1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,280 Hey, good morning. Welcome to Vita Springs. 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:04,360 Glad all of y'all are here today. 3 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,720 If you were here last week, you know, we have shifted from the 4 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:12,960 book of John and we're in the book of Malachi for a few weeks, 5 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:18,120 which I was told last week a few is relative and maybe even 6 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:20,360 misleading. We're in Malachi for eight 7 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:24,040 weeks, so hope you're OK with that. 8 weeks and then we'll go 8 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,680 back to the book of John. If we've not met. 9 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,880 My name's Gordon. I'm one of the pastors here, got 10 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:35,040 to kick off the series last week here again today and we we're 11 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:36,760 going to jump right in. If y'all are good with it, go 12 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,320 ahead and grab a book. There's Bibles in the seat in 13 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,200 front of you. If you didn't bring your own, if 14 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,520 you don't have a Bible, we would love for you to take that one 15 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:46,920 home with you. And I think there's a page 16 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,920 number up on the screen. Yep. 8 O1 for Malachi chapter 1. 17 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:59,120 We're in verses 6 through 14 today, and I've got a story for 18 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,000 you. So when I was young, I don't 19 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,960 remember how young, my mom had many rules in her house, my mom 20 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:10,200 and dad. One was no bat, no bat in the 21 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,440 house. Well, she wasn't there and I had 22 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:17,400 a bat in the house and I broke her lamp and then she came home 23 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,760 and all of a sudden I found myself in a courtroom. 24 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,160 And my mom is the, she's the lawmaker. 25 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:29,280 OK, They set the rules for the house and now she is acting as 26 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,800 the judge too. And I'm the defendant. 27 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,200 And she asks me how do I plea? And I said not guilty and I 28 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,880 pointed at my sister, which I thought this would be a fun 29 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,040 story to tell cause some of y'all know my sister Heather. 30 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,320 I pointed at Heather and now the the trial just got really 31 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:46,600 interesting. And so you're looking for 32 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,640 credibility of witness. And they found her more credible 33 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,440 than me and probably because it was my bad. 34 00:01:54,480 --> 00:02:01,120 And anyway, I broke the house rule, I broke her instructions 35 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:06,480 and there was agreed upon punishment for that. 36 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,680 And so the sentencing came and I was sentenced to a spanking when 37 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:14,160 my dad got home. And I learned my lesson. 38 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,440 I honored my mom and feared her after that and my dad. 39 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:20,240 We're in the book of Malachi, right? 40 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,560 And Malachi is set up in the form of six disputes where God 41 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:26,640 is going back and forth with his people. 42 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:28,600 And it's very much a court hearing. 43 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,720 It's very much a trial where there's a lawmaker and there's a 44 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,480 law and they've agreed upon it and there's blessings and curses 45 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,320 if you break the law and God is having to step in, in the form 46 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:45,720 of judge, lawmaker and judge. There's a defendant today and 47 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:47,320 they're going to plead not guilty. 48 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,600 And what they don't know is the charges far greater than what 49 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,960 they're willing to admit. It's a far greater offense than 50 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,000 they realize. And that's what we're going to 51 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,040 be digging in today. So you know what you do? 52 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,520 Maybe some of you have been in jury duty before, or maybe 53 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,120 you've been a defendant in a court hearing. 54 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,080 I don't know. You know what happens when the 55 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:12,440 judge is about to come, right? All rise for the honorable. 56 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,200 OK, the judge comes into this story and we have the judge's 57 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,480 words. And in a sense, the judge is 58 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,320 coming into the room and he's going to speak today through his 59 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,160 word. And so I'm going to ask us all 60 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:27,080 to do something, all who are able rise with me now for the 61 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:34,400 reading of God's Word. I'm going to read it and then 62 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:40,000 I'll, I'll pray for us. Starting in verse 6, a son 63 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,200 honors his father and a servant his master. 64 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,520 If then I am a father, where is my honor? 65 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:49,040 And if I am a master, where is my fear? 66 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:53,480 Says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise my name. 67 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,720 But you say, how have we despised your name? 68 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,560 By offering polluted food upon my altar? 69 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,360 But you say, How have we polluted you by saying that the 70 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,080 Lord's table may be despised? When you offer blind animals and 71 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,320 sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that 72 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:14,520 are lame or sick, is that not evil? 73 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,760 Present that to your governor. Will he show you favor? 74 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:19,680 Will he accept you or show you favor? 75 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,520 Says the Lord of hosts. And now entreat the favor of 76 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:25,800 God, that he may be gracious to us. 77 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:30,080 With such a gift from your hand will he show favor to any of 78 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:34,200 you, says the Lord of Hosts. Oh, that there were one among 79 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:38,200 you who would shut the doors, that you might not Kindle Fire 80 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,120 on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you, says 81 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,360 the Lord of Hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your 82 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,760 hand, or from the rising of the sun to its setting. 83 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:53,360 My name will be great among the nations, and in every place 84 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,560 incense will be offered to my name. 85 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:59,960 And your offering for my name will be great among the nations, 86 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:03,240 says the Lord of Hosts. But you profane it when you say 87 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,520 that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that 88 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:11,160 is, its food, may be despised. But you say what a weariness 89 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,880 this is. And you snorted it, says the 90 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:18,320 Lord of Hosts, you bring what has been taken by violence, or 91 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,160 is lame or sick. And this you bring is your 92 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,600 offering. Shall I accept that from your 93 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,200 hand, says the Lord of? Says the Lord, cursed be the 94 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,840 cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it, and yet 95 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:33,840 sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished for. 96 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:38,120 I am a great king, says the Lord of Hosts, and my name will be 97 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:45,040 feared among the nations. Father, Great King, Master, we 98 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,840 come to you now with reverence, and I pray, Lord, that you would 99 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:52,760 help us to. We don't truly know how to be 100 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,000 reverent before God. We've never stood before you 101 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,760 face to face. But would you help us today? 102 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,560 I pray all of us would have humble hearts as we hear from 103 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:08,640 you, the Lawgiver, and I pray Lord, that you would help us and 104 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:15,080 by your grace, help us to live in a way that honors you, that 105 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,680 gives you the pure worship that you deserve. 106 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,120 We pray for all of these things and anything else you would like 107 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:26,720 to do today in Jesus name, Amen. Y'all gonna have a seat? 108 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:36,680 OK, There's a lot in the verses being in the book of Malachi. 109 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:41,920 Last week we had a syllabus where we needed to just like if 110 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,320 you were to take a new course, you students, if you're jumping 111 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:47,720 into a new course, you have a syllabus at the beginning to 112 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,560 help explain some key terms that we'll need and kind of the plan 113 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,480 for the course. I'm going to give a syllabus 114 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,520 recap today before we jump back into Malachi. 115 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,040 I would encourage you go back and listen on our Spotify 116 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,840 account to last week to catch, to catch a lot more about the 117 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:06,200 book of Malachi. But here's a quick recap. 118 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,240 Who is Malachi? Malachi is a prophet, meaning 119 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,280 God spoke through him. Malachi's name means messenger 120 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:19,360 and that's what he is. He's he's referred to as a minor 121 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:21,840 prophet, but that's just because the book is shorter. 122 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,080 But what he has to say it's God speaking. 123 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,400 It's important. And he is the last prophet. 124 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,400 He's the last book in the prophetic literature before we 125 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:33,440 see the Gospels when Jesus comes along. 126 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,240 So in a sense, he's the last prophet until you get John the 127 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,040 Baptist and until you get Jesus himself. 128 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,000 Now, some terms that we learned that are important to hold onto. 129 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,600 1 is covenant comes up a lot in Malachi. 130 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,520 If it doesn't come up by word, by the word itself, you just 131 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,920 need to know that there is a covenant that these people have 132 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,640 agreed to between them and God. A covenant is stronger than a 133 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,360 promise. It's stronger than a vow. 134 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:04,920 It's a relational agreement with terms and blessings and curses 135 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:10,360 if followed or broken, and the covenant that they are in. 136 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,560 It's important to know it's different than the covenant we 137 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,480 are in now through Jesus Christ. And so there's a lot of 138 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,320 translation that happens through an Old Testament book. 139 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,560 What did it mean for them then? What does that mean for us Now? 140 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,320 Another term you need to know. Israel, ethnic Jewish. 141 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,440 Israel at this point, under that covenant was God's chosen 142 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:35,080 nation. That's different. 143 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,480 Now it's anybody, regardless of ethnicity, who comes to God in 144 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,480 faith through Jesus. But when you see Israel, it's 145 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,880 God's chosen people. And then last term heritage, 146 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:50,080 we're learning, we learned a lot last week that there is a when 147 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:55,280 you look at land or inheritance, that is a material possession 148 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,760 that represents something greater, a spiritual possession. 149 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,960 And all of this is on the line. If they are faithful and live to 150 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,440 God, live for God, they have the spiritual possession and 151 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:09,920 material possession. And if they don't, that is 152 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,200 what's at risk is they would lose their material possession, 153 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,320 which they already have. They've been scattered and 154 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,040 brought out of their promised land and a remnant has returned. 155 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:21,280 They're back in Israel now, but they're still struggling. 156 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:25,400 So what's really on the line is they have God, their spiritual 157 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,520 possession. Will they continue to faithfully 158 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,440 follow him or will they be spiritually exiled? 159 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:35,320 That's all on the line now. Let's jump into the verses and 160 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:37,320 I'm going to keep setting it up like a courtroom. 161 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,760 OK? And so before you ever walk into 162 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,840 a courtroom, there is a pre-existing lawmaker, right? 163 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,480 I don't come into the courtroom and all of a sudden they're 164 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,200 making up the laws on the go, right? 165 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,800 There's already a law and that means there was a lawmaker. 166 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:57,240 OK, someone stamped this is law. This is the punishment if 167 00:09:57,240 --> 00:09:59,960 guilty. All of that is pre-existing 168 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,280 before you step in a courtroom. And that's the same here today. 169 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,440 This obviously is God. He is our lawmaker, and there's 170 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,240 a lot of titles given to God in our text today. 171 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:14,160 So we see a title like Master, and that is true of God. 172 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:18,640 He is our master, we are his servant, and we see great king 173 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:21,920 multiple times through this section and through the whole 174 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:25,120 book of Malachi. He is a great king and we are 175 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,240 his subjects. A Lord of hosts apparently is 176 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:31,880 used more in Malachi than any other place, which literally 177 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:36,720 means Lord of Angel armies. So he's not just Lord of us, 178 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:41,280 he's Lord of heavenly beings. And then another term that we 179 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,880 see in this text is Father. OK, so you've got Lord, King, 180 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,800 Master. And then which one is unlike the 181 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,000 rest? Father. 182 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,720 He is all of those things. And he deserves respect. 183 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,040 He deserves reverence, He deserves fear. 184 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,880 And then he's a father. And he relates to us as a father 185 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:06,880 does a child. And he communicates to us that I 186 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,120 am a God of abounding love and faithfulness. 187 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,520 And all of that is true too. And that kind of father deserves 188 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,680 honor. OK, so that that is the 189 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:22,440 lawmaker. Now, if there's a, there's 190 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,480 another term given to God, rightfully so. 191 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:29,600 He is our creator. Hey, this is his world. 192 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:33,000 It's not our world, right? It's just like you come into the 193 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,840 judge, the courtroom and it's the judges courtroom. 194 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,800 OK, We stand for him. OK, He is the creator. 195 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:45,440 He created our world. It's his, and thus he has 196 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:48,840 determined what the law is. He's basically taught us how to 197 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,480 live in his world. Just like those of you parents. 198 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:53,960 You've got kids and you have to teach them how to live in your 199 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:55,920 house. OK, My parents set instructions. 200 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,200 No bats in the house. OK, We live in his world. 201 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:03,880 He has given us laws that help us know what was this world 202 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,160 intended to be? How are his people intended to 203 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,320 live? How are we to relate with him? 204 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,000 What is proper and what is improper? 205 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:17,600 Have you ever heard the phrase it's their world? 206 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:20,640 We're just living in it, You know, like people say it now 207 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,560 about Taylor Swift, like it's Taylor Swift's world. 208 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:26,240 We're just living in it. You know, where it originally 209 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:28,720 came from. I had to look this up, and I am 210 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:30,800 ashamed to say I don't really know these people. 211 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,520 I just know their names. But some of you older in the 212 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:38,360 crowd, you'll appreciate this. While filming the 1960 movie 213 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:42,480 Ocean's 11, so the original Dean Martin famously quipped it's 214 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,520 Frank's world, referring to Frank Sinatra. 215 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:46,440 It's Frank's world. We're just living in it. 216 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:48,640 And that was the first time it showed up on the map, that 217 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,160 phrase. And so that phrase, it says a 218 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,360 lot. It's that is a dominant 219 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:56,040 personality. When they come into the room, 220 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,760 everybody notices. It's their world. 221 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:01,400 We're just living in it. If they were in your living 222 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:03,640 room, who would have the remote? You or them? 223 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:06,680 They would have the remote. If you were all getting in the 224 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:08,520 car, who would get the driver's seat? 225 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,720 Who would call shotgun? It's their world. 226 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,240 We're just living in it. They make the rules. 227 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:18,880 We bend to them. We adjust ourselves to them. 228 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,560 OK, so whose world do we live in? 229 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:25,440 It's God's world. He's creator. 230 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,840 We're just living in it. Can't it? 231 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:32,240 It's maybe about a celebrity. It would come with some like 232 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,920 baggage where it's like they're a self absorbed personality. 233 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:40,000 They feed on the attention of others and that is not true of 234 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,320 God. Okay, you realize God existed 235 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,920 for eternity long before you or I ever showed up, long before 236 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:49,640 the world was created. He wasn't insecure about his 237 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:53,400 greatness, and so he made us to help him be secure. 238 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,080 God's was fully existent, self-sufficient within the 239 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:02,000 Trinity, Godson, Holy Spirit, and he was fine without us. 240 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:07,400 He is great regardless of if we think He's great. 241 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:12,400 And because of that, he deserves a certain kind of treatment. 242 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:15,520 OK. We come into his world and we 243 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,600 are to treat this great king, just like if you were to go into 244 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,200 a King's court and rightfully there is all of a sudden a way 245 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:26,440 that you treat them. I went to South Africa a while 246 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:28,800 back and I went into their world. 247 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,480 It's not my world. I went into their world and they 248 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,520 had to teach me. When I come, how do I honor an 249 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:36,800 elder? How do I shake someone's hand? 250 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:38,800 It's different than here. I had to learn. 251 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,400 I come into their world and I need to learn. 252 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,040 Not because they needed it. They were doing just fine before 253 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,680 I got there. It's just simply because it's 254 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:49,520 right. When I come into an elder's 255 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:52,920 presence, when I come into somebody else's world, this is 256 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,360 just how I treat them. And so our first take away today 257 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:00,680 is there is a proper way to treat God. 258 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,200 There's a proper way to treat God because he's the Master, 259 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,360 He's the King, he's the Father, he's the Lord. 260 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:08,400 There's a proper way to treat God. 261 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,480 So we have the lawmaker, we have his laws, and his laws are 262 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:21,040 simply helping us know how do we properly live in God's world? 263 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:26,240 How do we properly treat God? If you go through the Old 264 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,280 Testament, you see all the laws, right? 265 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,440 One, one thing, I've been reading through Deuteronomy, and 266 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:35,240 I see a lot in Deuteronomy, be careful to do, be careful to do, 267 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,440 be careful to do over and over. Be careful to do all that I've 268 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,320 commanded. Be careful to do over and over 269 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:43,560 and over. And it's because there's a 270 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,800 proper way to live in God's world. 271 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,640 There's, you know, like the 10 commandments, one of which I'll 272 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,480 just read. Exodus 2012. 273 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,840 Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long in 274 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:58,880 the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 275 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,240 Where do you think that honor came from? 276 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:05,000 Where do you think that dynamic came from between a child and a 277 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,520 parent? Why are we to honor our earthly 278 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,200 parents? Because we're to honor our 279 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:15,080 greatest parent, our Father. And in the Old Testament you 280 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,880 have lots of laws about sacrifice, which we see a lot of 281 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:21,320 references in our text today to sacrifice, right. 282 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,000 And so let me translate something for us real quick. 283 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,640 Because we're in the new covenant under Jesus. 284 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:31,720 What is sacrifice? OK, sacrifice to them. 285 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:34,320 If they would have heard the word worship, they would have 286 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:39,920 immediately thought sacrifice. That is how we ascribe worth to 287 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:42,000 God, which is the word worship worth. 288 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,320 That's how I approach him. That's how I honor him. 289 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,640 There's free will sacrifices that I just give because I want 290 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,360 to honor Him. It's even how I pay for sin. 291 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:55,560 It's how I approach him when I've offended him. 292 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:59,720 I need to give a sacrifice to pay for the sin and make us 293 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,040 right again. And there's all these laws about 294 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,960 sacrifice, but it simply means worship. 295 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,680 OK for us today. I'll explain in a second. 296 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,079 Do we still have male lambs that we're supposed to bring the 297 00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:13,040 church? I'll answer that one for you in 298 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,760 a second. For now, I'm just translating. 299 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,760 It's worship. It's how we ascribe worth to 300 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:20,680 God. It's how we approach him. 301 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,359 It's how we draw near to Him when we've offended him. 302 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:25,599 It's how we give free will, offering simply to give Him 303 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:30,320 honor or affection. And so there's a proper way to 304 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,720 worship. I said there was a proper way to 305 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:35,520 treat. Really, there's a proper way to 306 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,720 worship. God is the focus of today. 307 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:42,680 It's not just what you're feeling. 308 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,200 It's not what you think He wants. 309 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,640 It's not what you might consider more convenient. 310 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:52,840 I'll just opt for this instead of that. 311 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:57,240 It's what I have on hand. There is a proper way to worship 312 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:05,920 God as defined by God. One of the things you'll see in 313 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,160 the text. Look at verse 10. 314 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:12,840 Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors, 315 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,600 that you might not Kindle Fire on my altar in vain. 316 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,600 I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will 317 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:20,720 not accept an offering from your hand. 318 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,600 And so God has a right way that we're to worship him, right? 319 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,600 And if we worship him improperly, it does nothing for 320 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:29,560 him. He doesn't accept it. 321 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:31,880 Some of you know the story of Cain and Abel in the Old 322 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,800 Testament. He has regard for one brother's 323 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,520 offering and he has no regard for another. 324 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,240 OK, there's proper and there's improper and he does not accept 325 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,000 it. It's it actually does worse. 326 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:45,400 It offends him. It grieves him. 327 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,960 I have no pleasure in this where he's he's begging one of the 328 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:50,800 people. Oh, that one of you would have 329 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,360 come and shut the temple doors so that you don't keep offering 330 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,440 sacrifice kindling fire uselessly. 331 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:00,920 This is use. What you're doing is useless. 332 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:03,320 This does nothing for me. This is not proper. 333 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,880 I would rather you shut the doors then continue to worship 334 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:09,800 me improperly. That's what's going on here in 335 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:14,680 the text. If you are coming to an airline 336 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:20,440 and you get to the TSA agent desk, they have a proper form of 337 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,720 identification, right? And if you gave a library card, 338 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,480 a voter registration, it would do nothing for them. 339 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,280 They do not need that. They have no pleasure in that. 340 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,360 They have a proper way for you to come in. 341 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:35,760 OK. And it has to be that we don't 342 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:37,400 make the rules. We live in his world. 343 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:42,280 He makes the rules. And so let me try and tackle 344 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,760 some questions we should all be asking as Christians, right? 345 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,320 Or really as humans living in God's world. 346 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,800 What is proper worship today? What is it? 347 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,120 Am I doing it properly, improperly? 348 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,920 What is proper worship today? Are we supposed to bring a male 349 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,600 lamb to church next week? I'll tackle that one first, no? 350 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,720 OK, so we live under a new covenant, right? 351 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:09,680 A new agreement with God, with new terms, new ways of 352 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:11,600 worshipping God. Why? 353 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:17,800 Because Jesus Christ was the perfect, spotless, blemishless 354 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:24,160 male lamb that came and made a once and for all sacrifice for 355 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,680 all time through faith in Jesus Christ. 356 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,360 He is now your regular sacrifice to God. 357 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:36,160 And so you come to God, you worship God through Jesus 358 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,320 Christ. We don't need lambs anymore. 359 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:43,600 When Jesus hung on the cross and said it is finished, that made 360 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,600 lambs obsolete. We don't need them anymore. 361 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:48,920 So no, don't bring a male lamb to church next week. 362 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,400 And then another question. So what is proper worship today 363 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:58,080 according to God? There's so much guys. 364 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,880 There's so much. And I'm trying to keep it really 365 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:06,960 simple today. Proper worship has always been 366 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:11,600 more about heart than action. OK, so even if the action isn't 367 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:15,440 bringing a male lamb, and I'll try to get out what the actions 368 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:19,800 might be today, what what the Bible says, but it's always been 369 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,880 more about heart than about action because it's all about 370 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:28,800 ascribing worth to God, right? And you don't, you know, you can 371 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,680 do the action and not ascribe worth to God. 372 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:36,040 You can go through emotions. You can when we think worship, 373 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,280 we think singing, right? You can sing to God and your 374 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:43,240 heart can be somewhere else. OK, you can read your Bible, you 375 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:47,000 can come to church, you can do all the acts that we might think 376 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,840 of giving worth to God, and your heart is not giving him any 377 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:55,200 worth. And so it's not necessarily only 378 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,720 action. It's always been more about 379 00:21:58,760 --> 00:21:59,960 heart. It is both though. 380 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,680 Just as God does not accept improper acts of worship, He 381 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,200 certainly does not accept improper hearts of worship. 382 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,520 Psalm 5116 through 17. King David says, For you will 383 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:15,080 not delight and sacrifice, or I would give it. 384 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,280 You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 385 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,840 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and 386 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,760 contrite heart. Oh God, you will not despise 387 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:27,120 you. See what David's saying? 388 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:31,400 David is saying there is a need for a sacrifice right now. 389 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,400 David has sinned. This is after he realizes his 390 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:39,240 guilt for murder and adultery and he comes to God and he's 391 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,080 saying I could just give you the act of worship, but you would 392 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,480 not delight in that. The sacrifices of God, that 393 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:47,720 would just be going through motions. 394 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,720 The sacrifices of God truly as if my heart was humble and 395 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:57,400 broken and contrite and properly revered you, respected you 396 00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:59,560 honored you, ascribed worth to you. 397 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,360 It's always been more about heart than it has been the 398 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:05,320 actions. And so then look at some things 399 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:10,120 that we see today after Jesus about sacrifice. 400 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,640 Mark 1233. Jesus is talking with someone 401 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:21,040 about the commands and they respond to him and to love him. 402 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,200 God with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the 403 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:29,640 strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself is much more 404 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,280 than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 405 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:37,000 To which Jesus says to this man, you got it, you're not far from 406 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:38,480 the Kingdom. OK? 407 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,120 It's more than the ACT, it's the heart. 408 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,720 Romans 12/1 Paul, the apostle Paul writes, I appeal to you, 409 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,240 therefore, brothers Christians, by the mercies of God, to 410 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:56,240 present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable 411 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,320 to God, which is your spiritual worship. 412 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:03,160 And so worship today is still in one sense, what it's always 413 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,160 been. It's hearts that describe worth 414 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,720 and honor and fear to God. And there are actions 415 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:15,440 associated, there are commands. God gives us ways to properly 416 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,400 worship him. And really Romans 12 is saying 417 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,040 it's your whole life at your deepest level. 418 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:26,200 It's your heart, your bodies, your everything is given as a 419 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,880 sacrifice, a living sacrifice to God. 420 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:38,320 That means it's what you think. Oh boy, it's what you say, It's 421 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,240 your attitudes, your motivations. 422 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,280 It's your holiness. It's what you do with your body. 423 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:52,440 Everything is a living sacrifice of worship to God. 424 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,640 Now we go back to the aim of Malachi, right? 425 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:02,840 Malachi calls us to honor God through faithful living. 426 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:05,520 OK, so that's what's happening here. 427 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,800 He's saying I have a proper way for you to live in my world. 428 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,160 And for us as Christians today, it's everything we want to honor 429 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,080 God through faithful living and that is our spiritual worship to 430 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:20,360 God. So there's a lawmaker and a law 431 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:22,840 and that's all pre-existing. Now let's come back into the 432 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:26,360 courtroom. OK, who's the guilty and what is 433 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:28,760 the charge? Did you notice who the guilty 434 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,880 is? It's right there in one of the 435 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:37,080 first verses, OK, the people are doing lots of things improperly, 436 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:42,720 but the person on the stand right now, the guilty O priests, 437 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:48,480 look at the end of verse 6. O priests who despise my name. 438 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,160 And so the priests are being called up, and the charge 439 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,160 against the priests is you despise me. 440 00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:00,200 And if you look at all the other words baked in here, pollute to 441 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:01,880 file. If you look at other 442 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:07,960 translations, it's you show me contempt, OK, Essentially the 443 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:14,240 charges, priests, you dishonor me, your father who deserves 444 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,280 honor, OK. And the priests would be looking 445 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,320 at that. And if the judge was to ask what 446 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:22,960 do you plea, they would say not guilty. 447 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,320 They ask, how have we despised your name? 448 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,280 Give us the evidence. We would do no such thing. 449 00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:31,400 We know Exodus 2012. Honor your father and mother, 450 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,760 and you shall live long in the land we would never. 451 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:39,640 How have we despised your name? To which God says he gives, He 452 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,600 brings evidence. You say not guilty. 453 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,200 God brings up. Leviticus 13. 454 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,680 If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall 455 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:52,280 offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the 456 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,720 entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before 457 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,960 the Lord God might bring up. Deuteronomy 2321. 458 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:04,080 If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay 459 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:06,720 fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of 460 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,880 you, and you will be guilty of sin. 461 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:12,640 Hey, these laws, God has taught them how to properly live. 462 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,120 And then you look at the evidence God brings forward to 463 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:18,200 the priests. You've allowed people to bring 464 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:20,600 sick, lame and blemished animals. 465 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:24,840 I require a particular form of worship and you're allowing 466 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,840 something less. He says at the end of our verses 467 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,960 today, verse 14. Cursed be the cheat who has a 468 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,280 male in his flock and vows it and then brings what is 469 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,680 blemished instead. OK, they've broken they've 470 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:42,320 broken the sacrificial laws. And so here's basically the two 471 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,280 evidences. First is for the priests. 472 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:52,640 By allowing improper worship in my world, you have dishonored 473 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,600 me. By allowing it, you have 474 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,120 dishonored me. And now if you were the people 475 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:00,280 sitting in the courtroom and they're talking about your 476 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,440 sacrifices, what would you be doing? 477 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,160 Are you innocent just because he's up on the stand? 478 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:08,560 No. You'd be sinking in your chair 479 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:14,160 like he's talking about me. OK, the people are guilty of 480 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,640 bringing improper worship. The time right now, the court 481 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:19,400 hearing right now is for the priests. 482 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,000 You allowed it. But I want all of us to know 483 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:24,800 it's for priests and people. Both are guilty. 484 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:33,800 Both have broken the law. Here's why it's important for 485 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:38,840 the priests and keep in mind translating between covenants, 486 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:43,200 right when Jesus came along, he was the great high priest, the 487 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,480 once and for all priests. And so we don't have the office 488 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,760 of priests now, OK? But the priests at this time, 489 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,640 they were those set apart by God from the from the tribe of Levi, 490 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:58,280 from the sons of Aaron, to be those who would guard God's 491 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:02,440 sanctuary, which included who could come in and what sacrifice 492 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,960 could come in. That was their responsibility. 493 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,160 And they've neglected it, OK. They were also charged to 494 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,880 instruct the people how to live in God's world. 495 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:13,760 They had God's law. They were the ones that taught 496 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:15,360 it. And they're not doing a very 497 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:18,320 good job. And so the priests are held 498 00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:24,480 first and foremost accountable. And then for the people, I 499 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:26,320 realized that the priests allowed it. 500 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,840 But people, you brought it. You brought it. 501 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,160 You knew better. You brought not your first and 502 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,680 your best lamb, according to what I said. 503 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,080 You brought sick and blemished and lame lambs. 504 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:42,440 You promised one thing you didn't follow through. 505 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,440 There's two other things you see in the text. 1, They're 506 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,560 following laws selectively, OK? They're picking and choosing 507 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:55,240 which ones they're going to follow closely, carefully to AT, 508 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,400 and they're picking which ones they it's OK. 509 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:01,080 He won't notice the lawmakers not here. 510 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,760 The other thing you see them doing is there's a line in here. 511 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:11,760 It says, you snort at it, verse 13, but you say what a weariness 512 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:13,520 is. This is OK. 513 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:15,720 The priests are saying what a weariness. 514 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:20,080 This is burdensome. They're serving begrudgingly and 515 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:22,680 you snort at it, which could be translated. 516 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:26,880 You sniff with contempt, OK, You're not doing it joyfully. 517 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,760 And so I imagine priests and people, this is a burden to them 518 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,000 really. Another lamb to pay for sin, 519 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:35,080 really. It's the time of the year again 520 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,320 for me to bring a free will offering again. 521 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:42,840 And so there's lots of ways, but here's what I hope you remember. 522 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,280 The priests are allowing improper worship and that 523 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,120 dishonors God. The people are bringing improper 524 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:53,760 worship and that dishonors God. OK, let's talk about for both. 525 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,040 And I want to leave you with a question because again, we're 526 00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,600 trying to figure out what is the greatest charge here? 527 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,840 Is it simply breaking a rule or is it something much greater? 528 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:07,320 What does it communicate to the lawmaker when you disregard his 529 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,360 laws? What would it communicate to my 530 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:12,600 mom when I bring a bat into the house? 531 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,520 I disrespect her. I dishonor her. 532 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,760 And that, that again, is why the primary charge, the priests are 533 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,120 saying no. How have we? 534 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:30,680 But the take away here is how you worship and what you allow 535 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:35,800 says a lot about how you view God, whether you view him 536 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:39,720 highly, whether you view him with honor, or whether you have 537 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,280 a low view for him. You despise his name. 538 00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:46,440 How you worship and what you allow says a lot. 539 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,560 And so now's where we're going to get to application. 540 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:55,600 What does it look like for you? What do you bring to God again, 541 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:58,080 our whole lives, living sacrifices. 542 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:03,600 What do you bring? And any priests in the room, 543 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:11,080 here's here's the catch. When Jesus became the once and 544 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,320 for all priest, he also made all who trust in him a royal 545 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:18,400 priesthood, a holy nation. We are a priesthood of 546 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:22,800 believers, OK? And so in one sense, all of us 547 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:27,400 are called to guard God's proper worship. 548 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:31,000 All of us are called as Christians, not to the 549 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,960 unbelieving world, but to other Christians who have vowed 550 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,120 something to God when they professed His name and they have 551 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:42,840 to follow through, OK? We are all called to help each 552 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:47,160 other by what we allow or by what we shut the doors on. 553 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:51,600 We are called to help each other honor God through faithful 554 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,800 living, bringing him proper worship because it's His world 555 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:56,480 and we're just living in it. OK. 556 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:58,520 And so here's what I'm going to do today. 557 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:02,240 I'm going to target our elders and our pastors with this 558 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:04,480 application. And I want the rest of you, 559 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,320 though, to be listening closely and come back next week. 560 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:09,760 There's a Part 2 to this whole dispute. 561 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:13,120 And next week we're going to get all like we're going to dig into 562 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:17,280 what it looks like for us as people to help guard God's 563 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:22,920 proper worship. But to be to honor this text, he 564 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:28,240 is calling out those set apart to primarily instruct the people 565 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,280 and what is proper worship and guard what comes in. 566 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,840 Let me talk to the elders, which I'm one, OK? 567 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:36,480 It's rare that we get to just apply something directly to the 568 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:39,800 elders in the church. OK, Elders at Vita Springs 569 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:46,120 Church, there's six of us and we are set apart by God to lead the 570 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,480 church. What's our mission? 571 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:52,560 To glorify God, My loving God, loving people, and making 572 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:54,880 disciples of all nations. OK. 573 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,960 And we're to guard even how our worship services are set up to 574 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:02,400 worship God properly. And so pastors and elders, you 575 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,120 know God's word, OK? You know what it means to 576 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:09,600 properly worship God. And I'm preaching to myself too. 577 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:19,520 What do you allow? What do we allow what when you 578 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,600 sit in a meeting with another Christian who's opening up about 579 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:28,120 life, What do you say that's not that big of AI know you're 580 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,280 trying and yeah, I struggle with that too. 581 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,480 Like we're yeah, that's like a complicated thing now like we 582 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:37,120 all it's pretty common. I What do you allow? 583 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:45,000 When God has spoken clearly, what is proper in our worship 584 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,320 service? What do we allow? 585 00:34:48,199 --> 00:34:52,040 OK, what has God said is a proper way for his people to 586 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,520 gather once a week to worship them? 587 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:58,280 What would we allow? Do we get to talk about anything 588 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:04,040 we want or is he determined what we should talk about, what we 589 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,080 should teach in our worship gatherings? 590 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:10,400 Do we get to sing whatever we want or is he determined as he's 591 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:14,360 spoken about how he wants to be sung to how He wants worship 592 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:18,400 like worship through song to be? When we do baptism in the Lord's 593 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:22,320 Supper, key elements in a church worship service, do we get to 594 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,040 take the Lord's Supper however we want? 595 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,440 Is it for anybody or is God-given specific instructions 596 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,000 for how we're to do those things? 597 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:32,880 And then elders, are we guarding it? 598 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,480 Are we allowing anything outside of what God has deemed proper 599 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:43,200 church? We did not do it perfectly and 600 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,680 we're trying our best. And really that's our pursuit is 601 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:48,560 how can we most honor God as a church? 602 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,240 And that's what we believe is our obligation to you is to lead 603 00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:54,640 the way in that what is God, What does it look like to live 604 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,840 properly in God's world? Have you noticed any changes in 605 00:35:57,840 --> 00:35:59,400 the church over the last year and a half? 606 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,360 Have you noticed we've changed how we've been teaching the 607 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:08,120 Bible front to back, book by book, expository preaching, 608 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,800 because we believe God spoken about how to preach His Bible 609 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:14,920 and we want to do that properly. Have you noticed that the Lord's 610 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,960 Supper, it used to be set up at different tables around the room 611 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,520 because that's what was expedient or convenient. 612 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,840 We got through the line quicker. OK, But there's principles in 613 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:28,880 Scripture where we all come as a body to 1 table together. 614 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:31,800 And so it takes a little bit longer, but it's our best 615 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:34,120 attempt at saying, how do we want to worship God? 616 00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:37,680 If you're new here, you might not know this, but we sent our 617 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,880 lead pastor away for five months, which is not convenient. 618 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,480 OK, Why? Really, if if I was to dig down 619 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:49,400 at why we would do that, it's because he's learning something 620 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:53,240 that he can bring back to help us as a church be more faithful, 621 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:55,160 to honor God through proper worship. 622 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,800 That's why it's worth the inconvenience. 623 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:01,800 OK? We want to guard what's proper 624 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:08,280 according to what God has said comes down to our worship, song 625 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:10,520 selection and the types of songs we would sing. 626 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,800 It comes down to how we structure our leadership, how we 627 00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,680 govern the church. It comes down to what are we 628 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,160 going to do to like, how are we going to use our time? 629 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:23,840 Are we going to throw parties? Are we going to do more 630 00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,040 trainings? How are we going to equip the 631 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:28,240 church? These things that God has 632 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:32,400 instructed us on as elders, we're not going to do perfect, 633 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:34,600 but we're working hard to do our best. 634 00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:40,160 And now Malachi's talking to the priests, and all the people 635 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,040 would be sitting there sinking in their chair, right? 636 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:47,760 And so if I'm talking to the priests in quotes, what do we 637 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:50,720 allow as people? Were any of you sinking in your 638 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:54,960 chair? What am I doing in my life? 639 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:59,360 My life's the living sacrifice. There's one principle in the 640 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:04,000 text from the people in Malachi that we could pull out and start 641 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,480 to analyze our life by. Do you give God your first and 642 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,280 your best? Do you give him the male lamb as 643 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:11,960 he's instructed? Do you give him your first and 644 00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:14,400 your best, or do you give him the seconds and what's 645 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:16,720 convenient? And so people, let's think about 646 00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:18,440 it. Do you give him the 1st and the 647 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:24,600 best of your time? It's his world. 648 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:28,000 We're just living in it. It's his time. 649 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,960 You could say it's his life. Paul would say it's no longer I 650 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:33,560 who live, but Christ who lives in me. 651 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:35,040 My whole life is yours. God. 652 00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:37,200 You give him the 1st and the best of your time. 653 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:43,000 OK, those of you who are single, Paul would also say that is the 654 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:47,080 best life stage for devotion to Christ and his church. 655 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:50,760 Paul says, I wish that all of you were single like me, because 656 00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:53,640 then you're not distracted. And I can say this as a married 657 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:57,320 man, you're distracted when you have a wife to take care of and 658 00:38:57,320 --> 00:38:59,400 kids. And Paul would say you can be 659 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:02,120 more wholly devoted to God. So those of you in your 660 00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:04,560 singleness, do you give the first? 661 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:09,400 Do you give the best life stage to worship God? 662 00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:15,360 Do you run hard while you're in this spot in life and service to 663 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:20,680 God, worship to him? I've also heard once you peak 50 664 00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:24,360 and on, those are some of your most influential years. 665 00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:26,480 You have a gained wisdom from life. 666 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:31,000 Those are the best decades. Do you give the best decades to 667 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:34,200 influence and disciple and love God's people? 668 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:37,760 Do you give your first and your best people? 669 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:40,320 When you look at your your budget, you get your paycheck 670 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:42,920 in, do you give your first and your best? 671 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:46,720 If you decide a percentage to give to God and set it aside 672 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:50,240 before the bills are paid, before your gym membership, 673 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:54,240 before going out to eat, or is it the leftovers and what's 674 00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:56,720 convenient? Do you give your first and your 675 00:39:56,720 --> 00:40:02,920 best? And we're going to dig in a lot 676 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:11,360 next week into that. How you worship says a lot about 677 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:15,880 how you view God and I hope Malachi would press you by this 678 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:19,800 point to suggest, maybe stronger than suggest. 679 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:24,640 If you disregard proper instruction about how to live in 680 00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:27,640 God's world, you dishonor the Father. 681 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:31,120 And so now it comes time for sentencing. 682 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:38,000 Verse 14 Malachi. God through Malachi says cursed 683 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:41,440 be the cheat. If you look in the next chapter, 684 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:46,120 chapter 2 verse one and two and now O priests, this command is 685 00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:48,840 for you. If you will not listen, if you 686 00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:52,160 will not take it to heart to give honor to my name says the 687 00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:55,840 Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will 688 00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:59,520 curse your blessings indeed. OK, it comes time for sentencing 689 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:01,440 and God says I've given you the evidence. 690 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:05,240 My charge stands. How do I find you guilty? 691 00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:09,440 And here's the sentencing. You remember Deuteronomy or 692 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,960 Exodus? I can't even remember the 5th 693 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:14,480 commandment. Honor your father and mother and 694 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:16,600 you'll live long in the land, OK? 695 00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:18,960 What's the opposite? What would the curse associated 696 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,040 with that be? If you dishonor the father, what 697 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:24,320 would that mean? Not living long in the land, OK? 698 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:27,280 And if you look at the covenant for these people, it was you 699 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:31,800 will be exiled and scattered from your material possession, 700 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:36,000 the promised land, and from your spiritual possession, me, God. 701 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:39,520 OK, there's the sentencing. Cursed, are you? 702 00:41:40,240 --> 00:41:43,400 If you're guilty of improper worship or if you're guilty of 703 00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:46,640 allowing improper worship? Either way, the real charge is 704 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:49,560 that you dishonor your father. And the sentencing is that you 705 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:51,280 should be exiled from him forever. 706 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:55,600 Now, some of you might say, Gordon, this is a bit heavy. 707 00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,360 You sure? I feel like I do a pretty good 708 00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:01,640 job worshiping him. Like, I come to church and I do 709 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:03,240 read my Bible. I try pretty hard. 710 00:42:03,400 --> 00:42:07,440 I feel like my heart honors him. OK, me too. 711 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:12,840 You realize though, all of us have If we're living sacrifices, 712 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:17,120 we are polluted at best, OK? Even if we do it again with the 713 00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:20,560 right act of worship, do we do it with the right heart all the 714 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:22,000 time? No. 715 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:26,160 And so it always comes back to we as humans are terrible at 716 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:28,120 honoring our Father in his world. 717 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:33,320 We dishonor the Father and we deserve to be exiled, Timothy 718 00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:35,880 Keller, a famous pastor who's now passed away. 719 00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:40,440 He famously said. We are more sinful and flawed 720 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:43,320 and ourselves than we ever dared believe. 721 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:48,480 And so people and priests, whether you bring it or allow 722 00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:51,880 it, we are more sinful than we realize and more flawed than we 723 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:54,320 believe. And we do not deserve to be in a 724 00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:57,040 relationship with God. We just, we're guilty and 725 00:42:57,040 --> 00:43:01,520 deserve to be exiled. Did you notice in the text, 726 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:03,160 there's a surprising alternative? 727 00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:07,080 There's the curse, but squeezed in the middle there, there's a 728 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:08,960 surprising alternative. You know why? 729 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,920 Because God's not like a governor, and he's not like a 730 00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:16,520 TSA agent. Our God is a gracious heavenly 731 00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:20,200 Father, and he tells us we can entreat his favor. 732 00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:29,920 OK, look in the middle. Verse 9 and now entreat the 733 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:33,280 favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. 734 00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:36,400 That word entreat. It's like David said in Psalm 735 00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,920 51, broken and contrite heart. It's make yourself sick. 736 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:43,520 It's humble yourself. It's come to God and plead for 737 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:46,000 favor. He is the great king. 738 00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:48,480 We have offended the great king. We've dishonored him. 739 00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:53,480 Come and entreat his favor. Now here's where it gets really 740 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:57,200 good. This great king, the lawmaker, 741 00:43:57,520 --> 00:44:04,600 the Master, the Lord the Father, sent his one and only Son, 742 00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:09,120 Jesus, because we couldn't even entreat his favor. 743 00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:15,160 Jesus had to do that for us. Jesus Christ came as our perfect 744 00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:19,120 sacrifice and he took on our sin. 745 00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:24,400 He made himself sick. He he became sick for us and he 746 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:28,000 died on a cross and he became the sacrifice that paid for sin 747 00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:30,480 so that we could have God's favor. 748 00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:35,040 And so in a sense, the best entreating we can do is humble 749 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,400 ourselves and come and repentance and say, Jesus, help 750 00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:40,120 me. But Jesus, it's your entreating 751 00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:42,200 on a cross that gives me favor with God. 752 00:44:43,680 --> 00:44:47,080 And now through Jesus, and only through Jesus are we able to 753 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:52,600 bring lives of pure sacrifice and worship to God. 754 00:44:54,120 --> 00:44:56,920 Later in Malachi, we'll see. I'm just going to read it for 755 00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:58,720 us. It talks about the day where 756 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:03,240 Jesus would come and he said it says he will sit as a refiner 757 00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:07,720 and purifier of silver and he will purify the sons of Levi, 758 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:11,240 the priests. It goes on to say then the 759 00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:15,440 offering of Judah and Jerusalem, God's people will be pleasing to 760 00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:18,640 the Lord as in the days of old and as in former days. 761 00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:22,440 Jesus comes and purifies his people so that we can live lives 762 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:28,440 of proper worship. So Christians, you and I deserve 763 00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:29,840 to be exiled. Would you agree? 764 00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:36,240 Is that the sentence? And is God great for giving us 765 00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:40,800 alternative, allowing us to entreat His favor, and now 766 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:43,880 purifying you so that you can turn around and give a life of 767 00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:47,520 proper worship to Him? The question would be, how will 768 00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:50,520 you live in light of this? How will you live in light of 769 00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:52,400 this? What does it look like for you 770 00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:54,680 to give your first and your best to God? 771 00:46:02,470 --> 00:46:05,430 Christians, if you realize you've broken some of the rules 772 00:46:05,430 --> 00:46:11,120 today, meaning you've dishonored the Father because of Jesus 773 00:46:11,120 --> 00:46:14,440 Christ, you have the ability to, in your heart, come straight to 774 00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:18,160 God in repentance and he promises he's just to forgive. 775 00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:21,800 I would encourage you to do that today as you analyze your life 776 00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:25,680 and look, am I living properly in God's world? 777 00:46:26,840 --> 00:46:31,800 And then Vita as a church, as a whole, will we glorify, which is 778 00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:33,480 just another way of saying honor. 779 00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:37,520 Will we glorify God by loving God, loving people, and making 780 00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:41,960 disciples of all nations? Will we help make this great 781 00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,120 King's name known among the nations? 782 00:46:46,120 --> 00:46:50,200 And for those of you that you are not a Christian and you're 783 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:52,680 seeking Him, you're learning about him, you're just here 784 00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:54,880 today out of curiosity. Who knows? 785 00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,920 There is a gracious offer today for you to entreat God's favor 786 00:46:59,920 --> 00:47:03,280 through Jesus Christ. It's acknowledging you need 787 00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:05,280 Jesus to. That's the only way you're going 788 00:47:05,280 --> 00:47:09,720 to honor the Father and coming to him and he will not turn away 789 00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:13,040 any who seek, seek Him for repentance and faith. 790 00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:16,680 So my encouragement to you today would be come and seek him and 791 00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:20,240 treat him, plead for his favor, and through Jesus you'll have 792 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:20,400 it.