Malachi 1:6-9 ESV

“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. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. 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.”

There appear to be many people in America today who are giving lip service only to the Lord, but who are not honoring him for the God that he is. They have professed faith in Jesus Christ, and they are convinced that all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future) and that heaven is guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of how they live and/or with no conversation at all taking place with regard to how they live and that impacting their salvation one way or another.

Some of them are convinced that nothing is required of them other than to believe in Jesus, which is usually not biblically defined. And they are being taught that once they make that profession of faith in Christ that it is a done deal and that nothing can take that away from them. And many of them are also being convinced that they do not have to repent of their sins and that they do not have to obey the Lord, for they are calling that “works salvation,” which it is not since Jesus, Paul, and the other apostles taught it.

Others are being taught some of this the same way, but they are also being taught about holy living. But still they are not being taught that if they don’t live holy lives, and if they continue in sin, that they will not inherit eternal life with God. So holy living, thus, becomes something recommended, but optional. And “repentance” becomes about just confessing sin, which ends up being false confessions if they are not followed up with true repentance. For godly sorrow leads to repentance, but worldly sorrow does not.

So, what we choose to give (yield) to our Lord in the way of our hearts, minds, affections, and behaviors, etc., is considered a sacrifice, and we are to give our lives to the Lord Jesus fully as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to him, which is our spiritual worship of him. And we are to no longer be conformed to the patterns of this sinful world, but we are to be transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God away from living in sin and for self to now follow our Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands.

But it appears that many who are professing faith in Jesus Christ are not giving their lives to the Lord as living sacrifices, but they are only giving to the Lord what they are convinced is required of them and nothing more. So, for many of them, once they make that initial profession of faith in Christ, they feel they have done all that is required, and so then they go on living just like they did before, in sin and for self, without regard for our Lord and for his commands, for they believe they don’t have to.

Others may choose to live more moral lives, and lives which are more socially acceptable in “Christian” communities, and they will make certain that they attend weekly church services and that they give to “the church,” and that they participate in some church functions, but still their lives are not surrendered to Jesus Christ. For they are still living worldly lives, doing much of the same stuff that the ungodly do. And the Lord is not really master of their lives at all, and some of them barely even acknowledge him during their daily routines. And Bibles sit on shelves and are not read.

So, if you identify with anything described above, and if your life is not fully surrendered to Jesus Christ, and so you are still living a worldly life, doing whatever you want to do, and God/Jesus is not the master of your life, for you are still the one deciding what you do each day, then this is a lot like offering polluted food on God’s altar. For if we offer to God only what we are willing to give to him and nothing more, we are not honoring him as Lord of our lives, and what we are giving him is spoiled leftovers, and that is evil.

Malachi 1:10-11 ESV

“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 its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.”

Now, “the church” is the people of God, the body of Christ of believers in Jesus Christ who have died with Christ to sin and who are to be living to God and to his righteousness in obedience to our Lord’s commands. The church is not a building nor a church denomination nor a corporation under the state (a business), which is what most of what is called “church” has now turned out to be here in America, it would appear. So the only “door” to the true church is Jesus Christ, and we only enter by true faith in Jesus Christ.

But there are many religious institutions in America today being called “church,” and most of them do have physical doors, and these are the doors, for the most part, that God would have us shut permanently. For so many of them are following the ways of man and of the flesh and not the ways of God. And God/Jesus is not their Master, but they are their own masters, and many of them are getting their directions from marketing books and marketing training seminars and not from God, and not from His Word.

And many of them, because they are trying to attract the world to their gatherings, have altered the character of God/Jesus Christ, and they have altered and diluted the gospel of our salvation in order to not be offensive to the people of the world. And the Lord does not accept offerings from the hands of those who dishonor God with their lives and who make a mockery of him and of his gospel so that many people are rejecting the Lordship of Christ and his gospel in favor of “gospel lite,” so they can continue in their sinful and worldly practices guilt free. But they won’t be free from hell.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.