bleach out the stains out of garments. It could even burn right through a cloth if you didn't do it right. And here he comes like a fuller's soap to remove and to rescue.

Both of these analogies convey the same basic idea. Things have gotten so bad that burning caustic measures are required. And yet there's something underneath that's worth salvaging.

Right? It's a beautiful picture. Amidst all the dross there's precious metal that is worth refining to have. Underneath all the stains there's a valuable cloth that is worth redeeming.

Like chemotherapy that is designed to kill the tumor in order to save the patient. Jesus comes to burn the dross, to scourge the stain so that what remains may be pure and good and pleasing to the Lord. Verse 3, he will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi, the priests, and refine them like gold and silver.

And they will bring offerings and righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, as in the former years. When the Lord comes, he shall purify his temple. He shall purify the priesthood. He shall purify the offerings. No more defiled sacrifices being offered. No more faithless priesthood. No more corrupt worship.

All the things he's been calling out in the book thus far. It will be like it was in the beginning when the temple was first established. When it was sanctified to the Lord and cleansed with sacrificial blood and consecrated wholly unto God. Friends, Messiah will purify the heart of covenant worship.

That's the point. Messiah will purify the heart of covenant worship. Which is why when Jesus comes to cleanse the temple, it's such a big deal. All four gospels record this event. Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, John chapter 2.

And it is a massively big deal. Because Jesus walks into the temple like he owns the place, right? And he starts setting everything to right. He flips over tables. He's driving out animals and money changers with the whip that he made. And he's bellowing out, my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you've made it a den of robbers. You see, he comes suddenly to his temple.

Like a refiner's fire, blazing, consuming, like a fuller's soap, caustic and cleansing. And he comes to purify the heart of covenant worship. And he will do so ultimately by his own blood that consecrates the temple, you see.

And it's all foretold right here in Malachi. His coming will be a purifying presence. And then on the heels of that will be his jarring justice.

His jarring justice. Verse 5, then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the higher worker in his wages, the widow, the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. Remember, it's fascinating. Remember, they were concerned that God wasn't bringing justice upon their enemies.

Right? That's where this all began. Where is the God of justice?

Why do you not show up? And then God says, I will draw near for judgment, but not just on your enemies, but on you as well. Because sin and evil are not just out there in the people who are committing injustice against you. Sin and evil are actually in here inside your own hearts as you perpetuate injustice toward others. It's true that others have hurt you and acted unjustly toward you.

But it is also true that you have hurt others and acted unjustly toward them. And so when the judge appears, he cannot be selective. He will bring all to account. God says, I will be a swift witness. I'll make quick work of it.

There's no need for a deliberation of the jury. It'll be case closed right out of the gate and I will bear witness against the sorcerers, against those who ally themselves with the dark powers of witchcraft and the occult, against the adulterers, against those who are unfaithful to their marriage covenant vows, against those who swear falsely. These are folks who lie and deceive and manipulate in order to betray. You see what he's doing?

He's working his way down the sort of honor spectrum. He's talking about sorcerers. Those are people who are failing to give God the allegiance and worship that is rightfully due his name. He's the most powerful person in the universe. Then he moves down to people with which we have covenant obligations to keep our promises in covenant.

There's mutuality. We have expectations of how we deserve to give the truth to people in our own community. But now he's going to go down to even the lower echelons of society. He says, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages. He says, if you don't pay a fair wage or if you fail to pay on time. You know, Israel had to pay daily before sundown. They had to pay the wages.

Why? Because day laborers were living hand to mouth. And if you withheld it one day, it was an injustice against your workers. Against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless. So these are people who are taking advantage of those who have fallen on hard times. Who don't have sufficient social safety nets.

Who have limited legal recourse. Against those who thrust aside the sojourner. These are folks who refuse to offer hospitality to the gypsies. The nomadic peoples who regularly wandered across Israel's borders uninvited, set up their tents, and started sending out their herds to devour Israel's resources without asking. And why, the Lord says, why will I be a swift witness against these people? The sorcerers, adulterers, those who swear falsely, oppressors of higher workers, widows, orphans, and those who thrust aside the sojourner.

Why? He says, because at the end, they do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. They do not fear me.

Look at that. God's saying, if you fear me rightly, if you love me as I ought to be loved, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, you're going to love your neighbor as yourself. Not only are you going to avoid sorcery, and adultery, and lying deceit, those are obvious, very moral lines, but you're also going to pay your workers fairly, and you're going to pay them on time, and you're going to care for widows and orphans in their distress. Like James 1, 27, he calls it, this is pure religion, that you care for orphans and widows in their distress, and you will be hospitable to the foreign migrants on your doorstep. Because the great commandment of God is to love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. These are one thing.

You cannot separate them. You cannot say, I love God and hate your neighbor. To fear God means we must give honor to all who are fearfully made in His image, whether they are day laborers, widows, orphans, or sojourners. Now I'm keenly aware that this is making some of us uncomfortable right now. Because as I speak, our nation and our city is in the middle of a migrant crisis, yes? And there are tents of sojourners being placed all over every ward of our city. And I and you may be rightly frustrated with our city's pledge to be a sanctuary city, or the mismanagement of our leaders on this issue.

Those are very real things. And as citizens, we have to vote our consciences, we need to make our voices heard, we need to speak into the policies we can shape. But what we cannot do, hear me clearly, what we cannot do as the people of God is thrust aside the sojourner.

We can't do that. We cannot ignore the image bearers on our doorstep because they are people that Jesus loves. And look, God puts thrusting aside the sojourner in the same list with sorcery.

So you can't pretend they're in the same list. And if sorcery is in your mind, it's a big deal. And thrusting aside the sojourner is no big deal. Listen to the heart of God, friends. Now we can wrestle with what hospitality God is calling us to in this passage, but one thing this passage does not allow us to do is do nothing. It does not allow us to do nothing. Whatever it is, I know this much, what God requires in this passage will be in keeping with what he says in Deuteronomy 10 verse 19 where he says to Israel, love the sojourner, therefore for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Love them. What does love require? How do I love my neighbor as myself?

That's the issue. And it will be in keeping with Jesus' description of true righteousness in Matthew 25 verses 31 to 40 where he says that the righteous are the ones who ministered to the least of these as if they were doing it to Christ himself. For I was hungry, Jesus says, and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. And I was a stranger and you welcomed me in. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you visited me.

I was in prison and you came to me. Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of these, the least of these, my brothers, you did it unto me. So as elders and pastors and directors and staff, we are praying as a church about how the Lord would have us respond in a wise, compassionate, and Christ-like way to the migrant crisis on our doorstep. And we'll share more in the coming weeks, but for now, this is what I'm asking you to do. Would you be praying about what God would be asking you to do to help?

What does pure religion look like in your life? Now back to this passage. This passage began with the people of God wishing justice would come upon the evildoers out there. And God says, don't worry, it's coming. The justice is coming, but it's coming for you too. And the more, I don't know about you, but the more I look at this list, the more I realize I'm in deep, deep trouble.

I'm in deep, deep trouble. I'm beginning to understand why verse two says, who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? And the answer is no one, nobody. There is no one righteous, no, not one. All we like sheep have gone astray.

All of us have turned to our own way. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And if the Lord's judgment falls, friends, I have no grounds to stand. If the refiner's fire burns, I will be burnt to a crisp.

If the fuller's soap is applied, I will be scrubbed down to nothing. And so when we call for justice, friends, we really don't know what we're calling for. We don't know what we're asking for, because who can endure the day of His coming?

Who can stand when He appears? But thank God this passage ends with just a little ray of hope. Look at verse 6. For I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

I love this. I, the Lord, do not change. I stand by my character and covenant promises. My name is Yahweh, and I will be faithful to who I am so that even as judgment falls, you will not be consumed. I will not treat you as your sins deserve. For I am a God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty. God says, I'm going to find a way to forgive iniquity, transgression, and sins while at the same time not clearing the guilty. I'm going to figure out a way for the refiner's fire to burn, and you will not be consumed. I will find a way for the fuller's soap to scourge, and yet you will not be scrubbed out. How?

How? Fast forward to Romans chapter 3 verses 21 to 26. Paul writes, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.

Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, we're reading one of them right now, Malachi, one of the prophets that bears witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there's no distinction. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. Passed over former sins in order to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

There you have it. How can God bring justice against sin while justifying sinners that he loves? How can the refiner's fire burn without consuming the people who have faith in God?

How can the fuller soap clean without scrubbing out those of us who are so deeply tainted by sin? How can the Lord forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin and not clear the guilty? The answer, Jesus, Jesus Christ, our substitute, who came suddenly to his temple, you see, who drew near for judgment. And the judgment that should have fallen on us fell on him instead on the cross, where Jesus died in our place and for our sake as our substitutionary propitiation atonement before God. The righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5 21, God made him, Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Friends, on the cross, Jesus received the penalty for our guilt so that you and I might be forgiven. He endured the justice of God's wrath so that we might be justified. He felt the scourge of the fuller soap so that we might be cleansed. And he faced the burning of the refiner's fire so that we might be pure as gold.

Isn't that beautiful? There's a place in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King where Frodo, you know, he's bearing the ring of evil to its destruction in the fires of Mount Doom. And he's about at the end of his strength and in his final moments of agony he starts to collapse and he loses strength and he's not sure he can make it and he cries out to Sam, he says, I cannot recall the taste of food nor the sound of water nor the touch of grass. I'm naked in the dark. There's nothing, nothing, no veil between me and the wheel of fire. And I've often thought, you know, Jesus could have said those very lines on the cross where he hung there naked in the dark. No veil between him and the consuming fire of God's wrath as he bore evil in himself to its utter end. Friends, do you realize on the cross God did the impossible? God ended evil without ending us. God ended evil without ending us. This is what Malachi is hinting at, that the Lord will end injustice without ending us. Friends, in Jesus God found a way to purge the dross of our injustice and keep us for himself as gold. In Jesus, God found a way to scourge away the stain of our sin while keeping us for himself as a garment clean and whole. In Jesus, God found a way to target the tumor and save the patient.

Praise to his name. Don't you see, this is why God delayed so long in bringing justice down like a hammer. If justice comes in any other way, all of us are eliminated. None of us deserve his grace. None of us can stand. It is only through Jesus that there's any hope. Friends, and our only hope to stand is in Christ alone. Our only hope to stand is in Christ alone. Who can endure the day of his coming?

Who can stand when he appears? It is only those who are covered with the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ who will stand at the end of the day. Our only hope to stand is in Christ alone. He who is perfectly righteous in every way relinquished his righteousness. For those of us who had relinquished our righteousness so that we might be clothed in his righteousness forever.

And it will never be taken away. As the hymn writer says, I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.

Can you say that this morning? I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

Oh my soul. Bow your heads and pray with me. Oh Father, what a magnificent thing you have done in Jesus Christ to end sin without ending us. To bring justice and justify us. To put evil to destruction and rescue us from the fire.

No one else could do this. There is no other savior than Jesus Christ. He alone is enough. The righteous for the unrighteous. He has brought us to God. And so we give praise and glory to his name.

He is our only hope. And so we rejoice in the name of Jesus. Amen. Our benediction today is from Romans chapter 5 verses 1 and 2. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Amen. Amen. Remember Moody Church, you're loved more than you know. And now let's go and be the church.

Have a great Sunday. On today's Moody Church Hour, we heard Pastor Phillip Miller telling us about relinquishing righteousness taken from Malachi chapters 2 and 3. Some accuse the church of always having their hands out for money.

The truth is this. How we handle money shows where our hearts are. God wants us to be givers, not takers. Next time, a famous passage in Malachi chapter 3 which asks, will a man rob God?

Yet you are robbing me, says the Lord. To find out what this means, join us next week as our series on tough love and tender mercies continues. The Moody Church Hour is a listener supported ministry. We count on the ongoing financial support of listeners like you. Together, we share solid biblical teaching that transforms lives across America and around the world. You can call us at 1-800-215-5001.

That's 1-800-215-5001. Online, you'll find us at moodychurchhour.com. That's moodychurchhour.com. Or write to us at Moody Church Media, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.