An Offer To God

B. Israel had disgraced itself with hypocrisy:

i. Robert Redford was walking one day through a hotel lobby. A woman saw him and followed him to the elevator. ’Are you the real Robert Redford?" she asked him with great excitement. As the doors of the elevator closed, he replied, ’Only when I am alone!"

ii. Look at the list of judgments against her:

a. Declaring the Word in the open while denying it elsewhere (16-17)

b. Theft (18a)

c. Adultery (18b)

d. Lying (19)

e. Slander (20)

f. Falsely thinking because of God’s silence and patience they were OK

iii. BOTTOM LINE: They would be judged for these things

C. Complete genuineness is the foundation of our religion

i. Real obedience - James 1:22-24, 26 – 22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

ii. Real character - Philippians 1:10 – That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;

iii. Real change - James 3:17 - But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

iv. Real testimony - James 1:27 - Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

4. Offer God Praise, Not Shallow Rhetoric – 22-23

A. Jesus himself said to his disciples, “[L]et your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) This is a concept that is sometimes a challenge for us. In fact I recently read about a little girl who came home from Sunday School right after studying this verse. She asked her mother, when she repeated the verse, what it meant. Her mom said, "Well, it means that when you are good and kind and thoughtful and obedient, you are letting Christ’s light shine in your life before all who know you." The very next Sunday in Sunday School, the little girl got in a bit of a fracas with another student and created somewhat of an uproar--to such an extent that the Sunday School teacher had to go and find her mother to get her settled down a bit in the class. Her mother was concerned when she got to the classroom and said, "Sweetie, don’t you remember about letting your light shine for the Lord before [others]?" The girl blurted out, "Mom, I have blowed myself out!" Source: W. Frank Harrington, "The Love That Brought Him," Preaching Today, Tape No. 51, cited on PreachingToday.com.

B. Israel had forgotten what true praise was and invited God’s judgment on them:

i. We get the distinct impression throughout Scripture that God does not want to be ignored or forgotten.