We'll continue Malachi chapter one. We're going to start in verse six. Last book of the Old Testament. Malachi chapter one verse six. Malachi being a prophet is speaking for the Lord.

He says again in verse one, the burden, prophecy of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. And indeed, it was a it was a burden because the message that Malachi had to give was not a pleasant one. The message that Malachi had to give was not an easy one for others to hear, but it was very what? Necessary. Yes.

Was very necessary. And this is an issue that we deal with oftentimes. Most of us do not like confrontation. We don't like to be confronted and we don't like confronting others. It isn't a pleasant experience.

It is stressful and most of the time we do just about anything we can to what? To avoid it. Sometimes we go as far as to tell people what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. But if we're going to be ministers of Christ, we need to learn to speak the truth in love. That means two things.

One, speaking the truth, not skirting around the truth, not avoiding the truth. And number two, doing it out of a heart of what? Love and compassion. When Jesus said to the Pharisees, judge not that you be not judged, What he was saying to them was, you have a twofold problem. Number one, you're hypocrites and that you're judging others for what you're doing.

But number two, you have another problem that is you're not you're not trying to help people, you're trying to hurt people. When we speak the truth, let it be because we love people and not because we love us and we want to exalt ourselves. Sometimes it is necessary. Sometimes you may be the messenger in the life of somebody who desperately needs to hear it. In Israel's case, they desperately needed to hear God's message.

Malachi was the one burdened with the message. God called him, asked him to be the messenger. And so Malachi carried the message. The entire book of Malachi beginning with the declaration of God's love is leading to a solemn warning of God's righteous judgment upon a guilty people who even after the restoration of Jerusalem have taken their God for granted and brought dishonor to his name. After all that God had done from them, he he promised to bring them back after the captivity.

He brought them back under Ezra and Nehemiah and Zerubbabel and Joshua. They rebuilt the city of Jerusalem. They rebuilt the walls. They rebuilt the temple. God blessed them, God protected them even by decree of the pagan kings of Persia.

He protected them. Even by the placing of Esther in the palace, he protected them. And yet, a generation later and they're already starting to take him for granted once again. This time, they're not turning to idols made of stone. They sort of learned that lesson, but there are other idols besides the ones made from stone.

There are other issues for God's people and God is having to deal with some here in Malachi. And so we're reading about those. And maybe there's something for us to learn as well. Verse six, a son honoureth his father and a servant his master. If I if then I be a father, where is mine honor?

If I be a master, where is my fear? Say it the Lord of hosts unto you, o priests, that despise my name. And you say, wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And you say, wherein have we polluted thee?

In that you say the table of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? If ye offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor. Will he be pleased with thee or accept thy person?

Say it the Lord of hosts. We call those rhetorical questions. They should know the answer and so should we. No, you don't offer the blind or the lame or the sick. And no, governor's not likely to be happy.

Certainly, God is not either. Verse nine, and now I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us. This hath been by your means. Will he regard your persons? Say it the Lord of hosts.

So you offer these sacrifices and now you expect God to bless you? I think you're missing something here. Let's stop there for just a moment. The Lord of hosts indictment of the priesthood. He is addressing specifically here the priests in verse six.

He says, oh priests, saith the Lord of hosts unto you, oh priests that despise my name. Now he's speaking to all of Israel, but who were the religious leaders in Israel? They were the priests. They were the ones who were who led in the worship of the Lord. They were to set the what?

To set the standard, to set the example for the others. They represented the people before God and they represented God before the what? Before the people. And how were the people going to see a clear reflection of who God was if the people representing him were treating his service contemptibly? And how were they properly representing and leading the people if they did not take their responsibility seriously?

So this begins a dispute between God and mainly the priests, the leadership in Israel here in the verses to come. You have despised my name, God says. Treated the Lord with contempt. That's what it means to despise his name. When you despise somebody's name, you are treating them with contempt and dishonor.

You have despised my name because in your service you have not displayed what? You have not displayed due honor or respect. You say, God is our father. But God says, where is my honor? If I am your father, why are you not showing me respect?

Why are why are you disrespecting me with how you treat me? You say one thing with your words, but you do another thing with your what? With your actions. I'm sure your children never did that, never said one thing with their words and showed something else with their actions. And you probably weren't real pleased when they did that.

Well, God isn't pleased either when we say, oh Lord, I love you, and yet we act as though there are many we love before him. That his service, it's there. We'll get to it. We'll talk to him when it's convenient. We'll take a stand for him when we must, but we dishonor him by our actions.

He says, if I be your master, where is my fear? Where is my reverence that I am due? And God, when every time you say Lord Jesus, particularly if you're reading from the New Testament, it's the word kurios. It means what? It means master.

When you read from the Old Testament, it's with a capital l and lowercase o r d. That's the word Adonai. What does it mean? It means master. He is my creator.

If he is not my master, then who is? He made me. I owe him reverence and fear. When in the Old Testament, God wanted to praise somebody for their character, what did he say? He said, one who feared the Lord.

That's what he said about Job three times in the first two chapters when God pointed out Job to his enemy Satan and said, look, this man is one who avoids evil and fears the Lord. That is he recognized God's authority, he recognized God as his Lord and his master, and he gave him the fear and reverence that he was due. God says to the priest, you call me father but you don't honor me. You call me master but you don't fear me because you just keep doing the same things that are dishonorable before me. The response of the priest we find at the end of the verse when they respond with, wherein have we despised thy name?

The priest said, what do you mean? What do you mean we've dishonored you? What do you mean we don't reverence or fear you? Well, God explains. If you don't wanna hear God's answer, don't ask.

If you do wanna hear God's answer, then make sure you ask. They asked, God answered. What was his answer? Verse seven. You offer polluted bread.

The word bread is a word that could also apply to meat, by the way, and it appears the rest of the passage, he's talking about meat offerings. You have offered polluted bread upon mine altar and you say, wherein have have we polluted thee? Again, back and forth. In that, you say the table of the Lord is contemptible. How were they saying that the altar of sacrifice, the table of God was contemptible, was was was valueless?

Why how were they treating it that way? Well, he goes on to say, here's your rhetorical questions. And if ye offer blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? So you offer me the blind. You offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil?

Offer to your governor, will he be pleased or accept you? God says. How were they showing contempt for God and for his table? Because they were bringing the scraps. They were giving God the leftovers.

And God had to be content with the scraps. And God had to be content with the what? With the leftovers. Clearly, first of all, that was not what God had stipulated in his word. And secondly, he shouldn't had to have stipulated it.

If you valued the Lord, would you give him the least or give him the best? Which is it? You give him the best. If you love your wife or your husband, do you give them the least or do you give them the best? Well, you know what you should give them.

Your best because you you love them and you want to know how highly you want. You value them. You want to please them, make them happy. Well, if we love God, should we not want to do the same? Well, evidently, the priests were more concerned about other things.

Other things. I think sometimes Christians today are too. And so they they bought they brought the blind and the lame and the sick to the table of the Lord. In Leviticus 22, just to verify what the Lord had said, In Leviticus 22, he spells out what kind of sacrifices they they were to bring, what kind of sacrifices they were not to bring to the Lord. In Leviticus twenty two nineteen, it says, you shall offer at your own will a male without blemish of the beeves of the sheep of the beeves, of the sheep, of the or of the goats.

The word beeves implies something like a herd. But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer for it shall not be acceptable for you. And whosoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings, none of the Lord to accomplish his vow or freewill offering in the beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no blemish therein. Blind or broken, maimed or having a wind or the word wind means a running sore, or scurvy or scabbed, you shall not offer these unto the Lord nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the Lord.

Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any superfluous or lacking in his parts that thou mayest that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering but for a vowel, it shall not be accepted. You shall not offer under the Lord that which is bruised or crushed or broken or cut, neither y'all shall you make an offering thereof in your land, neither from a stranger's hand or foreigner shall you offer the bread of your of your God of any of these because their corruption is in them and blemishes be in them. They shall not be accepted of you. So just to make sure they understood, God spells it out. And now they're back in the land, God's blessed them, they've been protected, they have their temple back, they're they're able to worship the Lord and they're taking him for granted.

They're giving him the leftovers and the scraps. They're keeping the best for themselves and not giving honor and reverence to God as he has directed them to do. Not only that, but the sacrifice upon the brazen altar in the court of the tabernacle was symbolic of the sacrifice of who? Of Jesus Christ. The lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

The spotless, sinless lamb of God who would die on the cross for the sins of mankind. By bringing the lame and the sick, they were ruining the picture that they were supposed to be making. As they took that lamb or goat and they handed it to the priest and they put their hands on its head to symbolize the transfer of their sin onto the innocent perfect lamb and the innocence of the and and perfection of the lamb was transferred to them? It is a picture of Christ. For he, God the father, hath made him Jesus.

For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. First Peter one eighteen and nine nineteen, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. They thought, well, it isn't that important. But is it? Was it?

It was and it is that we follow God's commands, that we come to God through the way that he has provided. When we stand before God someday, he will only accept us if we have come to him in faith through whom? Jesus Christ. The spotless lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. The Lord argued that they would certainly not expect their governor to be pleased with such an offering.

So why would they expect their God to be pleased or receptive of their petitions? Here, take my leftovers. Now give me what I want. David said in Psalm sixty six eighteen, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. I think David knew what he was talking about.

He had been on both sides of that. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not will not hear me. God, give me give me give me give me, but, you you gotta take the leftovers from me. In verse 10 of Malachi, back to Malachi one in verse 10. He says here, for is there even among you that would shut the doors for naught, neither do you kindle fire on mine altar for naught?

I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. Let me read that. I have another translation here, but this will help, I think, a little bit. That was commentary. Verse 10 says this, I wish one of you would shut the temple doors so that you would no longer kindle a useless fire on my altar.

Would not one of you put a stop to this? I am not pleased, says the word of hosts. I will accept no offerings from your hands. That's what God is saying there. God would prefer that they what?

Shut the doors and cease to make sacrifices altogether than continue to make a mockery of him by their unfit sacrifices, but even more so by their insincere what? By their insincere service in faith and love. They're going through these motions. The problem is not so much with the lamb, the problem is in their what? Heart.

David said, the sacrifices of a broken and a contrite heart, oh Lord, thou wilt not despise. It isn't so much the lamb as it is the messed up heart of the one who brings to the table of God the scraps while they keep the what? The best for themselves, who treat God therefore with contempt. It would be better if they stop the sacrifices and maybe they might see the error of their way. Repent and then start again the right way.

While in that day, the priests of Israel profaned his name with corrupt sacrifices and insincere service, God goes on to say, one day, it's gonna be different. And it's not gonna be different just here, it's gonna be different all around the world because it won't just be Israel, it'll even be the Gentile nations that give me the glory and honor that you should be. He says in verse 11, for from the rising of the sun even until the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles. And in every place incense shall be offered under my name. And a pure offering for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.

God says, it's sad, my own people can't show me the honor that I'm due. You're the ones God is saying right now. You are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. You're to set the example God is saying to the priests and to the Israelites because they as a whole represent God to the Gentiles. You're not doing it.

God said one day, one day, one day even the Gentiles will honor me. Well, to a certain extent, that day is what? Today. Because he's being worshiped here and most of us are Gentiles saved by grace. Moving on, God repeats his rebuke here in verse 12 ending with a warning.

Verse 12, but ye have profaned it. The Gentiles, they will receive it. They will worship me. You for now, you profaned it, my name that is. In that you say the table of the Lord is polluted, the fruit thereof even is meat is contemptible.

He said also, behold what a weariness it is and you've snuffed at it or scorned it, despised it, saith the Lord of hosts. You brought that which was torn and the lame and the sick, thus she brought an offering. Should I accept this at your hand? Saith the Lord. But cursed be the deceiver, the liar, the hypocrite, which hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrifices unto the Lord a corrupt thing.

For I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of what? Wisdom and knowledge. But God is saying, you don't even seem to get that. What is the problem with humanity in general in Romans three?

After God gives a long list of terrible things that the fit depict humanity, he ends with there is no, what, fear of God before their eyes. That's why they act this way. They don't fear, they don't recognize, they don't reverence their maker. And God says to Israel, and particularly the priests here, you're doing the same thing. You have something better to give and you're giving, you're keeping the best and you're giving me the what?

And you're giving me the scraps. It wasn't that they didn't have something better. That was that was one thing. God doesn't expect us to give what we don't want. We don't have.

But when we despise and treat God contempt dishonorably because, well, he's just not not worthy of it. That is that's our fault when we have it to give. In Hebrews ten thirty one, it says, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So how does this apply to us? Well, read this.

First Peter two nine. But ye are a chosen generation. He's talking to all of us. Ye are a chosen generation, chosen people, a royal priesthood. Notice that word priesthood.

A holy nation, the word holy means set apart or called out, consecrated. A peculiar, special, treasured people that ye should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Matthew five sixteen, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. Who are the priests today? You are.

Every last child of God is a priest. We are the representatives of God before the people of this world. We are to be the salt and the light. We are his ministers set apart, consecrated in his service. We are the priests.

We have a high priest and who's that? Jesus Christ. But we are the priests. We are his ministers in this world. Do we offer to our Lord the leftovers of our time, talents, energy, and money?

Or do we give him the first fruits? In other words, the best. What we give demonstrates who we love and who we value. What are we demonstrating? What are we demonstrating to our family?

What are we demonstrating to our coworkers, our church, most importantly to our God? Do we expect him to be overjoyed with our partial and half hearted service? I sort of think we do. As a pastor, I talk to people all the time, not so much faithful members of the church, but but people who come to me and say, oh, God isn't doing this for me. And I think, why isn't God doing this and why isn't God doing that and why is this bad thing happened to me and that bad thing and has God changed?

No. God hasn't changed. What's probably the problem? Oh, well, it's a story of Job. I'm such a good person that God is using me as an example.

Be careful before you claim to be Job because God knows whether you're Job or not. Most of the time, it's not because we're being Job. Most of the time, it's because we're being Rick or whatever your name may be. In Revelation three verses fifteen and sixteen, God had this to say to the church at Laodicea. He said, I know thy works.

I know, God says. I'm watching. I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold or hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.

God says to the church here at Laodicea, your lukewarmness toward me is not what? It's not it's not pleasing. It's it's not sufficient. You're not showing me that you love me or you value me by giving me half hearted service. I'm afraid the church at Laodicea is awful representative of the church of the United States of America today.

We say we love God, but we think God ought to be satisfied with a little bit of prayer and a little bit of time and a little bit of service and a little bit of money, and we miss out on the blessings and we wonder why. Well, it's because we're treating God contemptibly by giving him the leftovers. Do we not give him the honor he is due as our father, the reverence he is due as our Lord? Should we expect a blessing or a curse? I believe many ways our church honors the Lord and we do our best to do so as a church.

But I do believe we could do better. As a church and as individuals, God deserves our best. He deserves our honor. He deserves for us to be the representatives before the world that demonstrate to them who he is and how much he means to us. Let's not be the people of Malachi's day.

Let's be let's be the people who put God first in our lives. Let's be the ones who give him the best. Let's be the ones who honor him by doing what he says and not justifying being selfish and disobedient. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you, Lord, for all that you have done for us.

Lord, you want to bless us as you wanted to bless Israel. Lord, forgive us of our failures. Help us, Lord, to see the need to give you first place first in our heart for that is where the issue lies. Lord, may we truly love you with all our heart and our soul and our mind. May we not allow those words to roll off of our lips while our actions speak to the contrary.

Lord, you know our works and you know our heart. Lord, help us to recognize it ourselves, confess our sins, commit ourselves in your service that others may see Jesus in us, that your holy image might be reflected in us. In Jesus' name we do pray. Amen.