Our Priestly Commitment to Scripture Pastor Chris Baker //11.17.19 // Centralia FBC

Intro

Please, take your and turn with me to 2, where we'll read verses 1-9 shortly.

You'll remember Malachi is speaking into a unique time in the history of God's people. They've come back to from exile in Babylon. The walls of the city have been restored, the temple has been rebuilt, the priesthood has been restored, and the worship of God renewed.

This should be a time of celebration. Instead, though, it didn't take us long in our study to find out the spiritual temperature of God's people in Malachi's day was remarkably cold. This is the final prophet, the last voice from God for 400 years to the nation of . From the time Malachi stopped preaching until the time John the Baptist started, God had no prophet in Israel.

So it tells us much that Malachi's message begins with the love of God. The first few verses present us the booming reminder of a God who's sovereign love for his people never falters. "I have loved you" is the declaration of 1:2. Despite all your disobedience, despite all your failure, despite your open rebellion against me, and failure to acknowledge me as God, I still love you. And that sets the tone for the whole book. It starts with love. It starts on the most positive note it possibly could, which is great because the rest of it is tough. It's not less love, but it's still tough. It's mom love, not grandmother love.

Last week, we saw at the end of chapter 1, God's rejection of Israel's empty worship. Their half-hearted offerings of praise and their blatant disregard for the standard of worship outlined in the law caused God to declare He'd rather see them close up the temple and go home than worship him with half of their hearts.

Their spiritual apathy merited a grave warning and, somewhat terrifyingly, I'll admit, revealed much about our own wandering hearts. Today, we'll see the foundation of that apathy. The first problem was that Israel had forgotten God's love for them, which led to not just a lack of worship externally, but also a failure to embrace God's truth internally. Their broken worship was an outgrowth of their broken theology.

Let's see that in Malachi 2:1-9 as we read together:

Read

1 Pray

This is a hard word, Church. I firmly believe in expository preaching, and this is one of those texts that we wouldn't be in if not for a commitment to consecutive exposition. I mean, we have a guest here today. And here we are talking about God spreading poo on the faces of His priests.

This is one of the most scathing indictments of God's people in all of Scripture. And it stems from a failure to handle God's Word correctly.

Now, verse one directs this indictment to the priests. So we're all off the hook, right?

We don't have priests. The priestly office in the life of God's people went away after Christ's resurrection. There were two functions the priests carried out—they led in worship at the temple, administering sacrifices on behalf of the people. And they taught the people of God from the Word of God, in their day the Law of .

There are no priests in the New Testament church. Once the church is established after the resurrection, we don't see priests. We do see two offices of church leadership, though.

The first deacons are called in Acts 6. The men appointed to that office are, according to the text, men of good reputation and full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. They are the chief servants of the local church, and their qualifications are spelled out in 1 Timothy 3:8-13.

The other office of the local church prescribed in the New Testament is the office of elder, or pastor, or bishop, or overseer. Depending on what text you're looking at and what translation of the you're reading, this one role is described with a number of different words. These were the spiritual shepherds of the local church. Their primary function according to Paul in Ephesians 4 is to 12 equip(ping) the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness. You can find their qualifications also in 1 Timothy 3.

The norm in the early church seems to have been that each local congregation was served by both elders and deacons. But there are no priests. Then, do the words in Malachi 2 no longer apply at all?

I certainly believe they apply. And to understand how they apply directly to me and you, we need to get, perhaps, a clearer picture of why there's no longer a need for a man to fulfill that priestly role in the New Testament church.

We no longer need anyone to stand between us and God. The reason for this is that Christ himself has become a permanent priest on our behalf. 2 Hebrews 7:24 But because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.

Christ is now the one and only priest between us and God. The reason for this is that his sacrifice was final. The priests stood in front of God on behalf of His people, and they offered sacrifices continually to make a symbolic atonement for the sins of the people.

Now, the sins of God's people have been atoned for once-and-for-all. The priest crawled onto the alter and sacrificed Himself.

That's the gospel. We've all sinned against a good and holy God. The Bible tells us the penalty for that sin is death, but instead of taking our lives, God gave His own. If we repent of our sins and follow Jesus Christ in faith, we will be saved. Jesus, the one who gave His life, is now our high priest. He stood between us and God once-and-for-all.

We just sang this truth earlier. Remember the words of Before the Throne of God Above:

A great High Priest whose name is love

Who ever lives and pleads for me

My name is graven on His hands

My name is written on His heart

I know that while in heav'n He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart

I'm so thankful, by the way, that God has inspired men and women over the years to write songs that help us express both our emotion for what God has done and to declare the truth He gives us in His Word, aren't you?

One scholar said, "Show me a church's songs, and I'll show you their theology." (https:// www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/gods-lyrics/)

By the way, I know the content of our Sunday morning songs has changed a bit over the past 18 months, and I want to thank you for growing with us together in that. Danelle and I have been working hard as we plan services to ensure everything we do in this time is the best reflection of how Scripture teaches the

3 gathered church to worship. We want to sing songs that declare God's glory as we see it in Scripture, nothing more and nothing less.

Worship leader Bob Kauflin wrote, God didn't intend that music supersede the Word or that music undermine the Word. He gave us music to serve the Word. When that relationship is understood and appreciated, music becomes a powerful gift from God that complements, supports, and deepens the impact of the words we sing. (https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/words-of-wonder-what- happens-when-we-sing)

We sang of Christ our high priest this morning and we're pointed to His finished work on our behalf through the text.

That is why we no longer need anyone standing in front of God on our behalf; in fact we have God active and at work inside us through His Holy Spirit. That one function of the priesthood has been wholly rendered obsolete by the cross.

But what about the other function? The priests delivered the Word of God by instructing His people from His Word, or at least they were supposed to.

We read verse 7 earlier: For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should desire instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Armies.

In other words, the priests were teachers. This part of their ministry is continued in the church of the New Testament.

That's one of the primary responsibilities, if not THE primary responsibility, of elders or pastors in the local church.

Titus 1:9 says that an elder must hold(ing) to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.

Protecting the Biblical integrity of the ministry of the local church is one of the most important things anyone in an elder or pastoral role does on a regular basis. Folks, if we ever depart from sound Biblical teaching, we've lost our way.

But a commitment to sound doctrine is not just limited to the elders. The ability to teach the Word of God doesn't stop with the elders, or with the deacons, or with the Sunday School teachers.

Listen to 1 Peter 2:9

4 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises

We, all those in the family of God, are called a royal priesthood. Remember, we no longer have anyone standing between us and God. We have access through the Holy Spirit. And as a kingdom of priests, we now have some priestly responsibilities. There's an often overlooked phrase in the great commission I want to draw your attention to:

19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

We get "go", we get "make disciples", we get "baptizing", or at least I hope we do. But we can't forget that next phrase. Teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. It is the responsibility of every Christian to know Scripture sufficiently to be able to teach another person how to live a life that honors God.

That's the commitment the priests had taken for granted in Malachi 2.

They had lost their commitment to sound doctrine. And here's what's really terrifying about this text for me. It's not the smearing animal feces verse. It's the fact that at one time, the priests understood this commitment. They lived it. But at some point along the way, they lost it.

From verses 4-7, God points the priests to three commitments that they once embodied. Three commitments to build our lives on the foundation of God's truth. And we're going to hone in on those three commitments for the next few minutes because I think we can learn a lot from them, too.

Look with me again starting in verse 4:

4 Then you will know that I sent you this decree, so that my covenant with may continue," says the Lord of Armies. 5 "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. (Duty) 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity and turned many from iniquity(Devotion). 7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should desire instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Armies. (Doctrine)

The covenant here is probably pointing us back to Numbers 25. This is where Phinehas, Aaron's grandson, is praised for his faithfulness:

5 10 The Lord spoke to Moses, 11 "Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with my zeal, so that I did not destroy the Israelites in my zeal. 12 Therefore declare: I grant him my covenant of peace. 13 It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his future descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites."

Phinehas made a radical stand for God's truth in a moment where Israel had again drifted away. The first commitment, the one embodied by Phinehas, was a commitment to his duty as a man of God.

At their best, it's a commitment the priests took extremely seriously. In Exodus 32, the disobedience of Israel reaches one of its high points. Moses was taking too long on the mountain so the people decided God had abandoned them. So they made a golden calf to worship, just like the Egyptians would have had.

When he witnessed it with his own eyes, Exodus 32:19 tells us Moses became enraged. Moses was so committed to God that what enraged God enraged Him. I don't know about you, but my fear is that I'm enraged more often by things that are personal offenses against Chris and not personal offenses against God.

But in this moment, Moses was so enraged that the people were stealing God's worship that he had them grind up the golden calf, put it in the water, and made the people drink it. Commitment to the truth of God is a serious matter. In fact, it's a life and death matter. Listen to the next section of Exodus 32:

26 And Moses stood at the camp's entrance and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me." And all the Levites gathered around him. 27 He told them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.'" 28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people. 29 Afterward Moses said, "Today you have been dedicated to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today."

The Levites, the tribe who became the priests of Israel, carried out God's judgment and because they did so there were called blessed. The priests in Malachi's day had forgotten this duty. I fear that we, too, take way too lightly our duty to know God and to worship Him.

We may struggle with seeing this side of God laid out before us in the text. It's scary. But isn't that part of the point? These priests had lost their fear of God, their reverential awe of Him.

6 Malachi's message to Israel was a message of warning. This is a lifesaving measure. Sometimes, to save a life, you have to cause pain. Sometimes, when performing chest compressions during CPR, a first responder might actually break bones. I read something once that struck me in a CPR training manual:

The reality is that cracked bones are a minimal injury that completely heal within a few weeks. That's a small price to pay when compared with the loss of life, and that's why CPR instructors and those who've performed CPR can attest to the fact that it's always worth it to continue performing CPR, even if you're sure you've cracked the victim's sternum or ribs. (https://www.cprconsultants.com/is-it- true-that-ribs-can-break-during-cpr/)

Malachi is pointing Israel back to this time when the priestly tribe took extreme measures to perform their duty. We, as God's people, are duty-bound to build our lives around His truth. It's not optional.

And we show evidence that we understand that duty by living out our devotion. The duty is outward and it grows out of an inward devotion to the things of God.

Look at verse 6 again:

6 True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity and turned many from iniquity

True instruction is only found in the Word of God, and without it, we can't hope to walk in peace and integrity and to turn away from iniquity.

The word we translate as "true instruction" here is Torah—literally their word for the Bible. Bible was in his mouth. If we're to build our lives on the foundation of God's truth, then we have to know Scripture. We have to speak Scripture.

We cannot walk in peace if we do not know the way of peace, and the way of peace is only found in Scripture. The foundation for everything that we are as a person and everything that we do with our lives is found in the Bible. That was true of the priests at one point, but not in Malachi's day.

I wonder, is it true of us? Do we root the way we talk in Scripture? That doesn't mean that we speak in King James English. But it does mean that the way we speak is going to be changed. We're not going to slander one another—or really anyone—with the words that we say. Ephesians 4:

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

7 Only such as is good for building up. Gang, we're entering an election year. It might be helpful if you just get that verse tattooed on your arm, ok?

Our devotion is displayed by what we say and, according to verse 6, how we walk. In peace and integrity. Peace with others and integrity before God. Our devotion is evidenced by our character.

Sometimes, even folks outside the church pick up on that.

The great John Wooden once said: "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are…the true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching." (https:// medium.com/thrive-global/the-midnight-workout-d870c24305b0)

Faith that walks and talks only comes from a heart that is truly committed to treasuring the doctrine of God.

7 For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should desire instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of Armies.

The idea that God's people are to guard sound doctrine is found all over the Bible:

But you are to proclaim things consistent with sound teaching. Titus 2:1

Jude 1:3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.

16 Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Tim 4:16

13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1:13

One of the fastest ways we as a church can fall apart is if we quit growing together in our knowledge of God's Word. It's imperative that as a believer you're regularly studying Scripture. In fact, I'd be so bold as to say you are simply not going to grow as a disciple unless the study of God's word becomes a regular part of your routine.

If we abandon our duty as God's people, our devotion to Him, and to knowing His doctrine, then we're at risk of these very same indictments God had against Israel.

8 That's what happened in Malachi's day. The priests disobeyed God and distracted His people.

2 "Therefore, this decree is for you priests: If you don't listen, and if you don't take it to heart to honor my name," says the Lord of Armies, "I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already begun to curse them because you are not taking it to heart.

8 "You, on the other hand, have turned from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have violated the covenant of Levi," says the Lord of Armies. 9 "So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people because you are not keeping my ways but are showing partiality in your instruction."

Everything flies wildly out of balance when we lose the centrality of Scripture. The proper order is that God's people disciple their children and make disciples of the lost and dying world around them.

Yet, because of their disobedience verse three tells us the next generation will suffer and instead of being a light to the lost we are now despised and humiliated before them. If we lose the Bible, we lose the point.

Statistically, we're never more than a generation away from being a dead church. We have to ingrain the Bible into our families. I'm not a hunter, but one thing I love about November is seeing the pictures of families participating in hunting together.

It's not that we're bad at passing things onto the next generation. It's just that sometimes we're bad at passing the most important things along to the next generation. We desperately need families who make commitments to teach Scripture to their children. Not just the morality of the Bible, but the Bible itself.

That's one of the takeaways from this text. The Bible should be the center of our family decision making process. How do we spend our time? There are a million ways, but the Bible gives them all definition. How are you teaching your kids to live the Great Commission at school? On the basketball court? On the wrestling mat? In the tree stand? Yes, all those things are activities the Bible speaks to. In fact, without Scripture all those actives are meaningless.

Let me give you a couple of more quick takeaways as we think about how to apply this text.

First, Godly leadership is paramount in the local church. The entire nation of Israel was led astray by a handful of corrupt priests. We're a congregational church. There are mechanisms in place to hold me and our other leaders to a high Biblical standard. If me or any of our other leaders fail to meet that standard we should take action.

9 I don't mean if I fail to live up to your preferences or non-biblical expectations. I, quite frankly, don't lose a lot of sleep over those things. I wish I was funnier, too. I wish I preached shorter sermons, too. I also with I was better looking, but we don't always get what we want.

But when there's a clear doctrinal issue—when someone in leadership—be it a pastor, staff member, deacon, Sunday School teacher, or youth leader is openly teaching error or living in error—the loving thing to do is provide Biblical correction.

Godly leadership is paramount in the local church at every level.

Second, you need an all-out commitment to knowing an applying Scripture in your life. This book should be in your life everyday. You should be actively memorizing it, learning more about it, and trying with every fiber of your being to mold your life around it.

For a lot of you, that's going to require you to repent of not handling it that way and overcoming your guilt. Guilt is one of the primary weapons Satan uses to cripple Gods people. You've tried to study the Bible before and for whatever reason you've fallen out of the habit. Forgive yourself. God has, if you've repented. Forgive yourself and commit to do better tomorrow than you did yesterday.

This text is a warning. We get the opportunity here to learn from Israel's mistakes. There's an old quote that no one knows who said first. It's attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt and about half a dozen other people. But, it's great.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.

Israel did not take God's Word seriously enough. Church, let's resolve with the help of the Holy Spirit and one another not to follow in their footsteps.

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