God Loves Jacob by Brother Duke Hansen

        The church is a tree which grows from a seed. The last book before the gospels, Malachi, has a lot of things written which can be paralleled to the present day. We are going to be reading from the book of Malachi, beginning in chapter 1 and the first verse.

        The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.

        Malachi was the last prophet of old that wrote and testified to the country of Israel before the 400 plus years of silence to the Jewish nation. Note at the start of this verse, it's a burden.

        2 I hav loved you, saith the Lord, Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob.

        It is easy to cry out to God for favor but it's difficult to follow his commandments. It's hard to stand in from of the Lord as a son or daughter.

        3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

        4 Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.

        Malachi was writing to a generation who has lost the favor and their way to God. The key to more access to God is through obedience to God. God hated Esau. God doesn't hate you. When something infiltrates through one of your 5 senses, the deceit will set in.

        6 A son honors his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and id I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

        Where's my honor? Where's my fear? These are questions God asks his people still today, based on our decisions we have made in life. We are small and full of pride that we are no longer feaful of God. We have forgotten what accountability is in our life.

        You want to tell the world God is your father, that you are a wise servant but you follow your own thinking. You profess the truth in public, but live a lie in private.

        7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.

        8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.

        God did not get rid of the sacrifice. Our bodies are to be a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to the Lord. If you can be obedient, you can get on the path. All God gets accomplished in most people is to get them born again in his name.

        What about half hearted prayer; is that not evil? In only obeying part of God's commandments? Is that not evil? If you gave a gift to someone, would it be aged, spoiled, or rotten? If you don't do that in the your day to day activities in the world, why do you do it in the spirit?

        9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means; will he regard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts.

       10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

        How many of you would do for nought? For some, just getting to church weekly is due to inconsistent obedience. You have to be always obedient to God and his word.

        11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.

        12 But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.

        13 Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.

        The bloodlines of the 12 tribes of Israel has been intermingled with the blood of the gentiles. Some people look at going to church as weariness and a trial, yet are blind to the burdens they carry. Those burdens you have block your communication to God.

        Let's move ahead to chapter 3 of Malachi and start reading at verse 6.

        6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

        The reason that God has not wiped out man, it is his love. It's not changed with life or age. Once again, I love Jacob but I hate Esau.

        7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return.

        All people are in need from time to time. Someone prayed and interceded for you greatly that got you where you are presently.

        8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

        Will a man rob God? Yes! Man still does today by their rime management, their absence of tithes, the indulgence of his abundance.

        We are in the same time frame like the one Malachi had lived in. Don't worry what man can do to your flesh but what God can do you for your spirit. God knows your appointed time to die. Why are you surprised? Get your roots in the word rather than the world. You are indispensable! There are millions of you! Quit thinking that you're the only one on this path.

        How can I show God my faith with this body? Figure out your different emotions and reactions of your flesh. Your flesh is rooted in emotion and not in this word. You are a steward over your own vessel. Your pastor is not your policeman. It's all up to you what you will with the word.

        9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

       10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there mat be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

        You know what's contagious? When you do one thing God says, and it works. You think, "Maybe the other things work the same?" Pain, suffering, and loss are the opening for you to connect with God. We're taking on the world that's within you. We are fighting troubled mindsets, indulgences, and pure wickedness. Let's drop down to verse 16 of Malachi 3.

        16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.

        17 And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

        18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

        God's church is like jewels in his hand. This remnant wrote a book of remembrance before him. There is still a remnant still today, a jewel sparkling in the darkness.

        We are in the same time of Malachi. The question to think upon is who's name will be in the book of Life?