In today’s sermon, Greg Ho teaches believers from Malachi 1 to watch for the two signs of offering unworthy worship to God:
- Bringing a worthless sacrifice
- Bringing a weary attitude
Greg also teaches believers to remember that God is a great King; believers should therefore bring God their best as they offer their whole lives as sacrifices of worship to God.
Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
all right well it’s always a joy to be here to share the word of god with you and um wanna be about the word of god and just listening to the sunday school game that we just played you guys know your bible inside and out and i’m impressed by that i’m also impressed by the spirit that you have of service today though i want to talk about the wrong way to worship and so i want to preface that of course by saying that many of you worship the right way and so i’m not saying that you guys do it the wrong way but it is good for us to inspect what that wrong way might be okay so every once in a while you read a book that kind of sticks with you throughout your life right and as a boy i happened to pick up a book in the bookstore that was entitled the giving tree has anybody heard about that book before man um it’s a popular children’s book having sold more than 10 million copies over 50 years and i’ll be honest the time that i read it i found it to be extremely disturbing it’s a disturbing book and it haunts me even to this day let me just give you a short synopsis of what the book is about there are two characters in the book just two there’s a boy and a tree and the tree loves the boy and when the boy is young the boy joyfully swings from the tree’s branches and eats her apples but as the boy grows older he forgets about the tree until one day the boy now a young man is troubled and comes looking for money the tree doesn’t have any money but he says well i’ll give you my or she says i’ll give you my apple and the boy takes the apples and sells them the boy then forgets about the tree again until one day he comes back unsatisfied with his life and tells the tree what i really need is a house you need to build a house well the tree is glad to see the boy and he says why don’t you take my branches and you can use that to build the house so the boy cuts down the trees branches and builds the house and the young man well the boy now a young man goes off and lives his life and again forgets about the tree till one day he comes back as a depressed middle-aged man and he’s looking now for not a house but a boat that will take him far away because he’s sad so the tree again happy to see the boy gladly offers his trunk or her trunk to so that the boy can build the boat so the boy cuts down the tree and the trunk comes falling down and he builds his boat and he goes away forgets about the tree for many years finally many years later an old man comes back very tired no happier than before and the tree having nothing left to give the boy just says well i have a stump that you could sit on and the boy sits on the and that’s where the book ends now the title of the book is the giving tree and i suppose that’s supposed to refer to a tree that gives out of unconditional love right and probably that’s what many of you think about but that’s not what disturbed me about the book what disturbed me the most about the book even as a boy was the boy in the story the boy in the story never thanked or even showed any appreciation or love for the generosity of the tree the only thought that the boy ever had was what could i hack up next to get what i want right and even when i read the book as a young age i thought that was morally repugnant it’s a morally repugnant thing to to respond to love in that way and in a similar way we all know who’s been around this church is that god loves us with a great love doesn’t he he loves us so much that he gave his son for you so that you could live and my question is what has your response to that love been there are two possible responses to that love one is callous indifference like the boy in the giving tree there’s another response and really the right response to god’s love is worship worship worship is the right response to god’s love now my worship let me be clear i’m not talking about music right i’m talking about your whole life how do you live your life how is your obedience before god what does your adoration of god in your life look like what does your service to god look like and what is your proclamation to god or proclamation of god what do those things look like in your life that’s all wrapped up in worship so let me give you a simple definition of worship it’s simply listen understanding who god is and what he’s done for you and then responding to that understand what god has done for you and you respond to that so the question i want to ask you is what have you done with god’s love how have you responded to god’s love have you forgotten it are you indifferent to it or have you responded with a life of worship now i know what some of you are thinking you’re thinking greg i’m glad you’re preaching the sermon because all of these other people sitting on this side of the room have to hear it but thank you very much i got this because i come to church every week you see and and i sing the songs and i even put stuff in the offering plate so i think i’m covered all of that i think that’s enough to meet or even exceed the expectations of god well standing tall in the old testament is a cautionary tale of people who did those very same things and in some ways they paid the ties but to their surprise they woke up one morning and they discovered that god had judged it and had declared it all worthless it was all worthless all these years going to the temple making the sacrifices paying the tithe god had judged it and found it unworthy why well today we’re going to find out where their worship went wrong how does worship become worthless to god that will be a main point of our study this morning so turn to malachi chapter one if you’re not there already we read it for the uh scripture reading and of course even in sunday school in the last two weeks we’ve gone over it but it’s on page 950 again in your free bible if that’s what you’re using let me uh start with the word of prayer really fast father i pray that you would illumine your word in our hearts that you would have our church heed these warnings that we find here that we will respond to you with the worship that’s worthy of your great name in christ’s name amen okay so many of you who have been in sunday school know more about the book of malachi now than i do but just some background it’s written in about 450 bc at a ten at a time of intense disillusionment in the nation of israel see israel had just come back from exile and they were expecting that now that they were back there was going to be prosperity and peace and they were going to be maybe even expanding their territory maybe they would get out of this persian occupation that they were under they anticipated even becoming the rulers of the earth but 80 years later after that joyful return the reality facing them was a different reality because instead of prosperity and peace and plenty what they found was poverty and pestilence and famine and drought and even war now things were better for them don’t get me wrong than they were in exile they had their freedom they hide their livelihoods but they weren’t what they wanted to be so they were disillusioned and discouraged and they started to doubt the love of god and let’s be honest it’s not that hard to relate to that is it i mean today we often find ourselves in difficult situations in life and it’s easy to start to wonder whether god loves us through those situations where is god’s love in this and i want you to understand this morning that doubting god’s love is always the beginning of unworthy worship that’s where it begins when you start to doubt god’s love and you forget god’s love that’s where your worship will become unworthy god knows that this is the main problem in israel and that they were doubting his love and the reason they were doubting his love the same for us is that they were evaluating whether god loves them on the basis of their what their circumstances right so your circumstances are always the wrong criteria to evaluate god’s love it’s always the wrong criteria to evaluate god’s love your circumstances then in malachi 1 and verses 1 through 5 in the first five verses god’s purpose there is to remind israel of the right criteria to evaluate his love god first reminds israel of how his love what his love has accomplished for them in the past that before they were even born he chose them for love he chose jacob and not esau he chose to bless them and give them their own land give them an own inheritance and a nation and that was god’s promise and god had followed through indeed on that promise secondly in these first five verses god reminds them of his promised love in the future you see god promised them ultimate victory over all of these enemies they saw around them including edom and long after their enemy edom was gone god says there israel would still be around to witness the greatness of god so he’s directing them to his promise and and of course israel is around even today so by focusing on their present circumstance israel had forgotten god’s great faithfulness to them in the past and god’s great promises to them in the future and i want to say today we do exactly the same thing we we don’t when we look at our circumstances we’re lost but what we ought to do is we look behind us and what do we find behind us find the cross at the cross god sacrificed his son for us that is the clearest place we see god’s love and when we look ahead of us what do we see we see an eternal inheritance eternal life and an eternal crown of glory crown of glory that will never fade in first peter 5. so we have two signposts of god’s love for us there’s the cross that’s before us a cross that’s behind us and then there’s a crown that’s ahead of us right we’re looking to the cross that’s behind us and the crown that’s ahead of us and that’s how we know god loves us so don’t forget that that’s where we find god’s love most clearly displayed not in your temporary circumstances so i wanted to go through that because it’s important that you understand that otherwise the rest of the passage that we’re going to talk about today is not going to make any sense to you i see all true worship that’s pleasing to god it must come from a deep appreciation of god’s love on the other hand if you are to forget god’s love then your worship will become worthless see worship worthless worship comes from forgetting god’s love and that’s what the israelites did and it’s in response to israelite’s ingratitude and callous indifference to his love that in this text before us god lays out for us one of the harshest texts you’ll find in all of scripture and we must take heed in the warnings that well as well so now look with me in verse 6 of malachi 1 verse 6 god is speaking to the israelites about about the worship says this it says the son honors his father and the servant his master then if i am a father where is my honor and if i am a master where is my respect says the lord of hosts to you o priests who despise my name stop right there for a second what’s going on here you will agree to with me of course that it’s universal in all cultures that a son ought to ought to respect his father right why because the sacrificial love that his father has shown him in raising him and teaching him and providing for him and in protecting him to neglect to honor his father is to trample on that very love many verses in the bible uh called forth as truth my favorite one has become proverbs 30 verse 17. this is what proverbs 30 17 reads it says the i that mocks the father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures and i think that’s one of the verses we should make our kids memorize right that’s that’s the one one verse you take you want to pick that likewise the god says a servant obeys his master because why it’s out of respect and fear of losing his job we understand that but to their god the israelites have given neither honor nor respect not even the basic human honor a son would honor his father with or a servant would respect his master with if a father deserves honor and a master deserves respect then how much more does the living god the creator of all things deserve honor and respect see to disrespect god to disrespect god is to act in a very foolish way but here’s what god’s saying god says you have despised my name now look back at the end of verse six uh we didn’t speak this first the israelites responds like this they’re blind to how they re they despise his name so they’re blind to it and they say but you say how have we despised your name god explains it to him in verse 7.
god says you are presenting defiled food upon my altar but you say how have we defiled you god says this and that you say the table of the lord is to be despised see the word despise here another another way to understand the word despise is really to show contempt show contempt for and the word defiled here could also be understand as polluted they’re really the sort of the same idea they’ll contempt for and to pollute and god is accusing israel of showing contempt for his name contempt how because they offered to him sacrifices that were polluted they engaged in unworthy worship and if you if you’re the kind who likes to take notes um today we’re going to see from this passage two signs of unworthy worship right just two not three points two today uh two signs of unworthy worship two things that if we see these things in our own worship we know that we’re in trouble so the first sign of unworthy worship is found here in verses 7 to 12 and it’s this sign of unworthy worship is to bring a worthless sacrifice to bring a worthless sacrifice the god here is accusing the israelites of showing contempt by daring to bring a worthless sacrifice now it’s important to understand in verse 7 that they don’t go around saying with their mouths right that the lord’s table is contemptible they don’t show up in church one morning or temple one morning and say boy that that table is contemptible right they don’t do that with their mouth and neither do we how do they say it they say it in there their actions they say that by bringing with them a polluted and a worthless sacrifice by doing that they’re saying this god is no big deal god and his name is worthless that’s what they’re saying when they bring those sacrifices see what you bring to god and how you serve god you are declaring with that how much god is worth to you you see that you are declaring that for all to see you’re declaring that for your family in front of your family you’re declaring that in front of your friends you’re also declaring that in front of your children wow do any of us dare say that god is contemptible do we betray what’s really in our hearts by our actions and here are the actions of the israelites look down with me at verse 8.
this is what verse 8 says god says to the israelites but when you present the blind for sacrifice is it not evil and when you present the lame and sick is it not evil why not offer it to your governor would he be pleased with you or would he receive you kindly as the lord of hosts see what they were doing is they were bringing from their flock the blind the lame the sick as your sacrifice back then if you had a blind and a lame and a sick animal it was worthless because first of all it’s against god’s law to even consume that meat and you couldn’t breed them and they’re you know to lead your flock they’re kind of falling behind they’re difficult to take care of so they’re actually a liability they’re worthless and usually you would just put an animal like that out of its misery but these were the very animals that they were bringing to god’s altar the worst of what they had that’s what they were giving to god don’t you see that to offer god the worst of your flock something unfit for human consumption that’s an open insult we understand that that’s a that’s common sense that’s an insulting gift so god says this why don’t you take those diseased animals those lame animals those worthless animals and why don’t you try offering those to your governor let’s see what they let’s see what he would say see their governor in this in this um in this case they’re under persian occupation so their governor is a persian is an extension of the persian king who likely would have just killed them outright for their disrespect they would not dare to do that and today if we you know you and i would go to meet perhaps the ceo of our company and we were to bring them like an old sneaker you know or you know under the seat of our car we would found like a half-eaten candy bar i found that um and you give that to your boss you might expect to lose your job right because that’s a disrespectful gift so god says if your earthly governor would be displeased with this gift and he would not receive you kindly why would you think to offer that gift to the what what does it say god is in that passage the lord of hosts why would you offer that gift to the lord of hosts wow god uses that term actually very purposely the lord of hosts returned the lord of hosts literally means the lord of armies the lord of army imagine in your life uh or imagine in your mind an innumerable army of angels right innumerable and in front of them is standing the shining king of glory and he’s leading the way that’s the picture do you think of god like that that reminds me of what jesus said in matthew 26 53 when he was being arrested he says this do you not think i can appeal to my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than what 12 legions of angels right what are the legion is about 6 000 so 12 legions of angels would be about 72 000 angels now just to put that in perspective in second kings 1935 one angel slayed 000 soldiers in one night that’s the kind of power one angel has and you multiply that by 72 000 you’re talking about unfathomable unthinkable power an army of angels stretching as far as your eye can see elsewhere in scripture this army is called the hosts of heaven and in front of them leading them is the lord of hosts and this king of glory is looking down from unh from on high upon these little israelites bringing him as gifts and tribute their worthless garbage and he says you have no honor or respect or fear of me how dare you would insult the lord of hosts like that that’s a downright suicidal thing to do isn’t it people have gotten completely insane what would god have required of them what would what god what would god want for them to offer that would please him well first of all let’s get this out of the way it’s not about the money it’s not about the value it’s not about the raw monetary value of the sacrifice god doesn’t need their money and he doesn’t need their livestock why because god already owns all of it he owns the cattle of a thousand hills it says on psalm 50 11.
psalm 50 10 and every beast in the forest is already his he doesn’t need an extra dead goat or two not what he needs but here’s the thing god has a deeper purpose behind the whole sacrificial system and god instituted this system to make a very specific point what’s the point when god instituted the sacrificial system he had very specific prescriptions for how he wanted the sacrifices to be brought his prescriptions were found in a few places but uh one is in leviticus 22 verse 20. and you know why don’t you keep your finger in malachi and try to turn back to leviticus 22 verse 20.
and i’ll read that to you leviticus 22 20.
i said this whatever has a defect you shall not offer for it will not be accepted for you when a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the lord to fulfill a specific vow or for a free will offering of the hurdle of the flock it must be what perfect to be accepted there shall be no defect in it those that are what blind or fractured or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs you shall not offer to the lord nor make any of them an offering by fire on the altar of the lord see these sacrifices were required to be perfect unblemished in fact without defect and specifically explicitly they couldn’t be blind or lame or disease so god commanded the israelites to bring not their worst but their best their most pure they’re most worthy of their flock why because understand this the whole sacrificial system in the old testament was just one big arrow it was just one signpost that pointed to who jesus right see when jesus christ would come in another 450 years he came as the blemished and imperfect son of god right no no he came as the perfect and spotless son of god jesus christ was worthy in every way in every way pure without sin without defect see you and i we’re blemished we have sin we have defects but jesus christ didn’t have any of those defects and the purposes of all of the animal sacrifices was merely to point the way to jesus christ see your sin and my sin demands a reckoning every person in history who was a sinner is a sinner has sinned against god and we are all blemished and a just and a holy god demands that your sin be paid for in blood whose blood your blood and the story should end there but god is so gracious and throughout the old testament he set up this pattern for people to see that when people sinned instead of god demanding their blood and their life as he righteously should god said i will overlook your sin if you provide a substitute death for that sin the blood of a pure and a perfect animal and why did it need to be pure and perfect because jesus was pure and he was perfect you see god was introducing in the old testament sacrificial system the big theological word idea of substitutionary atonement substitute substitutionary atonement and we know that these dead animals was never going to cover their sin hebrews 10 4 tells us that explicitly in the bible it says it is impossible for the blood of what of bulls and goats to take away sin why this makes perfect sense is an animal life worth more or less than a person’s life or less less much less so an animal’s death can’t possibly cover a person’s sin the whole point of the animal sacrifice was to foreshadow a sacrifice to come of infinite value infinite worth much more value than you or i so that it would be sufficient to cover our sins with interest and that sacrifice was of course jesus christ the father’s own begotten son infinitely precious and infinitely worthy god gave his son and he poured out his fearsome wrath onto the perfect lamb on cowboy and those who believe in jesus his death his death is accepted by god in place of your death that’s why we don’t have to bring animal sacrifices anymore today because there’s no need for the signposts now that the reality has come but the israelites fight coming and offering their blemish sacrifices their impure sacrifices they didn’t display the sign that god intended they in fact obscured the sign see blemish sacrifices don’t point to jesus jesus is not blemished and so instead of proclaiming the good news of substitutionary atonement israel concealed the message and he they invalidated the gospel that god had wanted them to communicate and that’s the reason that god is so serious about this okay so having said all that just back up take a timeout you might say you know greg this is all nice to be talking about animal sacrifices but what does it have to do with me i’m not killing animals at church right not but even today god called us to bring a sacrifice to him doesn’t he let me ask you what kind of sacrifice are we bringing are we to bring to god today as a believer i want you to turn to romans romans 12. i want you to look at verse one with me moments it’s so clear here the apostle paul speaking he says this therefore i urge you brethren by the mercies of god to present your what body as a living and holy what sacrifice acceptable to god which is your spiritual service of what guess what you are the sacrifice you are the sacrifice your whole life everything about you your life your breath all of that is to be poured out on the altar as a living sacrifice before god you are to come and offer yourselves body mind and soul to god and his purposes and what are god’s purposes in ephesians 5 2 calls us to this ephesians 5 2 says this god’s purpose is to walk in love just as christ also loved you and gave himself up for us a what offering and a sacrifice to god as a frequent goal see jesus demonstrated what it means to offer yourself as a living sacrifice in ephesians 5 2 it says that means you walk in love is no longer about you if you’re a living sacrifice you have died it is now about loving others just other people in the world but specifically he’s talking about god’s people god’s people the people that jesus loves where do we find god’s people the church right church see god calls us now to the church not the building but the people to walk in love in the church we you and i are called by our lord of hosts to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the people that he loves you get that this is what jesus said in john 13 31 34. says this uh new commandments i give to you that you what love one another even as i have loved you that you also loved one another so let me ask you calvary how are you doing at that are you loving god’s people sacrificially you see today we’re not called to bring lambs and goats are we we’re called to bring ourselves our time our gifts our effort to deploy all of it not just the worst of it but the best of it in service of the lord of hosts so let’s just be really practical here are you always coming in late and in a hurry to leave are you not making an effort to talk or get to know anybody in the church because if you are doing that then you can’t be loving them can you does it make sense oh look i know people are limited i know your time is limited but the question is this are you giving the best of your time to god when was the last time you looked at your brother with love and you said you know what you can text me you can email me you can call me i want to do what i can to build you up so that you can be a hero for jesus christ what can i do to help you grow how can i serve you look some of you say i don’t feel connected i want to ask you instead of blaming the church ask yourself this what have you sacrifice to be connected to god’s people you sacrifice see as a living sacrifice god calls you not just me not just the pastor called you make sure that the living sacrifice of your life isn’t the blind and lame one it’s not the leftovers after spending the best of your energy and your time on yourselves what if you sacrifice for god’s people again i want to say what i said at the outset i don’t mean to sound negative or harsh many of you are commended or to be commended for your sacrifice i know there are people in this very church who i know are struggling with significant issues and you know what those people you can’t stop them from serving they’re my heroes they’re the first to volunteer for every ministry not because they necessarily love the ministry or feel feel called to it but they they love the church and they want to fill the need they’re willing to be living sacrifices for god on the other hand if you call yourself a christian and you’re not serving god in any way with your time and your effort in any way that is sacrificial to you then you have to consider is your sacrifice blind and lame before god some people in in uh in america who thinks that it’s enough to come to church one and a half hours a week you know sunday morning 11 to 12 30.
that’s god’s time that’s what i’m going to give to god and and the rest of the week i’m just kind of busy with my own stuff right i you know have to work and kids to raise you know tv shows things like that i know everybody’s different you know everybody has different situations but let’s just face it if general if you’re giving god one and a half hours a week out of your 168 hours a week and if that is the extent that which you give god you have to think about it is that a living sacrifice is that blind or is that lame my point is this we ought not to be trying to fit god in our schedule right instead being a living sacrifice means to make god and his people your schedule give god your schedule that’s the devotion that god demands and that’s the worthy sacrifice that you can bring to his altar see we should be stumbling all over ourselves shouldn’t we to to serve in every ministry in this curse the number of people i see in this room with a number of hands we should never struggle ever to fill any ministry we should never struggle to find people in nursery we should never struggle to find people to give rides or to make meals for people those are just the simple things and if you’re able to help in these ministries yet haven’t stepped up then don’t give excuses don’t wait for somebody to ask to come to ask you to serve it’s not fair to put all of that responsibility on other people instead go and present yourself for service to god our deacons should be flooded with volunteers begging to let them have the privilege to sacrifice for the lord of hosts so understand that if you’re a christian your sacrifice ought to cost you something it also has to be painful what happens if it doesn’t let’s read the next verse in malachi and find out in verse 9 of malachi 1 it says this but now will you intrigue god’s favor that he may be gracious to us with such an offering on your part will he receive any of you kindly says the lord of hosts this is what god saying to the israelites he’s saying you would bring offerings such as this and then expect me to answer your prayers you have some nerve god will give your prayers as much respect as you give his altar what are you saying god’s not done which is chewing out look in verse 10 oh that there was one among you who would shut the gates that you might not uselessly kindle fire on my altar i am not pleased with you said the lord of hosts nor will i accept an offering from you god would have you shut the gates shut the doors of the temple the church close the church see god saying this i’d rather have an empty church than to endure hypocritical worship and brother i don’t know about you but i never want to hear those words out of god’s mouth here at calvary ever amen god says this one of you please close the whole thing down because i don’t need you anyways he’s saying i don’t need you look at verse 11.
from the rising of the sun that is from the easternmost parts of the world even to its setting that is from the western most parts my name will be great among the nation and then every place incense is going to be offered through my name and a grain offering that is pure for my name will be great among the nations said the lord of hosts this is what god’s saying there will be a time where among the nations of the whole world pure offerings will be offered in my name this is a reference to the kingdom that christ will establish when he returns i believe this is an eschatological reference but you see this is what’s going on israel has always been god’s chosen nation right they prided themselves in that but god is saying you think i need your limb and blind offerings i don’t need your offerings at all my great my name will be great among all the nations of the world why should i put up with you maybe i should be looking at one of them instead of you you see god doesn’t need your worship or mine if we stop worshiping him what the very blocks would cry out see god doesn’t command us to worship him because he somehow needs it right he calls us to worship him because listen it’s for our own good to do so it’s a blessing and privilege to worship god and if you don’t give him the worship he’s do it is actually to your own detriment why because listen the blessing you will reap at the end is in some sense proportional to the sacrifice you give now it’s true it’s a biblical concept in luke 6 38 it says by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return and in proverbs 3 9-10 it says honor the lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vasts will overflow with new wine see the sacrifice you’re giving to god now will one day be poured out into your lap in good measure press down shaken together runeth over right to pour out an unworthy sacrifice now that is to later miss out on god’s blessing that’s what god’s saying god’s saying you could be missing out on the blessing we wouldn’t want that but look at verse 12 the next two words are so sad in verse 12 god says but you but you but you are profaning it in that you say the table of the lord is defiled and as for its fruit its food is to be despised either gonna be the ones missing out in the end all right well back to our outline the first sign of unworthy worship is to bring a worthless sacrifice there’s a second way that we can we can bring an unworthy worship and that is to bring a weary attitude a weary attitude you find this in verses 13 to 14 and verse 13 it says this god saying to the israelites you also say my how tiresome it is and you disdainfully sniff at it says the lord of hosts now here god is bringing up a new charge it’s no longer merely about what they bring but it’s now about their attitude when they bring it and here’s their attitude you know this whole worship thing something that god’s calling us to do with the sacrifices serving god is so tedious every week is the same thing so much work and the israelites sniffed at it it means they turn up their nose without it come every week we do the same things we offer the same animals and sing the same songs this attitude his very attitude is what god is condemning we ought never to come to god’s house and to worship him with a ho-hum just kind of a bored with it attitude because coming with that attitude this is what it’s saying you’re saying god is boring you jesus sacrifice that might be have where we saw tired of thinking about it see we as christians we dare not come in any other way than with great deal and great fervor god is satisfied with nothing less than zeal for his name and in psalm 69 9 this is what the psalmist says it says zeal for your house consumed me zeal for your house consumed me romans 12 11 warns us not to lag behind in what intelligence or zeal but to say what right fervent in spirit serving the lord and brethren believe me god notices the fervency of your spirit and to the glory of his name and if your spirit isn’t fervent that’s what you do remember god’s remember god’s love you meditate again upon the cross before you behind you and the crown before you that’s what you think about that’s the key to the biblical deal and you see god doesn’t just want us to do the right actions he wants us to bring the right attitude when we worship him a right attitude a right attitude asks whenever you come in those doors you say god what can i do for you and your people this morning it’s a question that should be on your lips and on your hearts whenever you walk in what can i do for these people how can i talk to them how can i encourage them how can i find some time during the week to spend with them how can i use my gifts and my abilities to build up your church the body of christ is not your attitude every week is that what’s in your mind every week if not then we need to reflect on whether we’re bringing a weary attitude towards god god warns us if we bring a weary attitude we’ll slowly become more and more brazen in our disrespect for him go back to verse 13 picking up in the middle of the verse verse 13 says this and verse 13 of malachi 1.
says and you bring what is taken by robbery and what is lame or sick so you bring the offering should i receive that from your hand says the lord now in this passage we see lame or sick again but there’s one more thing in this one element in this passage that’s new and that is things that are taken by by robbery taken by force this probably refers to things that were stolen they were going and stealing their neighbor’s unblemished lamb and then sacrificing that on the altar see i don’t want to give up my own stuff right i’m gonna go steal something from my neighbor and bring that to god that’s outrageous let that sin against their neighbor to steal their animal to steal the best of their flock and then they’re gonna go and present that to god as if he doesn’t know as if he doesn’t care i mean is that evil is that foolish they’re unwilling to make any sacrifices for god themselves they’re fine with their neighbor doing it and they’re fine with stealing from their neighbor wronging their neighbor do it that’s the opposite of love that’s not loving your neighbor the opposite of that and that’s what having a weary attitude will do for you it doesn’t matter just bring anything go over there and take this stuff i forget that god is an avenger of wrongdoing they lost all their fear of god finally people with these weary and disdainful attitudes will not only become raisin their disrespect willing even to cheat their neighbors but eventually they’ll become willing to cheat god himself this is an interesting verse go look at it in verse 14. this is our last verse today says this but cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it sacrifices a blemished animal to the lord stop right there see this is a picture of a man who you know he needs something right he maybe there’s something going on in his life and he prays to god that god would help him right so god fulfill his need and as the custom of the time he would sometimes make a vow and say you know if you do this for me god i will give you the sacrifice as a sign of my thankfulness as a as an offering of thanksgiving so god in his goodness accomplishes whatever it is that man wants whatever he prays for but then when it’s time to fulfill his vow to god the man now thinks oh well i don’t want to bring the best one over here um i got what i wanted now so why don’t i just bring the blemished animal and this is what he’s talking about he’s gonna bring the blemished animal as thanksgiving to what the lord has graciously blessed him not now is that not wrong is that not an evil thing to do the man did not have to make the vow but then after tasting the goodness of god he responds with ingratitude he’s only thinking about his own bank account right so this man acts in bad faith to god and just brings a whatever sacrifice breaking his vow to god and cheating god this is the heart of a deeply ungrateful and selfish man this man will listen you will gladly take from god’s hand blessing right and benefits you’ll gladly take that but when it comes time to give thanks and devotion and sacrifice nowhere to be found not willing to sacrifice anything of value he just wants god to give him what he wants that’s the evil heart that we’re looking at here and we’re no different when we come to our church and we look constantly only to receive from god as we rightly do but then it never crosses our mind to think about what we can give at thanksgiving it has devotion to god and if that’s us what have we forgotten look at the end of verse 14. what have we forgotten here god just makes it clear here in verse 14 for i am a great king says the lord of hosts and my name is what fear among the nations do you believe that god is a great king that he is the lord of hosts of heaven you fear the name of god then let us not dare to give him unworthy worship and let’s remember daily the great love that god has displayed for us in the cross in the past and in the crown in the future and let us have a joyful and zealous attitude to continually bring before god sacrifices that are costly and worthy of his great name the lord of hosts let’s pray god we are here for you in this church we’re not here for any other reason we’re here to worship you and give you the devotion that you deserve so awaken in our hearts a longing for you a zeal for you that we would never again bring blemish sacrifices to your altar but that we would strive to bring the the worthiest sacrifices that we can bring whatever we bring we know it’s not enough however we serve we can never serve enough we’re not trying to repay you but lord we want to show thanks we want to worship you in a worthy way help us to be a church full of your zealous servants who have given our lives for you as living sacrifices help us to be ready to do your will as you call on us to work in your church to build your kingdom in jesus name amen