Malachi Chapter 3

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare

the way before me:  and the Lord whom ye seek, shall

suddenly come to his temple,

The Lord comes to his temple in three ways

1.   He comes to the temple in Jerusalem

2.   He comes to the temple of his body

3.   He comes to the temple of my body.

1. He comes to the temple in Jerusalem

Luke Chapter 10 verse 51

1  And it came to pass when time was come that

he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face

to go to Jerusalem.

   It is now time for Jesus to be crucified. 

From this point forward Jesus will progressively

reveal who he is until the contrast between sinful

man and the Son of God will get him killed.

          If as John said “Cain slew Abel because his deeds were evil and his brothers righteous” how much more was the full revelation that Jesus was the Christ get him killed.

          Jesus said, “No man takes my life I lay it down.”  While there is no doubt at any time Jesus could have escaped the cross, it was inevitable that as his identity became unveiled that, the evil would kill the pure.

         Jesus many times told people not to acknowledge who he was. This was a calculated unveiling that is set in fast forward from this point.  This should not surprise us because from the beginning of time God has slowly and lovingly been revealing his nature to mankind.  

         Slowly because there is so much to understand; lovingly in that he does not destroy us in the process.

          From this point forward the gloves are off.  He will no longer clothe himself in thick darkness.  He will suddenly come to his temple and let what happens happen.

          This can be seen in his triumphal entry. 

His glory is revealed to the point that he told the religious leaders if the people didn’t praise God the rocks would cry out.

          His entry into the temple is no less bold.

In anger he overturns the tables of the money changers and drives them out boldly claiming the house of his Father is a house of prayer.

2.   He comes to the temple of his body

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:

When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph,

before they came together, she was found with

child of the Holy Ghost.

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man,

and not willing to make her a publick example,

was minded to put her away privily.

behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto

him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David,

fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that

which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt

call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people

from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be

fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,

saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child,

and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name

Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

          Though the miracle of the incarnation is one of those things we cannot fully comprehend it is safe to say,

“The Lord whom you seek suddenly came to his temple.”

         Only and angel could convince a man that his bride to be was pregnant and a virgin at the same time.   Joseph is amazingly silent in the scriptures.  There is nothing he can add to or subtract from the process he would be involved in.

It is not what people or circumstances do to us; our real enemies are our own sins.  Satan is, no doubt, our enemy. But we through our selfishness grant him permission to destroy our lives. 

  3.      The third way Jesus came to his temple was

when he came to the church.  We are the body

of Christ and on the day of Pentecost he came

suddenly upon us with all the Glory of the

triumphal entry, throwing out our selfish ways

and overturning the tables that hold what we

value more than him.  His temple will be a

Temple of prayer.

1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they

were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly

there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty

wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as

of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were

all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with

other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

 Once again we have the word, “suddenly.”   

The speaking with other languages shows

that, whatever happened on that particular

morning, flesh and blood was not revealing

it to them but the Father which is in heaven.

“And upon this rock I will build my church.” 

To all who possess the Holy Spirit they are

the Church and the Lord has suddenly come

to his temple.  While Jesus was on the earth

walking with his disciples he told them these

things you do not understand now but you

will later.  Later is when a man seeking the

Lord first realizes that Jesus has suddenly

come into his heart in the person of the

Holy Spirit.

         Joshua saved the Israelites from their enemies;

Jesus would save us from our real enemies ourselves.