Malachi Chapter One: Whole Hearted Worship

The first five verses of Malachi declare God's sovereign love, mercy, and grace; held up against His justice, wrath, and judgement. God is going to be praised for both! (Isaiah 66:23-24)

In verses 6-14 we see that in spite of God's great love for Israel, they are guilty of half-hearted sacrifices, (v. 8) contempt for God's worship, (v. 13) and a lack of concern for His glory. (vss. 11, 12,14)

Familiarity breeds contempt and these are a people that have grown too familiar with the things of God. They had lost their awe of His majesty. They ceased to be swooned by His love.
    
     What a picture of the western church. Go into almost any local gathering and you will have no problem finding those who would fit this description. Sometimes it may be as easy as looking in the bathroom mirror. This is the attitude of a spiritually fat and lazy generation. Those who have long eaten at God's table and have become bloated on His blessings.

But I am not here to just pick on the western church.  (A popular sport now days.)

 I had the extreme pleasure of visiting in a brother's house here in Kathmandu last week. Under this one roof dwells three generations of believers: grandparents, parents, uncles, nieces. And they are about to add one more! A child that will grow up it's whole life under the blessings of God's word and in the presence of God's people.

     As amazing a blessing as this is, how easy it would be for the believers here to fall into the same pattern as have many of God's people through the ages. Losing their first love for Christ. Losing their joy in serving God. 
    
     As inspiring as the third world church can be at times to us in the States, we tend to, as my friend Cary Cox says, "romanticise the third world church".  The church here is just as susceptible to lethargy and apathy in worship as we are at home.  As generation after generation of third world christians grow up in the church and surrounded by the accompanying blessings of the Gospel (1 Timothy 4:10), they too can fall into this trap and become blase concerning the the things of God.

     In the letter to the church at Ephesus, Jesus accuses them of having abandoned their first love and He commands them to repent and to do the works that they did at the first. (Revelation 2:4-5) Here is a church that we are told had not turned their backs on God or went back to their old ways or religions, but had just lost their love for Christ. Like the audience in Malachi, serving God had become, “weariness” (v. 13)

While reading these texts, I began to think back to my own conversion and to think about what were the characteristics of my faith and my love for God at that time. What were my “works”? (Products of my love for Christ.)

1. A Desire for Holiness: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6 ESV) In the new believer there is not only a deep hunger to live righteously before God but a burning conviction of sin! When I was new believer, my heart would be so broken over any sin that I had to run right away and repent. Get right with God. Our hearts should be tender before the Lord. But many of us, as we let one little sin or another creep in and as we make excuses for them, our hearts become hardened, our consciences calloused, and we stop being convicted over even bigger sins.
   What is the remedy? 1 John 1:7-9!  Start walking in the light! Go into your closet and start dragging out all of your pet sins and throw them under the light of God's Word! Clean house, and what does it say will happen? He will forgive us, cleanse us, restore us to His fellowship and the fellowship of His saints! All by the blood of Christ! So what are you waiting for? Start confessing! This is a means of grace given by God to us to build our faith! Use it!
2. A Love for His Word: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2 ESV) As new believers we have just really become aware of God. Before this we were, according to Paul, “Dead in our trespasses and sins.” (Eph. 2:1) We were dead to God. We didn't know or honor Him as God. (Romans 1:21) Our eyes have just been opened and we find out that not only has this God been so good as to love us and save us and make us new creatures, but He has left us a book full of His words! What?! Get outta town! A whole book full of the words of this God? Let me at it! This word is life to us! It is food to us! It is precious! But then ...  The world starts wearing us down and other things become precious to us as well and then they start taking the place once reserved for God and His Word. Repent! This is another means of grace that God has given to us whereby to build our faith and to make our joy full and complete. (1 John 1:4) Pick up the word and eat it, absorb it, immerse yourself in it and teach it to others! “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Timothy 4:15-16 ESV
3. A Love for His People and the Gathering: “I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the LORD!'” (Psalm 122:1 ESV) Can you say this with David? Or how about: “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” (Psalm 84:10 ESV) For many it would be just the opposite! Any excuse, it seems, is good enough to keep us from the assembly. How dull is the worship. How dull is the word. (Many are even turning away from the preaching of the word and replacing it with conversation! There is a place for dialogue in the assembly, (and it is neglected in most churches) but not at the cost of the preaching and teaching.) Contempt for the house of God and His worship! This is the attitude of the believer who has forgotten his first love for Christ, and this is the attitude which causes God to say, “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.” (vs. 10) Our hearts should be excited to come together with God's people. If we are walking in the light, in righteousness and delighting in God's word, then that is the very place we will long to be! It is only when we neglect these first two that this becomes such a loathsome chore. Would God say to you, “I'd rather you stay home than to come and offer such pitiful worship!”? If so, repent!!
4. A Desire to See God's Name Glorified and a Burden to See the Lost Saved: “For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 1:11 ESV) I can remember it like it was yesterday how greatly I desired to see my friends and my family saved. I prayed for them, I preached to them, I begged them (I even tried to trick one friend (but hey I was 10)). I had received a great thing and I wanted everyone else to have it as well! Isn't that the most rational thing? Isn't that what we do with everything else that is wonderful to us? Tell somebody! But now, we can walk through life, facing thousands everyday who are facing an eternity apart from Christ, and we don't even blink. Not an ounce of sleep is lost over our lost family members or coworkers or how about even our children? How often do you pray for their salvation? Pray! Pray! Pray that God would give you a burden for the lost and a great desire to see His name great among the nations!

Conclusion: Have you forgotten your first love for Christ? Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Do you love God's Word? Do you long to be with God's people? Do you pray for the lost and proclaim the Gospel to those around you, both in word and in how you live? If not, Repent! Jesus says, “Repent! And do the first works!” If you are not walking in the light, if there is unconfessed sin in your life, repent of it and Jesus will be faithful to forgive it and cleanse you and restore you. Get into your Bible! These are the very words of God! Believe them! Obey them! Teach them to others! (discipleship) Be faithful to your local church! This is the body of Christ! His bride! You are not here to be fed like a baby bird! You are here to bless others, to serve, to minister to the body! Everything you do here is to glorify God and build up the body! And last, pray for the lost, love the lost, and preach the Gospel to the lost, with your mouth and in your life style. Be generous, be gracious, be forgiving, be patient. “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10 ESV