John 3:16,Malachi 3:6-10
God gives lovingly and sacrificially. Let’s look at Mark 10: 45. "For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." God gave to the point that he gave his only son and when you look at life from Jesus' perspective he gives up all the privilege and riches of what it means to be a member of the godhead and becomes a human, not only a human he becomes a servant, not only a servant but a servant who is willing to die and not only one who dies, but one who dies the most humiliating and painful kind of death on the cross. It cost Jesus something to love. It cost him something to give to us. That's a characteristic of God; that God gives sacrificially. And so that means that if we are going to give like God, it means that we are called to giving beyond what's merely convenient and comfortable; whether it be of our time, whether it be of our skills and ways we can help things or whether it be of our money.
Tithing
Robbery is a pretty serious charge. Only murder and rape would be considered worse crimes in our culture. It’s one of the Ten Commandments. There are several types of robbery. There is forceful robbery where someone uses a weapon and threatens the victim. There are also more passive methods. Embezzlement is robbery. Over the last few years the crime of identity theft has cropped up. Robbery can also come in the form of cheating. Robbery is a very serious charge.
I. Robbing GOD.
The first thing that Malachi tackles is the robbing of God. Robbing God is not something to be taken lightly. We rob God, when we deny him what is rightfully his. We deny him what is rightfully his when we withhold our tithe from him. The tithe is defined as 1/10, or 10%, of our income. We say, “Hey, I worked hard for that money. I have bills to pay.” The truth is that all of it is God’s to begin with. He allows us to have the income, and it is our act of thankfulness that we give back to him a mere 10% of what he gave us.
Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” God owns the entire world to begin with. We are merely tenants on his land. The very least we can do is offer a part of what we gain to God, since he gave it to us to begin with. In verse 8, we find…
A. The CLAIM of God.
God levels a very serious charge in verse 8. He asserts that the Israelites were robbing him by the withholding of tithes and offerings.
Now, to set the stage a little here, let’s get some background information about the times in which Malachi lived. The Jewish people had just returned from captivity in Babylon, which is modern day Iraq. They had been gone for 70 years. The land was in ruins. The Temple was destroyed. The city of Jerusalem lay in ruins. It was a desolate land. Work was scarce. Money was in short supply. Poverty ruled the day. Here was a group of destitute people, who were struggling to provide food, shelter and clothing for their families. They had almost nothing. To top it all off, there was drought in the land, so the crops weren’t growing. It was awful.
Into this type of problems God says, “You are robbing me.” Can’t God see that these people have nothing? They are scrounging for food wherever they can find it. They can’t pay the rent. They can’t buy new sandals for the kids. They can’t buy enough grain to make a decent loaf of bread. God says, “You are robbing me.” The argument comes back, “I can’t afford to give anything.” Have you ever heard that claim? Have you ever made that claim? The truth is that no matter what our level of income or wealth, God expects us to give back to him a portion of what he has given us. They didn’t have much, but they had something. In verse 9, we find…
B. The CRITICISM of God.
Verse 9 is an interesting verse. It says, “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.”
Sometimes that word “curse” troubles us. We associate curses with witches and the like. We think of wizards and magic potion when we think of curses. There is a difference here. Those curses are intended to be harmful. They are malicious in nature.
What we have here is not God saying, “I don’t like those people over there, so I am going put a curse on them.” This is a matter of consequences. The consequence of their actions is what this is talking about. There are consequences when we do things. If I beat my head against the wall, the consequence will be a headache or faint. The consequence of their actions, or inaction, was that they received less and less.
If at your job, you continue to give less and less effort, you will receive less and less in the way of pay. You may even lose your job. I have seen that happen to people. They just quit giving effort on the job. They get bad reviews and no pay raise. They ultimately either quit or get fired. There are consequences to our actions.
The consequence of failing God is that he removes his hand of blessing from our lives. Their poverty deepened because they were unfaithful to God. Partial faithfulness is also being unfaithful. If I am faithful to my wife 364 days per year, I am still unfaithful. Those that were unfaithful were ruining it for the whole nation. The second thing is…
II. Robbing the CHURCH.
The Church is robbed. God is God, and, as the Bible says, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. God doesn’t need our money to be God, but the Church needs the money to be the Church.
In order to fulfill the mission of the Church, there has to be some financing behind it. The church has to pay for its needs (plot, build, musical instruments etc. We in the first phrase of verse 10…
A. The CALL of God.
The call of God here is quite simple. He says, “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” The storehouse is the center of God’s activity. At the time Malachi wrote this, it was the Temple. Now, it is the Church. The storehouse is the Church.
There is some confusion about which storehouse we should give to. I believe you give to the church where you are being fed. You pay for dinner where you are fed. You tithe to the church where you are fed spiritually. God calls us to support his ministry on earth.
Jesus has charged the church to go into all the world and preach the Good News. Part of our duty, in addition to supporting the concerns of the local church, is to provide for missions. In addition to providing spiritual food for the local church, we are charged to provide spiritual food for those who don’t enjoy the privileges that we have. Also in the first part of verse 10, we find…
B. The CHALLENGE of God.
God challenges his people to support the work of the Lord. Remember that these people to whom Malachi was talking were mired in desperate poverty, and yet they are challenged to rise above that and provide for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. God is issuing them a challenge.
God gives lovingly and sacrificially. Let’s look at Mark 10: 45. "For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." God gave to the point that he gave his only son and when you look at life from Jesus' perspective he gives up all the privilege and riches of what it means to be a member of the godhead and becomes a human, not only a human he becomes a servant, not only a servant but a servant who is willing to die and not only one who dies, but one who dies the most humiliating and painful kind of death on the cross. It cost Jesus something to love. It cost him something to give to us. That's a characteristic of God; that God gives sacrificially. And so that means that if we are going to give like God, it means that we are called to giving beyond what's merely convenient and comfortable; whether it be of our time, whether it be of our skills and ways we can help things or whether it be of our money.
The third
way of looking at the way God gives. God
gives willingly and to reflect on that let's go to Romans 8: 32. "If
God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave
him up for us all. How will he not also along with him graciously give us all
things?" If God is for us, who can be against us? Why is God for us?
Is it because of something that we did? Are we forcing this on God in any way
whatsoever? No. God is for us because he
chooses willingly, freely to be for us and because God has chosen to be for us,
he has made a great sacrifice in love on our behalf by giving his own son and
if he has given to that extent already, how will he not also with him give us
everything else that we could possibly need? God chooses that position with
us. He chooses to give. And we too are given a choice. God doesn't force
anything like this on us. Jesus gave advice. Jesus taught. Jesus even gave
commands. But he never used the power of heaven to force somebody to do
something they weren't willing to do.
Tithing
Preachers
who talk about money are often accused of talking only about money. The fact is
that money is mentioned in the Bible, and as a preacher of the Word, we are
charged to preach the Word of God. I think that a preacher should preach on
subjects in proportion to what they are covered in the Bible. Doesn’t that
sound good? So, money and possessions should be preached on in proportion to
prayer in the same amount that both are mentioned in the Bible. There are some
500 references to prayer in the Bible, and there are 2,300 references to money
and possessions in the Bible. So, for every sermon preached on the subject of
prayer, 4.6 sermons would be preached on the subject of money and possessions.
For one Sunday sermon on prayer, there would be a month’s worth of sermons on
money and possessions.
I happen to think that prayer is a pretty important subject, and not many people
would object to a sermon or even a series of sermons on the subject of prayer.
With over four times as many references to money and possessions in the
scripture, I think that is a subject that merits our consideration, perhaps
even more than actually do. Why are we so afraid to talk about money? Perhaps
it’s because there are some TV preachers who have tainted our thinking about
money. They beg and plead with people to send in their money, and people who
can’t afford it do it. Perhaps it’s because the world sees the church as
greedy. They see some churches building huge cathedral type buildings while
people live in poverty down the block.
The truth is, however, that what the Bible says about money and possessions is related to who is number one in our life. Is God number one, or is the self number one? Consider that question as we look at our scripture passage today.
The truth is, however, that what the Bible says about money and possessions is related to who is number one in our life. Is God number one, or is the self number one? Consider that question as we look at our scripture passage today.
Malachi
3:6-10.
Robbery is a pretty serious charge. Only murder and rape would be considered worse crimes in our culture. It’s one of the Ten Commandments. There are several types of robbery. There is forceful robbery where someone uses a weapon and threatens the victim. There are also more passive methods. Embezzlement is robbery. Over the last few years the crime of identity theft has cropped up. Robbery can also come in the form of cheating. Robbery is a very serious charge.
I. Robbing GOD.
The first thing that Malachi tackles is the robbing of God. Robbing God is not something to be taken lightly. We rob God, when we deny him what is rightfully his. We deny him what is rightfully his when we withhold our tithe from him. The tithe is defined as 1/10, or 10%, of our income. We say, “Hey, I worked hard for that money. I have bills to pay.” The truth is that all of it is God’s to begin with. He allows us to have the income, and it is our act of thankfulness that we give back to him a mere 10% of what he gave us.
Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” God owns the entire world to begin with. We are merely tenants on his land. The very least we can do is offer a part of what we gain to God, since he gave it to us to begin with. In verse 8, we find…
A. The CLAIM of God.
God levels a very serious charge in verse 8. He asserts that the Israelites were robbing him by the withholding of tithes and offerings.
Now, to set the stage a little here, let’s get some background information about the times in which Malachi lived. The Jewish people had just returned from captivity in Babylon, which is modern day Iraq. They had been gone for 70 years. The land was in ruins. The Temple was destroyed. The city of Jerusalem lay in ruins. It was a desolate land. Work was scarce. Money was in short supply. Poverty ruled the day. Here was a group of destitute people, who were struggling to provide food, shelter and clothing for their families. They had almost nothing. To top it all off, there was drought in the land, so the crops weren’t growing. It was awful.
Into this type of problems God says, “You are robbing me.” Can’t God see that these people have nothing? They are scrounging for food wherever they can find it. They can’t pay the rent. They can’t buy new sandals for the kids. They can’t buy enough grain to make a decent loaf of bread. God says, “You are robbing me.” The argument comes back, “I can’t afford to give anything.” Have you ever heard that claim? Have you ever made that claim? The truth is that no matter what our level of income or wealth, God expects us to give back to him a portion of what he has given us. They didn’t have much, but they had something. In verse 9, we find…
B. The CRITICISM of God.
Verse 9 is an interesting verse. It says, “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.”
Sometimes that word “curse” troubles us. We associate curses with witches and the like. We think of wizards and magic potion when we think of curses. There is a difference here. Those curses are intended to be harmful. They are malicious in nature.
What we have here is not God saying, “I don’t like those people over there, so I am going put a curse on them.” This is a matter of consequences. The consequence of their actions is what this is talking about. There are consequences when we do things. If I beat my head against the wall, the consequence will be a headache or faint. The consequence of their actions, or inaction, was that they received less and less.
If at your job, you continue to give less and less effort, you will receive less and less in the way of pay. You may even lose your job. I have seen that happen to people. They just quit giving effort on the job. They get bad reviews and no pay raise. They ultimately either quit or get fired. There are consequences to our actions.
The consequence of failing God is that he removes his hand of blessing from our lives. Their poverty deepened because they were unfaithful to God. Partial faithfulness is also being unfaithful. If I am faithful to my wife 364 days per year, I am still unfaithful. Those that were unfaithful were ruining it for the whole nation. The second thing is…
II. Robbing the CHURCH.
The Church is robbed. God is God, and, as the Bible says, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. God doesn’t need our money to be God, but the Church needs the money to be the Church.
In order to fulfill the mission of the Church, there has to be some financing behind it. The church has to pay for its needs (plot, build, musical instruments etc. We in the first phrase of verse 10…
A. The CALL of God.
The call of God here is quite simple. He says, “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” The storehouse is the center of God’s activity. At the time Malachi wrote this, it was the Temple. Now, it is the Church. The storehouse is the Church.
There is some confusion about which storehouse we should give to. I believe you give to the church where you are being fed. You pay for dinner where you are fed. You tithe to the church where you are fed spiritually. God calls us to support his ministry on earth.
Jesus has charged the church to go into all the world and preach the Good News. Part of our duty, in addition to supporting the concerns of the local church, is to provide for missions. In addition to providing spiritual food for the local church, we are charged to provide spiritual food for those who don’t enjoy the privileges that we have. Also in the first part of verse 10, we find…
B. The CHALLENGE of God.
God challenges his people to support the work of the Lord. Remember that these people to whom Malachi was talking were mired in desperate poverty, and yet they are challenged to rise above that and provide for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. God is issuing them a challenge.
In his
second letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul wrote, “We want you to know, brothers, about the
grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a
severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty
have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave
according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their
own free will.” The churches in the region of Macedonia were poor, but they
gave generously. Paul wrote this to a rather wealthy church in the city of
Corinth.
I believe that is a challenge for us. We are wealthy. We may not be rolling in money, but compared to the rest of the world, we are wealthy. I believe God is challenging us to step up and step out on faith to support the work of his Kingdom.
In addition to robbing God and the Church, we are also…
III. Robbing OURSELVES.
By withholding our tithe, we not only rob God and the Church, we also rob ourselves. We rob ourselves of the blessings that God pours out on those that are faithful to him.
That doesn’t mean we give for the sole reason of getting. We don’t plop our money into the offering to buy a special favor from God. We can’t buy off God.
God does promise to supply the needs of his people who obey his commands. Tithing is as much a command as anything else, and God expects us to follow through on that command. He expects us to tell the truth. He expects us to be faithful to our spouse. He expects us to be kind and compassionate to others. He expects us to love him above everything else.
We rob ourselves of a vibrant relationship with God when we allow something to get in the way between him and us. If we value our money and possessions more than we value our relationship with God, then our relationship with God will naturally suffer.
We will lose fellowship with God if we don’t make him number one in our lives, even ahead of money. The issue of tithing really isn’t about money; it’s about commitment to God. It’s about our relationship with him. When we fail in that commitment to him, we rob ourselves of a complete relationship with him.
This basically comes down to our attitude of who owns what. If we believe that we own all we have, then we will have a stingy attitude toward God. If we realize that God owns all that I have, then we will gratefully give to him out of a heart of love. The question is, “Who owns your possessions, bank account, and even your very life?” We have no control over our possessions, money or life. Our house might burn down tomorrow. Our life may be taken at any time. The truth is that we don’t own ourselves, much less the stuff we possess. God owns it all. He gave us what we have. It’s all a matter of our attitude toward what we have and who we are.
Conclusion
The great thing about this passage is the last half of verse 10. It says, “And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more.”
God wants us to put him to the test. How many times do we hear claims from people and we think, “Ya, prove it”? God is saying, “I’ll prove it to you.” God is saying put me to the test. God promises to be faithful to those who are faithful to him.
If you don’t tithe, and you are still a little skeptical, I am going to issue a challenge to you. If you start tithing faithfully, and after three months of faithful tithe, God isn’t blessing you, just stop tithing. How many thought you would ever hear a pastor say that? I believe that if you faithfully and cheerfully tithe, God will supply what you need. I’m not promising that he’ll give you a new car or anything like that, but I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that he will supply what you need. Will you do that?
I believe that is a challenge for us. We are wealthy. We may not be rolling in money, but compared to the rest of the world, we are wealthy. I believe God is challenging us to step up and step out on faith to support the work of his Kingdom.
In addition to robbing God and the Church, we are also…
III. Robbing OURSELVES.
By withholding our tithe, we not only rob God and the Church, we also rob ourselves. We rob ourselves of the blessings that God pours out on those that are faithful to him.
That doesn’t mean we give for the sole reason of getting. We don’t plop our money into the offering to buy a special favor from God. We can’t buy off God.
God does promise to supply the needs of his people who obey his commands. Tithing is as much a command as anything else, and God expects us to follow through on that command. He expects us to tell the truth. He expects us to be faithful to our spouse. He expects us to be kind and compassionate to others. He expects us to love him above everything else.
We rob ourselves of a vibrant relationship with God when we allow something to get in the way between him and us. If we value our money and possessions more than we value our relationship with God, then our relationship with God will naturally suffer.
We will lose fellowship with God if we don’t make him number one in our lives, even ahead of money. The issue of tithing really isn’t about money; it’s about commitment to God. It’s about our relationship with him. When we fail in that commitment to him, we rob ourselves of a complete relationship with him.
This basically comes down to our attitude of who owns what. If we believe that we own all we have, then we will have a stingy attitude toward God. If we realize that God owns all that I have, then we will gratefully give to him out of a heart of love. The question is, “Who owns your possessions, bank account, and even your very life?” We have no control over our possessions, money or life. Our house might burn down tomorrow. Our life may be taken at any time. The truth is that we don’t own ourselves, much less the stuff we possess. God owns it all. He gave us what we have. It’s all a matter of our attitude toward what we have and who we are.
Conclusion
The great thing about this passage is the last half of verse 10. It says, “And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more.”
God wants us to put him to the test. How many times do we hear claims from people and we think, “Ya, prove it”? God is saying, “I’ll prove it to you.” God is saying put me to the test. God promises to be faithful to those who are faithful to him.
If you don’t tithe, and you are still a little skeptical, I am going to issue a challenge to you. If you start tithing faithfully, and after three months of faithful tithe, God isn’t blessing you, just stop tithing. How many thought you would ever hear a pastor say that? I believe that if you faithfully and cheerfully tithe, God will supply what you need. I’m not promising that he’ll give you a new car or anything like that, but I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that he will supply what you need. Will you do that?
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