This sermon, “Holy Covenants, Broken Vows and Godly Children,” emphasizes the sacred nature of covenant relationships, particularly focusing on marriage and its impact on family and worship. Drawing from Malachi 2:10-16, it highlights the seriousness of treachery against one another and the consequences of breaking marital vows, contrasting the spiritual depth of covenants with mere contracts. The sermon underscores that marriage is not only a personal commitment but also a spiritual one, aimed at producing godly offspring. It calls believers to honor their vows faithfully, recognizing that their commitment to God and one another shapes their legacy and worship.
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Malachi 2:10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do
we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?
Malachi 2:11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been
committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the Lord’s holy institution
which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god.
Malachi 2:12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this,
being awake and aware, yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
Malachi 2:13 And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord
with tears, with weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore,
Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
Malachi 2:14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness
between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously;
Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
Malachi 2:15 But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit,
and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
Malachi 2:16 “For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers
one’s garment with violence,” says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to
your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”
I. THE BRUTAL VULGARITY AGAINST THE HOLY COVENANT.
Malachi 2:10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? …
What do you think happens when we die?
Bruce Springsteen replied “OK, individual consciousness, adios, but our souls
and our spirits, I think, grow and live on with the people we loved and who loved us,
and the people who we think we’ve had an impact on with our work in our daily
experience, so, I’m going with that.”
What happens when you die according to Singer Billy Joel
Billy Joel said, “I believe you go into other people’s hearts. When you pass, you pass
into other people’s hearts and are taken into their lives for the rest of their lives and
they pass that on. Just like music it never ends … it goes on and on.”
Malachi 2:10 ” … Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning
the covenant of the fathers?
II. THE BROKEN VOWS OF THE MARRIAGE COVENANT.
Malachi 2:11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been
committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the Lord’s holy institution
which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god.
Malachi 2:12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this,
being awake and aware, yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
John 4:16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
John 4:17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her,
“You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’
John 4:18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not
your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
Ecclesiastes 5:4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it;
For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—
Ecclesiastes 5:5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
Malachi 2:13 And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord
with tears, with weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore,
Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
God doesn’t bless our plan, God only blesses His plan.
Malachi 2:14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness
between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously;
Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
Malachi 2:14 (NLT) You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?”
I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made
when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained
your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.
Matthew 19:6 ” …. What God hath joined together let not man put asunder.
Malachi 2:14 (MSG) “… God was there as a witness when you spoke your marriage
vows to your young bride, and now you’ve broken those vows, broken the faith-bond
with your vowed companion, your covenant wife.
The difference between contract and a covenant
A contract is legally binding, while a covenant is spiritually binding.
In a contract, a professional relationship is established,
In a covenant a personal relationship is established.
A contract is based on mistrust between two people.
A covenant is based upon trust between two people and God.
While a contract is legally binding, a covenant is a spiritual agreement.
In a contract, there is only law.
In a covenant, there is grace.
In a contract, performance is recorded; In a covenant, no record of wrongs is kept.
In a contract I seek my will, in a covenant, We seek God’s will.
A contract expects restitution while a covenant seeks resolution.
In a contract you give to get, in a covenant you give to give.
A contract holds on to an offense or debt.
A covenant releases an offense or debt.
A contract expects you to come to them for forgiveness.
A covenant freely gives forgiveness.
In a contract, the goal is winning.
In a covenant, the goal is preferring one another.
III. THE BROAD VIEW OF GODLY CHILDREN.
Malachi 2:15 (NLT) Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit
you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your
heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.
Matthew 19:5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
Matthew 19:6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.
Malachi 2:15 But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit,
and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
