The Heart of the Matter

Introduction

Good morning. Phil, please open in your Old Testament with me to the book of Malachi. We’re going to be looking at parts of all the chapters of Malachi this morning. Before that scares you, there are three chapters of Malachi that we’re going to cover, and maybe a verse or two of chapter four. Not nearly as much as you might fear. Walcott about about a month and a half ago scared everybody, and he really frightened me and my family when he said that Kashka and I might become Alabama fans. Can’t let blasphemy like that stand, and the reason for it is not only is it wrong, not only is it problematic, but there’s too much love for that which is good and pure and right. That is the Florida Gator family.

And so when you love something, you don’t have room for error. You don’t have room for something second best. That’s the problem with the people of God in the time of Malachi. As people have returned from captivity, after, by the way, they were punished for, yes, you guessed it, idolatry, wickedness, all manner of unrighteousness. God had delivered them as he had promised, seventy years, and they would return. They had rebuilt the temple. They were offering sacrifices. And then you read in Malachi chapter 1, what type of sacrifices were they offering? Beginning in verse 6, not good ones. A son honors his father and a servant is 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 priest, who despise my name. But you say, How have we despised your name? 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. When you offer blind animals and 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. 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. Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the doors that you might not kindle my anger.

As you think about this, think about the kindling of fire on the altar of his wrath. As you think about that picture, I want to stop for a moment, just focus in verse 10. Imagine that you were blocked from sacrifice. Imagine that the minute you did what you thought you were trying to do, God got more angry, more upset, more incensed. And the question this morning is, what viewpoint will we use when we look at the people of Malachi’s day? Because when we look at the Israelites or the people of Judah, we usually use one of two different lenses. We either take number one and we say, wow, I would never do that. Can you imagine how far these people have fallen? They’re offering the sick, the lame, and the blind.

I would never do that. Those silly, troubled Israelites, the Jews. Or we can take option number two, and that’s what I’ll entreat that we do this morning, to say there’s somehow that God’s people who knew better, who had the law, who had seen all the good things God had done, had devolved to this point to which they were even questioning when God said, I’m upset with you, they’d say, Why are you upset? And he would tell them why, and they’d say, Well, that doesn’t make sense. Why? How did we even do that? And so this morning I want to discuss the idea of the heart of the matter. If the people of God were so fixated on how great God is and how many good things he had done for them, and what he deserved, being the Almighty God, being their true king, this would not have been a problem.

Yes, sometimes it would be hard to keep all of the laws, all the parts of the law of Moses that was complex and difficult. There were dietary restrictions, there were cleanliness restrictions. But the fact of the matter is, Malachi chapter 1 doesn’t happen if the people of God are focused on how wonderful and mighty he is. And I think that’s our key. If we go back and look at verse 6, which we’ll do in just a moment, I think we’ll see that if the Jews had their heart right with God, the rest would have fallen in line. I think when we look at the New Testament, as we will do for application this morning, we’re going to see that Paul even tells us that you can do some good things.

1. Offering the Sick, the Lame, and the Blind

But without love, without the proper motivation, what is it worth? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And so this morning I want us to consider not just are we doing the right thing? That’s important. Are we giving God our best? That’s absolutely a screaming application from Malachi 1 and 2 in particular. But are we doing it with the right motivation, with the right understanding that God deserves it, and that he is righteous and holy and when he commands it? We simply give it. Because it’s amazing we can give back something to our great God. And so as we look at the people of Malachi’s day, we see, first of all, they didn’t even understand why God would be mad at them. You see how frustrated he was, but pick up the reading with me in verse 11.

After saying, I won’t even take your offerings anymore. He says in verse 11, 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. But, verse 12, you profane it. When you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is its food, may be despised. 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?

Cursed be the chief who has a male in his flock and bows 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. Verse 12 is fascinating. It says, You profane it when you say the Lord’s table is polluted. In fact, its fruit that his food may be despised. Now that’s interesting. He says, You have stated, you have spoken that what you can alter can be polluted or despised. You know what’s interesting about that is what we previously read. Look back in verse 6. At the end of verse 6. You say to this accusation of God, notice their question. How have we despised your name? They didn’t say they’ve despised them.

They’re asking, how is that possible? God said they despised him, and they said, Well, wait a minute, how do we do that? In verse 7, he tells them how. By offering polluted food. And notice their next question in verse 7. How have we polluted you? By saying that the table is despised. Now think about this. They are being accused of telling God that they can offer that which is polluted or second best. That they don’t, it’s a weary burden to have to give their best all the time, and so they’re going to loophole and bow around it. They’re going to come up with all the ways they don’t actually have to give their best to God. And of course, you only do that under one circumstance, and that’s if you don’t truly respect the God you’re sacrificing to.

Let’s be careful this morning. Remember, we can alternate between those two viewpoints. Those silly Jews, how do they come so far? And that second application point. I can get there too. So here’s the question. How did a people who knew better get to the point at which their actions told more than their words? And keep in mind here, yes, they’re offering bad sacrifices. Verse 8 is explicitly clear. They knew it was not their best. They wouldn’t even give it to their governors. They wouldn’t give it to their leaders. Much less should they have been offering it to God? Of course not. But they were offering sacrifices. They were showing up, as it were. They were doing some good things. And so the question is, why would God be mad at a people who are at least somewhat doing what he says?

One of the most difficult things about preaching or teaching or parenting or anything in which you’re any sort of mentor, figure, or helper, is you realize one axiom is absolutely true. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. God had done everything possible for the people. He literally brought them to water. He literally dropped down food for them. And what did the people do at every single turn? They rejected him. Sometimes outright, sometimes in a halfway format. But you notice in this halfway sacrifice problem, God is not immune. He doesn’t say, I’m going to give you some credit. No. He says again back in verse 10, oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors. I will no longer accept an offering from your hand.

God is furious, and the people are saying, What did we do?

He was trying to teach them through sacrifice. The million dollar question often comes up in studying the old covenant. Why so many sacrifices? Why so much on the cleanliness? Why so much on the diet? To show us what holiness is. To teach us what it means to give of self, and by the way, to remember every day what God deserves and what I deserve without God’s mercy and grace. Yes, Jesus, the Hebrew writer says in Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27, was that great sacrifice once for all, but we benefit from it every day, and so we should remember that. And if I remember Jesus sacrificed himself for me, and that I need that every day, I know God will expect my best, and when I don’t give it, I will know.

2. The Priests Knew the Law but Profaned His Covenant

This morning I have to issue a challenge to myself. Not am I doing the right things. That’s always an important challenge. Paul says in the book of 2 Corinthians, to examine yourselves. We should do that. But I want to go deeper and say, not just am I doing some good things, or even am I doing all the good things, am I doing them with the right motivation? Because you can do good things with the wrong motivation, but if you have the right one, you’ll do the right things. The people of Israel slipped. God’s chosen, elect people of Judah were offering second, third, fourth, twenty-sixth best. But it doesn’t just stop there. In verse 1 of chapter 2, and now, O priest, this command is for you.

If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. So shall you know that I have sent this command to you that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.

True instruction was found in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned away many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way, you have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. And so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways, but show partiality in your instruction. Now, as somebody who uses hand sanitizer all the time, verse 3 is particularly jarring. And how upset God is with his people.

I don’t have to paint that picture again. But if you notice in verse 1, who is he frustrated with? O priests. He is furious with them. Why? Because he had offered them something great. In verse 4, I have sent this command to you. With Levi, I made this covenant. What was he offering in verse 5? Life and peace. And beyond that, notice what he says, and I gave them to him. You have tasted the life and peace. You know how good you can have it. And some of your fathers, Levi, walked in those ways. They accepted it by being holy, by being upright and righteous. But then again, there were those other priests who profaned the covenant. And they turned it down, and you say, now, wait a minute.

We saw in chapter one people who, yes, they weren’t doing it right, they weren’t offering their best, but they were offering sacrifices. In chapter 2, we see a group of people who know the law. It’s not often we read Malachi and give the Jews credit, but I want to do so for just a minute. In chapter 1, they were at least offering worship. And in chapter 2, the priest mentioned in verses 1 through 8 knew the law. I would tell you, if someone asked me about someone, they said, I want you to study with someone who knows the Bible and they worship somewhere, I’d say that’s a pretty good start. Does God view it that way here, at least of his people who should know better?

Not at all. They had profaned his covenant. In verse 9, I will make you despised and abased. God is not messing around with this. And so we see even coming down into verse 16 and 17. For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless. You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, how have we wearied him? By saying, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them, or by asking, where is the God of justice? Of course, we read in this passage the idea that God hates divorce, and you have God’s chosen people cheating on him with false gods, with materialism, with all manner of unrighteousness.

And he hates it. But in verse 17, this is the epitome of the problem. God says, You have wearied me. And instead of saying, wow, I better repent of that, they say, How did we wear me?

3. They Robbed God

We know the law. We’ve been offering sacrifices. And God says, I’m not taking those. Those make this worse. You cannot have an adulterous affair with idols and still worship me in good heart and clean conscience. You cannot do that. And so in chapter 3, it could be said, beginning in verse 6, that they robbed God. They robbed God of the honor that was due to him. They robbed God of the sacrifices that were owed to him, the best of the best. But most importantly, their heart was not with the God who gave them everything. And I think to all of us, we look at this in chapter 3, this idea that they rob God and we understand the implication. Should I give my best? Yes, that applies when we have a chance on the first day of the week to give back a portion of what God has blessed us with.

Does it mean we have to give our best in serving him? Yes, it does. But where is the problem of each step of the way? Their heart didn’t recognize God. One more time I want to highlight in the middle of chapter 2. Remember that he had a problem with the priest. And he says, I had a covenant with Levi. And in verse 5, what did I offer? One of life and one of peace. This is your opportunity. If you remember that, if we remember that through Jesus’ sacrifice, we have hope, it will change our life. We won’t just check off boxes. We will live right because our motivation is proper. We’re going to see in some application why that matters so much. As we move towards concluding the lesson this morning, I want to look at 1 Corinthians 13.

4. We Can Do What’s Right and Still Be Wrong

We talked about that for a moment. Here is Paul. And you might recognize 1 Corinthians 13 in one of two ways. One is the chapter of love. Love is patient, love is kind, that picks up in verse 4. Or you might think of it as in the middle of talking about spiritual gifts and order in the assembly. Particularly you might know chapters 12 and 14 surrounding 13. But I want to think for a moment about the heart of the matter, that we can do what’s right and still be wrong. And if that’s true, we have some examinations to make.

One and two is pretty clear. You can have any superpower, any miraculous power, any supernatural gift that you want. If you don’t have love, what do you have? Nothing. Verse 3 is scary. If I give away, this is not equivocated. This is not give away all that I have except what I need. If I give away all that I have, if I do what with my body, give it up to be burned. If I completely sacrifice everything I have, but have not love, what do I gain? Absolutely nothing. We look at the people of Balkai’s day and we say, now, wait a minute. I’m not like them. But Paul says, there’s a risk here for you, Corinthian Christians. I want us to see there’s a risk for me.

There’s a risk for us here. We can do all the right things. You can be the most generous person there is. You can be like the widow and give all that you have. You can sacrifice your body like the apostles. But if you have not love, you’ve gained nothing. And so how do we make sure that we live with love? Well, there’s some illustrations of this. First of all, recognizing the principle that is true that we can be right or do right and still be wrong, then we say, now wait a minute, let’s look at some different avenues in my life. Number one, let’s look at our social media presence. I don’t care what side of the political aisle you’re on, when you post things that are hateful towards somebody else, an elected official, or somebody who follows that elected official, is that speaking to others with gentleness, as Paul would write Timothy in 2 Timothy 2?

Is that correcting your opponents with gentleness? No. You can be right. Can I tell you something, even though everyone in here probably has a different political opinion? You can be 100% correct in every viewpoint you are espousing. But if you do it in a harsh or ungentle way or in an unloving fashion, what does Paul say that you gain? Nothing. In fact, you could argue that there is punishment waiting for that type of behavior. When I look at my profile beyond politics, when I look at what do I put out, what am I fixated on? It doesn’t matter if it’s okay. It matters, is it what’s best? Can you imagine how different our world would be? How different we would dress, how different we would look, how we would talk, what we would watch.

If instead of saying, is this okay, can I get away with it? We ask, is this for the best? Is this the best for my relationship with God? Is this the best for my family’s relationship with God? My Christian family at Bumbi’s relationship with God? Or how about I take the most important question of all? Is this truly what God wants me to be doing now? And if the answer to any of those questions is no, it’s not best, shouldn’t that make us pause? Shouldn’t that make me think I am not living right? Remember, what was God so frustrated with? It wasn’t that they didn’t know right. It wasn’t that they were offering sacrifices, it’s that they didn’t give their best. They knew better, but didn’t live the way they should.

5. We Love Because He First Loved Us

Upon what principle? That God gave them everything. And God can say that to us too. If we change our hearts, the actions will follow. If our hearts remain cold, the actions will be lukewarm. Look in 1 John chapter 4. Notice that motivation is exactly what John writes to the Christians in 1 John. In 1 John chapter 4, beginning in verse 7. 1 John chapter 4 in verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. Verse 10 in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. You notice it’s interesting, he doesn’t just say love one another, which it’s in there. He doesn’t just give us a model of that which is there. He says, You love because why? God first loved you. God’s worth it. He is worth giving our everything. Unless or until we decide that we’re not just checking boxes, we’re not just trying to live a good life, but we are serving God to the fullest extent possible. It could be said of us that we’re just offering the sick, the lame, and the blind. What was the problem in Malachi chapter one with the sick, the lame, and the blind sacrifices? What’s the crucial issue? God said, sacrifice this type of animal, and they provided it.

If you had to explain to someone what is the issue, what would they say? What would you tell them? Well, perhaps you’d point out you’d say, well, first of all, God expected the best. The best of what they had, the number one, not the last, not the part that wasn’t really a sacrifice. They either weren’t going to eat that anyway or they weren’t going to enjoy it. They wanted to give God the best. They should have said God is worth the best. Why? Because He gave us everything anyway. Now here’s a question. With how I spent my time. If God first loved me, and I love others, and God, on the basis, with the example that’s Him loving me, sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins.

If I just give Him the end of my day, the chopped off bits that are convenient, that I have nothing else scheduled for already. Isn’t that kind of like offering the lame, the sick, and the blind animals? Can I say I’m giving my first or best? If I’m giving God whatever fills in the gaps or whatever I already don’t have accounted for. When we think about how we spend our time, if you love something or love somebody, you find a way to make it work. When you’re a college football fan who wants to watch Florida play, you know what you do? You find out what time the games are, and you’re there, and you watch them. When you’re excited to see a concert or a play, and it has a certain time, and you’ve bought tickets, you expend money that’s valuable to you that could have been spent in another way, and you show up on time to make sure you don’t miss it.

Why? Because it’s important to you. And I’m not even going to make the application this morning about showing up for worship, supporting our meeting, supporting our Wednesday night Bible studies. I want to think and focus on how do I live, let’s say Monday through Saturday. Am I giving God my best? Am I making God appointment service? Or leftover remains? Consider 1 John 4 in verse 17 now. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. Because as he is, so also are we in this world.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. Do you see verse 19? We love because he first loved us. And if we’re not a liar, verse 20, on the basis of loving God first, upon how he loved us before that, I will show love towards others. That is the only sequence that works. The only sequence that makes sacrifice acceptable to God is when we purposely give him the glory and honor and credit that goes with the sacrifice. Not because we say, God, look at what I gave you.

God, look at what I’ve done, but God, look at what you’ve done. Thank you for blessing me in my life the way you have. You want to know one change that will be seen immediately from this? Our perspective and happiness. You know, there’s usually two types of people. There’s a type of person who walks around and they’re kind of all always mopy and sad, and they can always find the one gray cloud in an otherwise sunny sky. But then there’s the people you know who can find the sunshine, the one crack of sunshine, the one ray of sun in the cloudy sky, and you’re thankful for it. If we love God and are counting our blessings every day, you will be the happy person. Someone people want to be around, not somebody that people avoid.

6. Do Not Love the World

People will see that there’s something different about you. Because you love God. And God has trained you to find the best, to be thankful for the best, and then we live a thankful life. We don’t have to say, look at me, because we would say through our actions and through our words, look at God. And when somebody says, Are you weary in God? If we think we are, we change. And if not, we examine ourselves. Have I given God my absolute best? I think we do have to address one question. Not just where is my heart today, but if my heart’s away from God, why would it be distracted? Look at 1 John 2 with me, verse 15 through 17. Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, for all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. When we think about the people of Malachi’s day, robbing God in chapter 3, wearying God in chapter 2, offering that which they wouldn’t provide their governor in chapter 1. We see a people who were distracted by the things of this life. And there’s a problem with that. Not just are they not God, that’s true. Not just should we stay away from sinful things, of course that’s true.

But inherently, what is the problem with things of the world in verse 16? They’re not from God, and what’s happening to them? They are passing away. It won’t last. Focus on things that endure.

When you’re spending your last moments with them, you don’t focus on stuff, on buying one more thing. What do you think about? Memories. Shared time. Or as we might say, quality time spent. Because there are some things that matter more than others. And those are the things that we hold on to. That you cherish. That you never forget. Because you love the person. And they’re worth the time. And the memories are joyful. When we look back at our life, are we going to see memories where I walked with God? Where I accepted his love, life, and peace? Or will I only see a life lived for me? Because on the day of judgment, we’re taking nothing with us. No memories of stuff will matter. Only that day of judgment that comes.

Conclusion

In the middle of that beautiful section in chapter 4 on love, loving as God first loved us, loving others so that we’re not a liar about it. It says we are going to face judgment. Where is your heart today? If you look back at your last week, your last month, we’re halfway through February. Where have you been living? Where has your time been spent? For things that don’t last, that don’t matter? Or looking foremost, primarily and proactively to serve God and give him your best. Where is your heart today? Will you go to God in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we are so thankful to you that you have always looked upon your people with mercy and grace.

We ask that you forgive us of when we don’t put you first, of when we offer you second, third, or farther down the list best instead of what you rightfully deserve, our first and all. Thank you so much for showing us your word, for showing your compassion, and for most of all sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. May we always trust in you, believe in you, and allow you to pull us through this life that is passing away along with his desires. Help us to focus on the things that last, the things that matter, setting our minds on things above where you are. Help us to treasure your word and to soak it up and to apply it. Help us to set our hearts right, to look at you and to look at others with love.

Help us to be properly motivated, not just by fear, but by that perfect love which casts out fear. Thank you for your son. Thank you for your love. And it’s in your son’s name we pray. Amen.