A Purifying Priest Presides

Malachi 3:1-3

"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,

    Even the Messenger of the covenant,

    In whom you delight.

    Behold, He is coming,”

    Says the LORD of hosts.

    2      “But who can endure the day of His coming?

    And who can stand when He appears?

    For He is like a refiner’s fire

    And like launderers’ soap.

    3      He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;

    He will purify the sons of Levi,

    And purge them as gold and silver,

    That they may offer to the LORD

    An offering in righteousness."

The Lord Jesus did suddenly come to His temple. And He purified the sons of Levi. But don’t miss why: so they could offer an offering to God in righteousness.

First, We are here at the Lord’s table. Jesus comes to this, His table, every week. It is HIS table, as we are His people. We are owned, bought with a price of His blood.

Second, As He purified the sons of Levi, be on the lookout for moments when Christ will be purifying you. There are the regular means of grace, and there are the extraordinary moments. Convicting us of our error and sin is part of his grace to us.

Third, God wants a kingdom of priests offering up righteous sacrifices to Him. The core of that kingdom is right here – we offer up the sacrifice of praise, as we represent the sacrifice of Christ in this bread and wine.

So, 3 things: This is His table; He purifies His people over the course of their lives. He wants us to offer Him a righteous offering, but we can only do so by lifting up the name of Jesus to Him.

9/4/16