How to Keep the Wonder in Your Worship

If it means little to you, you're watching the book of Malachi, the Bible teacher, Adrian Rogers.

Our highest privilege as Christians is to know and enjoy God's presence in a personal and exciting way. But what happens when we find ourselves in a spiritual drought? The book of Malachi reveals three key ways to keep the wonder of fire in your faith. If you have your Bible, turn to Malachi chapter one. We'll begin in verse six as Adrian Rogers reveals how to keep the wonder in our worship. I want you to find the book of Malachi.

That's the last book in the Old Testament. What I want to talk to you about tonight is how to keep the wonder in your worship. We're talking about giving God glory. And I believe one of the worst things in this world is half-hearted worship. No matter how many people are attending, how sad to see a full church of empty people trying to overflow.

How do we have that wonder in our worship? One man had been missing church for a long time. The pastor went to see him and call on him. The man began to give one excuse and another excuse. He'd been out of work. The children had been sick.

He'd had difficulty at the farm animals. And then he said, it's been raining and raining and raining every Sunday. The pastor said, but it's dry at church.

He said, yeah, and that's another reason I haven't come. Oh, what do we do about these dry services? How do we put some spiritual lubrication in our worship?

Well, we're going to see. What happens when the joy, the wonder, the thrill, the enthusiasm goes out of our worship? Say, Adrian, don't you ever get tired? Don't you ever get weary?

Yes, I get weary in the work, but I've never ever been weary of the work. What I want to do is talk to you about how to keep the wonder in your worship. I want to talk to you about how to keep the fire in your faith, how not to let it become weary, how not to snuff at it.

What is that? What cools us down? Why are we not thrilled about the things of God? How can you keep the wonder in your worship?

Three ways. Number one, you need to recognize the nature of God. Recognize the nature of God. Look at verse six, a son on earth his father and a servant his master. If I then be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Now, first thing, God is our Father and we are his sons and fathers are to be honored.

The word honor comes from a word which means weight, giving weight to. It means to be taking someone seriously. Do you take God seriously? I mean, are you serious about your worship? That's the reason the Bible says over there, Jesus said in Revelation chapter three, verses 15 and 16, to the church that lay o'er to see it, because thou neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. I will spew thee out of my mouth. I've told you before, G. Campbell Morgan said that lukewarmness is the worst form of blasphemy. God says, I am a father.

Where is my honor? That's the reason when Jesus taught us to pray, how did he teach us to pray? In our prayer, our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. So, God is a father. That's one way that we recognize the nature of God. And not only is God a father, but God is a master. Look at it again in verse six. And then he says, if I be a master, where is my fear?

Now, as God is a father, he deserves honor. And if God is our master, he deserves fear. You know, we have a generation today that does not fear God. Some people say, I don't believe in a religion built on fear. All true religion is built on fear, not a filthy fear. The Bible says the fear of the Lord is clean, not a dread, not a cringing horror of God.

The fear of God is love on its knees. And we need old-fashioned reverence for God. Somebody says, well, tell them, preacher, we don't want any more of that loud music, we want reverence. We don't want any more hand clapping, we want reverence. Friend, if you only understood how they praise God in the Bible, you'd get on to us for being too quiet. I mean, in the Bible, yes, there were quiet times. The Bible says, be still and know that I'm God. But in the Bible, there were drums and cymbals and leaping and dancing and praising God with all of one's might and shouting unto the Lord. That doesn't mean you're irreverent.

It means that you're so full of joy that you cannot be still, you cannot be quiet. But there is this fear of God in our hearts. How do we serve the Lord? God is a Father. Give him honor. God is our Master.

Give him fear. Not only recognize the nature of God, but then right on the heels of that, you reverence the name of God. You reverence the name of God. Now, begin in verse 6 again and listen to it. A son on earth is father and a servant is master.

If I then be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear, saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priest, now watch this, that despise my name? And you say, oh, wherein have we despised thy name? Well, he says in verse 11, for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye have profaned it, in that ye say the table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit therein, even as meat is contemptible. And ye said also, behold, what a weariness it is, and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord. Now, remember God's name stands for his character.

What is his character? He is a father and he is a master. Now, how can we despise God's name? We can despise God's name by half-hearted worship. Look in verse 6 and go right on through with me now and don't lose it.

The last part of verse 6. If I be a master, where is my fear, saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priest, that despise my name? And ye say, wherein have we despised thy name? Now, listen, ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, huh, wherein have we polluted thee?

Well, these are smart aleck questions they're asking Almighty God, almost insolent questions. God answers, though, in that ye say, the table of the Lord is contemptible. That is, I don't have to bring the best offerings and lay them on the table for our Lord. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil?

Offer it now unto thy governor. Will he be pleased with thee? Or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts. Now, what were they doing? They were coming to the Lord. And in that day, they would offer animal sacrifices.

We don't do that in this day. But in that day, they would offer animal sacrifices and they'd go out into the flock. And if they had some crippled sheep, some lame oxen, some blind animal, something that was worthless, useless, something that had a scab, a scar, a blemish, or something perhaps that even died in the field, they would bring it and offer it to the Lord.

Now, the Bible absolutely, totally is against that. Now, why were these offerings, why were they required to be perfect? Because every one of them was a picture of who? Jesus. And you remember what Peter said about Jesus in 1 Peter 1, verse 8 and 9? He was a lamb without spot and without blemish.

He was the perfect offering. And all these Old Testament offerings were a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God says, don't bring to me an offering that is wounded or weak or blind or sick or blemished. And look in verse 8, chapter 1, Malachi, verse 8, go back. And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil?

And if you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? And then he throws a challenge to them. Offer it now to thy governor.

Will he accept it? Now, if the governor were going to come and you say, oh, governor, we're so happy to have you in our city, in our home, in our synagogue, in our temple. Here's a gift for you. And you bring out a sick cow. You bring out a scabby animal of some kind. You bring out something that is blind and you say there, this governor is for you. God says, would you offer that to the governor? Would he accept it?

No. You would give your best if the governor, the king, the prince, whoever it is might visit. How does that relate to us? Do we give God less than we give to the government? I suppose now when April the 15th comes around, you just write the IRS and you say, you know, I know I should pay my income tax, but you know, I've kind of had a bad run of luck here lately. And things are not just what they ought to be, so I've decided not to pay my taxes this year. You know, have you ever heard anybody talk that way about making offerings to the Lord?

Well, you know, just things have happened. And so I've decided that I'm not going to tithe, you know, until I get back on my feet. Try that on the IRS. All right, let's try this. Try this on your boss tomorrow morning. No, I didn't come into work.

I had company that came. Or, you know, I've been going so hard, I just decided I'd sleep in today. Try it on the boss. Try this on your wife.

I bought myself a $300 suit, and I got you a $10 dress and a rum and sale. Try that on your wife. No, listen. Why is it that we eat the cake and give God the crumbs?

That's what they were doing. They were not offering the best to Jesus. I'm telling you, folks, that God deserves the best of what we have. Don't give God that which is lame and sick and left over. God says, you're giving me these castaway things.

You're giving me things that you don't really want anyway. Sometimes we have a mission house, and so they take furniture that people don't want. It's broken or bent or scarred or a settee with a hole in it or something. We say, hey, you know, let's give that to the missionaries. Why not let them have the best and you have the settee with a hole on it? Taking up food, a food offering.

What do we do? We look under the sink and we find that box of oatmeal that the water's dripped on down there, and we don't want that. Take that out.

And you get those 13-year-old cans of tamales you've had back then. Let's get rid of these. Get these out.

What else is scabbed and blind and scarred? Let's give that to God. Let's give of our best to the Master. Let's not just give him something that we don't want anyway. That's what he's saying. God says, hey, try that on your governor.

Would you do that for the governor? Listen, let me give you a verse I found. I was amazed when I found this verse.

Exodus 22, verse 31. God says, And ye shall be holy men unto me, neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field. Now, he says, if you find, for example, a deer that's been killed in the field, don't eat it. Don't eat it.

He says this. Listen to it. Ye shall be holy men unto me, neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field. Ye shall cast it to the dogs. Don't you eat it. Cast it to the dogs.

Now, he's talking about animals now that have been torn. Don't eat it. Give it to the dogs.

Do you know what some folks are doing? They're giving God dog food. They're giving God dog food.

They're saying, Here, it's not fit for us. We give it to God. Why was there worship awareness?

Well, because they were offering to God half-hearted, unworthy sacrifices. Listen, when you bring your gift next Sunday, if it means little to you, it'll mean little to him. Let me say that again.

If it means little to you, it will mean little to him. Give of your best to the master. I was reading about David when David wanted a place to put the Ark of the Covenant. And now David is the king, and here's what it says, 2 Samuel chapter 24, verse 20. And Arunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Arunah went out and bowed himself before the king on his face to the ground. And Arunah said, Wherefore is my Lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Arunah said unto David, Let my Lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him.

Behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. All these things did Arunah as a king give unto the king. And Arunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God except thee. And the king said unto Arunah, Nay, but I will surely buy it of thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Now Arunah was a good man. David said, Look, I want to make a sacrifice to God. There's a plague in the land, and I want the plague to be stopped.

And Arunah said, Oh king, that's wonderful. You just come. Here's my oxen. Sacrifice them. You need wood.

Here are the instruments for plowing. Take that and burn it. It's all yours. David said, Arunah, thank you very much, but I'm not going to let you give it to me. I want to make an offering to God. And God forbid that I should offer to the Lord of that which doth cost me nothing.

You know, some of our giving make no difference at all in our lifestyle. God forbid that I should offer to the Lord of that which doth cost me nothing. God's name can be defiled by our sacrifice, and God's name can be defiled by our service. Notice in verse 11, he says, For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, for a pure offering for my name, and shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.

And ye said also, Behold, what a weariness it is. Now, God says, You profaned my name. What do you think of when you think of profanity? Do you think of someone in a barroom using swear words? Do you know what profanity is? Profanity is when you use the name of God and don't mean it when you're not enthused. When you stand in a church like this and sing, Oh, how I love Jesus, and you're not even thinking about what you're singing.

And your mind is off somewhere in some business deal of what you're going to do, who you're going to eat with at the church. The worst profanity happens in the house of God. God says, You have profaned my name.

How? By half-hearted worship. Think what an insult that is to Almighty God. You say, Huh, boy, when will this service ever be over?

The same people you get excited when a ball game goes into overtime, when souls are being saved and people are coming to Jesus and we say, sing one more stanza. I go, Oh. Friend, listen to me. We're in business for the King. We need to keep the wonder in our worship. And we cannot come and offer to God that which doth cost us nothing and offer castaways to God and then profane his name. His name is to be great, not to be clock watchers. You know, God's name is not to be defiled.

It is to be declared. Look in verse 11. Here's what God once done with his name.

Look at it. For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense shall be offered under my name for a pure offering in my name. For my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord, but ye have profaned it. Now, let me tell you the greatest name that I know is Jesus. Every attribute of God, every quality of God is summed up and magnified in that name Jesus. Pastor, are you sure about that?

Absolutely. For the Bible says God hath given him, Jesus, a name which is above every name. There is no other name that takes precedent over that name, Jesus. And oh, how we ought to honor the name of Jesus Christ.

Friend, think of Jesus. There's salvation in that name. Acts chapter 4, verse 12. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There's worship in that name. For Jesus said in Matthew 18, verse 20, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

There's authority in that name. In Colossians 3, verse 17, and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God and the Father by him. There's prayer in that name. John 15, verse 16. You've not chosen me, but I've chosen you, Jesus said, nor danger that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. And whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Now, what we need to do, friend, is to remember the nature of God, reverence the name of God, offer a worthy sacrifice, use his name with a sense of awe and wonder.

And then the third and final thing, respect the nobility of God. Look in verse 14. But cursed be the deceiver that hath in his flock a male and voweth and sacrifice unto the Lord a corrupt thing.

That is, he has a worthy offering, but he makes a vow and a promise, and then he offers some unworthy offering. God says a curse is upon him. For I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. That speaks of the nobility of God.

God is a king. Look, folks, when we remember his nature, he's a father, and we're his sons. We're to honor him.

He's a master. We're his servants. We fear him. We need to reverence his name, not to profane his name.

Just remember the name of Jesus every time we sing or praise or pray. Again, don't profane his name. And then finally, respect his nobility. He is the king, the absolute king.

Now, in these verses that I've shared with you, here's what God is. He's a father, he is master, and he is king. As sons, God deserves our love. As servants, he deserves our labor. And as subjects, he deserves our loyalty. What a powerful word from God's Word today. Almighty God deserves our love, our labor, and our loyalty. If you're listening today and you have questions about your relationship with him, about how to receive the forgiveness that he's offering you through Jesus Christ, go to our Discover Jesus page at lwf.org slash radio.

You'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about your faith. Again, click Discover Jesus at lwf.org slash radio. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD and mention the title, How to Keep the Wonder in Your Worship. This message is also part of the powerful and convicting series, Exalting Your Savior. For the complete collection, all seven powerful messages, call 877-LOVEGOD or go to lwf.org slash radio to order.

Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Have you lost the wonder in your worship? Recognize God's nature as a father and a master who deserves our love, labor, and loyalty. Do not profane his name or defile it with half-hearted worship.

Rather, respect his nobility as the King of Kings. We're so glad you decided to study in God's Word with us today. Tune in next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. We were so honored to receive a message from a long-time Bible teacher who said, Having been saved for 72 years and having taught Sunday school for more than 30, I am still learning much from the teaching and writing of Dr. Rogers. Well, it's our privilege to provide these resources as you continue to grow in your walk with Christ, and we're so thankful for our prayer partners and donors who sustain us as we spread the gospel through these profound messages. As a way to say thank you for your gift this month, we want to send you the book, The Passion of Christ and the Purpose of Life. In this book, Adrian Rogers delivers a masterful presentation of the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what it means for you. Request a copy of The Passion of Christ and the Purpose of Life when you call with a gift right now at 1-877-LOVEGOD or you can give online at lwf.org slash radio.