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Thank you for the reading. Please keep your Bibles open. They're in Malachi. And so Malachi is the new book of the Bible that we're going through. So we went through three Psalms and now we're going to Malachi. Malachi again, a very short book. It's only got four chapters and it's the last book of the Old Testament. So probably the easiest way to find it is go to the book of Matthew in the New Testament and it's the book before the book of Matthew. And if you look at Malachi chapter one and verse number The Bible says, God is saying to the nation of Israel here, I have no pleasure in you. And that's the title for the sermon this morning. I have no pleasure in you. What would you think if God said these words to you? You know, I have no pleasure in you. Wouldn't you feel distraught? Wouldn't you be concerned? Why would God say such a thing about me? Why would he say that? And he's saying this to the nation of Israel. So let's pick it up there in verse number one, Malachi chapter one and verse number one. It starts by saying the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. So obviously the prophet here is Malachi. We're looking at the minor prophets and Malachi is known as the last of the restoration prophets. The last of the restoration prophets. Say what does that mean? Well the restoration is basically when the Jews went back from their captivity. They went into Jerusalem, rebuilt the walls, rebuilt the temple. And so we have three prophets that were preaching or prophesying at the time of the restoration or soon after things were restored and it's the last three books of the Old Testament. So Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. So these are three prophets after the Jews returned from Babylon and they rebuilt Jerusalem, the temple, et cetera. I hope that makes sense. And so when it comes to Malachi, it may be that Malachi was a prophet about a hundred years after they rebuilt everything. Some suggest that. You can't be 100% sure. But there's definitely some time that has progressed from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the time that Malachi is preaching. Because what did God say once again to the nation? I have no pleasure in you. Of course that would not be the case had they just gone back. They were rebuilding. They were excited. They wanted to serve God again. They started the sacrifices in the temple. Everything was going well for the nation of Israel. So obviously some time passes where God says to them, I have no pleasure in you. And also if you look at the beginning of verse number one, it says the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel, the burden of the word of the Lord. So what this is saying is that the book of Malachi is very heavy. It's a burden, right? It's got some serious words. It's not to be taken lightly. It's not going to be easy to hear for the Israelites and it may not be easy for us to hear either. Because not only do we want to go through the book of Malachi and see the state of the Jews during this time, but we want to then apply this to our lives, to our church, to our homes. And then, hey, there might be some heavy statements in here about your spiritual life, about your walk with God. And so we want to look at these two aspects. Look at verse number two. God says, I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob. So what God is saying here, he's been preaching, he's been saying to the nation of Israel through the prophets, that he loves them. And you know, that is the main message, right? That is the main message of the gospel. God's great love to this world, God's love to sinners, that he sent Jesus Christ to die for us. And God has a great love. But then you see the Israelites said, yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us? So they're saying, God is saying to them, I love you. And they're saying, in what way have you loved us? Okay, now they're saying this, obviously, in their hearts. This is how they are responding to the preaching that they're hearing from Malachi and from other prophets of old. This is how they're reacting inwardly. And God knows their thoughts, right? God is saying, well, you said, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob. So you know, this could be an example of you listening to the preaching of God's Word. You come to church, you hear the Bible open, you sing praise of hymns, you know, you hear something, you hear a sharp, sharp rebuke, you know, there's something in your life that you need to change. But you say, ah, inwardly, inwardly, maybe outwardly, you're like, man, that was a great sermon. But inwardly, you're like, I'm not gonna do that. I can't, I'm not gonna follow what I just heard. I don't agree what I just heard there from the Word of God. And look, you know, to the preacher, we don't know, you know, we don't know whether you're taking what is being preached on board or not. But God sees your heart, God knows how you're responding to that preaching, you know, God knows how you're responding to His Word. And what God does here is He points them back to Esau, right? He says, look, you know, back then when when there was Jacob and Esau, and God, you know, chose Jacob, God chose Jacob to be the one who would pass down the blessing, who would receive the promises. And God is saying to the nation of Israel, saying, look, from the very beginning, I loved you. From the very beginning, I chose Jacob rather than Esau, and I loved you throughout. I've been looking after you throughout. I've been your Lord God throughout this time. And they had forgotten, you know, where God has brought them. They had forgotten that they'd been blessed by God. Can you keep your finger, then go to Matthew chapter nine, go to Matthew chapter nine, and verse number two, but stay in Malachi, go to Matthew chapter nine and verse number two. And a way to think about, you know, how you react to the hearing of God's Word, whether it's from this pastor, or whether it's from another preacher, or whether it's you're hearing something's true from the Word of God, you know, so with some online preaching, or whether it's just you and your personal Bible reading, receiving the words of God, how do you respond to God's Word? Look at Matthew chapter nine, verse number two. The Bible says, And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. Look at verse number three. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. Okay, so did the scribes say this out loud? Did they say out loud that Jesus Christ is blaspheming? No, they said it within, within themselves. This was just something they thought about. This is what, how they received the words of Jesus Christ. They rejected it, right? They said these are unholy, untrue words. This is blasphemy. And look at verse number four. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? You see, God knows what you think in your heart. God knows how you respond to the preaching of God's Word. God knows whether you're bored, whether you're disinterested. God knows if you hate the preaching, or you know, you just reject what you're hearing. God knows that you can't hide it from Him. And, you know, we need to be careful when we do hear the words of God preached. And we can, you know, truly see that this is based on the Word of God, and these words are true, that you need to understand these, this is like God speaking to you, that God is using a vessel, a preacher, to speak to you, and you need to take it seriously. You need to be able to appreciate that you get to hear the true words of God preached, rather than the lies that the media and the world is trying to shove down your throats. Let's keep going. Verse number three. God, of course, brought up Esau there, and he keeps going. He says in verse number three, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Let's stop there for a minute. This point in time is obviously several hundreds of years after the real Esau. Okay, so when God is speaking of Esau, he's speaking of the descendants of Esau, the Edomites. Maybe you remember that when we're going through the Genesis series, the Edomites, the descendants. And so God is saying here that he's laid the mountains and the heritage waste, he's destroyed, you know, their prosperity and their wealth. Look at verse number four. Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down. And they shall call them the border of wickedness, and the people against the Lord have indignation forever. And so we see this continuing comparison of Esau, Edom, with the Israelites. And notice that God had brought judgment on Edom. God had made their heritage waste. And this is actually the fulfillment of a prophecy that we read about in the book of Jeremiah. I'll just read it to you. In Jeremiah chapter 49 verse 7, it says, Concerning Edom, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Is wisdom no more in Timon? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished? Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan, for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him. So God back in Jeremiah, this is before the captivity or, you know, just before the captivity of Babylon, was prophesying through Jeremiah that Edom would be destroyed. And so as we read about this in the book of Malachi, we see, we don't know exactly in what way or, you know, they were destroyed. But most likely it would have been, again, the Babylonians, because they did have a great kingdom, and they were conquering different places and different cities. And so we see that the Lord allowed for Edom to be destroyed. And this was due to his hatred toward these people. These people were ungodly. They weren't, you know, kind toward the Israelites. They were enemies toward the Israelites. And God had enough, and he had, you know, destroyed their heritage, their prosperity. And notice, what did they want to do? Look at verse number four again. It says, whereas Edom saith, we are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places. Thus saith the Lord of hosts. But look at this, they will, they shall build, but I will throw down. Okay, so no matter how much they try to rebuild their nation, no matter how much they try to rebuild their people, God always threw down what they built. God would not allow them to prosper. God would not allow them to be productive. Now let's compare that to Psalm 127. Please go to Psalm 127. Again, keep your finger in Malachi. Go to Psalm 127 in verse number one, because Edom is trying to build when God is trying to throw down. And you know, sometimes you may be someone who's trying to do a work, who's trying to build something, trying to accomplish something, but the Lord says, no, I don't want you to do that. And the Lord may very well throw down that what you're trying to build. Okay, now look at Psalm 127 verse number one, Psalm 127 verse one. The Bible reads, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it, except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. So if you want to build a house, you want to build a nation, you want to build the house of God, you want to build a family, you want to build a business, you want to do something, okay, and accomplish something, who are you going to need at your side? Who are you going to need to do the building for you? The Lord God, isn't it? That's what it says there in Psalm 127, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. And you know what, when it came to the Edomites, they tried to rebuild the nation, they tried to rebuild their prosperity, but if it's not with the Lord and they weren't with the Lord, then it would be destroyed, they were building in vain. And so we need to understand that we need the Lord, and this is the comparison, Edom has been wiped out, they can't rebuild, they can't make a nation of themselves, but when it comes to the Israelites, God is saying, look, I've seen you through all the way from Jacob, I've provided for you, I've taken care of you, you've remained a nation, you've even been taken into captivity, but now you've come back and you've rebuilt, and this should be evidence that I've loved you. We can compare your prosperity and your blessings in comparison to the Edomites, or to the other surrounding nations, which have been utterly destroyed. And so, you know, the lesson, the lesson for us brethren, is that if you're failing at a task, you're like, I'm determined to do this, whatever that is, and it's just not working out, you know, you're putting it all, you're trying to do what's right, and you're trying to be lawful in the way you're going about doing it, but it just doesn't work out. You need to learn to accept the fact that sometimes the Lord's hand will be against you. The Lord is saying no. And this is a reality that I've had to learn over the years, when I pray to the Lord and say, Lord, what do you want me to do? Can you make it clear? And if you don't want me to do something, can you make it impossible for me to accomplish? Can you close those doors? And can you open the door that you want me to walk through in life? And sometimes I'm trying to build something, I'm trying to accomplish something, and it's just roadblock after roadblock after roadblock, and I'm just trying and I'm trying, I'm thinking, why can't I be successful at this? Why can't I build this house? Well, except the Lord built the house, they labor in vain. And, you know, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and say, well, I've tried everything, I've even prayed about it, I've gone to the Lord and it's just not working. Well, it may very well be that the Lord has closed that door. The Lord is not interested in you building that place. He may be directing your path in another area. And so it's important for us as a church to understand who builds this house, who builds the house of the Lord? The Lord God. And it's going to take time, it's going to take patience for this church to grow, for people to mature and become more righteous and become more loving and become more accepting of one another. It takes time and it requires the Lord to be the one that does the building, okay? And we just need to be people that will listen to the Lord and say, Lord, what is it that you want me to do in the house of the Lord? What is it that you want to do in my own personal family? What is it that you want me to do, Lord, because I want to be, I want to achieve, I want to be successful at building. I do want to be productive, but you need to make sure the Lord is doing the work for you. All right, so let's keep going. Verse number five. It says here, and your eyes shall see and you shall say, the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel, okay? So this is the realization that's hit the Jews when they see that the Edomites are unsuccessful and they've been successful. They've got their borders, you know, and they're able to see that the Lord's hand is with them and the Lord's hand was against the Edomites. Verse number six. So we've dealt with the issue there. It's very clear that God loves Israel, all right? So they're complaining about nothing, okay? But look at verse number six. The Bible says, a son honoreth his father and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Say, if the Lord have hosts upon you, unto you, O priest that despise my name, and ye say, wherein have we despised thy name? So, you know, God is basically stating some truths that a son should honor his father, all right? Children should honor their parents and a servant should honor or fear his master, right? If you have an employer and, you know, an employee relationship, the employee should be concerned to do what's right for the employer to accomplish the work that has been agreed with in the workplace. And they've not been showing, the Jews have not been showing the same respect. They've not been showing God the same honor, the same fear that they would to the natural man, okay? So if we're willing to show honor to people that are over us in authority, how much more should we be willing to honor our Lord God? And they've not been doing it, the Jews. They've let down, you know, their worship and their praise and their fear of God. It's all turned to ash. And it says they've despised the name of the Lord. You know, they're not thankful for what God has done for them. And this is why I've selected to go through the Book of Malachi this time, okay? Because, as I said, this prophet is known as a Restoration prophet. And I want to sort of look at the Bible stories and try to put our church and ourselves in a similar position and see the differences. And obviously, we weren't taken into captivity by the Babylonians, right? But there's been a period where we weren't able to go to church. And we still have restrictions. We can't meet in church the way we would like. And slowly, the restrictions are being lifted. Slowly, we're coming to the house of God. And soon, the numbers will increase, and we'll be able to have more of us in the service of the Lord. So we're through this process maybe of Restoration. We're coming back to what we're used to. And like the Israelites of old, when they were able to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple and the walls, they were excited. They were right with God. They wanted to serve God. But then soon afterwards, what do we see? That they were not honoring their Lord. That they were unfaithful. They didn't have the fear of God, right? And I don't want that to happen to New Life Baptist Church. I want us, as we consider this stage of, you know, Reconstruction, coming back to the house of God, as these restrictions get lifted, as we get the opportunity to go soul-winning, these kinds of opportunities start to open up to us once again. We need to be careful not to get into a place that in due time or in the near future, we become discouraged. We start to lose interest in the things of God. We start to despise even the Lord Himself. We don't give Him the honor that is due. And that's what happened to the Israelites. And of course, when we read these stories, we need to remember that these Israelites are made of the same flesh and blood as we are. They're still human beings the same way that we are. And if they're able to get into a really bad place, then we need to take heed, listen, pay attention, learn from their mistakes, so we don't go through the same process. So we don't get to a point where we're so discouraged. You know, we don't appreciate New Life Baptist Church or appreciate the spiritual growth that we've been able to achieve during our life and just have no honor toward the Lord. You know, that would be a very upsetting place to be, where we would be like the Israelites saying, wherein has thou loved us? You know, where are you, Lord? Are you sure you love me? Why can't I see that you're helping us? Hey, you know, the Lord has been very faithful toward us. The Lord has saved us. He's given us a church. He's given us the Bible. You know, He's given us our brothers and sisters in the Lord so we can have fellowship together with. God has given us so many things, and we need to learn to stay being thankful and stay honoring the Lord. Look at verse number seven. It says, ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar, and ye say, wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say the table of the Lord is contemptible. So this polluted bread, I believe, is referring to the showbread. Okay, so when Moses was given the instruction of the tabernacle, how to build it, one of the key components or one of the, let's say, one of the minor components from the perspective of us as a reader, I suppose, was this showbread. Now keep your finger there, and please go to Exodus 25. Go to Exodus 25. What is this showbread? Now showbread were basically 12 loaves of bread, okay, of unleavened bread, 12 loaves of unleavened bread, two rows of six, basically. Okay, so six, and I believe this was to represent the 12 tribes of Israel, all right. Now you're going to Exodus 25. I'm going to read to you from Leviticus 24, verse five. It says, and thou shalt take fine flour and bake 12 cakes thereof. Two tenth deals shall be one cake, and thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord. So the Lord's very specific. Take the flour, bake these cakes, even set them in two rows, six of each in each row, and this is one of the things they needed to do as part of their temple worship or their tabernacle worship. Now you're in Exodus 25, verse number 30, and this might seem like such a minor detail to us. Like what's so important about the showbread? You think surely the sacrifices, surely that the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat, surely these things are so much more important when it comes to the temple, okay. And it is a minor detail, but it's such an important detail because in Exodus 25, verse 30, God says, and thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me always, okay. So as long as they were in this covenant with the Lord, this showbread was to be set on the table always. It was always meant to be there. Such a small detail, and what I want to explain to you is that God cares about the little details, okay. And the Israelites here were coming with polluted bread, and I don't know in what way it was polluted. Potentially it wasn't, maybe it was stale, maybe it was moldy, maybe it wasn't freshly made, okay. Maybe it wasn't even unleavened. Maybe they decided to leaven the bread, but what I'm trying to say to you, this is such a small detail when it comes to the service, the temple service and the sacrifices, but this was an area that they had neglected. This was an area that they stopped caring about. They didn't care that the right bread was on show. Just put some bread on there. Let's just do the minimum. Who cares if it's a little moldy? Who cares if it's a little polluted? It's such a small detail, but no. When it comes to the small details, God cares about them. In Luke chapter 12, verse 6, Jesus says, are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? You know, Jesus is saying, look, little sparrows, God knows all about them. They're not forgotten by God, even when they're sold. God remembers the little sparrows. And then in verse number seven, it says, but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. God even knows every number of hair on your head. God cares about the little details is what I'm saying. You know, and it's so important for us to remember in our service to God that we think about the details. You know, when we come to the Lord to worship him in the house of God, it's important that we come on time. It's important that we come with our Bibles. It's important that we come ready to sing praises to the Lord. It's important that we come and greet one another. Just the small things. It's important when you see a bit of rubbish on the floor, just something small, you pick it up, you put it in the bin. You don't want to pollute the house of the Lord. You know, the congregation when we gather together to worship him. You know, being focused on the preaching, paying attention, you know, just lifting your hearts and mouths to sing praises to the Lord. Hey, just do the little things and God is watching. If you come and you neglect your service for God, you know, if you're a preacher, you come behind the pulpit and you haven't studied, you haven't prepared, you haven't prayed to the Lord to help you. You know, these are the small details that may cause you to pollute the house of the Lord. And so I want you to think about that. You know, as we come back to church, I want you to think about the little details. You know, if you come and you bring food, all right, and there's crumbs, pick it up, clean it up. You know, if you come and you make a mess or your children make a mess, clean it up. Don't leave it for other people. You know, be attentive to the little details. Don't let yourself bring polluted things into this place. You know, be sure you come here with a heart ready to worship God. Look at verse number eight in Malachi chapter one and verse number eight. And ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and 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? And so what I'm trying to say here, brethren, is, well, what was going on here? The Israelites, they weren't bringing the best for sacrifice. They were meant to be bringing the best lambs, right, without blemishes, without spot. They were meant to bring their best sacrifice to the Lord in the house of the Lord, but rather they brought the blind. Instead of bringing the best lamb for sacrifice, they found the lamb that was blind, that no one wants, will sacrifice that to God. They were going through the motions, you know, in the house of the Lord. They were just going through the motions. They didn't care about their sacrifice. They brought the lame and sick, as you could see there, right? And he said, look, is this not evil? Have you not done wrong? Are you not causing harm? Are you going to offer your Governor, you know, are you going to go to your council mayor and offer him some tainted food? Aren't you going to give him the best that you've got and you don't even give the best to God? You know, God cares about the little things, yes, but not only that, God wants for you to bring the best for him. When you come and you bring your sacrifice to God, we don't come bringing the animals, but we do have some other sacrifices that we do with the Lord, which we'll go to shortly. And, you know, we're seeking to be pleased. We want to please the Lord. And if we don't bring the best, if we bring sickly or polluted things to the Lord, it's evil. It's wrong. We should always come to the house of the Lord, ready to bring our sacrifices so he would be pleased and we bring the best that we have. All right. Look at, if you can keep your finger there and go to Hebrews chapter 13 for me, Hebrews chapter 13. Because, like I said, we don't bring animal sacrifices, right? When it comes to blood sacrifice, Jesus Christ is our ultimate sacrifice. Praise God for that. But as believers in the New Testament, we have been called to bring forth sacrifice. It's just not in the nature of a slain animal, okay? So look at Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 15. So the first sacrifice is praising God. You know, when we come to the house of God, we come here to praise God. We don't come to praise the pastor. We come to praise the Lord God. In Hebrews chapter 13 verse 15, it says, by him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Hey, what are your lips like? What do you talk about with your mouth? Do you thank God for everything he's done for you? When's the last time you thanked God? Do your lips praise God? Hey, this is why church is so important. So we can sing and lift our hearts to the Lord. We praise him with our lips. Hey, the Bible refers all of this as sacrifice. Sacrifice. And what kind of sacrifice does God want? Does he want some polluted sacrifice or does he want the best? He wants the best. So when you come to the house of God and you sing praises to God, you bring the best. You lift your hearts up, you sing as best as you can, you sing as loud as you can, and you just praise God with your lips. You thank God with your lips. You give him the best. I don't want New Life Baptist Church to be like Israel of old. Whether, yeah, we came, we sacrificed, but you know, we just did as little as we could. No, we come and we bring the best to God. You know, God has given us a church here on the Sunshine Coast where many families can fellowship and be part of this church so we can praise him, so we can do the works for God, so we can be thankful to God. Hey, that is our sacrifice to God. What you do with your mouth is sacrifice, the singing of praises, the giving of thanks. All right, now look at verse 16, same chapter, Hebrews 13 verse 16. You know, fellowship is also sacrifice, getting along with your fellow brother and sister in the Lord, in the house of the Lord. Look at verse 16, but to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. All right, so to do good and to communicate, this is like fellowship or your behavior toward one another. You know, we need to bring the best behavior. We need to have the best fellowship that we're looking for in the house of God. You know, go and greet one another. You know, go and share that you care for one another, you're praying for one another. You know, make sure they realize, your brother and sister in the Lord realize that you value them in the house of the Lord, that you value their fellowship. Okay, you do good to them, that you're your brothers and sisters in the Lord, and this is sacrifices which by God is well pleased. That means you've got to make an effort to fellowship. Okay, a sacrifice is you having to give something up, right, giving up the best lamb. When it comes to fellowship, it means you're having to give up your insecurities, you have to give up your, you know, being, what's the word I'm looking for, your selfishness, you know, and say, look, I'm going to reach our hand out, I'm going to show my brother and sister in the Lord that I care for them, I'm going to speak to them, I'm going to encourage them, I'm going to show them that I'm interested in their lives, and I'm going to be a blessing to that person. Hey, you bring your best fellowship when you come to the house of God. When you come to church, you just set it in your mind and say, I'm going to make somebody in the church feel welcome. I'm going to let someone know that I care about them and that I'm interested in their lives, or that I'm praying for them. Fellowship is a sacrifice that we bring for God. And look, if you're hopeless at fellowship, then you're actually polluting a sacrifice that God wants from you, okay. He wants you to bring the best, all right. And children, I've got some children here, you have to get in the habit of not just greeting the children, not just greeting your friends, you come to church and get in the habit of greeting the adults, okay. Learn to have some fellowship with the adults as well, not just those that are in your own age. And the same for adults, adults need to learn how to fellowship with children, how to let the children know that they are valued in the house of God, rather than giving them an evil eye or something like that, right. Fellowship is the sacrifice that God wants us to have as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Now, please go to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12 and verse number 1. There's another sacrifice that God wants from us in Romans chapter 12 and verse number 1, the Bible reads, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. It's reasonable for you to present your body as a sacrifice to the Lord, that's acceptable to the Lord. What does that mean? Well, look at verse number 2, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So, when we're talking about bringing our bodies as our sacrifice, this is how we live our lives, okay, that we are not to live lives that are conformed to this world, that when you live your life, people say you're different from the world, you're not wicked like this world, you don't care for the vain things that the world cares about, you know, you're different, you stand out. Why is that? And it is an effort, it is a sacrifice to give up worldliness and the things that, you know, satisfy the flesh, it is a sacrifice, but this is something that is reasonable for the Lord, this is our reasonable service, okay, that we should live lives that are different from the unsaved world, live lives that are holy, acceptable to the Lord, holy, that means separated, okay, being righteous, being more like Jesus Christ, as we change, as we develop in our lives, as we become more holy, more pleasing to the Lord, as you grow mature and become more godly, this is actually a sacrifice that you bring to the Lord, and once again, God wants the best from you, God wants you to do the best you can to live holy, righteous, separated lives for Him. Please go to Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 16, Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 16, we'll go to one more sacrifice that we can apply to here in the New Testament, Philippians chapter 4 and verse number 16, it says here, So what is this sacrifice referring to? It's the sacrifice of giving, of giving. Now, you know, Paul is saying that, you know, he was provided for when he had needs, not that he desired a gift, but he desired a fruit that may abound on the account of others, and you know what, there were people that were giving to the work of Paul, there were people giving to, of course, the local church, and through that process, you know, works of God were able to be accomplished, you know, somebody as an ordained apostle here was able to provide for himself and do the work of the Lord, and you know what, when you come to your local church and you bring your tithes and your offerings, this is a sacrifice, this is you, you know, giving up a portion of what you've earned, and you say, well, I'm going to set this aside, I'm going to give this to the Lord, and this is the sacrifice that God requires from you in order to be able to help the work of God progress, all right? So we have all these sacrifices that we're called to do, and once again, God wants your best, okay? He doesn't want you to bring some polluted money, I'll just give a few loose change that I have in my pocket, I'll give the least that I can give. God wants you to give your best, and when it comes to the tithe, he wants you to give your 10%, the 10% of what you've been able to bring in, of what God has provided for you through your income, all right? Now back to Malachi chapter three, Malachi chapter one in verse number three, verse number nine, I don't know why I keep saying three, Malachi chapter one and verse number nine says, and now I pray you, beseech God, that he will be gracious unto us, this have been by your means, will he regard your persons, save the Lord of hosts? So look, they've really messed up Israelites here, they've really messed up, they're putting in the polluted bread, they're given the worst sacrifices that they can bring to the house of the Lord, and so they're being asked to beseech God, that he will be gracious unto us. Hey, get right with God is the message, go to God and say, God, give me your grace, forgive us for not bringing the best sacrifice that we can bring, right? And you know, it said there that will he regard your persons, did you see that in verse number nine, will he regard your persons? What, just because you're a Jew, just because you're an Israelite, just because you're a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is he just going to regard you just for that? No, he's going to regard you if you just do what's right, if you offer the right sacrifices, the best sacrifices, then you'll please the Lord, hey, go in and say sorry, go in and get right with God, go and seek his grace, because, you know, without the Lord, without his grace, without his promises, you're nothing. All right, and in Acts chapter 10, verse number 34, I'll just read it says, then Peter opened his mouth and said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respect of persons, but in every nation, he that fear of him and work of righteousness is accepted with him. Okay, so how are we accepted by God? By someone, if you fear God, and you work righteousness, you know, God will accept you. He won't just respect you, because of your DNA. You know, and this is the one of the big mistakes that churches make, you know, the Jews are God's chosen special people. No, God's not a respecter of persons. If they're not right with God, then what? You know, are they pleasing the Lord? Are they following after the Lord? Do they believe in Jesus Christ? No. Okay, don't respect Jews just because they're physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All right, at least give some honor, you know, to people that are believers, that are trying to live godly, that do have a fear of God and are trying to please the Lord with their lives. You know, that's the person that we ought to honor and give some level of appreciation, you know. Look at verse number 10. Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for naught? Neither do you kindle fire of mine altar for naught. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. He says, look, I don't accept anything that you're doing. The offerings that you're giving out, I don't accept them. And when he said here in verse number 10, who is there even among you that would shut the doors for naught? For nothing. Okay, or neither do you kindle fire of mine altar for naught. He's saying, look, what's happening here? The priests will not even light a fire for sacrifice. They will not even close the door if they weren't getting paid. Okay. They wouldn't, if they were just doing it for nothing, they just wouldn't do the service for God. In other words, the only reason they would serve God, these priests that are being preached against here, is because they were doing it for money. Okay. They wouldn't do it for nothing. And of course, this is why, you know, one of the qualifications of a pastor is to be not greedy for filthy lucre. Okay. When we started this church, I was willing to do it for nothing. In fact, for the first 15 months, I did it for nothing, right? In fact, after the 15 months, not only did I do it for nothing, but I was behind because, you know, I had put a man out of my own pocket to make sure we could afford certain things. And, you know, this is a bad place when people are only serving God if they get paid. All right. So you can see the bad state that the Israelites were in here. Look at verse number 11. 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, and a pure offering, for my name shall be great among the heathen, sayeth the Lord of hosts. So, look, the Israelites weren't serving God properly. All right. They weren't doing the sacrifices properly. They weren't honoring God properly. And God says, you know what? The Gentiles will. The heathen will. They will be able to come and bring a proper sacrifice. They will come and have the incense in every place. And, of course, this is prophesying of the new covenant. Prophesying that God will be, you know, that people of all nations will be able to serve the Lord. That people of all nations would be a blessing to the Lord God. And this, of course, goes all the way back to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 and verse number 2. God says to Abraham, and I will make of thee a great nation. And, yes, that great nation is speaking of the nation of Israel. But then he says, and I will bless thee and make thy name great. And thou shall be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee. And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. All families of the earth be blessed. And I haven't got time to go through this now, but we've looked at it before. How are all nation people of the earth blessed? All families? Through Jesus Christ. Through his sacrifice. That anybody of any nation who believes in Jesus Christ can be a child of God. Can be the chosen people of God. Can be the Israel of God. And so God's saying, look, you think you're so great because you're physical descendants. You know, you think that I ought to just respect you. You know, I'm not a respecter of persons. You know, there's come in a time when people all across this world will be believers of Jesus Christ, will be children of God, and offering the right kind of sacrifices. And brethren, that includes us today. You know, we get in in this great deal of Jesus Christ and the new covenant. You know, and God is looking at us. Hey, what kind of sacrifice are you going to offer? Are we going to mess things up like the Israelites? Or are we going to soldier on for God? Look at verse number 12. 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. Ye said also, behold, what a weariness is it. And ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts. And ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick. Thus ye brought an offering. Should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord? So again, just going back to those sacrifices, the offerings that are being brought. You know, what kind of animals are they? Ones that are torn. They're not well, lame, sick, right? Why is God so angry at them? Not just that they weren't doing the right sacrifices, but what did these sacrifice represent? It represented Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. You know, in 1 Peter 1 verse 18, the Bible says, for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver or gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. Why should we offer the best sacrifices? Why should the Jews have offered the best sacrifices? Because it pictured the sacrifice that God would give of his son, the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Hey, Jesus Christ was a lamb without spot, without blemish, okay? It was the best offering, it was the best sacrifice that God could give to us. What an amazing thing. And so when the Jews were not given their best, okay, they were defiling the image or the type, you know, the typology of Jesus Christ. And brethren, if God is willing to give you his best, his best sacrifice, then are you not willing to give your best sacrifice to the Lord God? Hey, we should. In the New Testament, we have sacrifices to give. Please give your best to the Lord. Look at verse number 14, we're almost done. But cursed be the deceiver, which have in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing. For I am a great king, save the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. See, God would curse his own people here, okay? If they had in his flock a male, they had a good sheep or lamb to bring to the sacrifice, but instead they brought the corrupt thing, well, God would curse them. And brethren, be careful, you know, the God we serve is an angry God. He's a God that is full of wrath, and he can be even angry at his own children. And if you don't come and you bring the right sacrifices, not just the right sacrifices, but the best sacrifices, then you will not be pleasing the Lord. And you might find yourself on the wrong side, you know, you might find yourself dealing with an angry God in your life. So brethren, Malachi, you know, that's chapter one, I hope that's informative for you. And we really see, you know, once again, Israel at a bad state, okay? And of course, this is why it was so important for John the Baptist to eventually come on the scene a few hundred years later to get the people's hearts ready for Jesus Christ. And again, Malachi was one of the prophets of the Restoration. Hey, we're kind of restoring church, right? We're going back to the way things are slowly but surely. And I want to make sure that when we are fully ready to go that you are bringing the best sacrifices to the Lord. Okay, let's pray.