God's Priests, Providence And Plans Series

Of course this, as I say, was not something peculiar to this particular generation of God’s people. This same thing was happening in Isaiah’s day and God through the prophet makes clear how he felt about people going through the outward forms of worship when their heart was not right with him. Isaiah 1:11 “The multitude of your sacrifices what are they to me? says the Lord. I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and of lambs and of goats. When you come to meet with me who asked this of you, this tramping of my courts. Stop bringing meaningless offerings. Your incense is detestable to me. New moon and Sabbaths and convocations - I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New moon festivals, and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer I will hide my eyes from you, even if you offer many prayers I will not listen.” Why is God talking like this. Where these not forms of worship that he himself had ordained. Did he not require the people to pray to him; to observe New Moon and Sabbath and various other festivals? Did he not institute the sacrificial system and command the offering of the blood of bulls, goats and lambs? Well yes he did. But the holy ordinances that he had instituted and ordained for worship had been profaned, had been defiled by the people because the people were inherently sinful, living sinful lives day and daily and simply going the motions of worship at the appointed times. They not right with God in their heart. Listen to what God goes on to say to them here in Isaiah 1 “wash and make yourselves clean, stop doing wrong learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless plead the case of the widow. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they are red like crimson they shall be like wool.”

You find the same thing in Jeremiah’s day 6:20 “What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus from distant lands. Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, your sacrifices do not please me.”

It was the same in Haggai’s day. In spite of their sinful condition they were still bringing their sacrifices to the Lord. They were going through the motions of external religion. But that’s all it was an external ritual. God says “So is this people and this nation in my sight.” Their worship is defiled because they are polluted, their worship does not make them holy and acceptable in my sight.

You know friends this is a lesson that God wants us to take note of this morning. There are many people in churches up and down this land, perhaps there are some here this morning who think that as long as you come to church and sing Praise to God and join in prayer and read the scriptures and put in your offering, or take communion that such things in and of themselves will make you holy, will make you acceptable to God. Well this passage tells us in no uncertain terms that whilst the elements of worship are holy in the sense that they have been established and ordained of God as a means to worship Him, nevertheless those elements do not impart any holiness to the person by the mere use of and participation in them. There is no inherent efficacy in the ordinances of religion. This is one area where Roman Catholicism errs greatly. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that grace is automatically imparted to the individual when the individual partakes of the ordinances and particularly the sacraments of the Church. That when a person partakes of the mass that person advances in holiness as a result of doing so. Sadly the same mentality is to be found among many who worship in Protestant, evangelical Churches. Some Christians think that it does them some spiritual good and enhances their relationship with God to come to and participate in worship, even though they are knowingly living in disobedience to God, even though they are unwilling to repent of some known sin. The fact of the matter is the spiritual pollution of their heart which has not been cleansed is transmitted to the very worship in which they are engaging and causes that worship to be unacceptable to God. The same is true of those who are not Christians – people who are very religious but who have never trusted Jesus Christ as their saviour. They think that God is in some way pleased with them because they go to worship each week. They think that participating in worship is bound to count for something when it comes to their relationship with God. The reality is the holy exercises in which they are engaged are defiled by the pollution of their sinful and uncleansed hearts. John Calvin sums up what God is saying here through Haggai when he states “nothing can flow from an impure and polluted fountain but what is impure and polluted.”