Malachi 1:11 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, saith the LORD of hosts.
Today we begin our study in the book of Malachi. Malachi’s name means “My Messenger”, and the message that we are confronted with this morning in chapter one can be called, “How NOT to serve our King.” Malachi drives home the fact over and over again that the priests were dishonoring the Name of The Lord by offering unto Him polluted sacrifices. They were giving unto God sacrifices that they would not even dare to bring to their political leaders. God declares that it would be better to shut the doors of the temple than to continue in giving Him these unacceptable “sacrifices” that were nothing more than what you and I would call road kill or garage sale leftovers.
Peter tells us that every follower of Jesus Christ is a member of the royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). We too are called to offer unto God sacrifices of praise (Hebrews 13:15), service (Romans 12:1), and giving (2 Corinthians 9:7). We are to give our King our very best and so do whatever we do heartily, as unto The Lord and not men (Colossians 3:23). The sacrifices that we bring unto God are to be motivated by His love for us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15), not out of duty or obligation.
Beloved, we are called by God to be living sacrifices whose lives are a continuous flow of acts of worship unto our King. The Lord’s Supper reminds us of the supreme sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross to deliver us from the debt of our sins, the dominion of sin in our lives, and ultimately, the presence of sin. Selah
