Hey Gang,
We begin a new series this week entitled Apathy - Who Cares? We will have 4 lessons from this topic, all from the book of Malachi: Are You Just Going Through The Motions?, Do You Honor Your Commitments, How Do You Treat God?, and What Is Your Decision?
This series of lessons challenges the spiritual apathy of God's people. It calls for us to repent of any complacency we might have and to experience a genuine revival. Many believers have become apathetic and complacent in their walk with God. Revival is needed in the church today, and it must begin in the hearts of God's people. It's one thing to identify a problem, but it's another thing entirely to find a solution. This series not only looks at the problem but also presents the biblical solution.
I. DOUBTING GOD’S LOVE – MALACHI 1:1-5
The Lord’s Love for Israel
1 An oracle: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. 2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you ask: “How have You loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob, 3 but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.” 4 Though Edom says: “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of Hosts says this: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called a wicked country and the people the Lord has cursed forever. 5 Your own eyes will see this, and you yourselves will say, ‘The Lord is great, even beyond the borders of Israel.’
Does this passage make you doubt God’s love? Why did God hate Esau, he wasn’t even born yet?
- The point of verse 2-5 is not that God hated Esau and his descendants but that God chose Jacob and his descendants for a special task.
- God’s love is at work in the lives of His people – even when they do not realize it or they ignore it.
II. OFFERING OUR SECOND BEST – MALACHI 1:6-10
Disobedience of the Priests
6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me? says Yahweh of Hosts to you priests, who despise My name.” Yet you ask: “How have we despised Your name?” 7 “By presenting defiled food on My altar.” You ask: “How have we defiled You?” When you say: “The Lord’s table is contemptible.” 8 “When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Bring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts. 9 “And now ask for God’s favor. Will He be gracious to us? Since this has come from your hands, will He show any of you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts. 10 “I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so you would no longer kindle a useless fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
Many of us juggle jobs, volunteer/church responsibilities, helping young adult children or grandchildren, caring for aging parents, and dealing with their own health issues. So, how can we give God out passion and excellence in the midst of all that?
- Each element of life presents opportunity to honor God or discredit Him.
- We are supposed to honor and revere God.
- We owe God our first, best, and all.
- Offering God the leftovers of life is unacceptable to Him.
- Failing to offer our best to the Lord is like closing the doors of places of worship.
III. FORGETTING WHOM WE SERVE – MALACHI 1:11-14
11 “For My name will be great among the nations, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name in every place because My name will be great among the nations,” says Yahweh of Hosts. 12 But you are profaning it when you say: “The Lord’s table is defiled, and its product, its food, is contemptible.” 13 You also say: “Look, what a nuisance!” “And you scorn it,” says the Lord of Hosts. “You bring stolen, lame, or sick animals. You bring this as an offering! Am I to accept that from your hands?” asks the Lord. 14 “The deceiver is cursed who has an acceptable male in his flock and makes a vow but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says Yahweh of Hosts, “and My name will be feared among the nations.
How did the priests feel about serving God and doing what He required? Why did He want them to know that He would receive pure offerings from other people around the world?
- The priests had come to view their service to God as a tedious chore rather than a joyous opportunity. The tasks they should have seen as an honor they saw instead as a bother.
- In dishonoring God, the Israelites showed they took for granted their special relationship with God as His chosen people. In time, He would extend His grace and mercy to others who would worship Him as He deserved.
- Sometimes unlikely people show greater devotion to God than people with greater opportunities.
- Apathy can lead to religion that just goes through the motions of genuine faith.
- Something is seriously wrong with people who are bored with religion that is based on the Bible.
- Biblical faith is expressed in sacrificial devotion.
London has some of the most beautiful, historic churches in the entire world. Yet they are also some of the most empty. I was struck by this recently when I was in the city to do a Bible study. Churches are dying off so fast that they're being sold off to bars and restaurants. London churches are desperate for the blessing of God. Click below to read more...
Click Here to Read
Conclusion: This lesson challenges each believer to take a good look at their religious devotion. Based on Malachi 1, we can evaluate our own relationship with God and how we express that devotion. In so many ways, God has declared and shown that He loves us. How are we responding to that love? Does our experience with His love lead to our love and trust, or do we live as if we haven’t experienced His love in such abundance? How do we express our devotion or lack of it? Do we offer our first, best, and all to Him, or do we slight Him in what we give and in what we use for ourselves? Are we walking with the Lord day by day, and is our worship acceptable to the Lord?
Prayer of Commitment
Lord, help me to not be weary in well-doing. Amen
Lord, help me to not be weary in well-doing. Amen
I hope you will be in prayer this week as this is a lesson series that I'm sure we all have fallen into. Do some real soul searching this week as you consider for yourselves whether or not you too are just going through the motions in your walk with the Lord.
We will miss everyone this week! Looking forward to being back the following week!
In His Love,
David & Susan
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