1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:05,680 With me to the book of Malachi and Malachi chapter 1, and we'll 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:18,500 begin reading from verse 6. Malachi chapter 1 and we begin 3 00:00:18,500 --> 00:00:23,900 reading from verse 6. As the Son honors his Father and 4 00:00:23,900 --> 00:00:28,980 a servant his master. If then I am Father, where is my 5 00:00:28,980 --> 00:00:31,720 honour? And if I am a master, where is 6 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:33,760 my fear? Says the Lord of hosts to you, 7 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,760 oh, priests who despise my name. But but you say, How have we 8 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,920 despised your name? By offering polluted food upon 9 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,200 my altar? But you say, How have we 10 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:51,040 polluted you by saying that the Lord's table may be despised? 11 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:56,800 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? 12 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,760 And when you offer those who are lame or sick, is that not evil? 13 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,760 Present that to your governor, will he accept you or show you 14 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:10,200 favour, says the Lord of Hosts. And now, and plead the favour of 15 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,320 God, that he may be gracious to you. 16 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:16,680 With such a gift from your hand, will he show favour to any of 17 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:21,320 you, says the Lord of Hosts? Oh, that there were one among 18 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:24,720 you who would shut the door, that you that you might not 19 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:29,320 Kindle Fire on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you, says 20 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:32,120 the Lord of Hosts. I will not accept an offering 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:37,000 from your hand, for from the rising of the sun to its setting 22 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,240 my name will be great among the nations. 23 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,200 And in every place insects will be offered to my name. 24 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:47,120 And a pure offering for my name will be great among the nations, 25 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,840 says the Lord of Hosts. But you profane it when you say 26 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,960 that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruits, that 27 00:01:53,960 --> 00:02:00,640 is, its food, may be despised. But you say, What willingness is 28 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,080 this? And just not at it, says the 29 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,000 Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by 30 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,440 violence, or is lame, or is sick, and this you bring as your 31 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,520 offering. Shall I accept that from your 32 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:18,680 hand, says the Lord. Curse B the cheat who has a male 33 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,160 in his flock and vows it, and yet sacrifices the Lord. 34 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,040 Do what is blemished for. I am a great king, says the Lord 35 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:30,360 of hosts, and my name would be feared among the nations. 36 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:38,000 Oh our gracious Lord, we we feel the weight of these words, 37 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,160 because indeed, oh God, they are weighty. 38 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:47,320 I pray that common ground Weinberg would also feel the 39 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:53,840 weight of these words so that we may be a church that honours 40 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,520 you. And so we ask, Lordy, that you 41 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:58,920 will bless your word this morning. 42 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,640 Speak to us, we ask. Amen. 43 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:10,160 For those of you who were here last week, you would have heard 44 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:14,480 the excellent introduction from Hillary with regards to the 45 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:21,240 context of this book and the messages that we ought to learn 46 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:26,520 from this book and the charges that the Lord brings before His 47 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:33,280 people. But as we read from verse 6, it 48 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:38,520 becomes very difficult and perhaps sobering for us to 49 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,880 consider that the Lord is not pleased with His own people. 50 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:50,880 God is not pleased with the people of Israel, and we would 51 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,160 see what are the reasons why God is not pleased. 52 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:01,240 But I want to say as I begin this message that what we do in 53 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:06,160 worship and how we do it matters to God. 54 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:12,680 What we do in worship and how we worship matters to God. 55 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:17,800 As we were going to see from verse 6 to verse 14. 56 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,680 One of the commandments that the Lord had given was love the Lord 57 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,000 your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all 58 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:31,480 your mind. The life that we live as those 59 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,720 who are made in the image of God, created by God. 60 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:41,200 We live lives that are to give honour and glory to God alone. 61 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,400 The life of a believer is a life that ascribes glory to God and 62 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,720 to no one else. I want you to think of the day 63 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,840 in which you came to faith, but the day you got saved. 64 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,080 Think of the next day. Think perhaps a couple of weeks 65 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,400 after you got saved. You think about the joy that 66 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:03,760 filled your soul and filled your life. 67 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,600 Think about how many times you were reading the Bible when you 68 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,480 first became a Christian. Think about how many times you 69 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,680 prayed a day when you became a Christian. 70 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,840 There was a sense of joy, that sense of peace that I want to 71 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:25,480 know the Lord. But perhaps as time went by, you 72 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,160 are no longer praying once a day. 73 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,960 You are praying once a week from once to a week. 74 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:33,800 Perhaps it moved to once a month. 75 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,320 You loved the preaching, then perhaps you loved the sermons. 76 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:44,320 But as time went by, you often think, when will the preacher 77 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:46,760 finish? And I just go home. 78 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:53,200 There is danger in familiarity because often it breathes. 79 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:58,440 It breathes contempt, as we're going to see here in the people 80 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,920 of God. That's so as we read this and as 81 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:04,360 we think about these priests, I don't want us to think about 82 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:06,800 this priest and say, oh, it was just them. 83 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:16,280 This happened to them, but it also happens to us now. 84 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:21,240 The people of God at this point in time, as Hillary has 85 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,320 explained last week, they are waiting for the promises of God 86 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:30,440 because God has promised His people something and, and now 87 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,000 they are of course have been set free from the period of exile in 88 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,040 Babylon. They are waiting for God to 89 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,240 fulfill his promises to them. They are waiting for a good day. 90 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,400 And so when Haggai prophesized and says, I will shake all 91 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,680 nations, and what is desired by the nations will come, I will 92 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,920 fill this house with glory, says the Lord Almighty. 93 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,720 The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory 94 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,600 of the former house, says the Lord Almighty, and this place 95 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,200 will grant peace, declares the Lord. 96 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,080 Zechariah also prophesying this during the the building of the 97 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,160 temple, writes the following. This is what the Lord Almighty 98 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,720 says. I will save my people from the 99 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:11,960 countries of the East and the West. 100 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:14,240 I will bring them back and leave in Jerusalem. 101 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:18,120 They will be my people and I will be faithful and righteous 102 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:23,160 to them as they are God, the people of Israel. 103 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:29,280 They understood that God had promise them that something will 104 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,640 come, the justice of God will be fulfilled, the king is coming 105 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,360 and yet they are facing poverty, they are facing injustice. 106 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:42,600 At this moment, no no longer in exile and thinking shortly, 107 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:48,120 things should be going well for us now because the temple has 108 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:52,680 been rebuilt, the temple has been restored, the priests are 109 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,240 serving at the altar. They are there offering 110 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,520 sacrifices to the Lord. All of this has been 111 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:04,760 reinstituted by the Lord. They then begin to wonder, when 112 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:12,320 will the Lord fulfil His promises among us, if the glory 113 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,720 of this new house will be mightier than the former? 114 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:22,120 And well will the Lord do that. Something has said happens among 115 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,840 the priest during this time. As you can see from the weighty 116 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:32,159 of the words from verse 6, they continue to offer sacrifices 117 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:36,480 daily to the Lord. But as they offered those 118 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:42,280 sacrifices, the ministry of sacrificing to the Lord became 119 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,400 boring. The ministry of offering 120 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,400 sacrifices was cold and was lifeless. 121 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:51,880 They were taking the Lord's name in vain. 122 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:58,200 The temple service became dull and Malachi is rebuking the 123 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:02,600 people of God. They come in day in and day out 124 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:07,920 to offer, and yet their hearts are far away from God. 125 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:14,000 And God says to them, I am not pleased with you. 126 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:20,480 He says in chapter 2, verse 9, So I have caused you to be 127 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:24,600 despised and humiliated before all people because you have not 128 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:28,920 followed my ways, but you have shown partiality in all matters 129 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,000 of the law. God again, is continually 130 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:36,560 reminding his people that your behaviour is not according to my 131 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:40,040 standard, nor is your behaviour according to my law. 132 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,840 The manner in which you worship is not the way I've called you 133 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:49,680 to worship me. The imagery of sacrifices. 134 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,440 The apostle Paul borders that from the Old Testament to use it 135 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:57,280 in the New Testament as well. In Roman 12 verse one says 136 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,680 Therefore, I urge you as brothers and sisters, in the 137 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:03,200 view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living 138 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:05,440 sacrifice is holy and pleasing to God. 139 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:10,400 This is true and proper worship, the Apostle Paul borrowing this 140 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:14,880 language to show a priestly service that believers are to 141 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,120 the Lord. But the difference is believers 142 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:21,920 are not a dead sacrifice, rather they are a living sacrifice, 143 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:27,040 similar thing to the right of Hebrews chapter 1315 and 16 144 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:29,720 through Jesus Christ. Therefore, let us continually to 145 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:34,360 offer to God a sacrifice of praise the the fruit of his 146 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,960 lives that openly profess His name, and do not forget to do 147 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:44,520 good and to share with others. For such sacrifices God is 148 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:48,320 pleased. This language borrowed from the 149 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,680 Old Testament. Paul uses it in the New 150 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:54,600 Testament to remind believers as well that our praise to God, our 151 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,840 Thanksgiving to God, our generosity to others is 152 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,320 described in the text as all sacrifices. 153 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:08,680 The Christian life is priestly and and often we may wonder why 154 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:12,840 we don't indulge in things that we think rather the world is 155 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:17,440 indulging in why we don't, why we don't get drunk while we 156 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:19,720 avoid the sexual last and all of these things. 157 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,880 The reason is because we have surrendered ourselves to the 158 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:28,960 Lord as a living sacrifice. The life we live in this world, 159 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,800 we live before the presence of God. 160 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:38,240 We live it before Koramdeo, we live it before God every day, 161 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:45,800 offering sacrifices to him. With that in mind, let's look at 162 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:53,760 point #1 God's complaint against the priest for defiled offering. 163 00:11:55,360 --> 00:12:02,960 God is has given charge to the priest to lead the sanctuary, to 164 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,080 lead the worship. They were the agents of 165 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:08,480 sacrifices. They were the ones who were to 166 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:13,480 do the atonement. God had given them something 167 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,800 very special. Not only that, they were also 168 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:20,040 responsible to instruct the Israelites on the law of God and 169 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:25,480 how to worship as a community. The priests were commanded and 170 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:33,200 called by God to defend the very holiness of God, and yet it is 171 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:40,720 the priest here who defile God. They were to speak the blessing 172 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:45,320 of God over His people. As we can see from #624 to 26. 173 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:47,480 They were the ones who spoke a blessing. 174 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:52,000 But instead of respecting God, instead of honouring God like a 175 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,000 Father, they show him no reverence. 176 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:00,480 And God is not pleased, for he says to them, But you ask, how 177 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:04,840 have we defined you? And the Lord says, by offering 178 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:10,040 defied food on my altar. God responds to them. 179 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,280 In other words, as the priest you, you knew what you had to 180 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,200 do. God told the priest what they 181 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,760 had to do when they go to the Lord's altar, when they go to 182 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:22,520 the Lord's table, because the altar belong to God, at the 183 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:26,320 table also belong to God. He told them what they ought not 184 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:31,800 to do, and yet the priest did the opposite of that. 185 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:35,600 They were going in every single day to the altar. 186 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,240 They were worshipping and offering sacrifices, and yet 187 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:46,520 inwardly it meant nothing. It was simply a performance that 188 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:51,480 was visible outwardly. They failed to honour him. 189 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:58,480 They failed to fear him. And I think this effect should 190 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:03,920 it should inform our thoughts about worshipping God. 191 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,200 Church, we do not design how God ought to be worshipped. 192 00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:14,320 Church, we don't have to sort of write about how we ought to be 193 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,920 worshipping God. God told his people how he wants 194 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:23,000 to be worshipped. We don't try to invent a new way 195 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,520 of worshipping God. We simply have to follow what 196 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:33,520 God has already written to us and for our good we don't add in 197 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:37,280 worshipping God. And so when they come before 198 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,600 God, they are bringing these sacrifices before God. 199 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:42,960 And God does not like what they are bringing. 200 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,640 Notice the list of things that they are bringing before God. 201 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:50,160 They are bringing weakest animals with broken legs. 202 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:56,760 And as you know from Leviticus chapter 22 verse 20, it says do 203 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,560 not bring anything with defect because it will not be accepted 204 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,200 on your behalf. Do not offer to the Lord a 205 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,840 blind, the injured or the running source. 206 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:08,280 Do not place any of these on the altar. 207 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,560 Earth, food offering presented to the Lord. 208 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,920 What do the priests do? They do the opposite of this. 209 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,120 They bring the deceased animals and those with broken legs. 210 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:23,280 And yet God have told them you don't bring blemished animals to 211 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:27,600 the altar. Only that which is perfect can 212 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:33,480 be acceptable. Ediomi puts it this way in his 213 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,320 commentary. He says these priests offer to 214 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,280 the Lord animals that it would have been an insult to give to 215 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:44,600 any human ruler their actions, so that they neither fear God 216 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:49,840 nor Revere God. Instead of giving God the best, 217 00:15:50,480 --> 00:16:00,040 they gave God the worst. And these are priests who know 218 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:04,520 how God ought to be worshipped, who know much about sacrifice, 219 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,840 and yet they give God. They are worse. 220 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:13,400 And God says what you are giving to me, you cannot even give to 221 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,160 your human ruler what you are giving to me. 222 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,400 You cannot give to a patient official what you are giving to 223 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,280 me. You cannot give to any leader. 224 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,880 And yet you give me this that you cannot give to a president. 225 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,840 It shows the state of Israel, but also the hearts of Israel. 226 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:38,280 And therefore the question is it, doesn't he deserve more? 227 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,840 Surely the priest knew that, that this is the King of kings 228 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,360 and the Lord of Lords and the Creator of the universe. 229 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:50,080 Surely he should be given more. And yet in their worship they 230 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:55,960 give him leftovers. God does not accept false 231 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:00,200 worship. No matter how beautiful or 232 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:06,319 attractive it may look, if it dishonours God, it will never be 233 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,760 accepted. They did not stop offering. 234 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:15,520 They continue to offer even in their disobedience. 235 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:24,800 And God says I don't want this. You are not giving me your best, 236 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,240 for I will not accept false worship. 237 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:36,640 Now, now, this is important. The reason the Old Testament 238 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:43,480 system is so important for us to understand because it is a 239 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:48,560 picture, it is a shadow of Christ. 240 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:56,800 In other words, God saying, give me the best, bring the best to 241 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:57,960 the outer. Why? 242 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:03,560 Because I am going to give you the best, and the best is my 243 00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:10,080 son, who will be the ultimate sacrifice for your salvation and 244 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:14,480 deliverance. That's the picture, that what 245 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:19,960 I'm going to give you is going to be perfect without blemish, 246 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,560 without sin. It will be Picard. 247 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:27,200 Use that phrase. It will be glorious, what I'm 248 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,760 going to give you. But then why do you give me 249 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:35,160 animals like this? The apostle Peter in fact 250 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,920 highlights this wonderfully. He says, knowing that you were 251 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,720 ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, 252 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:47,880 not with perishable things such as silver, gold, listen to verse 253 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:52,760 19, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb, 254 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:59,880 without blemish or spot. What a glorious picture and the 255 00:19:00,120 --> 00:19:02,640 and the priest, they've missed it completely. 256 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:06,360 Now you would think this priest would come before God in 257 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:08,320 repentance. You would think that would come 258 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:11,560 before God and says God, we know that you are right and we are 259 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:17,680 wrong. What do they do when God brings 260 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,600 a charge against them? They respond. 261 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:21,680 They do not respond with humility. 262 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:27,480 They do not respond with self examination, not at all. 263 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:30,960 In fact, they are shocked that God is not pleased with their 264 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:32,800 worship. It's that God is unfair. 265 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:36,800 Surely God, you are unfair. How can you not be pleased with 266 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:43,200 our worship? And God would remind them, 267 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,680 because what you are giving me is not what I have required. 268 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:59,000 We must be careful to think worship is about us. 269 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:05,560 Worship is not about my preferences, my feelings, my 270 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:11,160 comfort. Worship ultimately is about God 271 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:21,520 because he is a jealous God. Worship me alone and no other 272 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,920 gods. And often this is what we are 273 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:30,760 all guilty of. At times we can worship God 274 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:37,360 wrongly instead of doing that which of the Lord has prescribed 275 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:43,440 for us to do. We must worship God, God's way, 276 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:53,200 not our own design, rather what He ascribes for us to do. 277 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,640 And often when we think about worship, we think about just the 278 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:01,400 people sitting here and we playing the drums and guitar. 279 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,680 Now when we talk about worship, I'm talking to all of us, For 280 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:09,440 all of us, our worshippers before God. 281 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:15,240 There is danger in this kind of worship. 282 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:22,200 Even for us there is danger because the way in which we 283 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:26,920 worship and the means of grace God has provided for us to 284 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:28,600 worship Him. At times. 285 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:33,720 They can take a back seat, the prayer can take a back seat at 286 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:38,360 times, the time for devotion can take a back seat at times. 287 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:43,000 And we can have more time for entertainment or social media. 288 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,080 A bit more time. Maybe today I'll skip church to 289 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,440 watch rugby, whatever the case may be. 290 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:59,240 So we are too in danger and behave like these priests. 291 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:06,160 Lord, I won't give you my best. I'll give you crumbs in my 292 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:11,400 worship. Now notice with me the kind of 293 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:12,840 offering they're giving to the Lord. 294 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,840 Notice 1. He gives the blind sacrifice. 295 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,920 These are the blind animals, as you had read from Leviticus that 296 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:25,200 they were not to offer any blind animals because they were with 297 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:26,920 defect, so they were not supposed to. 298 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,240 And the blind animals can be a representation to us that at 299 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,960 times we can worship God in ignorance. 300 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:41,560 Church, we are to bring and to be guarded by Scripture in our 301 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,400 worship. We don't innovate, we don't 302 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:51,640 entertain. We worship God's way #2 they not 303 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,680 only bring the blind, they bring the sick animals. 304 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:59,240 Is that at times our worship can be lifeless and it can be 305 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:03,920 joyless. Matthew 1589 says these people 306 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,440 honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from 307 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,520 me. They worship me in vain. 308 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,680 Their teachings are mainly human rules. 309 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:18,560 We can worship God and yet our hearts and minds being 310 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:24,840 completely disengaged. It can be a ritual without 311 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:30,520 affection. We too are in danger. 312 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:35,520 They are not only blind and sick, but also, it says, the 313 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:41,440 lame animals, that at times we can allow our minds to be 314 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:45,520 distracted, our minds to wonder, that when we come to the House 315 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,520 of God we can think about our schedule and think about Monday 316 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:50,840 and Tuesday and think about many other things. 317 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:55,040 Instead of our hearts being inflamed by the truth of God as 318 00:23:55,040 --> 00:24:00,040 a sacrifice of praise to our King, we too can be guilty. 319 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:03,600 They offer to the Lord the blind. 320 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,200 They offer to the Lord the sick. They offer to the Lord the lame. 321 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:16,800 Now it is important to note, whatever we offer to God, we 322 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:19,400 don't offer it to merit anything. 323 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:28,080 We don't offer to God to gain something, we offer to God 324 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:33,360 because he has been merciful and gracious to us. 325 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:43,200 Therefore, that kind of a king deserves the best offering, the 326 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:50,360 one who would come down from heaven to put on flesh as the 327 00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:54,400 Father would offer him. This is my Son whom I am well 328 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,680 pleased, the Father who would say for God so loved the world 329 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,440 that he gave, that God gives his best. 330 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:05,760 He says, if I've given you that my begotten Son, to die in your 331 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,640 pray for your sin and for your redemption, that's what I'm 332 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,000 giving to you. So you're not offering because 333 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,360 you are meditating something, but you are offering because you 334 00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:17,520 can recognize something. There's a difference. 335 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:24,800 We recognize what God has offered on our behalf #2 what is 336 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:30,400 God's response to them? Not as God says to them all that 337 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,080 one of you should would shut the temple door so that you would 338 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,200 not like useless fires on my altar. 339 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,320 I am not pleased with you, says the Lord Almighty. 340 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,200 I will not accept offering from your hand. 341 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:45,720 I mean, imagine God saying this is OK. 342 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,080 Listen guys. Listen priest, I am tired of 343 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,960 your offerings. This is what I'd like to do. 344 00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:55,840 Let's close the temple. I didn't want anything from the 345 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,320 altar. Let's just shut the temple 346 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,080 because what you are doing is dishonouring to my name. 347 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,920 I rather not have this kind of worship. 348 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,160 There is nothing worse like blasphemous worship. 349 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:10,280 He says I don't want this kind of worship. 350 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:18,200 Let's close the doors. Shut it because he says I will 351 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,840 not accept offering from your hand. 352 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:29,880 Isaiah had a similar thing in Isaiah 1 verse 11 says the 353 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,480 multitude of your sacrifice is it says to Israel, What are they 354 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,280 to me, says the Lord. I have more than enough of burnt 355 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,920 offerings of Rams and the fat of fattened animals. 356 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,520 I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goes, Oh, 357 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,600 what a statement God is saying. I will not tolerate corrupt 358 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:59,480 worship or useless worship. It is possible for us to to come 359 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:05,080 before the a great God, to come before one who is superior, who 360 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:09,520 is sovereign, who is majestic. It is possible to come before 361 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:13,680 him and our hearts are far away from him. 362 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:19,720 It's possible. It is not just this priest that 363 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:26,080 are not engage asked to we can despise the Lord's name that the 364 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:32,600 Lord would say let's shut the doors because my name is not 365 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:40,200 being honoured. One author says the following. 366 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:46,200 He says I am not pleased with you is the opposite of well 367 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:50,240 done, a good and faithful servant. 368 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:57,240 Instead of God saying these words, he's saying to them, I am 369 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:06,000 not pleased with you. We ought to ask the Lord to be 370 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,520 our delight. We also ask the Lord to search 371 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,880 our hearts. Church, we must be filled with 372 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:16,160 the wonder of who he is to ascribe worthy and glory to him 373 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:21,280 alone, for there is no one else who deserves it. 374 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:28,000 And then he says, it's like God is saying, OK, you're not doing 375 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,520 it. OK, let me just drop this right 376 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,720 in the middle. Let me just say this to you. 377 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,400 From the rising of the sun to its setting. 378 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:39,440 My name will be great among the nations, and every place 379 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,600 instance will be offered to my name, and a pure offering for my 380 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,200 name will be great among the nations, says the Lord. 381 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,000 God is saying, OK, you may not be doing it the way that you 382 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:52,880 ought to be doing it, and he says it twice. 383 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,920 There's a repeat in this verse, great among the nations. 384 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:01,440 Don't miss that, that my name will be great. 385 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,680 And he is saying this thing. There is coming a day where 386 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,960 where worship is not limited to Jerusalem, is not limited to 387 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:13,440 Israel, but there will come a people who will offer a pure 388 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,160 sacrifice to me from the east and from the where they will 389 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:24,000 come and offer a sacrifice to me that their prayers will be a, a, 390 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:29,280 a wonderful aroma to me. They will offer this to me. 391 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,600 They will worship me. They will hallow my name. 392 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:38,440 God is saying that time will come where my name will be great 393 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:42,880 among the nations. And can I say common ground, 394 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:49,280 Weinberg is included on these particular nations, That we will 395 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:54,720 be a people and a nation that will offer pure sacrifice to 396 00:29:54,720 --> 00:30:01,440 God, that we will be a church that worships and praises God. 397 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:08,120 I want people to accuse us. I want people to accuse us and 398 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:10,840 say we just want to accuse them for being more joyful. 399 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:12,800 We want to accuse them for worship. 400 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:20,040 That's all because these people know God, love God, and they are 401 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:24,080 sold out to God. So his name will be great among 402 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:28,800 the nation from the rising sun to its setting, because Jesus 403 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:33,600 will die and he will rise again. That from every tribe, from 404 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:36,440 every nation, from every language, they will come 405 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:40,880 together and we will all join in that that song in Revelation 5 406 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,000 and Revelation 7 and join in and say he's worthy. 407 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:48,000 That the church will join and sang. 408 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:55,280 Lord says my name will be great even when you offer this kind of 409 00:30:55,280 --> 00:31:02,480 useless offerings. But nations will come and they 410 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,120 will worship my name. Oh St. 411 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:13,240 I pray that Wine Beck will be a worshiping church, not a 412 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,920 worshipping church simply on a Sunday, but the wine beg church 413 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,640 would be a living sacrifice to God. 414 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:22,560 It will be a worshipping church on the Monday. 415 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:27,080 You know, in in the marketplace that work at school, at varsity 416 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:30,240 that we will be living sacrifices wherever we are. 417 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:38,600 That's my prayer for us because the Lord is great and God says 418 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:42,920 to them, but you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is 419 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:47,120 polluted and it's fruit that is food may be despised. 420 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:54,800 The word glory carries the sense of the heaviness of the weight 421 00:31:55,440 --> 00:32:00,080 of something and in this case God himself. 422 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:07,280 It is quite sad as you read verse 13 and 14 that the priest, 423 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,120 there's a sense in which the Lord in his rebuke, as you can 424 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,520 see the verse 13 and 12 and 13, there's a sense in which they 425 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:19,840 are burdensome or they are burdened rather by offering 426 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:22,720 sacrifices to God. They are wearisome to offer 427 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,640 sacrifices to God. They are tired and to them this 428 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:31,600 has become distasteful. In fact, 11 version uses quite a 429 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,440 strong word. They translate the word that it 430 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,520 was nuisance. So the worship of God was not 431 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:45,200 only burdensome, but it was a nuisance to them and having 432 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,280 bringing also bringing wrong sacrifices. 433 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:50,400 Now investigating not something else. 434 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:54,400 It did not end there. He says you bring what has been 435 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,800 taken by violence and the word that actually means that they 436 00:32:57,840 --> 00:32:59,920 were offering stolen animals to the Lord. 437 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:07,880 This is horrible worship and gods like guys who who do you 438 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:17,880 think I am therefore, and in doing so, they're not repenting 439 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:24,280 before the Lord. The whole point of offering 440 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:28,640 something that was good, that was perfect, that was without 441 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,280 blames. The reason for that is because 442 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:35,080 it has to cost you something as you offer it to the Lord. 443 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,880 They decided to cut corners. Let me take one with one leg, 444 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,080 put it there. The Lord will accept that. 445 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:51,640 And the Lord says no, I will not accept that. 446 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:56,400 There is a call to us. I'm nearly there. 447 00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:01,160 There is a call to us to put away unworthy worship. 448 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:06,960 What's the cause, though, of unworthy worship? 449 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:12,040 What's the source of a failure to worship the way in which God 450 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:18,600 ought to be worshipped? I think at times we lose sight 451 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:23,760 of who God is. I really think so. 452 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:29,080 He he is the one in Isaiah 6 when the Angel would see and 453 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:33,000 they say holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. 454 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,440 The holy earth is filled with his glory. 455 00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:41,320 The angels don't say holy once multiple times. 456 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:49,719 We must never lose sight of who God is, and I think sometimes we 457 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:57,400 do lose sight of who God is. That's the source. 458 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:04,160 God alone esteems his glory and his name. 459 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,960 Therefore we ought to worship him with a sense of purity. 460 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,480 That Lord, we want to give you what you deserve. 461 00:35:11,480 --> 00:35:16,160 We want to honour you because of who you are. 462 00:35:22,410 --> 00:35:30,240 I want to say when? Often when we have limited view 463 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:37,440 of who God is from His word, often we will struggle to 464 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:44,480 worship God the way we ought to. A low view of worship will never 465 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:49,320 lead to a high view of worship, but a high view of His Word 466 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:55,520 leads to a high view of worship because you cannot worship 1 You 467 00:35:55,520 --> 00:36:01,520 do not know, but when you know Him through His Word, the way in 468 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,480 which you worship Him completely changes. 469 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:15,200 Therefore, it is important for us to get a high view of who God 470 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:19,360 is, His character, His nature, His being. 471 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:26,400 Now you may feel like maybe Eric is calling us to some willpower. 472 00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:30,720 No, I'm not calling you to some willpower religion. 473 00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:34,160 I'm not saying try harder. That's not the point of this 474 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:35,880 message to say try, try, try, try. 475 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,760 No, no, no, no. I'm saying to you, get the 476 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:43,080 vision of the glory of God in the person of Christ. 477 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:50,400 See His glory, treasure His glory, see Him as exalted, see 478 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:56,720 Him for who He is. Oh church, let us see Him. 479 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:01,320 Let us keep in wonder in our worship. 480 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:05,760 Psalm 29 verse one and two says ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly 481 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:09,120 beings, ascribe to the Lord of glory and strength. 482 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,400 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name. 483 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,720 Worship the Lord in His spender and holiness. 484 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:25,800 I want that kind of worship. Finally, verse 14 cursed be the 485 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:30,440 cheat, who as a male in his floor can evounce it and yet 486 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:33,240 sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished for? 487 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:36,920 I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts in my name will be 488 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:40,560 feared among the nations. In fact, the ESV sort of uses 489 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,600 the word cast be the cheat. The King James is like the 490 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:50,840 stronger, says the deceiver. The point is simple there God is 491 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:56,720 saying, if we use the language of our day, you had money to buy 492 00:37:56,880 --> 00:38:01,080 the best sheep or the best goat, whatever it was. 493 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:03,440 And the Lord says, do you know what you have done? 494 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:06,560 Instead of choosing the best goat, you went to choose the 495 00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:10,280 old, the one that's flourished. And then you took that one and 496 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:14,600 you offered it to me. And so you're saying you possess 497 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:18,120 that which is good, but you decide to offer that which is 498 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:22,400 inferior. They vowed to give God what is 499 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:33,920 best, and they did not. The way you feel about worship 500 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:39,000 is the way you feel about God. The way you treat the worship of 501 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:42,920 God is the way you feel about God. 502 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,520 This reveals the state of their heart. 503 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:54,560 Instead of giving God true worship, they gave him the worst 504 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:58,520 that they were commanded to give. 505 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:05,040 And can I say to us in closing, the Lord is worthy of our best, 506 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:10,080 not just our leftovers. We should give Him everything 507 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:15,320 and nothing less. If we give him anything less, we 508 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:20,120 are too accused of despising the name of the Lord. 509 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:25,040 And we can learn from our great King and our great God Jesus 510 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:28,800 Christ Himself, who is the perfect worshipper, that through 511 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:34,880 Lamb of God, who offered Himself and poured His blood, raised to 512 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:38,720 life by the Father and by the Spirit, and that His sacrifice 513 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:44,160 would satisfy the wrath of God. And so this morning, if you feel 514 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:48,240 imperfect as you come before Him, don't come in your own 515 00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:52,640 perfection. Come based on His righteousness, 516 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:59,560 for He alone is the perfect worshiper, and His righteousness 517 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:02,400 is therefore been accredited to us. 518 00:40:04,720 --> 00:40:08,520 The true worship is that which of the Father seeks, that we 519 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,880 should worship in spirit and in truth. 520 00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:16,560 Which is the reason Jesus came in the 1st place. 521 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:24,640 Father, we ask that you would help us to heed the warnings of 522 00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:28,600 this text, that we may not despise, dishonour your name, 523 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:35,400 that we may not offer that which we are called not to offer, But 524 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:41,160 oh God, we may offer pure and perfect sacrifice before You. 525 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,360 We ask the Lord God that you would help us to do this, that 526 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:51,280 our lives we would, we would live in your presence before 527 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:57,400 You, and that in doing so, oh God, we would be living 528 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:01,000 sacrifices everywhere. We are shining light on the 529 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,480 glory and in the power of Jesus Christ.