Oct 2, 2022 Malachi 1:6-14
How to Combat Spiritual Apathy
1. God takes Himself very seriously, v. 6-7
2. Spiritual apathy is the state of not taking God seriously, v. 7
Despised means “to hold in contempt, to treat as lacking value; worthless.”
Progression towards spiritual apathy…
a) quitting- people quit something that was spiritually formative
b) experience- I never have experiences that others talk about
c) knowledge- don’t take time to learn the faith
d) indifference- I don’t care and it doesn’t bother me
e) calloused- I can’t feel things like I once did
f) comparison- I look at people who seem to be flourishing without God
g) avoidance- I begin to avoid things I once enjoyed and enjoy things I once avoided
3. God expects His people to take Him seriously as well, v. 8-10
“So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’”
Genesis 32:13-18
In despising the offerings three things were happening…
a) presence an offering is what allows sinful people to be in God’s presence
b) forgiveness- people made offerings to cover their sin, by despising the offerings they were despising their means of forgiveness
c) visible sign of the Christ who was to come- the offerings prepared people for God’s once for all offering of Jesus
4. Then starts now and there begins here, v. 11-16
“For from the rising of the sun...
Mental worship…
Does the way you worship God properly reflect who He really is?
Have you quit anything lately that you should restart?
What is the most weighted relationship in your life right now?
When is the last time you felt spiritually apathetic and how did it feel?
What would have to happen for God to be great in you?