We turn in the Word of God together to the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi. It's found on page 968 of the Bible. We're going to read together the first chapter of this book. Here, the Word of God. The Oracle of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, says the Lord, but you say, how have you loved us? Is not Esau Jacob's brother, declares the Lord? Yet I have loved Jacob, but he so I hated. I have laid waste his whole country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert. If Edom says, We are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins, the Lord of hosts says, They may build, but I will tear down. And they will be called the wicked country, and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever. Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel. A son honours his father and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honour? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you. O priests, You 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 favour, says the Lord of hosts? And now entreat the favour of God that he may be gracious to us with such a gift from your hand. Will he show favour to any of you? says the Lord of Hosts, O that there was 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. But you profane it when you say, that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food, may be despised. But you say, What a weariness this is! And you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering. Shall I accept that from your hand?" says the Lord. Cursed be the cheat who has made a male in his flock and vows it and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. Routine religion – religion which is repetitive, religion which is meaningless, religion which is colorless, religion which lacks vitality and energy, religion, which thousands and thousands and thousands of men, women and young people engage in week after week after week. And not just simply in the mainline so-called liberal churches of our land, But even in good, reformed, conservative churches, many are mired, bogged down in a religion that is merely a routine. Good, decent, honest, hard-working, godly people who have no passion, no fire, no desire. It's merely just ticking the box on a Sunday. And the reality is it not that this is a predicament that has swept over many of the churches in our land. We don't hear of congregations of God's people where they are filled with enthusiasm where there is an excited anticipation at being at the place of worship. We don't hear of throngs making their way to churches singing with joy in their heart. We don't hear of churches where the prayer meeting is busy and active and full. We don't hear of churches where people are as desirous to worship in the Lord's Day evening as they are on a Lord's Day morning. It's just a routine. And generally when we think about this type of activity, we think of the sort of people who turn out to church once in a month. But that's not the case. The greatest proponents of routine religion are those who believe themselves to be good Christians. but there's an absence in their heart of real desire for God. And it's evidenced in the decisions that they make. It's evidenced in their attitudes and their actions. And it pleases not God. And it's having, as we saw last Lord's Day, a terrible impact on our society. Our society is dying on its feet because of the sinfulness of man. Driving up through our town last night on my way to collect my son, outside the bar at the top of the road, I'm travelling at two mile an hour. A group of guys come out of the pub walked in front of me, I stopped the car and one walks up the car and hits the thud of his hand. No regard, no respect for property or anything. That is because the church in this town is not standing as light and salt. And therefore this attitude with regard to people and their property is, I can do as I please without any recourse to anyone saying anything to me. If the church was a vibrant, energetic, dynamic body and the law of God was being faithfully proclaimed, then we wouldn't have this low level of activity of civil rebellion, which then is feeding into our culture at a higher level and meaning that 12 and 13 and 14 year olds are taking the lives of 8 and 9 and 10 year olds. It's because of the undercurrent of acceptableness of this level of violence that is going on in our society, that we, eyes to hear, that we are going into this society where we are discovering a place where life is cheap. And the reason for that is because of the lack of salt and light in the church. Routine religion. Religion that means nothing. Religion is having no impact. Good people who are Christians, who go about their daily business, but there is no product at the end of it. Now whose fault is it? Whose fault is it? Somebody has to be blamed. last Lord's Day that God challenged His people and said to them, I have loved you. And we saw their lack, their lack of appreciation for God's love. Remember what we saw in Nehemiah? Turn back to Nehemiah. It's good to remind ourselves of the real-life context in which Malachi was preaching unless we divorce it from the situation and we merely just see it as a good theory. Nehemiah chapter 8, page 482. It's so easy when you're listening to the preaching of God's Word to simply see it as something that is theoretical rather than something that is real and practical. In Nehemiah chapter 8, we read how God speaks to His people through Ezra the prophet. Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 1, And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the water gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, that the law had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it, facing the square before the water gate from early morning and midday, in the presence of men and women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. And Ezra the scribe stood in a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. Verse 6, And Ezra blessed the Lord, Now pay attention to the next three words. The great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Then we read how the Levites, verse 7, helped the people to understand the law while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the law of God clearly, and they gave the meaning so that the people understood the reading. This has taken place in 445 B.C. The response to the people of the reading of God's Word is that they weep through conviction of sin. Nehemiah, who was the governor and Ezra the priest and the scribe of the Levites, who taught the people, said to all the people, this day is a holy day to the Lord. Do not mourn or weep. For all the people wept as they heard the words of the law. They wept because of a sense of conviction at doing that which was wrong against God. And in chapter 9 we read last Lord's Day how this conviction of their sin then turned into confession of sin. It's one thing to be convicted of wrongdoing, It's an entirely different thing to then take that to God and say, God, I'm sorry. I'm doing this wrong. I'm not going to do it wrong again. How many of us in our lives have been convicted through the preaching of God's Word about our lives, but that's as far as it's gone. It has impressed itself upon us. It's challenged us. It's even caused us to weep. We've wept. But it hasn't led to confession. It hasn't led to us making a conscientious decision to actually change what we're doing wrong. It's easy to be convicted. It's a different thing to confess. They confessed their sin. And we read last Lord's Day from Nehemiah chapter 10, how they then entered into a covenant with God. They made a promise to God. Nehemiah 10, verse 28. The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who separate themselves from the people of the lands of the law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law that was given by Moses, a servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and His rules and statutes. And they go on then to promise three things. They are not going to give their daughters in marriage to those who are of a different faith, nor are they going to take the daughters for their sons. They are going to keep the Sabbath day. They are not going to trade on the Sabbath day. And they are going to honour the house of the Lord by bringing a tithe of all that God requires of them for the burnt offering and for the wood offering and all the other offerings. They are going to bring them into the house of God. And the chapter ends Verse 39 of chapter 10, the last sentence says, we will not neglect the house of our God. The Word is preached, the people are convicted of a sin, the people confess their sin, and then the people enter into a covenant with God in which they promise to maintain their relationships, they promise to maintain the Sabbath, and they promise to maintain their tithes and their worship of God. And yet, as we saw last Lord's Day, within 10-12 years, Nehemiah returns from Suzah. Nehemiah chapter 13, what does he find? He finds Tobiah the Ammonite has been put into the place where the grain offering should be done by Eliash of the priest. He finds a lot of Wians running around speaking a language not that they should be speaking. because the sons and daughters have married outside the people of God, and he finds them trading on the Sabbath day. We love the Lord. We'll walk in His ways. We will make sure that our sons and our daughters do not marry outside the people of God, and here the Weans are running around using a language which shows that they have done that. We will keep the Sabbath day. We will not trade in it. And Nehemiah actually has to post a guard on the gate to make sure that the tyrants don't come in and continue trading on the Sabbath day. And instead of bringing in the tithes and the offerings, he finds Tobiah the Ammonite sleeping in the quarters where that should have been kept for the grain offering, and he finds the priests out in the fields garning for themselves food because there isn't sufficient for them to work and keep the maintenance of the faith. They had descended into a religion that was routine. Routine. Routine. You speak to these people, as far as they're concerned, they're not doing anything wrong. They've integrated with the society. Surely it's a good thing to integrate with society. We have to build relationships with these people who come and trade with us. You can't build relationships and trade with them six days a week and then on the seventh day you can't come. These men have businesses to maintain. How can we stay to them? Don't come on the seventh. Your food is good enough for six days. It's not good enough on the seventh. Where else are they going to go? It's necessary for the priests to go out and labour. We need to keep some reserve for ourselves. Eliashib's only doing a favour for one of his relatives. What's wrong with that? Sure we would bring any of our relatives into the house of the Lord. Okay, it's inconveniencing the fact that the tithe and the offering is not in a place where it should be and it sort of disconveniences the priests. But it's all so reasonable. It's all so acceptable. It's all so understandable. It's all so rational. Happens day in, day out. Churches across the land. People justifying. People justifying that which is inappropriate, and not merely inappropriate, that which is wrong. Giving reasons for doing that which is wrong. Whose fault is it? Whose fault is it? Now, remember the reason why we're studying the causes of routine religion. This is not a hypothetical thing. This is so that we will keep our ears open and our eyes peeled for the first sign of this in our own lives. Because, my friends, this routine religion, as we shall see, is an abomination to God. It's an abomination to him. He takes no pleasure in it at all. And it's a frightening thing to be engaged in religion that God finds an abomination, especially when that religion is named in his name. And God fingers here in this passage in Malachi, because Malachi comes and he speaks at this very time in the history of God's people that we've been looking at. And he fingers the leaders, the leaders as the men who are the main proponents of this routine religion. They are the men whom God gets in his crosshairs. He says in verse 6, A son honours his father and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honour? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise my name. These were the leaders of God's people. These were the men who were charged with the responsibility of receiving the sacrifices from the people, preparing them and taking them and presenting them to God on the altar. And these priests, by their attitudes and by their actions, clearly demonstrate that they no longer have an acute sense or awareness of the greatness of God. And that's the key point. These men, by their attitudes and by their actions, clearly demonstrate that their awareness of God as a great God who cannot be given second, third, fourth, or whatever best. They've lost that. They've lost it. And that's the problem with routine religion. That's where the fault line lies in routine religion. When men whom God calls and commissions and appoints to be the leaders of his people, lose their awareness of the greatness and the awesomeness of God. When that goes, then it degenerates into merely a fulfilling of a routine. Not just for them, but for everybody else. These men no longer fear, verse 6, nor do they honour God. A son honours his father, a servant his master, If I am your Father, where is my honour?" God saying, I can't see any honour. Now these men are bringing sacrifices day after day after day after day after day. The temple doors are open. These people are bringing in portions of offerings and ties to God. These men are busy in the things of God. They're busy and they're energetic and they're active. fulfilling what God would have them to do as they see it. And yet God very clearly early on says to them, I don't see any honour in what you're doing for me. A lot of activity. A lot of saying that we're doing things for God. A lot of saying that we're living for God. But the reality is God says, I don't see any benefit in it for me. And such is their failure of an awareness of God that they then move into a defensive attitude. Look at what they say when God says, You despise my name. How have we despised your name? Here is a reality that these men find very difficult to take. Such has become the acceptableness of their actions to them and everybody else around them. For them, it's a case of, what are we doing wrong? And defensively, they retort back to God. Now, they're not saying this, but this is their thoughts that God is delving into when God comes to them and God fingers in their lives this sin of habitual, routine, ritualistic, godless worship. Saying, how are we despising your name? We're doing what you want us to do. And then God, in a very clear and a very simple way, demonstrates that they are persistently offering God sacrifices that are totally unacceptable to Him. He says, You have despised me by offering polluted food upon my altar, verse 7. They come back, how have we polluted you? You don't get it. You can't see it. God had very clearly told them that when they were to bring animals to him, they were to bring animals that were without defect, without blemish or without any ailment. The problem here with these men is not that they are bringing insufficient quantity of sacrifice. It has everything to do with the quality of the sacrifice. The food that they are presenting is unqualified because it has been disqualified by virtue of its physical condition. God had clearly spelt out Exodus 12 verse 5, Exodus 29 verse 1, Leviticus 1 verse 3, that any animal that was going to be sacrificed had to be sacrificed without defect. It had to be the best animal. Leviticus chapter 22, it had to be without blemish. Leviticus chapter 22 verse 22, an animal that was blind or crippled or diseased, God expressly forbade to be sacrificed to Him. You see, God wasn't interested in His people bringing to Him those animals that they had no other use for. He wanted the best. He had given of His love. He had given of His care. He had given of His provision. He had given of His best. And God desired to be worshipped by those who understood this concept and who reciprocated by giving of their best. Didn't want people bringing an animal that was blind and therefore couldn't see where it was going and was always getting lost because it couldn't be part of the flock. Oh, we'll give that one to God because it's useless anyway. Or an animal that was lame and always needed attention and care. That ewe or that goat. I'm always having to look after that animal because that fall it had last year damaged its leg and it's always needing attention. Well, I know what we'll do with that one. We'll give that one to God. Or that animal that's diseased. I don't think I'll ever be able to breed that goat or that bull again because it's diseased and I don't want to spread the disease through the flock. So I know what I'll do with that one. I'll give that one to God. I'll deal with that one. We'll kill two birds with one stone. We'll get rid of the animal and we'll give God something that will please Him. And God has specifically forbidden aware of the heart of man and the ways of man and the mind of man, even those who profess to walk in the ways of God, even knowing the twisted nature of man, God says, you will not. He told them up front, don't want it. Don't bring it to me. Don't use me as your garbage bin. I'm not your incinerating machine. What happened was that these priests had begun to accept from the people of God that which was unacceptable. They'd begun to receive and take that which God has expressly forbidden. And they were bringing it to God and saying to God, here we are. We're fulfilling our role. and God saying to them, but you're dishonoring Me. You're despising Me. You see it in verse 12. You profane it when you say the Lord's house is polluted and its fruit, that is, its foot may be despised. Verse 13, you bring what has been taken by violence or lame or sick, and this you bring as an offering. Shall I accept that from your hand? The man who cheats God, the man who says, there's a nice young male animal, a good, strong, vibrant animal, the best animal of the flock, and vows, I will give this animal to God. And then when it comes to the day of sacrifice, he says, well, really, I can't take that animal today because I need that animal to breed off. I'll take this runt and I'll bring it to God. God says, curse that man for doing that. And He says, curse you for bringing it and taking it and giving it to me. And the reason why these men had got themselves into the situation where they were saving the blind animal, verse 8, and sacrificing it, where they were taking and offering the lame or the sick animal, the reason why they were doing this is because they have lost sight of the greatness of God. Note what God says in verse 8. You wouldn't do it to your boss, would you? You wouldn't present it to the governor, would you? You wouldn't give them of the rumps and the disease and the blind. You wouldn't bring it to your earthly ruler. But it's alright to bring it to God. God will not mind. Don't bring it to the governor because they know what the governor would say. The governor would look at us and that would be it. We wouldn't be back in again. But hey, we can do this day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year as far as God is concerned. And who cares? Does God care? Do I care? Do the priests care? Nobody cares. God says, I do care. I do care. And I'm not having it. I'm not having it. Verse 10. Oh, that there was one among you who would shut the doors Shut the doors what of? Shut the doors of the temple. Why? That you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain. He says, Oh, that there was one priest who saw what was being done and who said, This is despising to God. This is dishonoring to God. God finds no pleasure in this. And we will close the doors of the temple to prevent any more sacrifices. Oh, that one would do it, God says. Oh, that one would shut the door and I would receive no more sacrifices. For I have no pleasure in what I'm receiving. I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of Hosts. And I will not accept an offering from your hand. You can bring as much as you want. You can shed as much blood as you want. You can say you're as committed as you want. You can say you believe in me as much as you want. But unless I'm giving the best of your life, God says, I do not want the drags. I don't want the second, third and fourth castoffs. And He's saying to the priests, don't you bring it to me. Don't you bring it to me. Don't you dishonor my name. Don't you despise my name." He says, I am great. Verse 12, from the rising of the sun to its setting. During the day, across the globe, he says, my name will be mentioned as great. Verse 14, I am a great King, says the Lord of Hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations. My greatness, God is saying to these guys, doesn't depend on you. It doesn't depend on these people. I am great because of who I am. And if you don't want to worship me as the great God and King, If you don't want to bring of your best to me, if you don't want to bring a pure offering to me and offer it to my name, then I will get others who will. And they will do it. There will be across the nations of the world a proclaiming of my name. For I am the great King, says God. And that is the problem of the Church of Jesus Christ today in our land. There are men and women, or men, there are men who are accepting from people life offerings of worship that are fully unacceptable. There are churches in this land and across this nation where people come and they stand and they vow before God and say, I will live and love God with all my heart, soul and mind. I believe that I was born dead in sin. I believe that I was separated from God. I believe that I was doomed to a lost eternity. I will walk in the ways of God. I will seek God with all my heart. I will delight in the ways of God. Then when it comes to the Lord's day, they worship God once if it suits them. But they'll certainly not worship God twice. They have no desire to meet with God and the people of God for prayer. They have no desire to meet with the people of God for the study of God's Word. And ministers stand there and they make excuses. And it happens right across the board. I was speaking to someone before this summer, a minister, a minister in Ireland. He was speaking to me about why the people in his church couldn't get to the midweek meeting. He was saying they were busy working. And I said, what about busy seeking after the Kingdom of God? Oh, it's good enough. You wouldn't bring your boss to drags. You put him first. He's the priority. God says, I am great. And they're accepting it and they're reinforcing it. It's alright, don't you bother coming to worship. I know, young family and all. You don't need to come. God says, I despise it. I loathe it. I hate it when people say they love me and then put everything else in front of me and give me when it suits them. When it suits them. When it's suitable for them to be seen. The place of worship, they're there. Men are looking at people and they're saying to people, it's acceptable. It's okay. You ask them why they do it. And they speak about how difficult the job is. And that's exactly what these priests were saying. Verse 13. But you say, what a wearisome thing this is. It's difficult. It's difficult. Why is it difficult? because they've lost their fear of God and they fear man more. These priests were receiving the people coming and they were bringing the offerings to them and they didn't want to look the man in the eye and say, that animal's blind, take that away home. I'm not offering that to God. What will God think of me if I offer it? What will God think of you? You go away home and bring the best. Bring the best. An animal comes lame, back leg, Not moving properly. Sacrifice this for me. Oh, certainly. They should have been saying, no. It's more than my life's worth to sacrifice that. What are we saying to God if we sacrifice that? You wouldn't take that to your governor. Why would you take that to our God? It's a burden, you see. It's wearisome. It's wearisome to look into people's eyes and say, you're wrong. We need to look into people's eyes and say, you need to think this through. We need to look into people's eyes and say, you're giving God the second best. You're not seeking first the kingdom of God. You're putting other things first. You're putting your family first. You're putting your work first. Those things are important. I've always said that. But I call you and say to you, those things are not of the utmost priority. You're building your relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing. You're building your relationship within the context of the promises you have made within the church is the most important thing. Don't come to God and give Him the backhand. And just because you say you're a good person and you're a Christian and you were brought up in a good home or you go to a good church, it's acceptable. It's not. You see, ministers today will look at people and they say, oh, how can I look and say anything against them? He's from a good family. She's from a good family. Busy job, a lot of family activities. Let's allow them to bring the dregs. Let's allow them to bring what is unacceptable. And we'll come to God and we'll pass it off and say, God, look. Be happy, God. There's half of the number of people in this church who say they love you. They're here tonight at worship. Half of them. Imagine, God, you should be thankful there's half of them. God, there's 10%, 15% of the people who say they really love you and believe in you with all their heart, who are happy to be at the prayer meeting of God's people. God, you should be so pleased. It's ridiculous, isn't it? Absolutely ridiculous. It's scandalous how good men can justify. The reason is they fear men more than they fear God because they've lost sight of the greatness of God. They've lost sight of the greatness of God. And whatever you do in this church, whatever happens in the future, you pray for leaders who fear God and don't fear you. Because if you want a man to come and fill this pulpit, or elders who will please you, then be aware that that is the first step on the road to displeasing God. And when God is displeased, it's a terrible thing. You must always seek men who will fear God through every fibre of their body and not care about what you think of what God says to you. You must pray for leaders who see God as a great God and the great King He is, not as someone who is to be offered the second best. You need to pray and plead with God that what you will hear each Lord's Day comes from the lips of His mouth and comes directly from His Word. You need to pray for leaders who will look into your eyes and say, and why? Why are you taking that decision? Why are you not participating in that aspect of the body life of the church? Why? Why are you not engaging in that? Tell me why you as an intelligent, professing Christian, who believes themselves to be a good person, tell me why you are prioritizing this and this and this over that which God would have you to do. And you must ask God to give you leaders who will have the backbone to fear God sufficiently that they will turn when you bring the lamb, and when you bring the blind, and when you bring the sick, they will look you in the eye and say, take it away back home. Take it away back home. spit the dummy out of the pram and you start whinging and gurning about the leader and about his attitude and about his desire for God, then remember, remember that he is doing it for your good and for God's glory. A man who is malleable, a man who fears not the ways of God, a man who is able to be twisted and manipulated by the people through subtle pressures of, if you don't do this, we'll do this, or we won't do this, or we'll go away and we'll leave you, or whatever. That man's no use to you. He's a puppet on a string. And your string doesn't know what needs to be tugged at for your heart to be worked right before God. So you must always pray. And if at any time in my ministry You start to detect in me a heart that is willing to please you more than God and you pull me aside and you bring me this passage and you say, Andrew, you're despising the great God and King and that's not in my interest. And you come to me and say, get it sorted. Get it sorted, Andrew. Bend your knee before God, not before me. Because, you see, God doesn't need any of us. I am the great King. My name will be feared among the nations. Verse 14, whether you're part of it or not. Whether you're part of it or not, my name will be raised up. None of us want to be outwith that blessing. None of us, none of us want to be outside those whom God will bless. Because God can take off and go off and do as He pleases. Because we are only here by virtue of His mercy and His grace. Routine religion, it's an absolute disaster. An absolute disaster. It's a disaster for the people of God and it's an abomination to the people of God. And it's fuelled when men lose their sense and awareness of the greatness of God and begin to accept from men and women that which God finds unacceptable because they're more afraid of the people than they are of God. Never, ever within this pulpit in your lifetime tolerate anything less than the Word of God and it faithfully preached. And the first sign of that, you get in. Just as I promise you, the first sign of wavering in your life, the leadership in this church will get in to you and say, what are you doing? What are you doing? This is God we're talking about. This is not your wife or your husband or your boss. This is God. Amen. Father, we thank you for your mercy and grace to us. How often we've come to this place and we've offered you that which has been blind and lame and sick. And we've said to you, God, aren't you pleased with us? And you've looked at us and said, how could you? How could you bring me that? How would you dare? You wouldn't take that to your governor and yet you bring it to me. You wouldn't take that to a man and yet I, as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, you deem that to be acceptable. Lord God, thank you for not pouring out your wrath upon us. Thank you, Lord God, for loving us and understanding us. And we pray, Father, that you will keep us in the heart of your hand. Keep us, Lord God, seeing that this is about you, your greatness, your sovereign power, your majesty, your glory. It's not about us. Lord God, it's about you. And help those of us who lead in this church, Lord God, to be clear about who we are to serve. that we are clear that we will bend the knee only to God and Christ, and that in bending the knee to Christ we will love your people. Help us, Lord God, to do what is right. Even when they scowl their faces, even when they gurn or cry, help us to do what is right, that we might do the best for them, that they might do the best for you. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.