Our Best for God – Malachi

Posted on May 18, 2021 by dkoop

Have you heard the jokes, “I’ve got some good news and some bad news?”  These jokes range across most subjects! As a former Drivers Ed. Teacher, here’s one about driving, said by someone who borrowed your car:  “The good news is that your airbags work great!”  In the medical field, a doctor tells his patient: “The good news is that there’s going to be disease named after you!” The bad news is you won’t survive it.  Even among pastor’s we have these jokes:  said to the Senior Pastor by the Personnel Team, “The good news is we found you an Associate Pastor to lighten your load!  The bad news is he preaches way better than you.”   

Malachi has some good news for us. The good news is really good. That makes the bad news easier to take. The bad news, though, is disturbing. These words, although they were written 2,400 years ago, contain good news and bad news for all of us today.

These words are written to God’s people, who have returned to Israel after being in exile. We’re going to see God give good news to his people, but also diagnose a problem which, if left uncorrected, will be fatal for them. That’s why it’s important for us to hear today. God’s got his finger on a condition that we don’t always know that we have. It’s not all hopeless – there is good news as well as bad news. It’s important that we know we have this problem, though, and to address it as soon as we can.

In the prophecy of Malachi, we find that God was not pleased with His people. The Lord had been put on the national “back burner.” God preferred the honesty of no worship at all to this hypocritical show of paying lip-service to honoring God. Worship had degenerated into nothing but form. There was no powerful, dynamic relationship between the holy God of Abraham and the children of Israel. They had allowed both their sacrifices to God and their attitudes toward God to become “blemished.” They weren’t giving, nor did they care about giving their best. Let’s not read Malachi as ancient history. Unfortunately, these sins are with us in the church today.

The church of God today must also be careful to offer acceptable worship to God. We have a tendency in our day to do what pleases ourselves, rather than what pleases God.  Instead of giving God our best, we give him leftovers.  Why should we give God our best

God’s Love Should Compel Us to Give our Best

Here’s the good news!  God’s first message through Malachi was “I have always loved you” Malachi 1:2.  Although this message applied specifically to Israel, it is a message of hope for all people in all times. Unfortunately, many people are cynical about God’s love, using political and economic progress as a measure of success. Because the government was corrupt and the economy poor, the Israelites assumed that God didn’t love them. They were wrong. God loves all people because he made them; however, it’s not always obvious that he does. God spoke these words to a nation which had just spent years in captivity in Babylon. The good news is that even when life knocks it out of us, God says he loves us deeply. The ultimate expression of this love is Jesus Christ, who showed us his love by dying for us. God loves us.

The most famous verse in the Bible says, “For God so loved the world…” It’s easy to read a verse like that and leave it as an abstraction. God’s love for us isn’t an abstraction. Right here, right now, as God looks at you, he loves you. We are the object of our Creator’s affection.

I’m glad God gave the good news first, because it helps us deal with the bad news. The bad news is that God has diagnosed us with a spiritual problem that needs correcting. Left unchecked, this problem is spiritually fatal.

When we go to the doctor, the doctor usually tells us what things should be like. He’ll say, “A normal blood pressure reading is 120/80.” Then they’ll tell us what our condition is. They might tell us that our blood pressure is 140/90. Then they will tell us what will happen if we don’t deal with the problem. God takes these same steps. He tells us what we should be like, what we are like, and what will happen if we don’t address the problem.

God begins by describing what our relationship should look like. He says:

The LORD Almighty says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master, but you despise my name” Malachi 1:6

That is God’s charge. You despise my name. They said, “How have we despised your name? We don’t see this. What do you mean?” And the Lord answers (verse 7):

“By offering defiled food upon my altar.” Malachi 1:7a

“Your attitude and your actions toward me are shoddy. You are content to give me just the trash, the defiled things.” But they pursue it further:

‘How have we defiled it?’ Malachi 1:7c

And again God makes it very clear. Whenever you ask God how, he will tell you. God says (verse 8):

“When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that no evil? Present that to your governor…” Malachi 1:8a

“Will you get by with that?” God says, “You people that are content to be cheap about worshipping me, try living that way in your business life and see if you get by with it! And yet you say you are honoring my name. You are claiming to worship me and to be my people.” The God of reality always cuts right through all the excuses and all the hypocrisy right down to the real issue.

God’s law required that only perfect animals be offered to God (see, for example, Leviticus 1:3). But these priests were allowing the people to offer blind, crippled, and diseased animals to God. God accused them of dishonoring him by offering imperfect sacrifices, and he was greatly displeased. The New Testament says that our lives should be living sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1). If we give God only our leftover time, money, and energy, we repeat the same sin as these worshipers, who didn’t want to bring anything valuable to God. What we give God reflects our true attitude toward him.

What does this say to professed Christians who spend hundreds of dollars annually, perhaps thousands, on gifts for themselves, then-family, and their friends, but give God a dollar a week when the offering plate is passed?

Our offerings to God are an indication of what’s in our hearts, for “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). People who claim to love the Lord and His work can easily prove it with their checkbooks! Giving is a grace (2 Cor. 8:1, 6-9), and if we’ve experienced the grace of God, we’ll have no problem giving generously to the Lord who has given so much to us. How can we ask God to be gracious to us and answer prayer (Mal. 1:9) if we’ve not practiced “grace giving” ourselves

God’s Name Should Compel Us to Give our Best

“But my name is honored by people of other nations from morning till night. All around the world they offer sweet incense and pure offerings in honor of my name. For my name is great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty.” Malachi 1:11

“For I am a great king,” says the LORD Almighty, “and my name is feared among the nations!” Malachi 1:14

A theme that can be heard throughout the Old Testament is affirmed in this book: “My name is honored by people of other nations.” God had a chosen people, the Jews, through whom he planned to save and bless the entire world. Today God still wants to save and bless the world through all who believe in him—Jews and Gentiles. Christians are now his chosen people, and our offering to the Lord is our life. Are you available to God to be used in making his name honored by the nations? This mission begins in our home and in our neighborhood, but it doesn’t stop there. We must work and pray so that God’s name will be honored everywhere.

Malachi told the people  that it would be better to close the doors of the temple and stop the sacrifices altogether than to continue practicing such hypocrisy and disgracing the name of the Lord! Better there were no worship at all than a worship that fails to give God the very best. If our concept of God is so low that we think He’s pleased with cheap halfhearted worship, then we don’t know the God of the Bible. In fact, a God who encourages us to do less than our best is a God who isn’t worthy of worship.

The day will come when the Gentiles will worship God and magnify His great name (v. 11). Malachi looked ahead to the time when the message of salvation would be taken to all nations, and beyond that, he saw the establishing of the kingdom on earth when the Gentiles would “flow into it” (Isa. 2:2). God’s call to Abraham involved the Jews becoming a blessing to the whole earth (Gen. 12:1-3), just as His call to the church involves taking the Gospel to all nations (Mark 16:15).

As I close this out, guilt is not the goal of this passage. Guilt doesn’t get us any closer to dealing with the heart issues, if you are motivated by guilt today, you may make some changes and they’ll last about a week, but no more.

What is God speaking to you about today? He’s given you the good news – he loves you.  Now how will we respond?

Lord, may you have the best that we have to give.

Darrell

www.Upwards.Church

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

Facebook: Upwards Church

Posted in God & Justice - The Prophets | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Malachi Overview

Posted on May 18, 2021 by dkoop

A vase shatters, brushed by a careless elbow; a toy breaks, handled roughly by young fingers; fabric rips, pulled by strong and angry hands. Spills and rips take time to clean up, effort to repair, and money to replace, but far more costly are shattered relationships. Unfaithfulness, untruths, hateful words, and forsaken vows tear delicate personal bonds and inflict wounds not easily healed. Most tragic, however, is a broken relationship with God. God loves perfectly and completely. And his love is a love of action—giving, guiding, and guarding. He is altogether faithful, true to his promises to his chosen people. But consistently they spurn their loving God, breaking the covenant, following other gods, and living for themselves. So their relationship with him is shattered.

But the breach is not irreparable; all hope is not lost. God can heal and mend and reweave the fabric. Forgiveness is available. And that is grace.

This is the message of Malachi, God’s prophet in Jerusalem. His words reminded the Jews, God’s chosen nation, of their willful disobedience, beginning with the priests (1:1-2:9) and then including every person (2:10-3:15). They had shown contempt for God’s name (1:6), offered defiled sacrifices (1:7-14), led others into sin (2:7-9), broken God’s laws (2:11-16), called evil “good” (2:17), kept God’s tithes and offerings for themselves (3:8, 9), and become arrogant (3:13-15). The relationship was broken, and judgment and punishment would be theirs. In the midst of this wickedness, however, a faithful few—the remnant—still loved and honored God. God would shower his blessings upon these men and women (3:16-18).

Malachi paints a stunning picture of Israel’s unfaithfulness that clearly shows the people to be worthy of punishment, but woven throughout this message is hope—the possibility of forgiveness. This is beautifully expressed in 4:2—”But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.”

Malachi concludes with a promise of the coming of “the prophet Elijah,” who will offer God’s forgiveness to all people through repentance and faith (4:5, 6).

The book of Malachi forms a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. As you read Malachi, see yourself as the recipient of this word of God to his people. Evaluate the depth of your commitment, the sincerity of your worship, and the direction of your life. Then allow God to restore your relationship with him through his love and forgiveness.

Vital Statistics

Purpose: To confront the people with their sins and to restore their relationship with God

Author: Malachi

Original Audience: The people in Jerusalem

Date Written: Approximately 430 B.C.

Setting: Malachi, Haggai, and Zechariah were postexilic prophets to Judah (the southern kingdom). Haggai and Zechariah rebuked the people for their failure to rebuild the Temple. Malachi confronted them with their neglect of the Temple and their false and profane worship.

Key Verses: “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace…. But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture” (4:1, 2).

Key People: Malachi, the priests, God’s people

Key Places: Jerusalem, the Temple

Special Features: Malachi’s literary style employs a dramatic use of questions asked by God and his people (for example, see 3:7, 8).

Malachi rebuked the people and the priests for neglecting the worship of God and failing to live according to his will. The priests were corrupt; how could they lead the people? They had become stumbling blocks instead of spiritual leaders. The men were divorcing their wives and marrying pagan women; how could they have godly children? Their relationship to God had become inconsequential. If our relationship with God is unimportant, we need to take stock of ourselves by setting aside our sinful habits, putting the Lord first, and giving God our best each day.

MEGATHEMES
THEMEEXPLANATIONIMPORTANCE
God’s LoveGod loves his people even when they ignore or disobey him. He has great blessings to bestow on those who are faithful to him. His love never ends.Because God loves us so much, he hates hypocrisy and careless living. This kind of living denies him the relationship he wants to have with us. What we give and how we live reflects the sincerity of our love for God.
The Sin of the PriestsMalachi singled out the priests for condemnation. They knew what God required, yet their sacrifices were unworthy and their service was insincere; they were lazy, arrogant, and insensitive. They had a casual attitude toward the worship of God and observance of God’s standards.If religious leaders go wrong, how will the people be led? We are all leaders in some capacity. Don’t neglect your responsibilities or be ruled by what is convenient. Neglect and insensitivity are acts of disobedience. God wants leaders who are faithful and sincere.
The Sin of the PeopleThe people had not learned the lesson of the Exile, nor had they listened to the prophets. Men were callously divorcing their faithful wives to marry younger pagan women. This was against God’s law because it disobeyed his commands about marriage and threatened the religious training of the children. But pride had hardened the hearts of the people.God deserves our very best honor, respect, and faithfulness. But sin hardens our heart to our true condition. Pride is unwarranted self-esteem; it is setting your own judgment above God’s and looking down on others. Don’t let pride keep you from giving God your devotion, money, marriage, and family.
The Lord’s ComingGod’s love for his faithful people is demonstrated by the Messiah’s coming. The Messiah will lead the people to the realization of all their fondest hopes. The day of the Lord’s coming will be a day of comfort and healing for a faithful few, and a day of judgment for those who reject him.At Christ’s first coming, he refined and purified all those who believed in him. Upon his return, he will expose and condemn those who are proud, insensitive, or unprepared. Yet God is able to heal and forgive. Forgiveness is available to all who come to him.


www.Upwards.Church

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

Facebook: Upwards Church

Source:  Life Application Study Bible, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1988), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 1518-1519.

Posted in God & Justice - The Prophets | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God & Justice – The Prophets Introduction

Posted on May 14, 2021 by dkoop

Description:  Justice–n – the quality of being just; righteousness or moral rightness, the moral principle determining just conduct – Dictionary.com

Just– acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good: RIGHTEOUS – Merriam-webster.com

The world is deeply interested in the topic of justice. As God’s people, we have the greatest resource on the topic of justice: God’s Word.  The prophets speak most clearly on the topic of justice, especially in our relationships; first with God, then with others.

Dates           Titles            Book                      Events

May 16 – Our Best for God (Malachi)     

2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’  Malachi 1:2 (NIV)

9 …because you have not followed my ways… 17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. “Where is the God of justice?” Malachi 2:9 &17 (NIV)

May 23 – Building for God (Haggai)                   School Ends

“Haggai’s little book is one of the gems of the Old Testament. It has permanent relevance because its concern is not with rebuilding the temple, but with priorities.”  Eerdmans’ Handbook to the Bible

6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” 7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.

May 30 – Salvation of God (Zechariah)             Memorial Day Weekend/Communion

Jesus is our salvation! As we look at Zechariah’s prophecy, we will see details of Christ’s life that were written 500 years before their fulfillment. Read and be in awe of our God, who keeps his promises.

9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9:9 (NKJV)

June 6 – Judgement of God (Nahum & Zephaniah)  School/Graduation

“Nahum’s oracle of judgment on the Assyrian Empire was written in 650 BC and fulfilled a generation later in 612 BC.  Zephaniah proclaimed the coming of the Day of the Lord when the current state of affairs will be replaced with the Lord’s intended order- a time of justice.”  The Essential Bible Companion

3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. Nahum 1:3 (NKJV)

14 The great day of the LORD is near… A day of devastation and desolation… 17 “I will bring distress upon men, because they have sinned against the LORD; 18 Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the LORD’S wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured…Zephaniah 1:14-18 (NKJV)

June 13– Mercy of God (Lamentations)                     Preteen Camp (June 13-16)

36 To deprive a man of justice— would not the Lord see such things? 38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? 39 Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? 40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. Lamentations 3:36-40 (NIV)

I hope you can join us for this series!

Darrell

www.Upwards.Church

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

Facebook: Upwards Church

Posted in God & Justice - The Prophets | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I am the Living Water – John 4 – Part 2

Posted on May 13, 2021 by dkoop

In the last post we see that Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well. Although he confronted the woman’s sinful life, Jesus managed to affirm her truthfulness. He did not accuse or excuse; he simply described her life so that she could draw some clear conclusions about the mess in which she was living. She responds by saying, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
Some commentators take her response to be an evasion on her part, a change of subject in order to escape a very unpleasant probing by Jesus. I once thought that, but I have come to see her response in a deeper light. I believe now that this is an admission on her part that Jesus is dead right: “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. You have seen me, and you are right on. You know all about me.” (Later, she goes into the village and says to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.“) By her response, she is admitting that he is right; this is what she has done and been. Then she links with it not an evasion, not a religious question to try to turn him off, but an honest plea for help. “Where do I go to get life?” is what she is saying. “You Jews say that the only place to offer the sacrifice that can cleanse my sin is in the temple in Jerusalem. Our people say it is here on this mountain. Where do I go? How can I find God? “Jesus’ words, then, fit very beautifully:

Jesus said to her…the hour is coming when….the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”

Jesus says three remarkable things:

  1. He says, in effect, “Your question about where to worship is soon going to be entirely irrelevant. The hour is coming when geography will not be an issue. Temples or buildings will not be necessary to worship God. God is going to, and has already provided, that your body is the temple; that is where he wants his worship to go on.” Do you depend on a physical building or a specific setting for the proper worship environment? God is Spirit and cannot be confined to a building. The location of worship is not nearly as important as the attitude of the worshipers.
  2. He said to her, “Your knowledge is incomplete. You have been the victim of garbled truth. You have some truth but there is much error mingled with it; you have been misled.” This often happens. Most of the cults teach garbled Christian truth mixed with error. But Jesus says, “The Jews know more. They at least know where is the proper place to carry on worship by symbol because they are part of God’s plan. ‘Salvation is of the Jews.’ ” Jesus does not deny it. He himself speaks as a Jew. He recognizes that Israel is indeed part of God’s program to bring salvation to the world, and he does not set it aside.
  3. Jesus says, “Here is what true worship is: true worship is done in your human spirit.” It is what we call worshipping from the heart. And it must be in truth. It must be honest, not a put-on. It is not something you do with your body while your mind is somewhere else. Worship is what you mean with all your heart. When we sing hymns, God is not interested in our just mouthing words. He is interested in our hearts meaning what we sing. Most of our hymns are hymns of worship, prayer and praise addressed to God. They are to come from the heart, so we are to sing with meaning. God is seeking such to worship him. In every congregation God is looking for those who mean what they are singing, who, from the heart, are saying these things to him. That is what worship is. And the reason it is worship is because it is in line with God’s own nature. God himself is a Spirit, he is invisible; and we too are spirit, in the innermost part of our being.

The woman still cannot quite believe that it is that easy:

“Yes, I know you are right, but we must wait until the Messiah comes. We cannot expect these kinds of things in our time.” Her words drew from our Lord this wonderful response,

26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.“

Some critics say that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. If someone ever says that to you, turn him to this verse: “I who speak to you am he.” Now she knows. Clearly and unmistakably Jesus has identified himself, what he can be and do.

John goes on to give in three paragraphs the fruitful results of this conversation. First, the woman immediately becomes an evangelist.

28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

When we return to the world of family and friends after encountering Jesus, there are two kinds of “water jars” we must leave behind:

1.  We must leave behind our shame about the past. Because Jesus knows all about us, we can repent and receive his forgiveness. God may use the emptiness of our past life to help us convey to others the wonder of forgiveness. But we must not dwell on or carry guilt about the past.

2.  We must leave behind former bad habits and activities. Are there possessions that threaten to own us rather than the other way around? These we must leave with Christ. We must lay down our useless former pursuits of pleasure and personal fulfillment. Even though we know that our old way of living never truly satisfies, the tempter deceives us into believing that there still may be an instant, easy source of happiness in the old empty ways. Have you turned your back on old habits, old treasures, old pleasures in order to seek what only God can give? Leave them behind and satisfy your thirst in Christ.

Darrell

www.Upwards.Church

Watch Messages: YouTube-Upwards Church

Facebook: Upwards Church

Sources:

Bruce B. Barton et al., Life Application Bible Commentary – John, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1993), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 83.

Ray Stedman Ministries – “The Man Who Understood Women”

Posted in I Am - Gospel of John | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment