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UNHAPPY ENDINGS

Movies have all sorts of endings, don’t they. You get your classic happy ending. Sad endings. Cliff hanger endings. Everything in between.

We were watching a movie the other day when we were in Sydney; it was on Pay TV in the motel we were staying in. The movie was called, I think, THE BEST OF FRIENDS. Starring Kathleen Turner.

And I guess in a way it was like most movies they put on Pay TV. The sort of movie you wouldn’t want to PAY to go and see.

It was the story of a relationship. A friendship – that turned into a marriage. That turned into bitterness. And then divorce. And as you watched, the years rolled by. And ten years after this bitter divorce, Kathleen Turner and her ex-husband are reunited at their daughter’s graduation. And slowly, they start making friends again. And as I sat there watching, I was wondering, HOW’S THIS GOING TO END?

I mean, is it going to be a HAPPILY EVER AFTER kind of movie? Cause it didn’t have that sort of FEEL. I was waiting for something to go wrong.

Which it did. Just when life was getting itself back together, when bitterness was gone and friendship was starting to blossom, she got sick. And died. And that was the end.

Just like that. Not your classic happy ending movie at all.

Then we saw DANTE’S PEAK. About a volcano that erupted and destroyed a little American town. Pierce Brosnan’s the hero; and if you haven’t seen it yet, I don’t want to spoil it too much, except to say, THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

Very predictable.

There are other endings that kind of leave you UP IN THE AIR. With things unresolved. If it’s a SERIES, at the end of the season they’ll usually come up with something that will keep you on the edge of your seat, right through til the start of the next year, so you’ll watch it again. If you’re old enough and you watched Dallas, you’ll remember everyone was talking about WHO KILLED JR. I’ve got no idea who killed him, but I remember they had him shot right at the end of one year, and you had to wait months to find out what happened.

Now this morning I want you to notice we’re looking at the very END of the Old Testament. The final chapter. Turn one more page and you’re in Matthew. The New Testament.

And I want to ask you to think with me about the question WHAT SORT OF ENDING IS IT? When you come to the end of the Old Testament, is it a sad ending? Is it a happily ever after ending? Or is it maybe a bit like a CLIFF HANGER – that keeps you hanging on for an answer.

EXPLAIN WHERE WE’RE UP TO…

Now the way the bible is laid out, first of all, you’ve got the HISTORY. The story of what happens to Israel. Which finishes with the book of Nehemiah. Then tacked on at the end, you’ve got the collection of the words of all the prophets, who SPOKE TO ISRAEL during their history, on behalf of God. Finishing here with MALACHI. The last word. From the last prophet.

What sort of ending is it? If you have a look at the very end of chapter 4, the very last couple of sentences, you’ll see it’s very much a CLIFF HANGER. Because in the last words of the whole Old Testament, you’re left hanging with an option. A LIFE AND DEATH DECISION.

To see it, you’ve got to read from verse 5. Here’s what it says… God says this…

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, OR ELSE I will come and strike the land with a curse."

See it? There’s a great big OR ELSE. The old testament finishes with I guess what you’d call a THREAT FROM GOD. That he’s going to send a messenger. Who’ll either TURN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. Or else. Or else… they’ll face God’s curse.

This is pretty heavy stuff. And to make sense of it, I want to take you back through the last chapter or so here of Malachi; and remind you of the story of the Old Testament. That’s brought us to here.

So I want to ask first of all, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? What’s the problem that’s brought Israel to the point of facing GOD’S ULTIMATUM. God’s FINAL WARNING?

We’ve seen some of it the past few weeks, haven’t we? How these Israelites, who were meant to be God’s special, HOLY PEOPLE, in the end wanted to be just like everybody else.

And instead of responding with GRATITUDE to God’s love, instead of being thankful for the privilege that he’d chosen them out of all the nations of the world to be his personal treasure, they thumb their noses.

Chapter 1, we saw how when they brought animals to sacrifice as a sign of how SORRY THEY WERE for their sin, they brought the worst animals they had. The mangy crippled ones. The runts of the litter.

Chapter 2, last time – we saw how in their marriages, the men of Israel were BREAKING THEIR COVENANTS with their wives. The people of the faithful God – were UNFAITHFUL TO ONE ANOTHER.

There’s more. We’ll see some examples in a moment.

But first of all, have a look how God sums it up. Chapter 3 from verse 6.

As we’ve worked our way through the Old Testament in our Bible Study groups, I’ve heard a few people ask the same question. Because over and over again we’ve seen the UNFAITHFULNESS of the people who were meant to be the PEOPLE OF GOD.

And I’ve heard a few people say, WHY DID GOD PUT UP WITH IT? Time after time; he calls them to be faithful; and they refuse. Why does he put up with them?

Well, here’s the answer. Verse 6 and 7, it sums up the PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. And it sums up God.

"I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them."

And that’s exactly what we’ve seen, isn’t it. As we stand here at the tail end of the whole of the old testament, that’s a pretty accurate summary of what we’ve seen. And the only reason God hasn’t wiped them out is because he MADE A PROMISE. To use the DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM to make a new GARDEN OF EDEN. A promised land where the people would be HIS PEOPLE. And he’d be their God.

Even though time after time, they’ve rejected him. He says "ever since the time of your forefathers, you’ve turned away from my decrees and haven’t kept them." We’re in verse 7. And even now, right at the end of the story, after rejection after rejection, there’s only one thing God longs for. RETURN TO ME, says God, AND I WILL RETURN TO YOU.

Friends, God doesn’t change. You know, I’ve had friends, they’d say to me, Yeah, I’ll do that. And they don’t. I’ll be there. And they’re not. God’s not like that. There’s an old fashioned word. FIDELITY. I guess we don’t use it much these days cause not many people have got it. Fidelity is a faithfulness that runs right to the core.

And when God says there in verse 6, I THE LORD DO NOT CHANGE, that’s what he means. Which means when God says RETURN TO ME AND I WILL RETURN TO YOU, he still means it. To you today.

Except you need to bear in mind that if you keep putting it off, if you keep presuming on God’s forgiveness, if you keep saying, hey, GOD DOESN’T MIND, he just turns a blind eye, THEN YOU’RE HEADING FOR TROUBLE.

Verse 5; there’s a list of the sort of stuff they’re into. Sorcery. Adultery; perjury. God’s even watching the way they run their business lives - and he doesn’t like what he sees. Those who defraud labourers of their wages. Who oppress the widows and the fatherless. Who deprive aliens of justice. Back in Israel, if a bloke worked for you and you could rip him off by not paying him, well, you’d do it, wouldn’t you? I mean, that’s BUSINESS.

And there’s more. God says you’re not only ripping off each other. They’re ROBBING ME, as well.

Israel had a TITHING system. At least in theory they did. They gave a tenth of everything they had; they took it to the temple. And so the priests and the Levites who worked at the temple were fed and clothed, and the temple kept running.

But do you reckon the temple mattered to the people of Israel? Do you reckon they cared if the temple storehouse was empty and the priests were going hungry? No way.

To which God says, THINK ABOUT IT. It’s not the priests and the temple you’re ripping off. When you say that stuff doesn’t matter YOU’RE ROBBING ME.

Read it. Chapter 3 verse 8. Will a man rob God? And yet YOU ROB ME. But you look surprised, and you ask, HOW DID WE ROB YOU? :In tithes and offerings, that’s how. And so God says, the whole nation is under a curse, he’s with-held his blessing. Because when it comes to their priorities, they’ve put GOD AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST.

But their time is running out.

They’ve taken God for granted. They’ve pushed him to the bottom of their priority list. The people of Israel are thieves and cheats; corrupt biggots; adulterers and frauds. They cheat on their wives, they cheat on their employees, they cheat on God. And they say, hah, doesn’t make any difference. They say, "What’s the BENEFIT TO ME of serving God." They say the stuff there in verse 14. "It’s futile serving God." They say, "What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going around like mourners before God." They say "EVIL DOERS PROSPER." They’re the ones who make it big. And even those who challenge God escape."

Easy to think that, isn’t it.

I saw on TV the other night, Alan Bond’s swiss banker is being questioned by Australian police. Because they reckon Alan Bond has got millions of dollars worth of assets hidden through this guy in Switzerland. The Federal Police have flown over there to Switzerland to interview this guy; and he’s refused to answer their questions. On the grounds he might incriminate himself. And you know what the police can do? Absolutely nothing. They sit there. He sits there. And that’s that. He’s got away with it. Alan Bond’s got away with it. Still rich. Even though there are so many people he’s dragged down with him.

And you say, SEE. Where’s the justice. You say WHAT’S THE POINT OF BEING HONEST. You say, What’s it matter if I cheat a bit on my tax. Look what HE GETS AWAY WITH. You say "What’s the point of serving GOD." You just end up getting walked on by everyone.

Israel was saying that. And so God says this. He says, here’s what’s going to happen. He says LAST CHANCE. Your time is running out. And he gives them their final warning.

A DAY IS COMING, he says, when things are going to turn around.

He talks about it at the start of chapter 3. And then again in chapter 4.

3 verse 1. Here’s what’s coming. See, I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me. THEN SUDDENLY THE LORD YOU ARE SEEKING WILL COME TO HIS TEMPLE. The messenger of the covenant who you desire, will come," says the Lord Almighty.

You say GOD OUGHT TO DO SOMETHING. Well he will.

Chapter 4 verse 1. Surely the day is coming – it will burn like a furnace. And all the arrogant and every evil doer will be stubble. They’re tinder dry. Ready to burn. And that day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty.

Hard words. He says, keep on spitting in God’s eye, and the time’s going to come when you’ll burn like a canefield. You’ll end up like the ashes afterwards; tramped under foot, trodden down to nothing.

But he says, for those who revere his name, the opposite. Verse 2; a new sunrise. Healing. Leaping like spring calves in the paddock.

Last chance. Make up your mind. He says, "Remember the law I gave Moses. Before it’s too late."

Which brings you right up to the last paragraph of the whole Old Testament. The last two sentences. The last word. Here’s the way it’s going to pan out. And here’s the choice.

Follow it from verse 5. "See – I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. HE WILL TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS TO THEIR CHILDREN and the hearts of the children to their fathers; OR ELSE… I will come and strike the land with a curse."

A prophet’s going to come. Just before the LORD HIMSELF COMES. And he’ll call on Israel to have a CHANGE OF HEART. Last chance. This is the big one. If Israel doesn’t finally TURN BACK TO GOD, this time it’s over. No more promised land. No more blessing.

Which is a real CLIFF HANGER, isn’t it? I mean, what’s going to happen? Who’s it talking about? When’s it going to happen?

But that’s the end of the Old Testament. If you’re a JEW, the next page is the back cover. Except if you’re reading it in Hebrew, cause in Hebrew you read backwards. And end up at the front. Either way, THAT’S IT. The end.

Are you going to TURN BACK TO GOD? Or are you going to face the curse? Are you going to be an arrogant evil doer and burn like the stubble? Or are you going to have a change of heart -–and leap like a calf?

That’s the question facing Israel. Same question facing everyone today. But from our point of view, we can watch the sequel, too – and see what happens.

Turn over a few pages. Into the new testament. Matthew chapter 3. You’re turning 400 years in those three or four pages. Because after Malachi, there’s nothing. Silence.

But follow it with me. Matthew 3 verse 1.

In those days JOHN THE BAPTIST CAME, preaching in the desert of Judea, and saying REPENT. Turn back to God. For the kingdom of heaven is near. This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah. (AND LET ME TELL YOU, he’s the one spoken about by Malachi as well.) A voice of one calling in the desert, prepare the way for the LORD. Make straight paths for him.

God’s coming to visit. GET READY.

Verse 4, John’s clothes were made of Camels hair, and he had a leather belt. He ate locusts with wild honey. When I eat chinese, I prefer HONEY PRAWNS. But it’s interesting… the way he’s dressed, the food he eats, if you look back to the Old Testament, he’s dressed like the PROPHET ELIJAH. And people went out to him from all over the whole region of the Jordan, and confessing their sins, they were baptised by him.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadduccees coming to where he was baptising, he said to them, You brood of vipers. Who warned you to fell from the coming wrath? PRODUCE FRUIT IN KEEPING WITH REPENTANCE. He says to them, don’t think you can claim Abraham for your father. Forget your religious pedigree. Because the TIME HAS COME. The axe is at the root of the tree.

Verse 11, he says, I baptise you with water for repentance. But the one coming after me will baptise with the HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH FIRE. Verse 12, his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering wheat into the barn – and burning up the chaff WITH UNQUENCHABLE FIRE.

He’s talking about Jesus. And it’s not a picture of Jesus we often think about, is it?

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild? The guy in the dressing gown with the glowing plate behind his head holding a sheep you see in the stained glass windows? No way. See what he says?

Two choices. He says Jesus comes to baptise with THE HOLY SPIRIT. And with FIRE. The Holy Spirit if you repent and accept him. FIRE if you don’t. Clearing his threshing floor. Wheat into the barn. Chaff into the fire.

We don’t very often have HELLFIRE AND BRIMSTONE sermons these days. But let me warn you, what John’s talking about here is very, very real.

When Jesus came, it marked the ultimate decision for Israel. The turning point. And as they accepted him, or rejected him, a funny thing was happening – it wasn’t Jesus who was being judged. It was themselves.

And it’s the same with YOU. You reckon it’s not worth serving God? Nothing in it for YOU? Reckon you’ll just put Jesus somewhere down the bottom of your priority list. Not let him cramp your style too much?

The reality is, AS YOU DECIDE ABOUT JESUS, you’re deciding the future for YOURSELF.

That’s the choice Israel’s left with in the cliff hanger at the very end of the Old Testament. What’ll it be? And it’s the question for each of us as well.