Withholding In Worship

The people of Israel had come back from the exile eager to rededicate themselves to God, but it wasn't long before their fervor began to fade. They grew tired of waiting on God's promises.

Although they were doing the right things, their hearts weren't in it. In Malachi chapter 1, we see the prophet calling the people of God back from a precipice, that of withholding themselves in worship. On today's broadcast, we'll see why this happened and what warnings we must take from their experience. From Chicago, welcome to The Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller. In a moment, a time of worship and teaching as we continue a series on tough love and tender mercies, taken from the Book of Malachi. Today's focus, withholding in worship.

Here now is Pastor Philip, along with worship leader, Tim Stafford. I'd like to pray. Let's give glory to God. Let's give this service to God. Let's give ourselves to God.

Would you bow your heads and pray? Father, we celebrate that you are a generous and gracious God. You have given lavishly to us in the person of your son, Jesus Christ.

In the beginning, through creation, when you gave us life and breath and everything else, and then you gave us your son to die in our place and for our sake, to bear the sins we couldn't bear, and to give us resurrection life we didn't deserve, to adopt us as your children, to fill us with your spirit, you have given and given and given yourself away. And so Father, it is a joy for us to emulate even a little bit of who you are. And so Father, we want to give you ourselves, all that we are, time, talent, treasure, everything. We want to give you ourselves and hold nothing back. Father, we need to meet with you today.

We didn't come just to sing some songs and to hear some guy talk. We came to hear the voice of the living God. And so Father, would you speak, tear off the scales off our eyes, penetrate our hearts, teach us to live rightly before you, teach us to worship. We pray this in Jesus name.

Amen. Love the Lord your God, with the fullness of your heart, with all your mind, your strength and soul. We drown here through Christ who saves us.

We drown here through the water of grace. Hear oh Israel, the people of the Lord, come lift your voice and praise your King. He's worthy of our praise this morning and blessing and honor and glory and power be unto the ancient of days. You've got to help me sing today. Every tongue, let me hear you. Let's sing it now. Let's sing and honor, glory and power be unto the ancient of days. From every nation, all our creation, bound for the ancient of days. Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare your glory and he shall bow at your throne. In worship you'll be exalted our God and your kingdom shall not pass away. Oh ancient of days, your kingdom shall reign, your kingdom shall reign over all the earth. Sing to the ancient of days, for none can compare to your righteousness world. Sing to the ancient of days, your kingdom shall reign over all the earth. Sing to the ancient of days, for none can compare to your righteousness world.

Sing to the ancient of days. From every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare your glory and he shall bow at your throne. In worship you'll be exalted our God and your kingdom shall not pass away.

For every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare your glory and he shall bow at your throne. In worship you'll be exalted our God and your kingdom shall not pass away. Oh ancient of days, your kingdom shall reign over all the earth. Sing to the ancient of days, for none can compare to your righteousness world. Sing to the ancient of days, your kingdom shall reign over all the earth. Sing to the ancient of days, for none can compare to your righteousness world. Sing to the ancient of days, your kingdom shall reign over all the earth. Sing to the ancient of days, for none can compare to your righteousness world.

Sing to the ancient of days. Praise the Lord, there is no one like him. Amen?

I love this series title, Tough Love, Tender Mercies. We need to be ready to hear from God this morning. Not everything he says is just to be gentle with us.

It is true. He is the Lord after all. Amen?

So let's continue to tune our hearts to be able to hear that. This is what God's word says in Psalm 95. Oh come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hands are the depths of the earth.

The heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands form the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. For he is our God, and we heart the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not hearten your hearts. Let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

For the Lord is our God, and he made it, and his hands form the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Streets of mercy, never ceasing. Go for songs of loudest praise. Teach we his God, the Lord is smiling. Stomp our flaming tongues above. Praise his name, fixed upon him.

Aim of God's redeeming name. Here I raise my heavenly Son. In the light, I know my God. Where I hope thy mighteth pleasure, save me to the brotherhood. Jesus, Lord, beware the stranger. On faith, love the one of God. He's the medicine, he's the patient.

I'll be with his precious one. Oh, to grace thou made a better day beyond, God, stranger he. Let thy goodness, like a burner, guide my wandering heart to thee. Oh, to wonder how I'm feeling, oh, to think of God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it, Lord, I cause a burn.

Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it, Lord, I cause a burn. About a decade ago, I was invited to go on a medical missions trip up the Amazon River in Brazil. There were doctors and dentists and nurses and paramedics on this trip, and I was the token pastor, okay? And at one point during the visit, I was wandering along the Amazon River bank when one of our local friends shouted at me, get back, right?

Get back. And it was a warning. And I slowly backed away to where he was, and he pointed at this log floating in the water that wasn't a log.

It was a massive alligator, and it was right there in front of me, and I didn't even see the danger I was in. And his warning, which sounded harsh at first, was actually full of loving concern, wasn't it? It pulled me back from the edge of danger, and I'm so grateful for that kind of a warning. The book of Malachi is full of warnings that are a lot like that.

Warnings that seem harsh at first, but they're actually filled with loving concern. They're warnings sent to pull God's people back from the edge of danger. Because the people of Israel had come back from the exile with this resolve to rededicate themselves to the Lord. And it wasn't long, though, before the fervor began to fade. They grew tired of waiting on God's promises, and they fell into a kind of spiritual rut. They were doing all the right religious things, but their hearts were falling out of it. Four hundred years later, this spiritual slide into performative religion, actions without heart, would be embodied in what we now know as the Pharisees that Jesus rebuked in Matthew 15, verse 8, when he says, this people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. So here are the people of God in Malachi's day. They're on the edge. They're on the edge of falling into the gaping maw of dead religion. And the book of Malachi is shouting, get back!

Get back! There's danger lurking right in front of you. You may not be able to see it, but it's there.

You need to get back to safety while you still can. Now last time we saw that Malachi was fetching the people back from the brink of doubting God's love, giving up on the covenant love of God. And today we're going to see that Malachi is calling them back from the brink, the precipice, if you will, of withholding in worship. Withholding in worship.

They're coming to worship, but they're withholding themselves. So grab your Bibles. We're going to be in Malachi chapter 1. We're going to finish up chapter 1, looking at verses 6 down to 14. I'm going to read these words. If you'll give your full heart and mind to this as I read, this is the word of the Lord. Malachi chapter 1 verse 6.

But you say, how have we polluted you? By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in 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 fire on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts.

And I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to the setting, my name will be great among the nations. And in every place, incense will be offered in my name and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. But 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? Well, I accept that from your hand, says the Lord. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows 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. Thanks be to the Lord for the reading of his word. You'll recall that Malachi is structured around six disputes between the people and God as they argue back and forth. And this is the first half of the second dispute. It's so long, we need to cover it in two sermons.

We'll do the rest next time. But it runs from chapter one, verse six, all the way to chapter two, verse nine. But today we're just going to look here at verses six through fourteen because there's more than enough to cover. And in fact, we're going to see three things this morning. We're going to see cavalier worship, cursed religion, and compelling greatness.

Okay, there's your outline. Cavalier worship, cursed religion, and compelling greatness. Would you bow your heads and we'll jump in. Father, we need to know what kind of worship is acceptable and pleasing to you.

We don't want to waste our time, we don't want to waste your time. And so Father, would you do the heart surgery we need today to understand what kind of worship you require, desire, and demand of us. So Father, we give you ourselves.

We give you our hearts. Teach us, we pray, for Jesus' sake. And all God's people said? Amen.

Amen. Well first of all, cavalier worship. Cavalier worship. As this second dispute begins, God levels a charge like a prosecutor in a case at his people. That they have been cavalier in their worship.

They've been careless, they've been apathetic, they've been withholding, disingenuous in their worship. The charge comes in chapter one verse six right at the beginning when he says, A son honors his father and a servant his 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 priests who despise my name.

Now the logic here is fairly straightforward, right? Sons are to honor their fathers and servants honor their masters. So the question then is, where's my honor?

God asks. After all, I am your father. I'm your father. I created you in my very image.

I called you my son, Israel. I've raised you as my own. I have provided for your needs.

I've protected you on every side. And I am your master. I am I am the Lord of your life. I am the ruler of all creation. I am the boss to whom you answer. I'm the leader you are to follow. And so now since I am your heavenly father, I am your supreme master. Do you not owe me both honor and fear? Now the word for honor here carries the idea of weightiness, weightiness, heaviness.

It's in the word group that also contains glory. The idea is that God deserves to be the heavyweight in our lives. God deserves to be the heavyweight in our lives, the one who matters more than anything else, anyone else. The word for fear here carries the idea, not of cowering, but of reverential awe, of trembling admiration. That God deserves our reverential awe. He's the one before whom we are to tremble and bow down. Where is my honor? God asks.

Where is my fear? Asks, notice his name here, the Lord of hosts. The hosts here are the angels of heaven. This is the commander of the armies of heaven who is asking this question. And he asks the priests who are despising my name. He continues, verse 6b, but you say, how have we despised your name? The word despised here has the idea of to treat as worthless.

How have you despised it? How have we treated your name as worthless, God? 7a, by offering polluted food upon my altar. Those sacrifices you're offering in the temple, God says, they're polluted. They're tainted.

They're corrupted. 7b, but you say, how have we polluted you? Now, notice they're not denying that they've been offering polluted offerings. They're asking why God is taking it so personally. Remember, he's accused the priests of despising his name, of failing to give him the honor and fear that is due his name, and they're saying, just because the sacrifices are polluted doesn't mean we're polluting you. How have we polluted you, God? Why are you taking such a personal offense at the fact that we put the polluted offerings on the altar? This is a little messed up, yeah?

It's a little messed up. 7c, God answers, by saying that the Lord's table may be despised. He says, look, you've taught people that the Lord's table may be despised.

It may be treated as worthless. The table here is a reference to the altar. In the ancient Near Eastern thought, the altar was the table where the gods would come and eat.

They would put food on it, and it was sort of symbolically consumed by the fire, devoured by the gods. And God is saying, look, when you pollute my food, you pollute me. And you priests, you're the ones who told everybody it was okay.

You said it was fine. Now, what were these polluted offerings? 8a, 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? So the people of Israel, for their sacrifices, they were supposed to bring their first and their best, first and best. If they raised crops, they were supposed to bring their best first fruits from the very beginning of the harvest and offer those to God as an act of worship.

If they raised animals, they were supposed to bring the firstborn male to the Lord. And it was to be a flawless offering. You couldn't bring grain that had mold on it. You couldn't bring an animal that was maimed or beat up.

It had to be a perfect specimen without spot or blemish or defect. And that was quite a costly thing, if you think about it. I mean, just think what price your best, flawless animal would fetch at the market, right?

That's a lot of money. Just think of how valuable it would be to be a part of your breeding stock in your program of raising future herds. Just think about how valuable first fruits were when harvest took weeks and the weather was unpredictable. And you didn't know if you were going to get the whole thing in. So the first fruits was all that you definitely had and you were giving that to the Lord.

This is a costly ask. But in offering their first and best to the Lord, the people of God were acknowledging that everything they had in life was from Him. That every good and perfect gift had come down from Him. That He'd given them life and breath and everything else. That He was the source of their blessing and prosperity. That He was the provider for them in good times and bad. That it was an act of faith where they acknowledged that they were dependent on the Lord God as their provider in every way.

When they offered their first and best, it was worship and faith and trust. But that's not what they're doing here, is it? They're offering animals that are blind and lame and sick. And the priests are rubber stamping it.

They're saying, ah, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. So you can just imagine some Israelite herdsmen. He's out there in his field and he could see his first and best first born male just strong and thriving and running around looking all noble and dignified. He goes, man, it's the envy of every other herdsman in the area. And he knows that's the one, that's the one the Lord requires, right? He knows that's the one I'm supposed to give. And when all his neighbors say, are you going to do it?

Yeah, I'm going to do it. But then when offering day comes, he can't bring himself to do it. He starts thinking about all the money he could make.

All the good things that money could do for his family. Starts thinking about all the work he put in to raise that beast. And he just can't do it. And he compromises. And so he finds the little colicky half blind runt with a maimed leg. The lamb nobody wants. And that's the one he brings to temple. That's the one he brings to the Lord.

It's the leftovers. And the priests who see a lot of animals can tell, obviously, this is not this guy's first and best animal. Right? They know. They know what the game is. But they decide for whatever reason, let it slide. Let it slide.

You know what? It's good enough. It's good enough. It's just going to burn anyway.

We got like a hundred animals. God's fine. Just let it slide. What's the big deal?

What's the big deal? And God says, look, try that with your taxes. 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. You're asking me to be gracious to you? You're coming to entreat my favor with such a gift from your hand? And you want me to show you favor? Am I going to show you favor? So you wouldn't dare, he says. God says you wouldn't dare bring a blind or lame or sick animal as a gift to your regional governor to curry favor with him?

Or you'd end up on his bad side if you did, right? And now you're seeking my favor and grace with such a gift? Who do you think I am?

Who do you think I am? Now he unpacks this a bit further in verses 12 to 14. So skip down there for a minute.

We'll look at the others. But 12 to 14, he says, but you profane it my name. He's talking about his name. You profane my name when you say that the Lord's table is polluted and his fruit, that is his 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's been taken by violence or is lame or sick and you bring it as your offering. Shall I accept that from your hand, says the Lord? Curse be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. So he goes, not only are you taking lame and blind and sick animals and offering them to me, you're also taking things.

You're bringing animals taken by violence, stolen animals. You stole them from your neighbors to give your offering. And God says, you're a cheat.

You say one thing, you do another. You vow one animal, you give another. And this whole offering, which is meant to be a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for his lavish grace and provision on your life has become so tedious and boring to you that now you're snorting with derision and complaining about how weary it is to be about it. I got to get up early and go all the way to Jerusalem and stand in that long line with all those smelly animals and offer this stupid thing to him and just to stay on God's good side.

Here we go again. How different this is, this attitude from King David in 2 Samuel 24 when he insisted on paying full price for the sacrificial animals he was buying even though they were offered to him for free. And David said this, I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.

I won't do it. I'm going to pay full price because God deserves the best. God deserves my first and my best.

Anything less is to fail to honor him as he deserves. Friends, the bottom line, the main point is that we dishonor God when we withhold our first and best. We dishonor God when we withhold our first and best. Now it's easy to be really hard on the Israelites but I wonder, are we giving God our first and our best?

I'm not talking about sacrificial animals. Jesus is our final and full sacrifice for all times. But God still deserves our first and best. Paul says in Romans 12 verse 1 that we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord.

It's the only right and proper spiritual act of worship we could come up with. So here are a few questions I'm asking myself. Am I giving God the first and best of my schedule? Am I giving God the first and best of my energy? Am I giving God the first and best of my attention?

Am I giving God the first and best of my creativity? Am I giving God the first and best of my affections? Am I giving God the first and best of my priorities? Am I giving God the first and best of my finances? Am I giving God the first and best of my service? giving God the first and best of my allegiance? Am I giving God the first and best of my heart, of my soul, of my mind, of my strength? Am I loving the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength? It's a worship question.

Is worship for me a delight or a drudgery? So that's cavalier worship, which leads to cursed religion. Cursed religion. That's strong language, but that's God's language. Look at verse 14. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock and vows it and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished.

This is just the opposite of what the religious observer here wanted. You know, he means well. He vows the proper animal when it's early in the process, and then at the last minute makes the switch, the compromise. And the whole reason he brings a sacrifice and offering in the first place is to seek the favor and blessing of God. And yet he ends up with the opposite of that, doesn't he? He ends up with a curse for cheating because God sees his heart. He knows that this man is just going through the motions, just trying to keep God on his good side while secretly living for himself. On the outside he's worshiping God, but on the inside he's worshiping himself, isn't he?

And you can tell because he's always trying to figure out how he can get away with it. What's the bare minimum I have to bring? What do I have to do to check the religious boxes and keep God happy? How many times do I have to show up for worship?

What's the minimum I can give? How do I just do enough to skate by and get to heaven? And to that God says, verse 10, oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of Hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. I wish there's one of you brave enough to just shut it down, close the doors of the temple, because no worship at all would be better than this twisted, self-serving charade. Just shut it down, close the doors, let the fire go out. And then these haunting words, I have no pleasure in you. I will not accept your offering. Now what would happen if this really did happen, if the doors of the temple were shut?

What would happen? Verse 11, for 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, a pure offering, for my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of Hosts. If you will not come to me with sincere, authentic, heartfelt worship, then I will turn to the nations. I will turn to the Gentiles, and there I will find people who are willing to worship me as my name deserves.

Verse 14b at the end, for I am a great king, says the Lord of Hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. All peoples everywhere shall worship before me, God says. People from every nation, every tribe, every people, every language, every tongue, they shall sing my praise. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that I am a great king, that I am the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of all the earth. And friends, God will receive the worship that is due His name.

God will receive the worship that is due His name. I'm reminded of that moment when Jesus met the Samaritan woman. Do you remember this in John chapter 4? And she asked Jesus, among other things, she asked Him, in what temple are we supposed to worship? Are we supposed to worship in the temple in Jerusalem or on Mount Gerizim where the Samaritans worship?

Who's got it right, the Samaritans or the Jews? And Jesus says, John 4, 21 to 24, listen to these words, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. The hour is coming and is now here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father's seeking such people to worship Him.

God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. In other words, what Jesus is saying is the time has come when worship will now rise not just from Jerusalem but from every corner of the earth, from all peoples everywhere, from Jews and Samaritans and the Gentiles to the very ends of the earth because one greater than the temple is here. Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. When Jesus dies, the temple veil is torn in two because God is done with the temple because Jesus is the new way to the Father. And then when Jesus ascends, He sends His Holy Spirit to indwell the people of God to make us the temple of the Holy Spirit, the presence of God on earth so that wherever we go, we worship now in spirit and in truth people from every nation, every tribe, every people, every language, and every tongue.

And in 70 AD God sent the Emperor Titus to destroy the temple, tear every stone down just like Jesus promised. So you see what's happening. These, what we're reading here in Malachi is not an idle threat.

It's not an idle threat. It's a warning to His people. If you do not return to the heart of worship, then I will turn to the Gentiles.

I will turn to the nations and they will worship me from every corner of the earth. And 450 years later that's exactly what happens. The Samaritans and the Gentiles received Jesus while the people of Israel reject Him. And so what does Jesus do? He cleanses the temple.

The Father tears the veil. The Spirit comes with fiery Shekinah glory into the new temple on the day of Pentecost. And in 70 AD God shuts the doors of the temple forever. Because Israel did not heed this warning.

They didn't come back from the edge. They kept on with their cursed religion. You see in all their cavalier worship which led to cursed religion they'd forgotten God's compelling greatness. God's compelling greatness. They'd forgotten who they were dealing with. They'd forgotten who God is. And in this passage if you look at it God is reminding them of His compelling greatness.

There's five images that God throws in front of them to help them realize just who He is. In verse 6 a son honors his father, a servant his master. He says remember I'm your father. I'm the giver and sustainer of your life. I'm your creator.

I give you life and breath and everything else and I am your father and you owe me your very life. Remember I'm your master. I'm your Lord. I'm your boss. I'm the highest authority.

You answer to me. I call the shots. I'm your master and you owe me your obedience.

In verse 8 he says present it to your governor. He says look remember I'm your ruler. I'm the one in charge. I'm your leader. You're my subjects. I'm your overlord.

You owe me tribute. I make the laws and you follow them. I'm your ruler and you owe me your allegiance.

Verse 11 for from the rising of the Sun to the setting of the Sun my name will be great among the nations and in every place incense will be offered in my name as a pure offering for my name will be great among the nations says the Lord of hosts. Remember I'm your commander. The Lord of hosts. The commander of the armies of heaven. The commander-in-chief of my people.

I am your ranking officer and you will follow the chain of command. I am your commander and you owe me your devotion. And then in 14b for I am a great king says the Lord of hosts and my name will be feared among the nations. Remember I am your great king. I am the ruler of all the nations.

All of creation is my domain and worship shall rise for my name from every corner of this earth. I am your great king and you owe me your fealty. So he's saying in all of this come back to the honor of the great name of the Lord. Come back to the honor of the great name of the Lord.

I'm your father and you owe me your very life. I'm your master and you owe me your obedience. I am your ruler and you owe me your allegiance. I am your commander and you owe me your devotion and I am your great king and you owe me your fealty.

And as if that's not enough to this list you and I get to add something else because we live on the other side of the cross. We get to add I am your Savior. I am your Savior for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever would believe in him might not perish but have everlasting life. Friends God gave his first and his best when he gave us Jesus. And he gave him as a sacrifice perfect in every way who died for our sins and rose again to make us right with God a spotless lamb without blemish or defect God's own firstborn son pleasing and acceptable in every way. God gave us his best his first and in view of those kinds of mercies how can we not offer ourselves as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to the Lord.

It's the only fitting act of worship that makes sense because we're not our own are we? We're bought with a price and Jesus gave his all for us and so now we give our all to him. God has given his first and best to us in Jesus Christ. The only question is how will I give God my first and best? How will I give God my first and best? How do I how do I give God my first and best in my schedule, in my energy, in my attention, in my creativity, in my affections, in my priorities, in my finances, in my service, in my allegiance, in my heart soul mind and strength? How will I give my first and best to my father, to my master, to my ruler, to my commander, to my great king and my eternal savior? We come to God and we say here I am I give you all that I am I hold nothing back I'm yours.

Would you bow your heads and pray? Father you desire, deserve and demand our allegiance our first and our best for you alone are worthy of our lives. Father forgive us for our shallow cavalier withholding worship. Father forgive us for coming in half planned, half baked, half hearted, half committed, half present. Father we want to give you all that we are.

We want to hold nothing back. Father take our lives. May you use us, receive us, welcome us all that we are in all of our frailty and all of our brokenness and all of our insincerity in all of our half efforts. Father would you take this broken offering of who we are and make something beautiful of our lives. You are worthy of every song we could ever sing. You are worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. You are worthy of all the heartbeats in our chest. You are worthy of all the breath that passes our lips. Father you are worthy of our lives.

We give ourselves to you for Jesus sake. Amen. Our benediction is from Psalm 22. All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

For kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. Amen. That's our God. That's our God.

Would you bow your heads and pray with me. Father we thank you for your mercy and grace that's greater than all of our sin. We all fall short of the glory of God.

We all sin. That's why Jesus sacrificial death on our behalf is so precious. And so Father we confess that our worship is inadequate. We have not honored you as you ought to be honored.

We don't want to pretend that we've been honoring you when we haven't. So Father we confess. We ask for your forgiveness. We pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit you would help us walk in obedience to give you our first and our best every part of our life. We want to render back to you in worship. When all God's people said. Amen. Amen. On today's Moody Church Hour we heard Pastor Philip Miller telling us about withholding and worship taken from Malachi chapter 1. This has been the second in a four-part series on tough love and tender mercies. Spiritual disintegration doesn't happen overnight.

It's a steady slide over time. The decay of Israel's priesthood went back centuries. By 400 years before Jesus the rot was deep and widespread.

Next time we'll learn how God sent Malachi to give them one final warning with language designed to shock them and call them back from the edge of disaster. The Moody Church Hour is a listener supported ministry. We count on the ongoing financial support of listeners like you. Together we share solid biblical teaching that transforms lives across America and around the world. You can call us at 1-800-215-5001.

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