“The Importance of Reverence for God” August 20, 2006 Dr. Dane Boyles

Malachi1:6-13 6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. “It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

Malachi1:6-13 7 “You place defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?‘’ By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.

Malachi1:6-13 9 “Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”-says the LORD Almighty. 10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

Malachi1:6-13 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. 12 “But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, ‘It is defiled,’ and of its food, ‘It is contemptible.’

Malachi1:6-13 13 And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the LORD Almighty. “When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the LORD.

The Importance Of Reverence For God Malachi

What Reverence Means To reverence God is to treat Him as holy. The elements that make up reverence may be considered in various ways.

What Reverence Means Reverence may be thought of as “radical respect.” Reverence = respect + love. According to Mal 1:2, Irreverence is actually a refusal to acknowledge God’s love! Irreverence is “losing touch with the living God.”

One Important Reason We Must Show Reverence For God Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?” (Neh. 5:9). Nadab and Abihu lost their lives (Lev. 10:1-7).

One Important Reason We Must Show Reverence For God 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD , declares the Sovereign LORD , when I show myself holy through you before their eyes. (Ezek. 36:23)

Some Things We Cannot Do If We Truly Reverence God We cannot be indifferent to God. Our service to God must be “with reverence and godly fear” He is “a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:18-29). We cannot accommodate God to ourselves.

Some Things We Cannot Do If We Truly Reverence God We often attempt to domesticate God, to tame Him, to cut Him down to size. We work at fitting God to our lifestyle. Real reverence means fitting ourselves to God, not vice versa (Mk 8:34-38)

Some Things We Cannot Do If We Truly Reverence God We cannot confine God to one compartment of life. We put God in a box, confining Him to the “religious” part of our lives. To reverence God, however, is to make an unconditional commitment to Him and His will (Col. 3:17).

Some Things We Cannot Do If We Truly Reverence God We cannot mock God. We treat God with contempt when we act as if we can disregard His commandments with impunity. But reverence means taking God seriously when he says he will punish sin, even our own (Gal. 6:7,8).

Why Reverence Is So Important Irreverence is a sin that is terrible enough when considered by itself — but the fact is, it is the cause of many other sins. At the root of almost all our specific problems is the general problem that we just do not honor God as we should.

Why Reverence Is So Important Whatever specific sins may be in our lives, overcoming them almost always involves two basic things. Gaining a proper concept of the character of God.

Why Reverence Is So Important Properly relating ourselves to God’s true character. With respect to our relationship to God, there is no more fundamental concept than the reverence of God (Eccl. 12:13; 2 Cor. 7:1).

Why Reverence Is So Important 1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2 Cor 7:1)

The Importance Of Reverence For God If God’s will matters at all, it is all that matters. We need to “get real” — we need to “get basic” with God.

“The Importance of Reverence for God” August 20, 2006 Dr. Dane Boyles