Malachi: Am I Listening? | Pastor Rodney Thrift
Malachi
Am I Listening?
Malachi 1:2 (ESV) 2I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?”
LAST WEEK: SOUL TATTOO: I may fool other people, but I cannot fool God.
SOUL TATTOO: God desires for me to pursue Him in the same way He has and is pursuing me.
James 4:8 (ESV) 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Malachi 2:1-2 (ESV) 1“And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
1.) LISTENING IS HONORING:
- We honor God by listening with our ears.
- We honor God by taking what was said into our hearts.
- We honor God by obeying it with our lives.
2.) THE CYCLE OF HONOR:
- Listen with our ears. = Honor God.
- Take it to our hearts. = God, I agree with You.
- Work it out in our lives. = God, I obey You.
All of this = THE CYCLE OF HONOR.
3.) CYCLE OF HONOR QUESTIONS:
James 1:19-20 (ESV) 19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20 (MSG) 19Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. 20God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger.
- Am I listening?
- Am I honoring?
- Am I obeying?
4.) CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT LISTENING AND NOT HONORING:
Malachi 2:1-2 (ESV) 1“And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.
- Don’t get cursed.
Malachi 2:3 (ESV) 3 Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 4 So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts.
- Keep your face clean.
- Do not corrupt the covenant.
Malachi 2:8-9 (ESV) 8 But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, 9 and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.
5.) DISRESPECT BRINGS DISHONOR:
Malachi 2:10-16 (NLT) 10 Are we not all children of the same Father? Are we not all created by the same God? Then why do we betray each other, violating the covenant of our ancestors? 11 Judah has been unfaithful, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. The men of Judah have defiled the Lord’s beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols. 12 May the Lord cut off from the nation of Israel every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 13 Here is another thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. 14 You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. 15 Didn’t the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit, you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So, guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. 16 “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So, guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”
- Don’t disrespect the house of God.
- Remember your vows.
- Guard your heart.
Malachi 2:17 (NLT) 17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
Listen and obey, do not talk too much and give the Lord a bad day.
James 1:19-20 (ESV) 19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
SOUL TATTOO: God desires for me to pursue Him in the same way He has and is pursuing me.