"Come!
... Come! ... Come! ... Come!" (Revelation 6:1,3,5,7). The invitation
is clear. We are to come to the Lord. How are we to come to Him? If we
are to learn how we are to come to Him, we should learn also how we are
not to come to Him. Malachi 1 stresses that we are not to come to Him
with blemished sacrifices. Bringing such sacrifices shows contempt for
the Name of the Lord (Malachi 1:6-9). We are not to show contempt for
"the Lord's table" (Malachi 1:7). We are not to say of the Lord's table,
"It is defiled." We are not to say of the food of the Lord's table,
"It is contemptible." We are not come to the Lord's table, saying,
"What a burden!" (Malachi 1:12). This is no way to come to the Lord. We
are to come with "pure offerings", acknowledging the greatness of the
Lord's Name (Malachi 1:11). He is the "great King" whose "Name is to be
feared among the nations" (Malachi 1:14). The invitation comes from
"the Lamb" (Revelation 6:1,3,5,7). Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. He
is the pure Sacrifice. He has been slain for us. He is the foundation
of our worship. He is the basis on which we come to God the Father.
When we cry to God, "O Lord ... Listen to my cry for mercy" (Psalm
143:1), we come to Him in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we
plead His "faithfulness and righteousness" (Psalm 143:1), our attention
is fixed on the Cross of Christ. There, God's faithfulness and
righteousness are revealed to us. When, in our morning meditation, we
pray, "Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have
put my trust in You" (Psalm 143:8), we are looking, in faith, to the
Christ of Calvary from whom blessing flows to us. When we pray, "In
Your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am
your servant" (Psalm 143:12), we are seeking God's forgiveness and new
life and are committing ourselves to be His servants.
" ... Will you ... come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, We are safe" - safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears My Name become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 7:8-11). “God demands a conversion of the mind and heart as the basis of peace and security (cf. Is 26:3), not the superstitious veneration of a stone building or a traditionally sacred site” ( R K Harrison , Jeremiah ).
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