Malachi Part #1—The Power of Honor 2-10-08
Malachi Part #1
Your Honor—
2-10-08
Malachi
· Love this book!!
o Wanted to preach out of here for years
o Feel this is the time—so many awesome things
o When you see whole book
This week
· Internet this week
o Internet connection
o Wires loose
o Need new box
o When not connected: stops you—hinders communication—
Malachi—Israel had some ‘loose wires’
· They weren’t walking connected/blessed
· God dealing with those areas in their lives—when not connected right
o God has to deal with our ‘stuff’
o Some times not pretty
o But it is VITAL that we allow Him to work there
You can read Malachi from a couple of perspectives
· You can see the perspective of where the connection is broken
o Where things are going wrong
o God doesn’t mince words
§ Some can read this and see the negative of it all
§ Think—God must be angry—scary to read
o Not afraid to shine light on what isn’t going right in our lives
o How many relate?
· However—if you look a little deeper—you see a bigger picture
o What you see is that God’s MOTIVE is to BLESS
o God’s motive always love
o To Restore Israel to Himself!
o In EVERYTHING God is at work for Good
And when you start stacking up the KEYS to blessing that are revealed in Malachi
· It becomes an EXCITING/thrilling book
· That is RICH with POWER
I’m telling you—the keys to this little book tucked into the end of the OT are AMAZING
· You won’t want to miss out on what you can get OUT of this book
God wants to HEAL the BAD connection!!!
· Place where wires have been crossed in Israel’s relationship with God
· Crossed wires can start fires!!!!
· Not something to mess with!!!!
· BUT—message of Malachi—if Israel would step up to the plate—allow God to REWIRE them
o Fix the connections
o TRANSFORM their relationship
o They will move forward in new power
Renovation
· Open the ceiling
· Conduits/wires/etc
· NEW power is released to TV’s
· We now can have all flat screen
o Lights
o Eventual Coffee Bar
o New Circuits
· Had to STRIP AWAY the ceiling
o Expose the areas that need to be REWIRED
o So we can make way for the new
· Malachi is like that
o Strips away the things that need to be taken out
o So the new can be placed in us
And the BLESSINGS that can be gained out of yielding to this process are UNBELIEVABLE!!
· Sure it’s messy
· Costs you something
· INTERUPTS life as you know it
· But on the other side—it’s WORTH it! ! !
But results of Good connection
· Keys to greater INTIMACY with God
· Release of Healing
· Authority released to BREAK the bonds of the Enemy off your life
· Generations healed
· Financial blessing provision poured out
· Revival—
· Sovereign Visitation/habitation
· City TRANSFORMATION
o Curse broken off the land
· Protection and blessing
o In the midst of the seasons when the rest of the world is going through judgment
o While everyone else is going through judgment
o Even though you get to face the ‘fires of life’ as well—God uses them to ADVANCE you
o You emerge from the ‘fire seasons’ without the smell of smoke
o You emerge in greater authority/power/peace
o Deeper intimacy with God
o Healing flowing in your life
o Provision/blessing/ADVANCEMENT
· While everyone else is getting judgment
o YOU are getting a PROMOTION
o That’s the treasure of Malachi!
o He will deal with your stuff
§ Instead of getting destroyed
§ You get an UPGRADE—Remodel—Renovation
How many want that?
· We have to walk through the journey to get there
· Corporately
Israel needed great connection
· But to get there God had to take them on a journey
And one of the foundational issues that God begins to work on in Israel in Malachi
· Is through a truth that we call ‘HONOR’
· First Theme we’re going to look at is ‘The Power of Honor’
Honor defined
| 1. | honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs and actions: a man of honor. |
| 3. | high respect, as for worth, merit, or rank: to be held in honor. |
| 4. | such respect manifested: a memorial in honor of the dead. |
| 5. | high public esteem; fame; glory: He has earned his position of honor. |
| 6. | the privilege of being associated with or receiving a favor from a respected person, group, organization, etc.: to have the honor of serving on a prize jury; I have the honor of introducing this evening's speaker. |
| 7. | Usually, honors. evidence, as a special ceremony, decoration, scroll, or title, of high rank, dignity, or distinction: political honors; military honors. |
| 8. | (initial capital letter ) a deferential title of respect, esp. for judges and mayors (prec. by His, Her, Your, etc.). |
| 9. | honors, | a. | special rank or distinction conferred by a university, college, or school upon a student for eminence in scholarship or success in some particular subject. |
| b. | an advanced course of study for superior students. Compare honors course. |
| 10. | chastity or purity in a woman. |
| 13. | to hold in honor or high respect; revere: to honor one's parents. |
| 14. | to treat with honor. |
| 15. | to confer honor or distinction upon: The university honored him with its leadership award. |
| 16. | to worship (the Supreme Being). |
| 17. | to show a courteous regard for: to honor an invitation. |
| 19. | to accept as valid and conform to the request or demands of (an official document). |
—Idioms
| 23. | do honor to, | a. | to show respect to. |
| b. | to be a credit to: Such good students would do honor to any teacher. |
Veteran’s Day
· RHCF gift
· The Power of honor
· Something we haven’t understood/lost within American culture
Honor Powerful thing
· Something within the rebellion/cast-off nature of the 60’s
· At times there have been movements within our culture that have tried to address dishonor—but when it moved into excess
o It actually perpetuated new cycles of dishonor.
· Feminism—for example
o Tried to address legitimate DISHONOR
o But at times warped—went beyond
o Honor rejected/minimized
Honor Anointed thing—
· Opens doors
Dishonor shuts doors
· We see it in the natural—in our personal lives
Some say—honor isn’t that important
· How many of you can remember a place in your life where there should have been honor—it’s missing
· Got dishonor instead
· How does that place FEEL??
· Dishonor can cause wound
o Pain
o Example—parents dishonoring children—never blessing
o Boss dishonors you at work
o Coach dishonors you on the team
o Friend dishonors you by calling everyone else to go to a party and they forget you.
People who have been marked by cycles of dishonor can spend their whole lives chasing honor
· Trying to make up for where honor was missing/lost in their lives.
o Spend whole lives wanting mom/dad to honor/bless
o May think they don’t deserve
· But HONOR is part of GOD’S nature
o Jesus—dignity—lepers/sinners
o Honor TOUCHES hearts—OPENS them
Honor tied to blessing
· Honor is a powerful tool that God created that was meant to be a part of how we relate to one another—and to him
· Malachi shows us that When it’s missing from our lives—when dishonor is in its place—we live with a
o Lack of blessing
o Pain caused
o CURSES our lives
DIShonor is at the core of some of the GREATEST pains in all of mankind:
· Dishonor between races
· One of the greatest pains in the human race
· Between sexes
· Between ages—old to young
o Young to old
· Rich to poor
· Married/unmarried
And dishonor between man and God
· Is the GREATEST break of all
· As we’ll see in a few moments as we look at scriptures within Malachi
Disclaimer
· Understand there can be ‘false honor’—counterfeit
· Bondage within Asian cultures—‘saving face’ to the point of wearing a mask—no humility/transparency
· Bondage
· But that is a perversion of honor
Just because some walk in excess/perversion/warping of honor
· Doesn’t eliminate the value . . .
· There is a beauty in honor
· Patti—China experience
o Something powerful within that culture—bowing
o Giving them your card
Israel’s issue
· They weren’t honoring God—weren’t honoring each other
· Caused a disconnect in the system
· They thought—I’ll deal with God through surface performance
· I’ll go to church—do my duty
· But in their hearts—honor had been lost
o And it was replaced with great DISHONOR of God in their lives
o And it had opened doors of pain/suffering for them as a people
o They were slipping on a slope to destruction
o And God sent the word through Malachi prophet to call them back to HIM
In reality—all of the sin within Malachi
· Can be tied to the ROOT of dishonor
· And all the blessings/provision/protection/amazing KEYS that God reveals in Malachi
· Can be RELEASED into our lives through the privilege of living a life that honors Him
o Honor opens the door to the blessing
o Dishonor opens the door (according to Malachi) to the CURSE on our lives.
· That’s the reality
How did Israel Dishonor the Lord?
· Where were their wires disconnected/crossed?
Not bringing Him their best 1:6-8
6 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!
“But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’
7 “You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar.
“Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?*’
“You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect. 8 When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn’t that wrong? And isn’t it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
Unpack
· Sacrifice your best—I’ll pour IN my best
· Are you bringing Him your BEST?
· Worship? Leftovers—or best?
· Serving—best?
Dishonoring the Name of the Lord
· 1:11;
11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. [1]
6 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!
“But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’
· Develop
· Name Revealed WHO He is
o Jehovah Nissi—Shalom—Rophe—Ramah
o Yaweh—I am that I am
o God—No vowels—Cherishing His name
o Swearing vs. reverence
Ever notice
· In Worship—no Sweeter name
· Yahweh—why so powerful?
· Name EXALTED—highly lifted up—to be HONORED
·
How did dishonoring God affect Israel?
· Chapter 2:2—cursed Blessings
2 If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me. [2]
· Unpack that
· Need to set heart to HONOR His name—develop
· Curse your Blessings?!?!
o Tied to honor
o Tied to His name
o ‘Not set your heart to HONOR me’—tied to NAME
o Need to set HEART to Honor HIM—His NAME
§ Have you discovered the treasure of honoring His name?
§ I encourage you—EXPLORE the amazing beauty of honoring/worshipping/meditating on His beautiful name
· 2:2
2 If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.
3 “Because of you I will rebukea your descendantsb;
[3]
· Develop
Dishonoring RELATIONSHIPS
· Marriage covenant 2:15
15 Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring.c So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. [4]
· Dishonoring COVENANT with others
o Hurts our lives
o Relationships matter to God
o
NOT Just marriage relationships
· Relationships in the BOC
o Are you HONORING relationships?
o Are you honoring others?
o Is dishonor happening in your lives
o Unforgiveness
o Dishonor
o Develop
· Dishonoring the generations—godly offspring
o Dishonor destroys generations
o Lie of ‘it’s about me’—divorce element
Honoring the name of the Lord
· Develop
Honoring authority
· Warped places in BOC/world
· Not God’s heart
· Yet—Bible clear about honoring authority
· Spiritual authority
o Some afraid/warped—understand
o Men/women of God not always portrayed God’s heart on this
o But can’t let sin set the agenda!!
o There is a covering/protection in honoring godly authority
· Weak leader test
Goes both directions!!!!
· For leaders—weak sheep test
o God puts someone under you that grates on your nerves
o Called to LOVE
Honor opens doors
· Scriptures
· Whoso offers praise glorifies me
Honoring the Lord’s day
· Coming together
Honoring His people/one another
· No greater sense of pain than seeing injustice
· No greater sense of joy—watching honor restored
o ‘Amazing Grace’—William Wilberforce
o God wants to reveal to you places in your life where honor has been missing/robbed
o Reconciliation/restoration
Watching the power of honor restored
· Testimony/Illustration
Question
· Are you bringing God your best—or the leftovers?
· Is the Name of the Lord honored
· Are you honoring RELATIONSHIPS?
----
* As in Greek version; Hebrew reads defiled you?
[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Mal 1:10-11). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Mal 2:2). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Or cut off (see Septuagint)
b Or will blight your grain
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Mal 2:2-3). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
c Or But the one who is our father did not do this, not as long as life remained in him. And what was he seeking? An offspring from God
[4]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Mal 2:15). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.