True Worship

Order of Service

• Hymn — Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven
• Call to Worship — Psalm 103:1-22
• Hymn — Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Luther's Small Catechism, Second Article
• Scripture Reading — Hebrews 9:11-28
• Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer
• Hymn — Nothing but the Blood
• Sermon
• Prayer
• Lord's Supper — 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
• Hymn — O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus (stanza 1)
• Distribution of Bread
• Distribution of Cup — Nothing but the Blood (stanza)
• Prayer
• Hymn — O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus (stanzas 2–3)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: True Worship

Scripture: Malachi 1:6-14

I. True Worship Flows Out of God's Redeeming Love

A. God likens his relationship to Israel to that of a father and son, and a master and servant

1. In Exodus 4 God calls Israel his son; in Hosea 11:1 he says "out of Egypt I called my son"
2. Out of fatherly love God redeemed Israel from Egypt and bound them to himself in covenant; worship of him alone follows naturally (Exodus 20:3)

B. Verse 6 follows directly on the reminder of God's electing love for Jacob over Esau (Malachi 1:2-5); worship is the natural response to that redeeming love

C. The language of the "Lord's table" (vv. 7, 12) conveys worship as intimate covenant fellowship, not merely servile duty

1. The sacrificial meal evoked covenant ratification and fellowship with God as gracious host
2. Israel's worship had become more Cain-like than Abel-like (Genesis 4) — going through the motions, offering scraps

D. When worship feels like a burden (v. 13, "What a weariness this is"), the root cause is forgetting God's love

1. Israel under Persian rule faced demands from the governor for unblemished animals as tribute, making a second unblemished offering feel burdensome
2. A dry worship life is not primarily a failure of love for God but a failure to perceive God's love for you
3. True worship flows out of the reception and knowledge of God's love, not out of our love for God first (1 John 4:19)

E. The Lord's Table is meant to reassure us of God's unshakable love and call forth a response of whole-hearted worship

II. True Worship Follows God's Regulating Law

A. Every sacrificial animal was to be without blemish according to Exodus 12, Leviticus 1, and Leviticus 22; Deuteronomy 15 expressly forbade blind, lame, or sick animals

1. Verse 13 describes animals taken by violence (mauled by other animals), forbidden in Exodus 22:31
2. The worship God accepts must be done in accordance with his Word

B. The regulative principle of worship: only what God expressly prescribes in his Word is permitted in worship

1. Contrasted with the normative principle: whatever God does not expressly prohibit is permitted
2. Leviticus 10 illustrates the consequence of deviance — Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire God had not commanded and were struck dead
3. The first commandment calls us to worship God; the second commandment tells us how — not through idols but in spirit and in truth

C. Presumptuous worship (v. 9) — assuming blemished gifts will secure God's favor — only secures judgment

1. Like the dying poet Heinrich Heine's alleged words: "Of course God will forgive me; it's his job"
2. God declares in verse 10 it would be better if the temple doors were shut than for this false worship to continue
3. Illustrated by bringing a gas-station candy bar to the king of England — an insult to his office; it is better to come empty-handed and ask forgiveness
4. To give God anything less than our best is an insult to the Majesty of the Lord of hosts (v. 14)

III. True Worship Is Funneled Through God's Righteous Priest

A. The passage's primary indictment falls on the priests

1. The people brought blemished sacrifices, but the priests accepted and offered them — making the priests even more culpable (James 3:1)
2. The priests lacked the courage to shut the temple doors and put an end to false worship

B. Malachi 1:11 predicts a coming "regulative person" who will establish pure worship in every place among the nations — two unique features:

1. Unlike other prophets who depict the nations coming into Jerusalem to worship, Malachi depicts pure worship offered in every place throughout the world
2. The word for "pure" (tahor) denotes not merely ceremonial cleanness (tamim) but moral and ethical purity — pointing beyond animal sacrifices to a morally righteous sacrifice

C. Jesus Christ fulfills this prophecy as the righteous priest and pure offering

1. At his baptism (Matthew 3) the Spirit anoints and consecrates him to his public ministry as priest-king after the order of Melchizedek; he declares "all righteousness must be fulfilled"
2. On the cross he offers not a ceremonially clean animal but his morally spotless, ethically pure life: "Into your hands I commit my spirit"
3. Ephesians 5:2 — "Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God"
4. By faith, people from every tribe, nation, and tongue are united to this pure sacrifice and worship God in and through Christ

D. Christ is the courageous priest who puts an end to false worship — judging the temple and its leaders — and lays a table before his people filled not with blemished animals but with the symbols of his once-for-all sacrifice

1. Our worship today is intimate fellowship with God the Father through the New Covenant blood of his Son
2. True worship is offered through the love of Christ, the law of Christ, and the priesthood of Christ