Exposition by Max A Forsythe
The
Reformer's Fire
Exposition by Max A Forsythe
Once, while talking with a Reformed friend in another congregation. A question was raised: What sins of the previous generation of Christian leaders might have lead to the spiritual depression into which we have fallen in our own century? In other words, how did we get to where we are today? That discussion led indirectly to this series of sermons on the book of Malachi. And our purpose today is to look at the lack in the leadership of Malachi's time.
Years ago, I was warned by someone that the Devil always attacked us at our weak points. He suggested that the essential thing was to know those and to guard them carefully. Experience, however, seems to indicate that these numerous defects of character are not always the point of attack. Usually the danger points have been those strongest bulwarks of mind, energy and emotion. In the last few months we have taken increasing pride in our own particular ambitions. We have begun once to worry about being orthodox! Of being concerned with correct doctrine. Yet, we have not delved deeply enough into the subject to understand fully all of the implications. Briefly, being orthodox in our denomination means this:
We are Reformed in doctrine. This means we recognize that there is a system of teaching contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. It is our obligation to search and study those Scriptures and teach what our Lord requires. We are Presbyterian in government. This means we should heed the command of Scriptures in our means and methods of governing the body of Christ called into our branch of Christiandom. We are Evangelical in witness. This means that we must follow the emphasis of the Scripture and proclaim that salvation rests wholly in the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. These are our strong points within the Presbyterian Church in America. But, there is a danger therein! These emphases of orthodoxy are not the end all of faith. We have to be careful.
Therefore, let us examine the witness through Malachi to the people of Jerusalem. In verse six we are reminded that the priest's of Malachi's time had the responsibility for mediating between God and the people, to bring them together. These priests offered sacrifices for sin. Of course we do not do that today because Christ's sacrifice on the cross finished the necessity for that activity. However, all of those whose job it is to make the truths of God known to man do attempt to bring together the people with our Lord. So in a parallel sense, what applies to the priests also applies to our leadership today.
The charge here in these verses is that the priests have shown contempt for God's Name. Immediately, there follows the question: "How have we shown contempt for your name?" For the priests of Malachi's time the answer is that they were not administering the sacrifices in accordance with the Law's requirements. These priests are acting as if they despise the Lord by not giving Him the reverence due to His mighty and glorious Name. They were only going through the motions. I am reminded of the Catholic Priests with whom I have worked and known. One of their habits is to bow down and make the sign of the cross whenever they enter the Sanctuary. Most Priests take this lightly. Whenever they walk through the Sanctuary they barely bend the knees and hurridly go through the motions of the cross as they wet their forehead with the holy water at the door.
I wondered for years about the nonsense of all of this activity. Then in the Seminary we shared with the Catholics I met an older Priest who devoutly made these actions seem worthwhile. Whenever he entered the Sanctuary, he always acted as if he were entering the actual presence of God. He actually made these distinctive habits seem appropriate. There was a man that I knew took his whole job seriously because he was faithful in even the little requirements placed upon him!
This lack of appropriateness appears to be the problem of Malachi's priests, they do not take the worship and service of God seriously. Not to do that shows their real attitude of contempt. In Malachi,verses seven and the first half of eight,God charges these priests with their irreverence in four ways.
First their worship was painless. The sacrifices were non-sacrificial. The people were bringing to God the blind, diseased and broken animals that were absolutely of no use to them personally. The people misunderstood the sense of sacrifice which is the giving up of something we genuinely value in order to express our devotion to God. Yet, all is not the people's fault. The priestly leadership failed to fulfill their covenant obligations as they had been instructed by the Lord. The priests should have rejected these sacrifices, but instead they went along dispensing cheap grace! In our own time we might consider the careless attitudes where almost anyone can arrange a Church wedding as long as they are in the heat of lust. Heaven forbid, that the couple be counseled to see if their marriage is within the Lord's will? That might cause a ruckus!
Or how lightly membership training has been taken in most of the Christian Church. I know of one Church Session that endorsed a young lady who could only say of Jesus Christ that he was an interesting person!
Second in verse eight and nine, their worship was thoughtless. They did not even use everyday common sense. The gave to the Lord animals that they would never give to their Governor! This is why there are meat inspectors today, because not all butchered animals are worth eating. The Lord is saying to Israel that they are not even treating Him with the courtesy they would the government officials! They didn't even realize how low they had fallen in their worship. Do we do the same?
Do we offer hymns whose content is displeasing to God,
do we offer prayers in the spirit of sympathetic magic,
do our minds drift when we should be listening to His word,
do we respect his tithe the same as we do our taxes,
do we set our affections on everything but God?
Third in verses twelve and thirteen we see that their worship was contemptuous. They saw their worship as burdensome and they sniff at. The word here means that they turned their nose up at God. They actually resented having to go to the trouble of going through the motions of sacrifice. The whole process of giving nothing of value had dampened their desire to give anything at all! Here we have to ask ourselves, should the Lord willingly accept whatsoever we are pleased to give to Him? Or may he as here reject our gifts out of hand if they are not made properly or in the right spirit? When we hold back in the giving of our time, resources and love. When we say to the Lord you can have this portion of what is mine, but no more. Have we even given anything of value?
Fourth, verse fourteen tells us that their worship was hypocritical. It was done only to keep up appearances. What a terrible state to have come to! How had they gotten into this predicament? We see the cause indicated in verses 11 and 14. These priests had forgotten the greatness of God. Like many people today, they thought the the Church was "their church" to be administered and run anyway they supposed! They thought that the church existed for their benefit rather than for the praise of the all-glorious God!
We see the Lord's reaction in verses ten and eleven. This kind of worship does no one any good at all. We see that God would be better pleased if they would close the doors and cease! How many churches in our time would be better off if someone would just quietly close the door and turn out the lights? Who would notice? We must not think that because we take a certain doctinal stance that therefore God's blessing will automatically be ours. Doctrine is indeed important, but without an acknowledgement of the greatness of God, it is all vanity of vanities: a worthless puff of smoke. Well, we have seen here in our passage this morning what clearly the Lord does not want! Our problem is to determine exactly what is pleasing to Him and then to find ways of doing it!
We see here in verse eleven that in spite of the failures in Jerusalem His name will indeed be great! We know now that indeed, the light of the Jewish Temple was abandoned. In the fullness of time, there came a brighter beacon to call men to our Lord. Within five centuries, Christ appeared suddenly in His temple. He was crucified, dead and buried. But the grave could not hold Him. He rose again and gathered together the leaders of His Church. Before he ascended into heaven He gave the Apostles a great commission. Instructions, if you will to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Now wait a minute you ask. How did we get to this particular passage from Malachi? Simple, here we see the instructions of our Lord in bringing about His intentions in verses 10 and 11 of Malachi 1. There are several points here worth noting:
You can see that we do have some important work to do in His service. Yet, that service must be totally dedicated to His holy Name. Without this perspective, all that we do is as effective and useful as the prattling priest's condemned in Malachi! If we would be useful in our doctrine, government and witness as Presbyterians, our whole concept of orthodoxy must rest wholly on His precious name and nature. As the Westminster Confession 2/2 has it: God is completely holy in all His purposes, works, and commands. To Him is due whatever worship, service, or obedience He is pleased to require from Angels, human beings, and all other creatures. To give Him less is downright wicked! Of course it is easier to explain away our personal lackings as sin and then plead for forgiveness. This would be true if we looked at sin in the common manner of most Christians, where sin is seen only as selfishness!
However, that concept of sin does not go deep enough into the human nature! Sin is much more serious indeed. The fact of the matter is that men indeed set thier hearts and inclinations against God's commands! Why else would the leaders of Malachi's time even ask "How have we shown contempt for your name?" They didn't even have the courtesy of feeling guilty when their sin was pointed out! Have you ever reacted to any of God's implications of guilt with the words: "Who? Me?" Then, this lesson today is indeed for you because we all fall short of an adequate appreciation of what the Lord requires!
The priests of Malachi's time failed in their witness because of their wrong attitude. They failed in their attitude because they would not take the proper perspective of the God they so poorly worshiped! Of course, we all fail time and again. Peter, failed his Lord Jesus Christ three times on the night that Jesus was taken prisoner. After the resurrection, our Lord appeared to the disciples to deal specifically with Peter's failure. See John 21: 15-19
Our passage today was aimed at one specific audience. The leaders of Malachi's time. Certainly, we have generalized the context to apply to the individual member of God's Kingdom. In the last minute here this morning we must press home the obligations of leadership. So for our future elders, whoever they might be, I would especially urge you to look at the context of these verses within the twenty-first chapter in John. Peter and the rest had been fishing all night. They had failed in their intensions of catching any fish. What they needed was another perspective. That perspective was given to them. All they had to do was obey! Now the particular problems of leading this congregation are not so easily answered. You must "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling."
I am reminded of an ancidote from the life of Mark Twain. Once he was urged to consider the tenents of the Christian faith. And the preacher emphasized the Fatherhood of God and how our natural and spiritual fathers are but examples to point towards God Himself. Mark Twain remarked that if God was anything like that "darned" rascal who had fathered him, he would have nothing whatsoever to do with the Lord God Almighty. To my knowledge, Mark Twain never did!
For those who will be our elders, the obligation of leadership is to lead in such a manner that God's people can see Him through you and your actions! This is a heavy burden which is summed up by the psalmist in Psalm 2: 11 "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling." It is vitally important that we learn the proper attitude in our relationship with God because it is nn this way He is glorified and His Church is increased!
Amen.
Resources Used:
Benton, John. Welwyn Commentaries: Losing Touch With The Living God.
MacLaren, Alexander. Ezekiel, Daniel & The Minor Prophets.
Smith, George Adam. The Book of the Twelve Prophets.
Williamson, G.I. The Westminster Confession of Faith.
Places Preached:
Jersey Reformed Presbyterian Church (OPC) 10 August 86
Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) 22 February 87
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America)
Box 13926 -- Columbus, OH 43213
Mal01b 03 September 89
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