Happy Father’s Day to you all. You have to have some “dad jokes on Father's Day,” right? When does a joke become a “dad joke”? When it becomes apparent. What do you call a thousand rabbits walking backward? A receding hairline. My friend was showing me his tool shed and pointed to a ladder. “That’s my stepladder,” he said. “I never knew my real ladder.” What did the daddy spider say to the baby spider? You spend too much time on the web. I’m done – no more ?.
If you have a copy of God’s Word, turn with me to the book of Malachi (page 953 in your pew, Bibles in front of you). Malachi is the very last book in your Old Testament. So find the New Testament book of Matthew and turn left ?.
The Minor Prophets
Your Bible has major prophets and minor prophets. The minor prophets are really small books compared to the others, and they are often neglected by Christians today. Today, I want you to focus your attention on the ultimate Father.
Today’s Scripture
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised. 8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts. 9 And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. 10 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. 11 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. 12 But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. 13 But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. 14 Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations” (Malachi 1:6-14).
Malachi lived around 450-500 years before the time of Jesus Christ. Malachi was a prophet, but his audience wasn’t just Sunday School teachers and the choir. Malachi spoke to the callous, the cynical, the dishonest, the one who didn’t care, the skeptical, and the outright wicked. Malachi also spoke to the clergy of his day because they too were callous, cynical, dishonest, skeptical, and just outright cruel.
1. Knowing the Real God
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name’” (Malachi 1:6)?
God wants the honor and the reverence due His name. God says, “I am a father, where is my honor?” God says, “My honor is missing,” and these are the people coming to church! These are the priests who are to lead worship!
1.1 Why it’s Important to Know God
The late Art Linkletter saw a little boy drawing a picture and asked the boy, “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “I’m drawing a picture of God.” Linkletter said, “Well, I thought no one knew what God looked like.” The boy looked up confidently and said, “They will when I get through.”
Life finds purpose and meaning when you know God. Knowing God intimately means more than having supermodel good looks, losing 20 pounds, or being offered the leading role in the next summer blockbuster film. If you want your life to have ultimate meaning, there’s only one pursuit to donate your life for …, and that is this: knowing God. Knowing God is oxygen to your lungs. Knowing God is water to the soil.
How important is it to know God? Think of this: Our nation’s Declaration of Independence contains at least four references to God. The first step in AA’s twelve steps program instructs you to submit to God. You cannot beat addiction without knowing God, and you cannot form a nation without Him. The true beginning point in knowing God is entering into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.
1.2 Lord of Hosts
I invite you to get to know God, the Ultimate Father, this Father’s Day. Malachi offers three images of God in addition to a special name for God. These images form together to show us the greatness of God.
1.2.1 God is our Father
Here on Father’s Day, we need to remember our Heavenly Father. A little later, Malachi asks, “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers” (Malachi 2:10)? Jesus taught us to begin our prayers this way: “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’” (Matthew 6:9). While Jesus did not copyright the concept of God as Father, He did popularize it. Jesus spoke of God as Father more than anyone else. Just hours before Jesus was crucified, He told the Disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). Jesus shows fatherly care for His children. We rely on God for His care, love, and provisions such as food and clothing.
Jesus’ last act before He died was to say, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” From the first to the last, Jesus entrusted His life into the Father’s hands. The first word from the cross was, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34b). Jesus begins with, “Father, forgive them,” and He finishes with, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Jesus first recorded word from the cross was “Father,” and now His last words from the cross begin with the word “Father.”
God doesn’t want a Father’s Day card or an old tie that He’ll never wear. He wants your honor, and He is deserving of your honor and worship.
Here’s a key question, “Is God my Father?” Before you answer that question, let me explain it. You aren’t ready to live until you are prepared to die.
You are not ready to die until you are ready to meet God. You are not ready to meet God until you know Him as your Father. You do not know Him as your Father until you become His child. You do not become His child until you are born again into His family. You are not born again into His family until you receive His Son, Jesus Christ, by faith. Simply, God becomes your Father when you become His child, but you only become His child when you receive His Son.
Image #1: God is our Father.
1.2.2 God is our Master
God says, “I’m your Father. You’re my son. You’re my daughter. You owe me honor.” Then God says, “I’m your Master and you’re my servant.” Then He says, “If I’m your Master, then you owe me fear.” Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). God says, “Not only are you to honor me as Father, but you are also to fear me as Master.” The word here, translated as “servant,” can also mean “slave.” “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Friend, if you are in Christ, you are not your own! In Jesus, we are free men and women. Whatever has enslaved you or wants to enslave you (drugs, alcohol, food, sex, gambling, fear, and anxiety), it makes no difference. Jesus has redeemed you, He’s bought you, and He’s paid for you – He ransomed you! Now, obey Him. You are free to be who God made you to be, free to do what God wants you to do, and free to go where God wants you to go. He has freed you to give you the joy of obeying your Master.
Image #2: God is our Master.
1.2.3 God is our King
The Bible says God is like a lion (Isaiah 31:4), He’s like an eagle (Deuteronomy 32:11), and He’s like a lamb (Isaiah 53:7). But beyond all these great characteristics, God is our king: “For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations” (Malachi 1:14b). I am reminded of a song that many Christians sing to God throughout American churches:
The splendor of the King
Clothed in majesty,
Let all the earth rejoice,
All the earth rejoice.
He wraps Himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide,
And trembles at His voice,
And trembles at His voice.
And the chorus moves to these words, “How Great is Our God!”
A century before, Christians would sing this great hymn:
O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing his pow’r and his love;
Our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.
Image #3: God is our King.
1.2.4 Lord of Hosts
Now, added to these three images of Father, Master, and King is a unique name for our God. Malachi uses a special name for God, and I want you to catch the whole meaning of it. Eight times in nine verses, Malachi calls God “the Lord of hosts.” Malachi goes on to use the name “the Lord of hosts” twenty-four times in just fifty-seven verses. This is Malachi’s favorite name for God, Yahweh of the Armies. The specific name in Hebrew is Yahweh of hosts is a name of God with military connections. God is the commander of angel armies.
Malachi pictures God here as a great general, a commander of armies plural. Malachi wants us to see and feel that our Father in heaven has infinite authority in all the universe. He can wield any and all troops on the earth to accomplish His purposes among the nations. Our God has myriads of unstoppable angels who do His bidding flawlessly, and they never fail to do His errands.
1.2.5 God is So Great
A young lady and pastor’s daughter when off to a state school here in Texas, and the very 1st person she met said, “There is no God. There has never been any God. If there is a God, I am he.” This same young lady went to her first class, where her professor announced: “I want to serve notice on you right away that the idea of God is obsolete.” God is so great that those who don’t believe in Him define even their lives by their lack of belief in Him!
1.3 Putting it All Together
Put it all together now: God is Father, Master, King, and General. Our God is a Father who provides for us; He is a Master who commands us;
The Almighty is a King who reigns over us; And He is the Lord of Angel Armies and every other kind of army! God has no comparison and no rival. He has no due date of expiration. He never ages and He is never irrelevant.
1. Knowing the Real God
2. Really Honor the King
“When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 1:8).
2.1 The Pattern
Malachi is a fantastic book for your study. His name means “My messenger,” and Malachi is direct and to the point. He will “pull no punches” on any subject he deals with. Let me show you an example. Malachi will quote God and then the people will reply back with a question. Let me show you in Malachi 1:2: “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us” (Malachi 1:2)? A few verses later, we see the same thing in verse 6: “priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name” (Malachi 1:6b)?
2.2 The Practice
Again, all this is directed to the clergy. Remember, the Temple had just been rebuilt in Malachi’s day. Now that worship was resuming, the people of God were making a new habit of convenient worship. They were bringing the leftover animals to sacrifice at the Temple. Instead of really honoring God, they offered polluted sacrifices (Malachi 1:7). They brought the lame and the blind animals, the animals no one else wanted (Malachi 1:8).
2.3 A Loss in Value
If you have money invested and many of us have it in a retirement account, you’re not happy right now. You are frustrated, irritated, and maybe even nauseated! The reason why you’re not happy right now if you have money in an investment account is because it lost its value. What was there, what you thought should have been there, is no longer there. Your portfolio is headed south. In light of the crisis that we are in today, whatever you were worth, you’re not worth that anymore. None of us is happy with a loss of value. None of us is happy when the value we should have, we no longer have. Our worship often loses its value. In fact, if the economy is in a bear market right now, how much more is our worship in a “bear market” too.
2.4 Real Worship
Worship is about who and what we love more than anything else. Worship is giving attention to the living God who rules, who saves us, and who made us.
2.4.1 IRS
Imagine if you wrote this to the IRS if you owed back taxes:
To Whom It May Concern;
Please accept my old, dilapidated 1975 Ford Pinto in lieu of the taxes I owe. I trust it works better for you than it has for me. Frankly, I can’t spend another spare dollar on getting this ole’ thing working. I tried driving just this week, but it broke down again on the highway. So, here it is; you can have it.
Oh yes, would you please also refer to my previous requests? I hope you can improve the road in front of my house and upgrade my children’s school as their education is critical to me.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Ford
Look again at verse 8, where God makes the same argument: “When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 1:8).
2.4.2 Mary’s Perfume
A woman named Mary approached Jesus by kneeling at His feet (John 12:1-8). Right as she knelt, she poured a year’s wages in perfume on Jesus. Can you imagine blowing $76,000 in perfume for anyone? $76,000 is the median household income for a city like North Richland Hills. This might have been Mary’s dowry for her future wedding. She took a good long look at Jesus, and she said, “He is worth every penny.” Mary was the lead worshipper that day because her worship cost her something.
2.5 Consider Your Worship Practices
Now, it’s right here where I need to ask you some difficult questions. If your personal reverence could be measured for God on a 1 to 10 scale, where would you rank your reverence? Will you give to God what is left over? Will you worship God with what’s left? Do you arrive late to public worship? Would you arrive late to work or is your boss more important? Do you give God your full attention during personal worship and public worship? Does your mind sing the songs with little attention to their actual words? Do you even bother singing? When was the last time you have knelt before God?
Authentic worship requires your sacrifice, not your convenience. Remember, worship is about who and what we love more than anything else.
2.6 When God Hates Worship
God has this memorable line in verse 10: “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” (Malachi 1:10).
Maybe they could recite lots of Bible passages. Maybe there was a big attendance at the synagogues on Saturday. Maybe everyone filtered out into the yard of the synagogue for a cookout where they cooked the best livestock for themselves after they met together. I bet they never used God’s name in vain even once. But no matter, God said, “I’d rather someone nail shut the doors to the Temple. I cannot witness another minute of this. Your worship makes me sick!”
2.7 Cheating God
“Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations” (Malachi 1:14). They had the audacity — they had the unmitigated gall — to come to worship God, and for their offering, they brought an old flea-bitten goat! They brought an old blind sheep! They brought a dead cow that hid been torn in the field or killed by a wolf! They brought the carcass that which was torn in two!
2.8 Profanity
Friend, there’s more than one kind of profanity. Not all profanity takes place at the construction site or a bar. A lot of profanity takes place inside the church house. I want to tell you what kind of profanity it is. When we stood this morning to sing, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,” and if you rolled those words off your lips and didn’t mean them, that is profanity. If you just rattled off all of these things — you said in a humdrum way, in a lackadaisical way, these words — I believe, dear friend, it’s a form of profanity. You’re not taking God seriously. You’re not attaching weight to His name.
He’s a Father - Honor Him! He’s a Master - Fear Him!
It’s not just the profanity of the mouth. It’s the profanity of the heart. God says, “You have profaned my name.”
The God of the Bible is a great Father! He’s a wonderful Master! Our God is a royal King! And He is Yahweh of the Armies, the Lord of Hosts! Our Father in heaven has infinite authority in all the universe. He can wield any and all armies on the earth to accomplish His purposes among the nations. Our God has myriads of unstoppable angels who do His bidding flawlessly and they never fail to do His errands. No one should offer animals with broken legs to honor the Lord of Hosts!
