[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:14] Take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to Malachi chapter 1. We're going to see today that He is a great King. He is a great King.
[0:26] That's what the Scriptures are going to tell you. And so we're going to start in Malachi chapter 1 and verse 6. So take your Bible, turn there with me. Be ready to mark your Bible and look things up. The Bible says, A son honors his father, a servant his master.
[0:42] If then I be a father, where is my honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Says the Lord of hosts unto you, O priest. Hold on like that.
[0:53] That despise my name. And you say, wherein have we despised thy name? Father, I pray that you do a work this morning in our lives. And I pray you'd help us to leave here knowing that you are a great King.
[1:08] And I pray that you would help us to honor you, love you, magnify you, glorify you. I pray that every person in this room would know how great you are. Believe it, practice it, and live it.
[1:19] And we'll give you praise for it all you do in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, here's the story in Galatians, in Malachi chapter 1, verse 6 and 4. God wants his honor that he ought to get.
[1:32] He starts off by asking a question. He says, hey, where's my honor? He said, you know, a son honors his dad and a servant honors his master.
[1:43] He shows respect, fear towards his master. And he said, if I'm all of that, why aren't you doing that for me? God wants to know where his honor is. They show no respect.
[1:54] They show no fear. They show no respect toward the God of heaven. Instead, they despise or show contempt for his name. And so he says, I want to know where my honor is.
[2:08] Let's look just real quickly at the New Testament and see how we can honor his name. Can you understand why God would think he should be honored? If you understand that, say amen. Would you understand that God would say, hey, I think y'all ought to act like I'm somebody.
[2:22] I think y'all ought to act like I'm God. You're born again. You're on your way to heaven. I think you ought to treat me that way. Look, if you would, in Luke chapter 6 and verse 46. First way we show honor to God like he deserves it is we obey him.
[2:37] So you're here this morning. We're in the book of Malachi. We're finding out Israelites did not honor God. They did not respect God. They said bad things about God. But we're not really here to study what happened in Israel as much as we're going to figure out where I am and what God's doing in my life and what God's doing in your life.
[2:55] And the first question is, do you honor God? Do you show God respect? And how would you go about doing that? So the Bible says in Luke chapter 6 and verse 46, why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?
[3:12] So the Lord Jesus said, okay, this sounds a whole lot like Malachi. You guys claim I'm your Lord, but you're not doing what I say. So you're not really showing me the respect.
[3:23] Do my name. In Matthew chapter 15 and verse 18, he said this. He said, you do that by loving him. Notice what the verse says in Matthew 15, 18. This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth.
[3:36] And, excuse me, this people draw nigh unto me with their mouth. And they honor me with their lips. But their heart is far from me. And I'm looking and those guys don't have my verse, which probably means I picked the wrong verse.
[3:49] I didn't give them the right location. You can find that later. Your heart's far from him. You said it with your mouth. You said it with your lips. But your heart's not there where it ought to be.
[4:01] How about this? We honor God by being concerned about his name, about his reputation. In Matthew chapter 6 and verse 9, when the Lord taught his disciples how to pray, he said this is how you pray.
[4:14] After this manner, therefore pray you, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. What's that mean? Honored, respected, glorified, lifted up, holy is your name.
[4:30] And ought to be concerned about the name of the Lord. So why don't we respect him? Why don't we respect him? I believe it's because we don't see him for who he is.
[4:42] We don't see him for who he is. You see, it's easier to show respect to a policeman because he has power and you see it right then. It's easier to show respect for the IRS even if you don't like them because you know they have real power and they're about to make a move on you.
[4:55] It's easier to show respect for the government. But sometimes it's like God's way up there and we forget who he is. We forget that he is our creator. We forget that he is our judge.
[5:06] We forget that he holds our life in his hand. All of our success is in his hand. We don't see ourselves as who we are either. We tend to kind of think of us as pretty high and lifted up.
[5:18] We kind of bring God down and bring us up. And that's why we don't respect God. It's like, I'm a pretty good guy. And my life counts to what I'm doing, blah, blah, blah, me, me, me, me, me.
[5:30] And so we lift ourselves up and we get that wrong. We get used to what used to cause us great awe. There was a time, maybe, in your life a long time ago when you realized you were a sinner.
[5:44] You realized you deserved to go to hell. You couldn't believe God had saved you. You heard the gospel message and you sat there in shock and awe and scared. And conviction came and you said, oh, I need you, God.
[5:58] And you found forgiveness in God and you found salvation in him. And all of a sudden your heart was elated and you were so joyful because God had done something in you. But you've long passed that, haven't you?
[6:10] You've gotten over it and forgotten it. So we don't respect him. He is concerned about us loving him and loving his name. In the verses that we're going to look at today, eight times he says my name.
[6:25] That's interesting. In the verses right now he says my name. My name. Your name is pretty important to you. Your name represents who you are. And he wants respect. And he wants honor.
[6:37] Is it not time to question ourselves this morning and say, are we loving him like a son? Are we showing respect to him like a master?
[6:48] Isn't it time for us to stop and say, how am I showing the God of heaven that I love him? How am I showing him that I respect him?
[6:59] Is he really, is that even on my radar? Because if you're in the book of Malachi and you're in chapter one in verse six, here's what God says. I don't get it. You love your daddy, but you don't love me.
[7:10] You respect your boss, but you don't respect me. Am I not your father? And am I not your Lord? But you don't respect me. That's what he says in Malachi chapter one in verse six.
[7:24] Now I want you to go if you would, because right now I think you've already gone into Malachi mode. Because in Malachi chapter one in verse six, when God said that to them, they went into defense mode immediately.
[7:36] They're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't talk to us like that. You know who you're talking to. Look at Malachi chapter one in verse six. Still got your Bible open there? Malachi chapter one in verse six.
[7:47] Look what it says. It's just funny to me. You need to underline this in there. A son honors his father and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where's my honor? And if I be a master, where's my fear?
[7:59] Says the Lord of hosts unto you, O priest that despise my name. And you say, look what they say. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[8:10] Wherein have we despised your name? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. God, back it up a bit. Put it in park. Let's talk this over. Where, where, where, where, where, where'd we mess up?
[8:21] Where'd we do that? I'll read verse seven. He said, well, you offered polluted bread on the altar. And then they said, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wherein have we polluted?
[8:32] Wherein have we polluted you? And he said, well, you said my table. The Lord was contemptible. Just now, have we not respected your name, they say?
[8:44] It's kind of funny. In the book of Malachi, what he's going to do time after time is he's going to say, this is what God says. And then he's going to let them say what they say. And every time God's going to say, you've done this. And they're going to say, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[8:55] So he's going to, over and over in this book, he's going to say, you. And they're going to say, no. And isn't that kind of like us? If we're honest this morning, the fact is, when you heard me talking about honoring God and you heard me talking about obeying God and you heard me talking about loving God, instead of going, hmm, boy, that's, yeah.
[9:14] Hmm. This is what we did. We went, well, not me. That guy over there, maybe. That guy over there, but not me. I'm doing pretty good about that. That, hey, I mean, where have I messed up?
[9:26] Where have I messed up? See, they refused to acknowledge that they'd done wrong. They came back with arguments. Any of you ever had children? How many of you ever dealt with your children and said, you did wrong with your kids?
[9:39] Whoa, whoa, whoa, Dad. Back off. Cool down. Slick. Hey, whoa, whoa. That's not me. I used to tell them, you're going to find out how big I am. Say amen right there. Amen. God could do that.
[9:49] The really sad part of the story is that it was the priest. The spiritual leaders. The spiritual leaders. Look, if you would. Look, if you would, in verse 6 and underline, oh, priest.
[10:03] Oh, priest. If anybody ought to know to respect God. If anybody ought to have the right attitude, it ought to be the man of God. But in the story, the priests seem to be leading in the sin.
[10:17] There's a certain Bible truth taught about that. It's like the Bible seems to say that you get priests like the people, and the people are like the priest.
[10:29] It's like me and you, we're going to go down together one way or the other. Look at the Bible, if you would, Hosea chapter 4 and verse 9. Just mark that in the margin of your Bible. You can look it up later. And the Bible said, and there shall be like people, like priests.
[10:42] And I will punish them for their ways and reward them for their doings. Underline this. Like people, like priests. Now, you know, you've got a lot of preachers, a lot of men of God today that are doing things that aren't right.
[10:57] Well, here's what Hosea would have said. Well, you kind of got what you deserved, didn't you? I mean, that's how you all are, so that's what you got. And the same thing works back the other way. You got that kind of priest, because that's how the priests are.
[11:09] That's how the people are, like priests, like people. In Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 30, the same truth is taught. In Jeremiah chapter 5, verse 30, a wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land.
[11:24] Verse 31, the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means. And my people like it that way. They love to have it so, and what will you do in the end thereof?
[11:39] Time to stop and think how we get preachers like we deserve and how preachers get people like they deserve. That's what's going on in the verse. It was the priests in Malachi chapter 1 who were saying, Well, God, not just the people in our church don't like you, I don't like you either.
[12:00] God said, Austin, I'm not talking about vision. I'm talking about you, buddy. You're not showing me respect. You're not treating me like a dad should be treated.
[12:11] You're not treating me like a boss should be treated. You're not respecting me. Spiritual leaders. Could I just stop one second before I go to the next point and say this?
[12:23] If you're a dad in this room, you're a spiritual leader. You're kind of reaping in your family like daddy, like family. Like mama, like family.
[12:34] Like daddy, like wife. Like mom, like children. Like dad, like children. That's really basically what the Bible is saying in this passage of scripture. Oh, priest.
[12:47] So I could look at our church and I could say they don't love God. They don't respect God. And God would say, it started with you, big boy. And you could look at God and say, God, our pastor, he doesn't seem to love God or respect him.
[13:02] And God would basically say, well, you got what you deserved. Look at the passage. How do you handle it when the Lord convicts you? Now, let me explain something to you. When you come to church in the morning, you come to church every service, you ought to come here knowing this, that I'm going to speak and I'm going to try to show you what the word of God says.
[13:19] But something goes on in the service that's way above that. And that is the Holy Spirit of God begins to work in the service. He begins to move in our hearts and say, that's for you. That point he just made is for you.
[13:30] That verse he just read, that was for you. And what's going on here is God talking to your heart, and that's what's happening in your life right now. That's what's going on. So here's the question for all of us.
[13:41] How do we respond when the Holy Spirit of God convicts us? How do we respond when the verse of Scripture, like, gets a hold of us, jerks on our ear, calls our attention, snaps a finger, thumps a head?
[13:54] You know, when I was a kid in church, my dad was always a small country church, but my dad could snap his fingers so that everybody in the church could hear it, and all the young kids in the church knew to duck because he'd snap, then thump.
[14:06] And so if he was talking, he'd snap. And if that didn't work, he'd thump, and your head would bounce off the pew in front of you, you know? And basically that's what's going on here. God said, how do you respond? So see, the priests were getting the message, and God was saying, you're doing wrong.
[14:20] And the priests and the people in the church were like, whoa, huh? I said, oh, wait a minute. Where have we done wrong? Is that what you do? Because this morning, as we talk about, is he respected?
[14:31] As we talk about, is he loved? Is he treated like he ought to? Do we handle the giving like we should? Is it going to be, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait just one minute. You're treading on dangerous ground there.
[14:43] You shouldn't talk about it. How do you respond? Do you deny in your heart what God is doing? Do you resist and pray for the service to end so you can get away? Do you tell God that you will fix it, but it'll be tomorrow when you fix it?
[14:57] Most of us, most of us want to do right. You're born again. You're on the way to heaven. You want to do right. And here's what we say. He's got a point there. And I really should fix that, and I'm planning on it tomorrow.
[15:11] I'm planning on it next week, next year. Go with me to Malachi chapter 1 and verse 7. They wanted to know, you see, the first verse was, y'all don't respect me.
[15:21] The second verse was, whoa, how do you think we don't respect you? The third thing we want to look at is he said, well, this is how you don't respect me. Malachi 1, 7. You offered polluted bread upon my altar.
[15:35] Where have we polluted you? Well, you said, the table of the Lord is contemptible. So here's what goes on in Malachi chapter 1. The real argument is that God is not pleased with the way they're bringing him offerings.
[15:52] He's not pleased with the way they're bringing sacrifices to him. They're not doing what he told them to do. They're viewing God and God's work and God's thing is not as important as what the government would have.
[16:05] It's not as important as what the work would have. They're looking at God and saying, you're just a Saturday thing, Jews, Old Testament. You're just a Sunday thing, church, New Testament. It's not that big a deal.
[16:16] I mean, I spend six days a week working for me and I give you a couple hours so back off, God. So God said in Malachi chapter 1 and verse 8, you got your Bible open? He said, and if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is that not evil?
[16:31] Look, you're supposed to be bringing me sacrifices and you bring me a lamb that's blind. It's no value to you. It's going to die anyway and that's what you bring me.
[16:42] Is that not wrong? You offer the lame and the sick. Is that not wrong? Offer it now unto the governor. Look at that. Why don't y'all take that to the governor?
[16:55] Why don't y'all offer that in Babylon while you're up there? Why don't y'all offer that to whoever's your leader? Would he be pleased with you or would he accept your person?
[17:06] The Lord says. So they were bringing offerings to God that were literally an insult to God. They're bringing offerings to God that were literally an insult to God.
[17:17] They gave offerings that showed they didn't respect God. They didn't respect his worship. So they came to God with stuff that was of less value, no value really.
[17:28] They gave offerings that they would never have given to political leaders. Never. You don't pay the IRS for that kind of stuff. You don't treat your boss with that kind of stuff.
[17:40] You don't treat people of importance with that kind of stuff. But you treat God that way. That's what the verse is saying. That's what the verse is saying. They were bringing offerings that are literally an insult.
[17:56] And back when we went to Peru as missionaries, the money was changing value. So what happened was the Peruvian currency had gotten so bad that they literally were, the money was worth millions to a dollar.
[18:14] And so one day, the government said, we're going to cut six zeros off the money, rename the money, and the old money is worthless. We'll go with new money now. I literally went to get $300 changed, and I filled up my boots and my jacket and a briefcase full of money.
[18:29] I looked like a drug lord. It was $300, but the money was so worthless. And so then when, as we were starting the church, we would take up the offering at the church. And literally, the people would bring all the money that was completely worthless.
[18:42] It was the money they, the only thing I could do with it was throw it away or give it to God. So we used to count the offering. I'd say, how much do we get? They'd say, you want to know about old money or new money or both?
[18:55] And I'd say, well, just tell me about both. And they'd say, we got a lot of old money. I'd say, what's your worth? They'd say, we just got thrown away. That's what's going on here. Now, you need to understand something about the sacrifice.
[19:07] You're in the Old Testament. But when they offer that sacrifice, that sacrifice represents Jesus, the blood of the lamb that would die and pay their sin price.
[19:21] They were told to bring a spotless lamb, a healthy lamb, a firstborn lamb, because it represented the spotless lamb of God who would die on the cross of Calvary. And so basically, they were saying, we don't respect Jesus.
[19:35] We don't respect God. We don't respect what you want. We know we're supposed to give. So we're going to bring you a blind, lame animal that's sick and going to die.
[19:46] And since it was going to die anyway, might as well let it die at church. And we can claim we give an offering. If you would, look with me to Revelation chapter 5 and verse 12.
[19:57] In Revelation chapter 5 and verse 12, the Bible says, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
[20:13] I jumped all the way to Revelation so you'd know this. You remember those lambs in the Old Testament? They were a picture of the lamb of God who would die on the cross of Calvary. That lamb's blood was shed.
[20:24] And every time that lamb's blood was shed, they were looking forward without even understanding all that was going on. They were looking forward to when God would send Jesus to the cross to die. That spotless firstborn lamb of God, not a blind one, not a sick one, not a dead one, not a weak one, not a helpless one, but God's gift would die on the cross for them.
[20:43] And they didn't respect that. In John chapter 1 and verse 29. In John chapter 1 and verse 29, John the Baptist is baptized and Jesus comes to be baptized. John the Baptist looks up and says, behold the lamb of God.
[20:54] That's kind of like a link between the Old Testament and the New Testament because John the Baptist is saying, y'all know about the lamb? We all know about the lamb. Well, there he is, the lamb of God. But he deserved to be honored and respected.
[21:09] He was the lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, but they weren't treating him that way. Go with me if you would to Malachi chapter 1 and verse 9. They knew their governor would never accept those kind of gifts.
[21:22] There wasn't a question here. It wasn't like, in other words, what happens is there's just kind of a dichotomous relationship. We understand and we understand how you ought to pay your bills.
[21:33] And we understand that Sears and Roebuck. And we understand that JCPenney's and the light company and the water company and the mortgage company, they accept good money. That's what they expect. But see, it's one thing to do what you know you got to do, but God's just kind of left over.
[21:48] Let's give him whatever. That was basically the idea. And he said, you know he won't accept it. Will he regard your persons? If you take a blind animal to the king and say, king, I just thought I'd bring you a gift today.
[22:02] Here's your blind animal. He's sick and he's dying, but I just thought I'd bring him to you. You know the king would get mad about that. But then you respect the king and you don't respect me. So in Malachi chapter 1 and verse 10, he told them what he thought about it.
[22:15] Look at it. Malachi 1.10. He said, who is there even among you that would shut the doors for naught? Neither do you. Kindle fire on my altar. Father, I have no pleasure in you. The idea of bringing a gift would be that the king would go, man, that's a nice gift.
[22:29] Thank you very much. That's really special. I believe you really put some thought and effort into that. But he said, y'all bring me something. I'm like, I have no pleasure.
[22:40] And then he says later on in the verse, and I won't accept your offering. And I won't accept your offering. Because you see, offerings indicate where your heart is. I don't know how many times I have heard just recently.
[22:57] You know, they get these people from, I think, Shane Company. They call somebody on the commercial and they call up this person. And they say, what are you getting your wife for Valentine's Day? And he says, I was planning on getting her a vacuum cleaner.
[23:10] And he says, well, you think that's a smart gift to get her? He says, yeah, man, it's a good vacuum cleaner. And he said, I've got her on the line. What do you think? And she's like, well, you know.
[23:22] And he said, we thought you might like a ring. We thought you might like a bracelet. And the husband's like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, kind of caught in that crossfire. Say amen right there. So that's what's going on in the verse.
[23:34] They're bringing to God things that don't matter, that aren't there. But if you're in love, you want to do the right thing. The Bible says in Matthew 621, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
[23:47] Now, I want to talk to you just a little bit about giving. That's what the chapter's about. That's what the chapter's about. So we're going to go in our Bibles a couple of verses about giving. But let me explain something to you.
[23:58] And ever since God made the world, there's been an issue about the giving. Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord.
[24:10] First story. Cain brought an offering that God wasn't pleased with. Abel brought an offering that God was pleased with. And you know the story. And so then in Malachi chapter 1, we see that God's people are bringing him offerings.
[24:22] And he doesn't like it. And he says, I have no pleasure in your offering. And I won't accept what you're bringing me. Because he really thinks he's God. He really thinks he's king.
[24:33] He really thinks he created you. He really thinks he's above all of us. And he says, I expect that. So go with me, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 1.
[24:45] Now, I want you to understand that giving is a grace. That means that God gives you the power and the ability to do it. You should write that down somewhere. He gives you the power and the ability to do it.
[24:55] But God puts in your heart a desire to do something for his honor and his glory. So in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, they're talking about giving. And it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 1. Moreover, brethren, we do you the wit of the grace of God.
[25:09] Underline that. Grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. So God gave them a grace. We'll find out what that is. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 6. In so much that we desired Titus as he had begun, so he would also finish you the same grace also.
[25:26] Underline that. The same grace also. Therefore, as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and all diligence and in your love toward us, we want you to abound in this grace also.
[25:38] Let me explain something to you. Here's what goes on. You can't go to heaven without the grace of God. You can't go to heaven without the grace of God. If you went on your own merit and on your own work, you'd go to hell. Because you sinned against God.
[25:49] You deserve to go to hell. And if it wasn't for Jesus to honor the cross, you couldn't go to heaven. So we all go to heaven on the same way. For by grace are you saved through faith. Not if you said it's a gift of God. Not of works, as any man should boast.
[26:00] It's the grace of God. But everything we do for God is the grace of God. Everything we do is God. I would not naturally do these things. Look at the verse, 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 7.
[26:11] Look at the verse. He said, I want you to abound in everything. See, God gave you all these graces. And it's pretty obvious that it says that if you look at the last part of the verse, it says this grace also.
[26:23] So there's a lot of graces. We are grace-filled people. The fact that you love God is grace. The fact that you want to serve God is grace. And the fact that you believe God is grace.
[26:35] And an utterance. The fact that you can speak well about God and talk about it. The fact that you can understand the things of God is grace. And the fact that you do good is grace. And the fact that you even showed love toward Paul was grace.
[26:47] He said, I'm going to talk to you about another grace. I'll give you one second. Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 8. I speak not by commandment but by occasion of the foreignness of others to prove the sincerity of your love.
[27:02] Underline that. He said, I'm going to talk to you and we're going to see if you really mean it. We're going to see if you really mean it. Then he said in verse 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.
[27:16] That through his poverty you might be rich. So it's a section about giving. So here's what happened. We give because he first gave. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
[27:28] We love him because he first loved us. So it was God towards us. And if I would ever quit being selfish. And if I would ever honor God it would have to be a work of God.
[27:38] Because by nature I'm going to be a taker and an abuser. That's who we are as human beings. And all you got to do is read the news or watch the news and figure that that's who we are. But God did a work in us.
[27:50] God did a work in us. And so we can love God and we can love others. God did a work in us so we can believe God and we can live by faith. God did a work in us and so we can learn to honor God.
[28:00] Because we know God gave us everything that we have and everything that we are. Are you giving in a way that honors God? I really want you to answer that question in your own heart and your own mind right now.
[28:15] You see it was a grace. So everybody in the room knows nobody's explained to you that God expected you to give. It started in the book of Genesis and it's gone all the way through the New Testament.
[28:27] And we're to be givers. Do we honor God? You know, I decided a long time ago I was going to be a decent tipper. I'm not like the guy who goes into the restaurant and writes down on a tip, I give God 10%, don't you hope for more?
[28:42] I wouldn't write that on a thing ever. And I just decided a long time ago, I'm going to be one of those guys that gives more than a decent tip. If they put 18% on my bill, I'm like, thank you, you saved me money.
[28:55] So here's the deal. You know it's dishonoring to that server. You know it's dishonoring to you that you would be such a tightwad and want to buy you a $20 plate and leave them a dollar tip.
[29:06] You know that, but you don't know it about God. If he is God, if he is the creator, if he is the father, if he is the master, where's his respect?
[29:24] That's what the passage is about. That's what the passage is about. You give to God in a way that honors him. Do you think he deserves more love and respect than the government? Than the waiter?
[29:37] The server? Are you growing in the grace of giving? Are you respectful of the Lord and his worship?
[29:50] You see, worship is, the idea of worship in the entire Bible is not the song service. That's like the dumbest thing in the world. They call that praise and worship, which means praise and cheap.
[30:02] I come, you feed, I go home. Worship in the Bible, they took a lamb. Worship in the Bible, they took offerings. Worship in the Bible cost them. In fact, when David needed to make an offering to God, when David needed to make an offering to God, they said, we'll give it to you so you can offer it.
[30:20] And David said, I would not offer my God that which costs me nothing. I'm really not trying to raise money. We're in Malachi chapter 1. But the truth is, God's people ought to honor him.
[30:35] Are you growing? Can I just tell you something? Did you know that it's pretty much a proven fact that poor people are willing to tithe more than rich people? The guy who's making $500 a week is much more willing to give $50 than the guy who's making $50,000 a week willing to give 10%, which is like the craziest thing in the world.
[30:54] It's like the more I get, the more is for me and less for anybody else for God. Less honor. I'm going to sneak out that back door so y'all can't kill me this morning.
[31:09] Are you respectful of the Lord and his worship? If we evaluated your calendar, your checkbook, or your conscience, would there be evidence that you love God?
[31:28] There'd be evidence you love Comcast or what you get from them. There'd be evidence you love the phone company. There'd be evidence, you got it. Malachi chapter 1, verse 11.
[31:39] God will eventually be worshipped by people from all over the world. So there's this little argument going on in Malachi chapter 1. And the argument is, you guys don't love me.
[31:51] Oh, how are you going to say we don't love you? He said, you bring me your garbage. That's how I'm saying it. You bring me your garbage. How do you think we bring you our garbage? He said, you wouldn't do that to your governor, but you'd do it to me.
[32:04] And they're kind of like, okay, this is starting to be bad. You read the chapter, you'll find out I'm just telling you what it says. Now, Malachi chapter 1, he basically ends up saying, all right, said, y'all won't love me.
[32:14] He said, y'all won't do right. I'll give you another people that will. Malachi 1.11. For from the rising of the sun, even to the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, the pagans.
[32:27] And in every place, underline it in your Bible, in every place, incense, prayer, shall be offered unto my name and a pure offering. They'll bring me something worth bringing.
[32:40] For my name shall be great among the heathen, the pagans, the Gentiles, the Americans, says the Lord of hosts. One day, his name will be great even among the pagans.
[32:52] The Jews might not respect him, but one day, the pagans will. He's worthy of honor, and they'll eventually see that. One day, he will be worshipped all over the globe.
[33:03] What a promise for a church like ours that sends missionaries and pours so much money into it. As you give to missions, you can know God's going to win. He's going to win.
[33:14] He will be honored, and he will be respected, and if no one believes it, it doesn't matter. One day, even those that have never heard of God will call him great. Pagans, that's what pagans, heathen, Gentiles are.
[33:25] We can know that God is going to get the job done all over the world. We can know God's going to change lives and do great things. He will win. Malachi chapter 1 and verse 12.
[33:36] He said, You have profaned it, You have profaned it, my holy name. You have profaned it, and that you say, the table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, and even the meat is contentable. You bring bad offerings. You say, my worship is of no value.
[33:49] You show no respect for me when you bring me stuff. They even felt like it was a waste of time. Look at Malachi chapter 1 and verse 13. You said also, Behold, what a weariness it is.
[34:02] Man, it's boring. Man, what a weariness it is. You snuffed at it, says the Lord of hosts, and you brought that which was torn and lame and sick. Thus, you brought an offering.
[34:14] Should I accept that of your hand, says the Lord? See, they give God the leftovers from their life. They're bored with God.
[34:25] They're bored with the things of God. They're just going through the motions. They're just doing what they feel like they have to do, and God wants nothing to do with it. How did you worship this morning? Do you think of Him as the most important thing in your life?
[34:42] Do you come humbly to worship Him and anticipate Him to do great things? Or do you come bored because you have to? What would an examination of your given record say about what you're saying?
[34:55] Because you know, you just might be going, Whoa, whoa, whoa, back off, Austin. What would an examination say? So the last verse is, Malachi 1, 14, stop playing with God.
[35:09] But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and he makes a promise to sacrifice it to the Lord. He makes a promise to sacrifice it, but he sacrifices a corrupt thing.
[35:22] Look at what he said. I am a great king. Look at that. I am a great king, says the Lord of the host, and my name is dreadful. That doesn't mean horrible. That means like, it's awe-striking.
[35:33] It's surprising. It's like wonderful. It's like majestic. It's my name among the heathen. Stop making promises you won't keep. That's what he's saying.
[35:45] He said, you guys go into your flock and you got this beautiful male animal and you say, I'm going to give this to God. Then you get to thinking about it and you say, 10% used to be a little bit, but 10% is a lot now.
[35:59] So I'll take a blind one. This is a really nice looking lamb. I mean, they're just going to kill it anyway. Why don't we just take one that's already dying? That'd be a better way to do it.
[36:10] He said, I'm tired of that. You're a liar. You're deceiving. You say you love me. You say you're going to give me stuff, but you're not doing it. That's what he says in the verse. You see that? So why don't you recognize him for being the great God he is?
[36:24] He knows what you really have and he sees what you're giving him. Know this. God will be worshipped by someone even if you don't.
[36:36] His name will be respected among the heathen. God took from the Jews all the great things he was doing and moved to the church because of this attitude. God will move his blessing from our church to another church from your family to another family from you to another if you keep playing with him.
[36:57] He's God. He's a great king. And he's like, if you don't want to treat me like a great king, I'll find somebody who will. If you don't want to honor me, I'll find someone who will.
[37:11] He deserves our respect and worship and obedience. How are you treating God? Do you serve him like he really is a great God and a great king?
[37:25] Or do you just play games and go through the motions and do what you're supposed to do? Or are you genuinely serving God? God wants to be loved and worshipped.
[37:36] So what's he giving him today? And to be blunt honest, it's really not about your money. It's about your heart. Because you see, anybody can come throw some money at it.
[37:47] But God's looking for people and say, man, you are so worthy that everything I have is yours. So a young man will stand on a platform, young woman will stand on a platform and they'll say, I give you all that I am or ever will have.
[38:02] I give you all that I, I give you everything. I give you all I am and ever will be. I give it all to you. You're my wife. But then we look at God and we say, well, not that much for you, God.
[38:14] Be honest. Be honest. That's what Malachi 1 is about. From verse 6 down, here's what it's about. Am I not a father?
[38:27] Why don't y'all treat me like one? Am I not a master? Why don't you respect me like one? Why are y'all bringing me garbage? Why are y'all treating me like I'm a nobody?
[38:41] Isn't that what's happening? Where are you? You're here this morning and you're not born again. You don't know you'd go to heaven if you died. The truth is you went to church and you heard, you heard, and you went through all the motions.
[38:55] You know, like my wife, you got sprinkled as a baby, you got christened at 12, and you, when you made your, you got in the covenant or whatever, but you ain't never really given your heart.
[39:08] You realize you've sinned against the Holy God? You realize you should go to hell but Jesus loves you, died for you, and offers you the free gift of salvation? You realize that? You get saved today.
[39:21] He loves you. Everything's been done that all you have to do is receive a gift. Now let me just say this to you. If you're here and you're a Christian, isn't it time you started acting like one?
[39:33] Isn't it time it started showing on you? This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[39:46] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.
[39:57] Thanks.