Answers Bible Curriculum: Lesson 11 - Worshiping God

OK, good morning. There's just a handful of us this morning, but that's all right. We'll go ahead and start. People will come in as they get here.

Today we'll be looking at the Book of Malachi, so you want to go ahead and, and turn there. we'll be talking about worship today. Our opening question is, what does God expect from our worship? And that's the theme of of our lesson today is, is really what, what are God's expectations.

And and how. We'll be looking a little bit at how man. fails to meet those expectations, and how dramatic that is, how, and why it really matters. so we're looking at that today.

But let's start with a word of prayer and ask God's blessings upon our, our time this morning. Holy Father, we come to you, to direct our minds. And help us as we think through this topic and as we go through your word and, and listen to what you've had to say about the worship. We know that this is important to you.

And because of that, it's important to us. We need to know how it is we are to come before you. So, Lord, I ask that you would direct our thinking, help us to, grow in our understanding and to see the things that we need to see this morning from what you have to say in Jesus' name, Amen. OK.

Our, our theme verse is, from Nehemiah chapter 9 verse 6. And this is the opening part of a prayer in Nehemiah. It's pretty lengthy. The prayer is pretty lengthy, and this is the opening statement.

And really does set the tone. For, for the idea of, of worship. He says there, you alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas, and all that is in them.

You give life to all of them, and the heavenly host bows down before you. And as, as I was reading this verse in light of our lesson today, It, It began to, to open up to me the, the, really the whole the underpinnings of what worship is about. Because God is supreme. And that's what this, this verse is stating at the opening of this prayer in Nehemiah, this prayer is offered as, as a way of, of repentance.

And this prayer actually goes on into recounting the, the history of Israel and God's working through the, the nation of Israel for, for all this time will actually be referring back to A couple verses, later on in our lesson today from this prayer. But the beginning of this prayer, sets the foundation of what our thinking is to be and that God is supreme. And what we see here is an acknowledgement of that ultimate truth. The ultimate truth really of life, of understanding of everything is that God is supreme.

God is the, the Creator of all. He's the one who sets everything in order. And he's the, the, the judge of all things. And, and that is recounted very clearly in this prayer later on.

But it begins with our, our worship, our ability to worship begins with this idea that there's an acknowledgement of ultimate truth, that ultimate truth being that God is supreme. worship then moves to another, level, past acknowledgement to submission, submission to the ultimate truth. at some point, we have to go past just acknowledging it, we have to submit to it. But as we grow in our understanding in, in our relationship with God, we also, we get to a a place of, of, that goes past submission to a level of comfort.

We have, we find comfort in the ultimate truth that God is supreme. And so when it, our, our worship then can take, go to a new level of maturity. because we begin to find comfort, you see, and, and we'll be talking about this more in detail a little bit later on, but Our nature is to, is to fight against God, to hide from God. And, and those are things that we've talked about in the past.

but when we begin to acknowledge Him as being, supreme, that he's the ruler of all things, Our worship can go much deeper for, beginning with acknowledgement to submission to that truth, to finding comfort in that truth. And then finally, our worship gets to its, its zenith, I think, is when we begin to take pleasure in that ultimate truth. When we begin to find joy in the fact that he is supreme, and we, and that's when we can in our worship, truly exult in God, because we know that he is supreme.

And then we find value in that, we like that.

We come to that place where we're really ready to be on board with God with in, in that, that idea of him being supreme, and that impacts our worship. So, As, as a theme, for this, this section of our lessons, this is, is an, an outstanding verse for us to, to memorize, to learn, that, that he alone is God, is Lord, and he's the Maker of the heavens and earth, and all that's in it, and all of it bows before him. And, we can exult in that, that truth. and so that is how we're to To see it, and that is what will be impacting our worship.

And so we are now in this section, lesson 11 on worshiping God. And we'll begin with some review. we have here, I put up a, a chart to let us know. how, where we are in time.

And, and so we are at the, post-exile period and, and I hope you can see Zachariah, Haggai, and Malachi, right there next to Ezra and Nehemiah, and Nestor. So those are really close in time. And so we're getting down toward the end of the Old Testament. And, And so, as, Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament.

and it is pretty much considered to be one of the last things written. It's, it's right in that time, that there is, some connection there with Ezra and Nehemiah. This chart gives some how, where's, where the books of the Old Testament fit in time-wise with other books. And you see, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi with Ezra and Nehemiah there and so that's where it fits in.

And so the things, they, they were contemporaries is, is, is what we're looking at and they're dealing with some of the same things. And we've talked about this already in past lessons. that, that, some of the same issues are going on and we'll be talking about those again today. Malachi is gonna be raising some issues.

They're there. Before we, we jump into review though, just another point about worship. That I wanted to make is that worship has been a point of contention in the history of mankind from the beginning. Cain and Abel, what was their big, big issue?

It was over worship, wasn't it? And in fact, the first murder that takes place in the human race is over worship. And it has been a point of contention with mankind ever since. We see many, many examples of it through, biblical history.

Through the history of mankind. just another example was, was Jeroboam. We, we've, we've covered quite a bit at length, the, the life of Jeroboam, who becomes king, the first king of the northern kingdom when Israel divided, and went their separate ways during the reign of King Riaboam, the son of Solomon. And, God told Jeroboam.

That if you will follow me, if you will be faithful to me, I will establish your kingdom through your heirs, and your heirs will stay on the throne if you will follow me. But Jared Bowen. With his insecurities, and wanting to do things his own way. didn't want to continue to worship God in the prescribed manner that God had given.

Instead, set up his own way of worship, where they would meet at a different mountain and, and worship different gods. And so the failure was right away, all over worship. And so God immediately condemned Jeroboam and Jeroboam's family would not stay on the throne in perpetuity. And so that was, but it was all over worship.

Worship was such a central part of holding the nation together and Jeroboam was afraid of it and his His faith was of no match for his insecurity and like, it's very human. That's how a lot of us are. Our insecurities are way higher than our faith and, and so he took, he took action himself. So that, that was all over worship.

And, and actually that plays out for hundreds and hundreds of years, clear till the time of Christ. And so we find Jesus in John chapter 4 sitting in a well in Samaria. Talking to a woman and she raises a question about worship. Where are we supposed to worship?

Is it supposed to be in, in the hill in Jerusalem, the mountain of Jerusalem, or is it to be at, at our mountain here in Samaria? that was, it was about her questions about worship and, and, and at that point, people were divided still over worship. And God had prescribed where it was supposed to be and Jesus very clearly answered her question by saying salvation is of the Jews. The Jews have it right.

It is supposed to be in Jerusalem. That's where you were to be worshiping, not here on your own mountain. Then he goes on to say, However, the time is coming and it is even now here when those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So Jesus in his coming was beginning a transition of what God would expect in worship, and we'll be getting into that toward the end of our lesson in what the expectations are for us as the church today.

But these lessons of worship, are, are things that, that, that, do have a huge impact upon us as people. Now, just as a quick review, we have a remnant of Jewish exiles that has returned to the land. We've been going over this the last few weeks and, and God has, this land is the land that God promised Abraham. So they're bringing, they're coming back from their Babylonian exile.

And in a series of three migrations, this land that had been left largely desolate would again be inhabited by the descendants of Jacob. So, they're coming back. we have observed the rebuilding of the temple, the renewal of temple worship, the confrontation of lawlessness, such as intermarriage, divorce, usury, and Sabbath violations. These are found in, in Ezra and Nehemiah as we looked at.

And last week, Chris Kidder took us into the building of the wall, the cleaning up of the rubble around the city and, and rebuilding the wall and, doing it all in the face of local opposition, which is a pretty strenuous opposition to the rebuilding of that wall as we looked at, we looked at his leadership. And how, he, was so closely tied to, to God through his prayers that with every event, every opposition, Nehemiah would go to God and, and he, his faith is very, was very much planted in God.

And so, those are things that we looked at and that's what brings us up to our lesson today. Getting into Malachi.

And it's Malachi and the Four Oracles we'll be looking at. And no, this wasn't a doo-wop band back in the, in the 5th century BC, But, it's actually 4 woes and, and, and really there's, there's 6, but 2 of them I combined into the 2nd oracle. And so we're, we're gonna group them that way. But we'll be looking at, these oracles.

Now, oracle, now some of the translations will translate it, the message or a prophecy or a burden. but the, the, the opening line, in the New American Standard, translates it like this, the oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. So it's the oracle. And, and this large oracle is broken up into essentially 6 different smaller ones.

and, but we're gonna group them into 4 and look at them that way, And so an oracle is really a message that has a threatening nature to it. And in, as this word is used by other prophets, that's how it, how it is used and it is that way as well here. That this is not a, get together of meeting of the minds and everyone being, being happy about everything and so on. This is a friendly type of confrontation.

This is God, confronting a nation that he loves, and this is a loving confrontation, but it is also very severe and, and strict, and, and it's, it's his, it's God's desire that they change what they're doing. That, that, that this oracle is given for the purpose of change, for drawing them to righteousness. There is a phrase, well, we can see it, it's actually a description of God in chapter 1 verse 4, where he's described as the Lord of hosts. the Lord of hosts is a, a designation for God that is used 24 times in Malachi.

Malachi only has 4 chapters, really short book, and yet Malachi uses that description of God 24 times. The Lord of hosts is, is a, is a name of God that, that describes his power. It can also be translated, some translations do translate it the Lord Almighty. there is one translation that translates as the Lord of the, of army, of heaven's armies.

and so that's, that's how we are to understand that title, of God, that, that this is the God who is coming to confront this people in, in Israel. So, we'll get into oracle number one. Yes, Brian. God.

Can God be any other thing? Looking charge of 5. Wherever he is just, yeah, with Joshua as the Lord of hosts, he is the God of power and that is to be a, a source of comfort. But here it, it has a different connotation, a source of, of power that we better listen to because he, he does bring, he also brings judgment.

And so, so there's a different connotation there. All right. Oracle number 1, let's begin reading in verse 2 of Malachi chapter 1. It says, I have loved you, says the Lord, but you say, how have you loved us?

All right, let's stop right here for a minute. We're gonna see With these oracles that we read, a similar language structure where God says something. But he says, and, but his res he then goes on to say, but you say, so God is, is, in a way putting words in their mouth, but he, he's also saying, I know what you think. and so God is, is, telling them.

That I'm paying attention. I know what you say when you think no one's listening. I know, I do know your heart. And so God is revealing that to them.

And, and as, as I was thinking about this processing this, this whole idea. That when God comes to them and, and talks to them this way. I wonder what they felt when they hear this message that, oh, you heard me say that. And, we know that God is everywhere.

We know that he's omnipresent. We know that he knows everything. But don't we a lot of times act like He's really not paying attention or we hope he's not really hearing what we just said. at least that's my experience with my own life.

My, that's how my mind, fails and, and I, I tend to, to not always remember that, oh, God is watching. And so he's revealing that to them and, and he's going to expose what's in their heart, expose what they're really doing. So let's, let's go on and see what he actually says about them. But you say, How have you loved us?

Was not, and then God responds with this. Was not Esau, Jacob's brother, declares the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau, and I've made his mountains a desolation and appoint and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness. Though Edom says, we have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins, thus says the Lord of hosts, they may build, but I will tear down and men will call them the wicked territory.

And the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever. Your eyes will see this and you will say, the Lord be magnified beyond the border of Israel. So we see, God beginning this oracle with a claim. The claim is I have loved you.

Why would God start with that? You, if he's, if he's coming to confront them, why does he start there? Well, he starts there because he's, he's making a claim on their relationship. He's making a declaration about what their relationship is.

And so, and what he's declaring is, I've invested in you. I've invested in you. And, and so if you remember the story of Jacob and Esau, Jacob and Esau, twin sons of Isaac, twin grandsons of Abraham. And God chose Jacob to be the one that would carry the line forward.

And, and, there's a very interesting story about how that all played out, but Jacob was the one that God had intended to, to carry the line forward and Jacob would then be the father of 12 sons who would become the nation of Israel. And, and so, God is saying, I have loved you. I chose you. And so that is, is how we even have this relationship.

And this, this, love-hate, language there has to do with the covenant that was made. It's a covenant type of, of relationship. God made the covenant with Jacob and not with Esau. And so that, the, the way of describing that is I loved Jacob.

I hated Esau. I, in other words, I chose Jacob. I didn't choose Esau. And and when we look through history, we see Esau and his descendants, the Edomites.

Never followed after God. They never wanted anything to do with God. And they were continually enemies of their twin brother, the Israelites. they, they were always, against them.

But God has made this claim about his investment in them. And they say, how have you loved us? And, and some commentators think that, that probably part of that is, is due to their current conditions. This is roughly 100 years after the beginning of the return of, of the first, return to the land, that, that, of the first of the three stages rather.

And so about 100 years later, they're expecting. fulfillment of prophecies of a great kingdom and it would come back. There are prophecies by Isaiah, prophecies by Ezekiel of this great kingdom, that would come. And so they're expecting that to apply to them.

Instead, what they're experiencing is the heavy weight of governors that are, that are overseeing them, that heavy weight being taxation. They're being taxed, they, they, have hard times economically as we'll be looking at a little bit later. In Nehemiah chapter 9. Where that, that, theme verse was we talked about that prayer that, that is offered in Nehemiah.

It, it does mention this. And so if you look in, in chapter 9, verse 36 and 37, this is what is expressed in their current, their current experiences in the land. It says, behold, we are slaves today. And as to the land which you gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty.

Behold, we are slaves in it. It's abundant produce is for the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They also rule over our bodies and over our cattle as they please. So we are in great distress.

So their current conditions are, are not what they expected when they came back to the land. They were expecting a, a, a rebuilding of the, of the kingdom of Israel and that it would become this great nation again. Instead, it's just a struggle. Everyday struggle trying to get by and trying to, to keep things together.

They're struggling with each other as well as we've have seen in the last couple of weeks from, from Ezra and Nehemiah. And so, this isn't what they expected. So this is that response of how have you loved us is, is coming out of this frustration probably of, of their conditions of what's going on with them. But God is reminding them that I chose you, and we have this special relationship, and I have, do have good things planned for you.

And so he's reminding them of that. But then he goes on in verse 6. We go to the 2nd oracle, where God poses this question, where is my respect? He says the son honors his father and a servant, his master.

Then if I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my respect, says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise my name. But you say, how have we despised your name? You are presenting defiled food upon my altar, but you say, how have we defiled you in that you say the table of the Lord is to be despised.

But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you, or would he receive you kindly, says the Lord of hosts.

But now you will not entreat God's favor that he may be gracious to us. With such an offering on your part, will he receive any of you kindly, says the Lord of Hoss. Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on my altar. I am not pleased with you, says the Lord of Hoss, nor will I accept an offering from you, for from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name will be great among the nations.

And in every place, incense is going to be offered to my name and a grain offering that is pure, for my name will be great among the nation, says the Lord of hosts. But you are profaning it. In that you say the table of the Lord is defiled and ask for its fruit, its food is to be despised. You also say, my, how tiresome it is.

And you disdainfully sniff at it, says the Lord of hosts, and you bring what was taken by robbery and what is lame or sick. So you bring the offering. Should I receive that from your hands, says the Lord, but cursed be the swindler who is a male in his flock and vows it. But sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I'm a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is feared among the nations.

So, Even though the, the fear that's supposed to be, or the respect that's supposed to go toward a father or a master. Seems to be a normal condition in human relationships. That's not what God was experiencing for the people, and that shows up in their unworthy sacrifices. And not only with the people bringing unworthy sacrifices, but also the priests.

who are caught up with, with doing the sacrificing are allowing it. They are allowing these unworthy sacrifices and they're complaining about how tedious it is, how much work it is. We find here very human reactions to to something that's just become perfunctory, something that's just become just a, a run of the mill and we, and we don't care about it that much. It's not, it has no value.

We just go through the motions and it just seems like it never ends. And so that is one of the first condemnations that is in this oracle, is their unworthy sacrifices. And then if you look at chapter 2, verses 7 to 9, I, the second issue that comes up, and that is with priests who are faithless. Says this, for the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

But as for you, you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by the instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. So, I have, I also have made you despised and abased before all the people just as you're not keeping my ways but are showing partiality in the instruction.

You have faithless priests who are not instructing in truth, and that was their part of their job, their role in, in the, in the people of Israel, the nation was to teach God's word, to teach it faithfully, and to lead people to walk in righteousness, and yet they were not fulfilling that. And, and so they were not doing their job. That was part of the failure of not respecting God. And And this is something that we find.

as being a, a very important part of worship and even in our days, is having faithful teachers of God's word. that, God expects that as part of our worship, that, that, that people are faithfully taught. And so as, as, as people of God, we need to be discriminating about who we listen to. we need to, be careful about, the, the voices that, that are, are coming into our heads and, and teaching us God's word.

And Paul, in his, first letter to Timothy, writes about this. In chapter 1, verses 3 to 7, he says this, as I urged you upon my departure from Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart. And a good conscience and a sincere faith, for some men straying from these things have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the law even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

And so The issue of, of faithless teachers is an issue that's, that, that goes on throughout time. And so as, as people of God, we need to be discerning and, and listening for what truth is, and finding the truth and, and, and as people who are teachers need to take on the responsibility, responsibility of being faithful. In expounding the truth and in teaching that truth to the people over whom they have that responsibility. Then, a third issue that they had, that was, denying the respect that was due to God, we find in verse 13, down to verse 16, he says that this is another thing you do.

You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning because he no longer regards the offering nor accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, for what reason? Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But not one has done so who has a remnant of the spirit.

And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your, of your youth, for I hate divorce, says the Lord. The God of Israel and with him and him who covers his garment with wrong, says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to your spirit that you do not deal treacherously.

So, God is, is, confronting them, and we've seen this over the last couple of weeks. This, this issue of, of the marriages that were being unfaithfully dealt with. And, so here Malachi has also stepped into that, that issue. Or at least God has stepped into that issue through the voice of Malachi and is, is telling them that this is the way you have disrespected me.

You've disrespected me with your unfaithfulness in your marriages. And that is a principle that, that is something that we should be aware of, of how God views marriage and, and how important it is to God that we be faithful to those marriages. And then the fourth, issue with, that has to do with respect to God, is in verse 17. Where he says, you have wearied the Lord with your words.

Yet you say, how have we wearied him? In that you say everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delights in them, or where is the is the God of justice? And this is an accusation against God, that God is unjust. That God just lets things go.

And so, God says, I'm not listening to you anymore. You weary me with your words. And, and so God is, is, is telling them, this is, these are the ways you have disrespected me, and you have, despised my name. We go to the next one.

Well, before we get to that. our true state really is in this way, and, and, Archie Sproll in his book, The Holiness of God. has a chapter called God in the Hands of Angry Sinners. And so he says this.

We reveal our natural hostility for God by the low esteem we have for Him. We consider him unworthy of our total devotion. We take no delight in contemplating Him. Even for the Christian, worship is often difficult and prayer a burdensome duty.

Our natural tendency is to flee as far as possible from his presence. His word rebounds like a basketball from a backboard. There remains a vestige of our fallen nature with which we must struggle every day. There still resides a corner of the soul that takes no delight in God.

We see its ragged edge in our continued sin, and we can observe it in our lethargic worship. And, In, in actually in preparing this lesson this week, I was caught up with, with the idea that, a lot of this is stuff that we've been hearing now for the last few months with Pastor Vincent's series on total devotion to God. And so these are ideas that are not new or, or fresh actually in our minds. but the idea is that as human beings, we still struggle.

Our nature is, is always coming up and we're always having to battle it. And in, in our worship, we need to find that freshness with God. And, and the only way you can have that, that freshness is with a pure heart. And so we have to work at that, at, at having a pure heart.

But pure heart, how many of us actually have more than maybe 5 minutes a week of a pure heart? I at least I don't. And, and it's something that when it comes to, to that, that real purity, that, that real, wholesome and full relationship with God is something I have to fight for, and we, we do, we have to fight for that. This needs to be a high value to us that we will fight for it and we will go for it with vigor, because God is worth it, and our relationship with God is worth it.

And, and we'll see that more in our application. Oracle 3. I found in In verse in chapter 3. Verse 13, I'm sorry, verse 8.

This is one of the more familiar ones, at least for me. I've heard this one my whole life. Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me, but you say, how have we robbed you?

In tithes and offerings you are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house and test me now in this, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground, nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes, says the Lord of hosts.

All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts. So, what we see here is God telling them why they, they're having these economic struggles, why their land isn't producing like they expected. And that is because of their irresponsibility in their relationship with Him in their tithes and offerings. One of the prescriptions in their worship.

was to bring their ties to the Lord, and that, that, there was with that, that tithing, God would then bless their land, bless the, the productivity of their hands. And they would have plenty. but this, this is the reason for their economic struggles. We also see here that God is longing to bless them.

Verses 10 and 11, God wants to give them this blessing. God wants to enrich them. But they need to recognize the blessings come from God. And tithing is one of those ways that God established for them, to remind them that it's God who blesses them.

So God wants to bless them and God also wants them to be a light to the other nations. He wants to so bless them that the other nations will observe it and see and see the goodness of God. God wants to give them that much. so they're gonna have to be able to, respond to that and trust in that and take this act of faith and say, OK, we will, we will give this tithe.

This is part of their law. And part of the construction of, of, of, or the prescription that God established for them to, in their worship. A lot of times this verse is, is used. by, by a lot of, of Christians today to, to, make those kinds of demands on Christians today and really in the New Testament as we'll be seeing, there's a, a couple of passages on giving that'll be looking at for us in New Testament that, in the New Testament does not talk about tithes and, and, and being strict like that, and we'll be taking a look at that in a little bit, but just understand that The tithing here is part of the law.

It's part of what God had, the way God structured the worship of the people of Israel, and that is as it was to bring the sacrifices, as it was to observe the Sabbath, so it was to bring their tithes and offerings. So, so that's part of their law. That was what God structured for them in their worship. And then the, the 4th oracle, the last one we'll be looking at is Your words have been arrogant against me.

In verse 13, he says that Yet you say, what, what have we spoken against you? You have said, God says, it is vain to serve God. And what profit is it that we have kept his charge and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord, Lord of hosts. So now we call the arrogant blessed.

Not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape. And what we see here is, and, and this is typical social reaction that we see that there are gonna be people within a society who are gonna be lifted up in their own enlightenment. And in that enlightenment, they're the ones who will say we need to be realistic about God. God doesn't really care about us and, and, and they start making judgments against God.

God hears that. God knows what's going on and What we need to do is, is understand that, that they, that those responses are inappropriate and, and we should not be part of it. And that, the enlightened ones are not the ones that should be the, the great influence in, in at least within our own lives. So what is the response?

How did the people in, in upon hearing this message, these oracles, how did they respond? Well, it says in verse 16, beginning in verse 16, that some repented. It says, then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him, for those who fear the Lord and who esteem his name.

They will be mine, says the Lord of hosts. On the day that I prepare my own possession, I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. And so there were those who did respond in the right way, and made the changes that needed to be made, to follow after God.

And so we, we see a healthiness at least on, on a part of the people. But with a, with a large, social structure like was already appearing in that land, there would be those who would stubbornly cling to their own ways and disregard the, the true worship of God. Now, what does God expect of us? What about us?

There are these, these passages of scripture I wanna look at. We'll look at them quickly cause we're getting close on time. We'll start with Romans chapter 12 verse 1. I'm sure you're all familiar and probably can quote this from whichever translation you have.

but it says, therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. So Paul wrote, writes this after having recounted, as, from Romans chapter 1 through Romans 11, the glories of what the gospel is all about. He, he runs the gamut of, of the gospel, and he gets to chapter 12, which is a, a turning point. For application.

So how do we apply what we know about the gospel? What, how does it affect us? How does it make us live? And this is what we are to do for our worship.

our spiritual service of worship is what? To present our bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God. That, that, that our, our sacrifice is not bulls and goats. And other representations of, of what the sacrifice for sins would be, which was Christ.

But now that Christ has made that sacrifice, now our worship is centered on how we live our lives, and that in our daily life, our life is to be lived as a sacrifice to God, a holy living sacrifice. Hebrews chapter 13. Verses 15 to 16, through him, then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name and do not neglect doing good and sharing.

For with such sacrifices, God is pleased. Philippians 4:14. Nevertheless, you will do, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. You yourselves know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone.

For even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent a fragrant aroma, and acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. This is one of the passages that should, shape our thinking when it comes to giving. in, in Philippians chapter 4, and, and, and we see here this, this idea of, of the, of, of, of the blessing that it accomplishes. And, and also we, we should look, I won't read it right now, but 1 Corinthians chapter 5.

talks a lot about, giving and, and what it's to be for and, and what, how he describes it as God loves a cheerful giver. God wants us to give cheerfully as we purpose in our hearts, so let a man give, it says. And so that, that it instructs us as to our giving. Ephesians chapter 5.

Verse 1 and 2. Therefore, be imitators of God as loved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. So that, that informs us as far as our worship goes. 1 Peter chapter 2.

Verses 4 and 5, and coming to him as to a living stone by which has been rejected by men but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Our worship It takes on a different light. There, there was a transition that took place at the cross, where Christ ended the sacrifices and he, he began to lead his disciples in a different way of worship.

And just as Jesus explained to the woman at the well, that, that, the day is coming where it's not at a certain place of worship as Jerusalem was to be, but now the, the parameters are different.

The paradigm has changed somewhat. The principles, however, Remain constant. God is still the same. He has never changed.

He is holy, and we are to come to him with reverence, with awe. that, that's supposed to impact the way we, we, worship Him. We're to come to him with gratitude. that's part should flavor our worship as well as the reverence does.

those are things that, that should never change, that they're across the timelines, but the, the manner of worship is going to be different and, and it has to do with not just, Our, time that we spend maybe together here on Sundays, but throughout our, our lives. So What should we learn from it? Well, first of all, God is paying attention to our worship. Because the worship is for the expression of what we think about God.

That's what our worship is. It expresses what we think about God. And, sometimes our view of God gets really dim. And I, I know I can, I'll, I'll testify for myself sometimes sitting out there in the seats here and, and the, the worship leaders are leading us in a song and And sometimes I can be really into it and really feel connected and, and really be passionate about what I'm saying in, in the, the, the words of the song.

But there are other times when I'm just mumbling, just going through it and not really thinking about it much and not really having my whole heart in it. And, and what I would say is that, that that's part of our flesh and the struggle of our flesh. But God deserves better than that. And, some of the, I'll just say that, that, studying for this lesson today was was less exciting than some of the other ones that I studied for where you get to read all this cool history and you get to kinda try to construct all of the, the different framework of why and how things happened.

this isn't like that. This stu the study for this is more like looking into a mirror. And looking into a mirror, at least for me, isn't that much fun. it's not that exciting, but that's what this is like.

And, and this has been really confronting to me and, and, hopefully some of that can, can be a blessing to you as well. But God is paying attention to our worship and, and And we need to, to, to consider that as we are carrying forward. Our worship is expressed in our everyday lives, in our communion with other believers. It's expressed in our work, our acts of service to others, our family time, and even our rest.

So worship isn't just something that's done at Jerusalem on certain festivals or, or certain days of the week. our worship now is all the time. It's our whole life. It's the way we treat our family.

It's the way we, treat our neighbors and, and, and the way we do our work, the way we're diligent and responsible, the way we, are involved in our community, the way we are involved with the communion of believers that we are with, and the fellowship that we, that we carry on and, and the intentionality of what we do. Our worship is all of those things, and God is paying attention to all of that. very close attention. He knows all about it.

And just try to imagine, what the issues God would raise to us, to yourself. if God were to come and say, this is what I think that you say. And, and he's reading into your minds, into your motives, into all of the, what's in your heart. God came and confronted these people.

Because he cared about them. And he was trying to draw them to what it was righteous. But, we have to be careful not to be pushing back against God. Receive that.

And so when God confronts us, receive it and be drawn to him, and, and rejoice in the fact that he cares enough about you to confront you with this. Deuteronomy 6:5, I think is fundamental in our relationship with God and in our worship. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. This was fundamental to the nation of Israel.

In their relationship with God. It is fundamental for us as well. This carries forward past all of, all of time. This is how we are to be and in our worship, whether it's in our work, whether it's in our.

Daily chores or whatever it might be in our relationships in our family, in our relationships with one another in our church. shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. With all of our being, with everything that's in us, that's fundamental to us. If we will do that, It will be, be expressed in how we live and how we worship.

And so we will be able to, to worship in the right way. And it will become like a mission for us. It will become a passionate thing for us and we will fight for that. We will, will work hard at that.

And I really love the the the line in a song. Written by John Moore, who, who says it like this, to love the Lord our God is the heartbeat of our mission. The spring from which our service overflows. That's what God wants from us.

He wants us to love Him. And really, We should, and God is one who has so loved us. And he's done so much for us. He's the creator of everything, and he invites us to join him.

To participate with him in his creation and what he is doing. He's inviting us to that. And so, when we love him. That then becomes the our heartbeat.

And then our service, our worship overflows from it like a spring of water and just keeps going. All right. Any comments or questions before we finish? We not.

Why would we not, why would we not do this? Because we're stubborn. And we still battle our flesh and, and that's still part of, of our, our trouble, but you're right. This is, this is such a, a gracious invitation that God gives to us.

All right, let's close in prayer. You, God, are the creator of heaven and earth, of everything in it, and you are the creator of, of mankind, and you have put into us A living, breathing soul, and you have made us in your own image and you have given to us. A destiny Father, you've made a way for us to have a relationship with you and even though we've been rebellious and stubborn and, and wanting to do our own way, you've been so generous with your grace and, and calling us into your family and giving to us way more than we could ever Ever deserve.

but I thank you for that and, and ask that your spirit continue to, to, prompt us and to convict us.

that we may become better at worship and of living our lives as a living sacrifice before you and, and, and living our lives in a way that, that demonstrates your glory. And we just give you thanks for all these things, and I ask you to bless us as we carry out, carry it out this week that these will be fresh reminders for us. In Jesus' name, Amen.