50% Is Sin (Mal 2:1-9)

This morning was cold, genuinely cold. And when it gets cold and there is snow and my core body temp is seriously at risk, my brain goes incredibly strange. Try it brethren, 5am in the freezing cold! I know when I am reaching a stage of rank "craziness" when, like this morning, I pic up my bible to find Malachi and I can't believe its not next to Marks Gospel. You've got Matthew, Mark and then it goes to L! Ah yes.. the bible is not in alphabetical order and Malachi is in the Old Testement not the new. (The irony here before anyone points it out is that Malachi being the last book in the Old Testement does come right before Matthew in the order of books.)

When I eventually found it this morning Abi and I studied Malachi 2:1-9 where we find God rebuking his priests for being half hearted. Malachi is warning them, God is warning them about the danger they are in if they do not "set your heart to honour my name" (Mal 2:2) For a thinking person, this raises a question. Any half hearted interpretation of this text is going to say the following

If you don't read your bible, pray, and go to Church then watch out because God is going to smack you! He's going to curse you, and get you, so do the things you're meant to do or else you're in serious trouble.

That is legalism, that is NOT the gospel. And more than that, it is not what this passage is talking about. God was not warning the priests against forgetting to do their rituals. They were good at them. He is warning them about doing it half heartedly. Twice in v2 God mentions the sin of being half hearted. The priests were doing their work but they were not setting their heart towards God. And as a result you can see in v3-9 cursing a humiliation that the priests deserved because they were sinning in their attitude to what they are doing.

I am a married man, I take that responsibility seriously. I need too. So I am going to preach to myself here. And if any of my outworking works for anyone reading this then Hallelujah, I hope you can grow with me in this area. But the immediate application to me is this.

Jason, when you get up in the morning read the bible and pray. Start your day with the most important thing you can ever do. Go to God. Not out of tradition or legalism or because anyone who reads this blog will remind you of what you have said. Do it because you love Jesus. And when you wake Abi up, read and study with her. Pray with her. And comitt to be a pastor to your wife every day. Because she loves Jesus, and Jesus has given you the job of loving her like Christ loved the Church.

What is our motivation for being whole-hearted? It is almost a completely foolish question this one. Motivation should be something that comes naturally. As a "Church" worldwide, we seem to have lost the vital doctrine of regeneration. When we truly get saved, God does an immediate work. A work of giving us a new heart and new desires. We're babes still but we're at least alive. So as a Christian we need to be in a bad place not to realise that Jesus is the motivation. The gospel is our drive. We are whole-hearted people because we have a new heart that we want to give to the Lord.

I have been working for the past couple of days on an old sermon of mine, I am reworking in case I need to use it again in the near future at a different Church. The sermon was titled "the gospel is the hinge" and it was a study on a text in Titus. Personally, an incredible, life transforming truth. To look at it again has been a great pleasure for me and very humbling. It is a sad moment in my life that God can teach me this lesson every day and I seem to have forgotten it by a day later. As self righteous people we desperately want to do the "religion" thing rather than repentence, humility and sanctification (painful sanctification.) How often do I lose sight of this? Too often! And if you want to be a true friend to me, remind me about it often.

Another issue away from this passage that God has really spoken to me about today is selfishness. Selfishness as a husband particularly. But as I look back over my life, I have always been a selfish man. Selfish as a brother, selfish as a son, selfish as a husband. It doesn't matter what status I am at the time, I have always been selfish. It is the sinful nature's biggest trait and while by the grace of God I am waring and winning against it, it is something that we must take agressive action on it. If that is something you struggle with, then let me encourage you brother or sister that we are in the battle together.

Re:formation may have already set up their track listing for the debut album but I am always trying to write when I study the word, to produce more material that hopefully will be helpful and God honouring. Today I put together the rough little song called "Whole-Heartedly" which is a challenge to me, if noone else, that I need to be whole-hearted in my walk with the Lord.

Whole-heartedly
Music and Lyrics: Jason Ramsey

My heart is like a stone and plagued by sin
My worship and my words are paper thin
My heart is often far from what is true
Words seem false in the light of what I do
So as I come before my Holy God
Praising you that I have now been restored
Lord make me whole hearted in all I've done
Driven by the gospel of your Son

Sanctify me and make me yours
Make me live whole-hearted
Living for your glory
You took my sin, made me your own
Trusting in Christ alone
Living whole-heartedly

If you would be a true friend to me
Daily preach to me, this God given key
That I was saved by Jesus grace alone
And by that Grace he'll sanctify his own
If I fall and try to do it alone
Oh please would you come knock me off my throne
Magnify the grace of our God always
So we may magnify him all our days

Today's memory verse I am trying to learn is Romans 12:10. That is probably the most cutting and heart searching verse on the subject of selfishness I have ever read. Maybe it will help you too.

Your brother in Christ,

Jason Ramsey