When Worship Leaves A Bad Taste In God's Mouth

fully met the requirements of a vow which he had taken.
2. Once the emergency was past, however, they cheated God by offering a less valuable blemished animal instead.
3. The priests failed in their responsibility by not scrutinizing the offerings brought thus deeming anything as acceptable.
4. A curse would rest upon all who brought their blemished odds and ends to God for sacrifices.
F. The priests just failed to recognize the greatness of God.
1. All of the failings of the priests could be traced to one fundamental theological error. Their concept of God did not remotely correspond to the truth about God.
2. First, they did not recognize the position of God: “I am a great King.”
3. Second, they did not understand Yahweh’s power. He was commander of all hosts of earth and heaven.
4. Third, they did not recognize the prestige of Yahweh. One day his name would be “reverenced” among the Gentiles.

II. Malachi announces that a day is coming when God’s name would be honored worldwide.
A. The Lord will vindicate His name among the Gentiles even though His own people will not honor Him.
1. God told his faithless priests that he had others who in different places and in later times would bring acceptable offerings and give him with love and devotion the worship he demanded.
2. Christians do not bring incense and sacrificial animals to the Lord as ancient Israel did. But Revelation 5:8 reminds us that incense corresponds to prayer, and Hebrews 13:15-16 states that "a sacrifice of praise" is "the fruit of lips that confess his name."
3. The worthy attitudes of the Gentiles would be demonstrated in worthy actions.
4. Christians are among those spoken of by Malachi, those of the far-off nations living in the distant future, who in Malachi’s day were thought to be without hope because they had no contact with the religion of Jerusalem and its priests.
B. This prophecy announces that all over the world sacrifices would be offered by sincere worshipers and accepted by a holy God.
1. The implication is that the Mosaic system would be replaced by a new worship system.
2. Certainly no one would try to cheat a king or governor, for fear of being reprimanded and punished by that authority.
3. Why would one think they could cheat the great King, the One whose name is to be feared among the nations.
4. God will not tolerate such reneging. He is an absolute sovereign. If the people he chose reject him, he will choose others—Gentiles, foreigners—who will revere his holy name.

III. God expects His people to take worship quite seriously.
A. Worship does not exist for us, it exists so that we can attempt to give God what is rightfully His.
1. A worship minister in California puts it this way, “How quickly we forget what it’s all about. We can get so strategic that we worship so our church will grow, not because He is worthy. But we’re doing all this because God is worthy and we want to worship Him.”
2. Humble service and a total life submitted to God is the essence of true worship.
3. Like the Israelites in Malachi’s day we can never allow ourselves to begin to worship the methodologies rather than God.
4. Worship is to be a life-style, not just what happens when we assemble in this building, we need to check attitudes and differences at the door so we can truly unite as a body to give God the honor and glory that is due Him.