THE PASTOR’S POINTS
sermon ministry of
CEDAR LODGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Thomasville, NC
a fellowship of faith, family and friendships
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"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands.
Malachi 1.10(NIV)
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God was not pleased with His people. 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. God preferred the honesty of no worship at all to this hypocritical show of pseudo-worship.
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. Gordon Dahl put it this way: "Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play, and to play at their worship. As a result, their meanings and values are distorted.
Their relationships disintegrate faster than they can keep them in repair and their lifestyles resemble a cast of characters in search of a plot.
How may we guard our worship so that it is acceptable to God? The answer is, of course (for Bible-believing folk) to make it Biblical worship. Take a crash course with me from Genesis to Revelation:
Worship In the Bible
Abraham worshipped Gen 22:5 (NIV)
He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
The Law
I said to you, ’I am the LORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me." Exo 20:5 (NIV) You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, Deu 8:19 (NIV) If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.
History of God’s People:
Joshua
Josh 24:15 (NIV) But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the singers sang and the trumpeters played. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed. You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
Job
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship
Psalms
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. "Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool
Major Prophets
"Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message: "’Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you."
Daniel
and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?"
But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
Disobedient Prophet
He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
Minor Prophets
The LORD will be awesome to them when he destroys all the gods of the land. The nations on every shore will worship him, every one in its own land. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain.
New Testament
The Magi
"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
Jesus
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ’Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
Paul
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
Hebrews
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,
Angels
He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water." Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."
John the Revelator
the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne.....But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
We don’t want to close the doors. There are elements of worship -- genuine worship that will keep the doors of His house open.
YOU WORSHIP BECAUSE YOU RESPECT THE NAME OF GOD
Malachi 1.6
"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, ’How have we shown contempt for your name?’ (NIV)
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray he demonstrated that God’s name was holy ("...hallowed be thy name." Mt 6.9). God has a holy name, and it is our worship by which we honor Him!
YOU WORSHIP BECAUSE GOD DECREED IT
God speaks -- we obey. That is the way it is. It’s His world! The late J. Edgar Hoover was once asked if children should be made to go to Sunday School and Worship, even if they object. Hoover didn’t hesitate. He said, "Yes, you certainly should, and with no further discussion about the matter...What do you say to Junior when he comes to breakfast on Monday morning and announces he isn’t going to school anymore? You know! He goes! How do you answer him when he comes home covered with mud and says, ’I’m not going to take a bath.’ Junior bathes doesn’t he? Why all this timidity, then, in the realm of spiritual guidance and growth?" The answer, of course is parental laziness -- poor worship on the part of parents. With today’s HRS and so-called child protection laws you would get sued for making your child attend church.
In Muslim countries the whole nation comes to a dead halt three times a day so everyone will pray. In "Christian" America the highest court in the land makes sure nobody prays where it will affect anyone else. Isaiah (1.3) was right -- The dumb animals may know their keeper, but God’s people aren’t that smart. We’ve been told to worship by a much higher authority than the Supreme Court. We’ll only keep the doors open by obedience to the command.
YOU WORSHIP BECAUSE GOD DESERVES IT
God is the Father, our Heavenly Father. We worship because He is Lord. He is the Creator and sustainer of all life. It is His world. He is the all powerful God of the ages. When you come up against a sovereign, all powerful God, you know you should worship. He is worthy.
YOU WORSHIP BECAUSE YOU ARE HIS DISCIPLE
A disciple is a learner/follower/doer of the teacher. We cannot serve our Lord until we are first made worthy to serve Him. Worship is the process. Isaiah (in his call to ministry) was given a vision of God. He fell down and worshipped. He wanted to serve God, but he realized his unworthiness in the presence of a holy God. In that worship experience God sent an angel with a hot coal to touch Isaiah’s unclean lips as a symbol of his being made clean in worship. Beloved, we cannot serve if we’re not sanctified. Michaelangelo and Raphael were both commissioned to beautify the Vatican. Although there was plenty of work to be done, a fierce rivalry, and then a jealous hatred developed between the two artists. They wouldn’t speak to each other to the day they died. Their task was to glorify God with their talents. Their work was insignificant because their worship was impure. Respect for the name of God means obedient, regular worship.
YOU WORSHIP BECAUSE YOU RESPECT THE PROPERTY OF GOD
Malachi 1.10
"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. (NIV)
YOU WORSHIP WITH YOUR STEWARDSHIP
This passage is all about worship. The most evident expression and demonstration of that worship is a matter of what we do with those talents and material possessions with which God has entrusted his children. God is the owner, we are but managers of what He owns. Giving is that recognition, the worship of Him. The problem of our text is that we see that God never accepts any gift from dirty hands. One Sunday King Louis XIV and his royal entourage arrived at the church to find only one other worshipper, the pastor, Archbishop Fenelon. Surprised, the king asked, "Where is everybody? Why isn’t anyone else here?" The minister answered, "I announced that Your Majesty wouldn’t be here today, because I wanted you to see who came to the service just to flatter the king, and who came to worship the King of Kings."
Worship is not a matter of having other people see you give, pray, sing, preach, or read the Scripture. Worship is stewardship of giving praise to God.
YOU WORSHIP WITH YOUR SACRIFICE
Notice that God is not pleased with blemished sacrifices. In Leviticus 22 it was set down for the children of Israel that they were only to bring the best animals of their flock as an offering. God’s reason for laying that down as the pattern is that it helped each person worship more effectively. A wild animal cost nothing but the time to capture it. The best lamb of a man’s flock was costly. King David (2Sa 24.24) refused to offer anything that wasn’t the best.
Do you do that? Do you give God the best you have? In another year there will be people all over this city coughing up $100 each Sunday to watch the Jaguars lose football games, but they find it hard to give a $2 tip to Jesus. Many people won’t give their best to Jesus because it is too tiring (see Malachi 1.13).
Beloved, if a person wants to shut the doors of God’s house, it is a relatively easy thing to do...we simply give respect to the name of God, and to the property of God as it pleases us, and ignore what God has said. On the other hand, keeping the doors open will involve a personal commitment to God in His son Jesus Christ.
In Leviticus the pattern for genuine worship was laid down (Lev 22). It has not changed.
BIRTH THE SACRIFICE
A man was required to take a lamb from his own flock - a personal sacrifice. Today we must bring our own personal lives before God.
BRING THE SACRIFICE
A man was to present the lamb at the altar of the temple and lay his hands on it, confessing his sin. The symbolism was one of transferring the sin of a man to the lamb. Today we must confess our sins. The Lamb died for us.
BUTCHER THE SACRIFICE
The man himself killed the lamb as a symbol of deep repentance over his own sin, and willingness to turn from it. Today our repentance is to turn away from the old life, and walk with Christ in newness.
BOW WITH THE SACRIFICE
Once the sacrifice was completed, the man could bow in humble worship, cleansed, acceptable before God. In all it was (and is) a personal, hands-on event.
The choice is open to each of us.
Respect for God’s name and property will keep the doors of worship open.
Did you bring your sacrifice today?
