My Third Srmon

My second Preached Sermon

Introduction

            Welcome my friends. Today I would like to take a field trip with you, in our minds. Go back to the time of Malachi. Now picture with me that you are a Jew, but not only a Jew but you have the honor of being a priest! Think about how exciting this would be! We are living in a time where we could look back on all the great works God has done for our people through the years, even within the past century. In the past century we have been allowed back in the land God promised to us and have been able to rebuild our city and even our temple! We can once again worship the LORD the way we are supposed to. Now that you have this firmly in your head I would like to look at Malachi 1:7-8. this is in the second part of Malachi, A dispute over the Honor of God. This section is  just after A dispute over God’s love and Just before a dispute over the people’s faithlessness. In these verses we see 3 questions to us about sin. 

7 You offer defiled food on my altar, but say, in what way have we defiled you? By saying, the table of the Lord is contemptible.

8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick is it not evil? Offer it then to your Governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably? Says the Lord of Hosts.

I.                   Don’t you see your sin? You offer defiled food on my altar, but say, in what way have we defiled you? By saying, the table of the Lord is contemptible

Their ignorance of this is made clear in their statement in what way have we defiled you?

NOTE: As a priest you don’t even see your sin! You are the one who is supposed to be representing God to the people and vise versa, but instead you are ignorant or Destitute of knowledge; uninstructed or uninformed; untaught; unenlightened of your own sin! God goes on to say that their sin is saying that the table of the Lord is contemptible, literally loathsome or despised!  He doesn’t even point out that they are already in sin by not offering the proper sacrifice, but points their sin to be their attitude of hate toward the things of God. Can you picture that, being a priest who hates the things of the God he is supposed to serve?  Unimaginable isn’t it?   (not only are they in sin because of their attitude but they are blind to the wrong in the sacrifices themselves.)

II.                Don’t you see that it (the sacrifice) is evil? And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick is it not evil?

Note: According to the ceremonial law stated in Leviticus it was a sin, it went against the commands of God, to offer anything less than a perfect animal as a sacrifice. The sacrifices they where offering were not perfect, they where blind, lame and sick. They where keeping the best back for themselves instead of offering the best they had to God. This is not good, it is bad, it goes against the specific commands of God. So not only are we as these priests in sin with our attitudes but we are also performing evil in that we are ignoring what God would have us do.  ( in all of this I have one last question for you)

III.             Don’t you see your folly? Offer it then to your Governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably? Says the Lord of Hosts.

NOTE: don’t you see that offering anything less than your best to God is nothing more than utter folly. If you don’t think so than do what God commands here at take that sacrifice and offer it, take it to, your Governor. Offer it to the person over you. It would be like taking the F you got on the next exam and walking into Mr. Garland’s office and saying, “Here you go Mr. Garland I did this test for you!” Do you really think that he would be impressed? Would he open his arms wide and say, “Great Job!!! I Knew you could fail.”  Or would you be ashamed to show that test grade to him. Of course you would be! No one in there right mind wants to take anything less than their best to the people over them. If that is true than why would we want to offer anything less than that to God?  But that is exactly what we are doing when we offer the blind, the lame and the sick as sacrifices before our God!!!  I want you to notice the little ity bity phrase at the end of this passage, “Says the Lord of Hosts.” This is the all powerful ruler over the armies of heaven. The one who spoke and the world was created! He is speaking to us yet we refuse to acknowledge him! With our refusal we make him our refuse. (Now what?)

Conclusion

Now that we have seen our sin, calling the table of the Lord contemptible, or something to be despised and have seen our evil in offering the lame, sick and blind and have our folly in offering them to God, what does this have to do with me? I asked you at the beginning to put yourselves in the shoes of the priests of this passage. I now want to point out to you that for many of us this is exactly where we are. We may not be offering sacrifices to God like they did then but we do have our own presentations to God. We are to offer our bodies a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), we are to honor God in all that we do (ICor. 10:31) but are we doing it? I say that there are many of us, including myself, that, at times, find the things of God to be despised. How often to we long for something that we know to be sinful? By doing this we are calling the things god asks of us contemptible. I ask you all today, how are you doing with this. Are you despising the things of God because they “hold you back” from the things that you want to do? Do you have a hard time obeying authority over you because you don’t want to do what they ask? The would like to ask you is this as well, are you not doing the things that you know you should do (or doing the things you know you shouldn’t do)? (James 4:17) if we are doing the things that we aren’t suppose to do or aren’t doing the things that we know we are to do that is sin. So my brothers how are you doing there?

My Sermon

Outline

I.                   The actions that we are not supposed to do.

3But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting. (we see 6 things that we are not to do. The first is)

NOTE: THESE THINGS ARE THOSE WHICH WE SHOULD BE DOING OUR BEST TO AVOID. IN THE VERSES BEFORE PAUL TALKS ABOUT BEING IMITATORS OF CHRIST AND GOES ON TO SAY BUT DO NOT LET THESE THINGS BE NAMED AMONG YOU! THESE THINGS ARE NOT FITTING (ILLUSTRATION WITH SMALL SUIT JACKET time permiting ) TO THOSE THAT ARE IMMITATORS OF CHRIST.)

A) Our physical actions (this includes 3 things, firstly)

1)      Immorality (the second is)

NOTE: FORNACATION OR WHORDOME. ANYTHING MORALLY IMPURE.

2) Impurity (thirdly)

NOTE: UNCLEAN OR CONTAMANTED. (THINGS YOU WOULDN’T BRAG TO MOM ABOUT)

3) Greed ( now that we have seen the physical action we aren’t suppose to do lets examine Point B)

NOTE:  ALSO COVETOUSNESS, WANTING TO HAVE MORE BEYOND THAT WHICH GOD HAS GRANTED. (IT ISNT BAD TO WANT MORE IN AND OF ITSELF BUT YOU MUST WANT GOD AND HIS WILL MORE THAN ALL)

B) The kind of words we aren’t to speak. (this point is also broken down into 3 categories, the first of which is)

1) Filthiness (another kind of talk that we shouldn’t do is)

NOTE: BASENESS, OR OBSCENETIY. NOT BASE AS IN ACID AND BASE BUT BASE AS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE THINGS THAT ARE NOT GOOD.

2) silly talk (along with this we see that we shouldn’t be speaking)

NOTE: THIS IS THE ONLY USE OF THIS STATEMENT (GREEK STATEMENT THAT IS) IN THE BIBLE. FROM THE CONTEXT IT IS PROBOBLY SAFE TO SAY THAT IT IS REFERING TO THINGS THAT ARENT EDIFYING, THINGS THAT DON’T GIVE GRACE. (see 4:29)

3) crude jesters (and this brings me to my last point)

NOTE:  HERE WE SEE THAT MAYBE SOME OF THOSE JOKES WE TELL SHOULDN’T BE COMING OUT OF OUR LIPS, OR MORE LIKELY, EVEN DWELLING IN OUR MIND SO AS TO TEMPT US TO UTTER THEM.

II.                The way we are to act. (so in conclusion)

but rather giving of thanks.

NOTE: HERE WE HAVE BUT. THIS MEANS THAT IF WE WHERE THANKFULL (TO GOD) THEN WE WOULDN’T BE IMMORAL, OR HAVE IMPURITY, OR GREED, OR FILTHINESS,OR SILLY TALK, OR CRUDE JESTING, ALL OF WHICH PAUL CONNECTED WITH THE OLD MAN IN THE PREVIOS CHAPETRS OF THIS VERY BOOK.  

HERE WE SEE THAT OUR ONLY PROPER ATTITUDE AND ACTION IS THAT OF THANKFULLNESS. ALSO PERHAPS IF WE ENDEVER TI HAVE A THANFULL SPIRIT IT WILL HELP US TO AVOID ALL THE THINGS THAT WE ARENT SUPPOSE TO DO.

Conclusion