September 11, 2011 | John Bayles | The Sixth Dispute: A Lawless People (Malachi 3:13-4:4)

In this last dispute Malachi returns to an issue that stems from the continued degrading of the Nation of Israel with Yahweh. In this instance they have ceased to function as the people of the covenant. They have drifted from the rule of law and developed a standard of their own. Injustice and lawlessness is the result. Because the law is a direct reflection of His nature and character, a rejection of it is a rejection of God himself. This the core of the dispute: they have taken unto themselves a law that is self-promoting arrogance, a redefinition of right and wrong, and even holding this standard as better than the Mosaic revelation.

September 4, 2011 | John Bayles | The Fifth Dispute: Return To Me! (Malachi 3:6-12)

Imagine the living God, the Eternal One, the Holy One, the One who created and sustains the universe, the loving, redeeming, and restoring Almighty who created man and draws him into personal fellowship. If we have difficulty appreciating this sentence, then we may very well have some of the same challenges that Malachi found in the nation of Israel. They had lost the understanding of the nature of their God and they had forgotten that He was both loving and just. They had come to think that God was an idea shaped by their personal liking and that He would not hold them responsible to His holy standards.

August 21, 2011 | John Bayles | The Fourth Dispute: The Weariness of Injustice (Malachi 2:17-3:6)

Weariness can be an erosive force. It's power is in delay. As the Proverbs state: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." Waiting for the full restoration of their nation, the people had lost touch with the God who formed them, built them, disciplined and deported them, and finally re-formed them. Sadly, after only a short period of time they had lost touch with their God and lost hope in their historic identity. In this malaise, Israel established their own system of morality and from it their own brand of justice.

August 14, 2011 | John Bayles | The Third Dispute: The Faithless People (Malachi 2:10-16)

Malachi moves from the priests to the people in this third dispute. What is the core purpose of humanity? What did God create man to be and do? If these questions can be answered, then it will lead to an understanding of why God had gone to such an extent to preserve his fallen progeny. We see man's mandate is an understanding of Genesis 1:26, when God stated, "Let us make man to be our image bearer." Far from simply being like God or looking like God, man was to be the reflector of God's communicable attributes: love, goodness, truthfulness, and faithfulness.

August 7, 2011 | John Bayles | The Second Dispute: The Fear and Honor of His Name (Malachi 1:6-2:9)

Though God had demonstrated his love and care for Israel over their entire existence, He, in love had taken them into exile. For seventy years they were disciplined, and, in a remarkable move, God brought them back into their own land, rebuilt their temple, reconstructed their walls and reengaged their temple sacrificial system. This is an incredible and exclusive demonstration of an historic people group becoming literally extinct and then reemerging as a nation state. Who would believe that they would ever forget this mercy or cease to give thanks and honor to the One who brought them through this long pilgrimage? Obviously, Israel had forgotten their own history, and lost their thanks and honor for Yahweh in a few short years.

July 31, 2011 | John Bayles | The First Dispute: God's Love For His People (Malachi 1:1-5)

"How have you loved us?" The narrowness, the foolishness, the sinfulness of this statement by the nation of Israel. This opening dispute by God's messenger with His holy people is filled with a deep forgetfulness of God's essential nature and His expressed character - God is love! Malachi is filled with a burden ( the oracle) of being the instrument of correction to the nation. They have lost their way, they have sinned, but mostly they have forgotten what God's choice of them has made them to be. They must be reminded as we too must be reminded that they were not chosen because they were worthy of love, but God's choice of them made them unique in the eyes of God and one another. This is a deep lesson to remember. If God never does a single thing for us again, we would already be recipients of a grace that is beyond anything we could ask or imagine. Let us pray that we will continually be people of thanks and praise to the one who first loved us.

July 24, 2011 | John Bayles | The Longsuffering of God (Malachi 1:1)

To understand what a text of scripture means to us today, we must first understand what it meant to its original hearers. As we begin in our study of the Book of Malachi, historical and literary context are the subject. Some important questions need to be answered: who was Malachi, when did he prophecy to Israel, what was the condition of his audience, and what is the substance of his message? The desire to know what the scriptures mean to us here and now are highly dependent on what they meant to them, then and there. In order to find the riches of the book of Malachi, these questions will be addressed. May the Holy Spirit lead us into truth as we take up the task.

July 17, 2011 | John Bayles | The Glorious Gospel (Romans 16:25-27)

In this final submission to his epistle, Paul raises his voice in praise of the Gospel that he has so profoundly revealed in the entire Book of Romans. In summary of his treatise, the apostle declares in this three phrase doxology the full extent and nature of the Gospel. This last sermon from the Book of Romans highlights how the preaching of the Gospel not only remains today the most potent, dynamic, and interpretive message of all of history, but continues to be the sword of truth that forges the advance of the Kingdom of God until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

July 10, 2011 | John Bayles | Ordinary People Advancing God's Kingdom (Romans 16:20-24)

The Kingdom of God was not begun by superhuman people, but by people used by our supernatural Savior. In today's text, Paul draws back the historical curtain and gives us a glimpse into the lives of his ministry team. They are not unlike many of us. The key is willingness to be used and obedience to God's calling. When God takes our lives into his will, we see people who change the world.

July 3, 2011 | John Bayles | Forewarning Against The No-Count Dividers (Romans 16:17-20)

Mixed in with the salute from the New Covenant Divines is a strong warning of the intentions of the No-Count Dividers living in Rome who sought to subvert the message of the Gospel. As Paul brings his epistle to a close, it is important to stress how significant keeping a sharp focus on the classical orthodoxy of Paul's message was to this early expression of the body of Christ. To us today, let us be encouraged to hold the line of orthodoxy and contend for the unchanging truths of God's Word.