Foretold / Prophets of the Bible | Part 10 · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · Nov 25, 2019 · 76 min watch · 3 min read

Foretold / Prophets of the Bible | Part 10

Big Idea

Quoting the message: God loves me faithfully, so I can trust Him fully, end quote..

Drawing from the book of Malachi, the sermon argues that every failure to obey God — from halfhearted worship and dishonored marriages to cynicism about His justice — traces back to a single root: doubting that God truly loves us. The six disputes in Malachi reveal a pattern in which Israel's skepticism of God's love cascades into dishonoring His name, defiling the marriage covenant, denying His goodness, and ultimately despising His ways altogether. The answer is not trying harder out of guilt or fear, but genuinely receiving the unfailing love God demonstrated when Jesus — the Word made flesh — came to free us, bearing all human guilt on the cross.

Key points

1
1Everything begins with doubting God's love — until we truly believe He has always loved us, nothing else in our relationship with Him adds up.
2
2Doubting God's love leads directly to dishonoring His name — shown in Israel bringing defiled, leftover offerings rather than their first and best.
3
3Dishonoring God spills into defiling the covenant of marriage — treating it as a source of personal happiness rather than a holy covenant that points to God.
4
4Israel denied God's goodness by blaming Him for injustice, but the real problem is assuming we are 'the good ones' — a comparison God's standard of holiness exposes as false.
5
5Robbing God of tithes and offerings is ultimately robbing ourselves and others, because trusting God with our finances is the pathway out of financial anxiety.
6
6Doubting God's love inevitably ends in despising God's service — the religious hokey-pokey of cycling in and out of faith is always rooted in never fully grasping how much He loves us.
7
7Malachi's promise of the coming messenger and Lord is fulfilled in John the Baptist and Jesus — the Word made flesh, full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

Application

The sermon calls each person to honestly ask: do I really believe — not just intellectually, but in my heart — that God has always loved me? That question is the hinge on which everything else turns. If you find yourself giving God your leftovers in time, money, or marriage, or if cynicism about His fairness keeps you at arm's length, the pastor invites you to trace that all the way back to a doubt about His love — and then to look at the cross. Jesus bore every ounce of human guilt so you would not have to. Receive that love, let it be the reason you bring your first and your best, and let it be what keeps you from drifting away. Communion is the regular, concrete reminder: He has always loved you — trust Him fully.

Take it into your week

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“It says in first chapter one verse two, the first dispute, the first statement that God says is this, I have always loved you, says the Lord”
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From the transcript
“In verse six, it says, the Lord of heaven's army says to the priest, a son honored his father and a servant respects his master”
From the transcript
“In chapter two verse 10, he says, are we not all children of the same father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other violating the covenant of our ancestors”
From the transcript
“he ends in verse 17 with this next one. He goes, you have wearied the Lord with your words. How have we wearied him? You ask”
From the transcript
“Look what he says in verse six of chapter three. I am the Lord and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed”
From the transcript
“He's referring to what he said in verse chapter one verse two. How he has not changed is, I will always love you”
From the transcript
“He says in chapter three down into verse 13, you have said terrible things about me, says the Lord”
From the transcript
“When he says in verse one, 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”
From the transcript
“And then he goes on in chapter four to describe the end the the end of the book book of Revelation, and basically says, I'm gonna come in power”
From the transcript
“four hundred years later the book of John opens up like this? The Gospel of John. In the beginning, the word already existed. The word was with God, and the word was God”
From the transcript
“And I love verse 14. So the word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness”

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Every problem in the book of Malachi starts here — not with bad behavior, but with a bruised belief. God opens with three words that should settle everything: 'I have always loved you.' Israel's response is not outright rejection; it is a weary, skeptical question: 'Really? How have you loved us?' That question sounds almost reasonable. Life had been hard. The promises felt distant. And so doubt crept in where trust used to live. The sermon made the point that this is the hinge on which everything else turns. Before Israel brought defiled offerings, before marriages broke down, before cynicism took root — first came the quiet, unspoken suspicion that maybe God did not really care. It is a pattern that shows up in our own lives too. When we give God our leftovers — in time, in attention, in the energy we bring to our faith — it is rarely because we are openly rebellious. More often it is because somewhere underneath, we are not fully convinced He is for us. The honest starting place is not trying harder. It is asking yourself the same question the sermon put in front of everyone: do I actually believe, not just in my head but in my heart, that God has always loved me? That question deserves a real, unhurried answer — and this week is a good time to sit with it.

For reflection

When you hear God say 'I have always loved you,' what is the first feeling that rises in you — and what does that reveal about where you really are with Him?

Pray

Pray for honesty about where doubt in God's love has quietly taken root in your heart.

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

The book of Malachi opens with God saying 'I have always loved you' — and Israel pushing back. Before we dig in, take a second to think about what it would mean to really believe that, not just as a fact, but as something you'd stake your life on.

Discussion questions

1
In Malachi 1:2, God opens with 'I have always loved you' — and Israel's immediate response is essentially, 'Really? How?' What does that exchange tell us about where Israel's heart was, and why do you think doubt about God's love might be such a foundational problem?
2
Malachi 1:6 describes Israel bringing blind, lame, and sick animals as offerings — their leftovers instead of their best. The message connects that directly to doubting God's love. What's the logic there? How does what we believe about God's love shape what we're willing to bring Him?
3
In Malachi 2:10, the covenant of marriage gets pulled into this same pattern of dishonoring God. The message describes marriage as a holy covenant that points to God — not just a source of personal happiness. What's the difference between those two ways of seeing marriage, and how might the first change the way we approach it?
4
Malachi 2:17 records Israel accusing God of injustice — essentially saying, 'The evildoers prosper and God does nothing.' The message points out that their real problem was assuming they themselves were 'the good ones.' How does comparing ourselves to others distort the way we see God's fairness?
5
By Malachi 3:13–15, the people have moved from doubting God's love all the way to openly calling His service worthless. The message describes this as a kind of religious cycling in and out — never fully landing. What does that drift suggest about what's really underneath disengagement from God, and how might communities help people find their footing again?
6
The message lands on John 1:14 — the Word made flesh, full of unfailing love and faithfulness — as Malachi's answer finally arriving. How does Jesus showing up in flesh and bearing human guilt on the cross speak directly to the root problem Malachi spent four chapters diagnosing?

Pray together

Receiving the love God declared before we ever doubted it — and asking Him to make it real not just in our minds but in the way we live

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Go deeper

Continue the series

Foretold / Prophets of the Bible

Week 10 · 6 messages

Where these passages are preached

Malachi 1 Malachi 2 Malachi 3 Malachi 4

Explore related topics

Doubt and Faith God's Love Marriage and Covenant Obedience From Love Worship and Offering

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