Cheerfully Bringing To The Storehouse Series

Cheerfully bringing to the storehouse

Malachi chapter 3:6-18

Introduction-

I will be here 5 years in July and this is the first message I will give on giving or tithing. What it means to give an offering. Noone can ever accuse me of always asking for money. The offering has already been taken, so relax, I won’t take another one today.

Illustration

A wealthy old gentlemen had just recently married a lovely young lady, and was beginning to wonder whether she might have married him for his money. So he asked her, tell me the truth, if I lost all my money, would you still love me? Oh honey, don’t be silly, of course I would still love you. And I would miss you terribly.

Illustration

Ann Landers had an interesting letter in her column. It was from a girl who was writing about her aunt and uncle. She said, my uncle was the tightest man I’ve ever known. All his life, every time he got paid he tool 20 dollars out of his paycheck and put it under his mattress. Then he got sick and was about to die. As he was dying, he said to his wife, I want you to promise me one thing. Promise you what? I want you to promise me that when I die that you will take my money from under the mattress and put it in my casket so I can take it all with me. He died , and his wife kept her promise. She went in and got all that money the day he died and went to the bank and deposited it, wrote out a check and put it in the casket.

Let’s get to the background of the text. Background- Malachi is a collection of prophecies, a collection of warnings, and a call to holiness.

Call to worship- As he talks about sacrifices and tithing. Because as you will see, giving is actually a form of worship. Some churches actually clap as the offering is being taken to show that they are cheerfully giving to the Lord.

Call to service- (purity) He attacks the priests that are corrupt and misleading God’s people.

Call to relationships- purity of marriage, hatred of divorce, and his warning for adultery.

You see I’m going to look at giving, but truthfully in context we will have to talk about the other things also. I guess this would fit in the series I did a while ago on Faith that works . Because giving is apart of our faith. You put your faith in God and are obedient to what God word says or you are tight-fisted and hold back and trust that you can do it yourself. The thread in the book of Malachi is “If you will trust me and be obedient, I will give you far more blessings than you yourself can muster up for your life. Israel has again walked away from God. They have corrupted the temple. The priest were far from God. Their lifestyle was against God’s Word. Their worship was self-centered. They allowed idols into their homes and it polluted their walk with God. God says there will be a calling out. Judgement day is coming. He will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. Giving is an indication of what is going on in your heart.

Malachi 3:6-18 (last book in the Old Testament)

God really get’s right to the point doesn’t He? When we don’t give our tithes and offerings to God, we are robbing Him. That is not what I think, that is the Word of God. Rest easy this morning, I am not asking for a show of hands, and I have not pulled everyone records to look at, but if you are not doing it, you are robbing God by not being obedient to His Word.. (v8)But you ask me how do we rob you? In tithes and offerings. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Test me in this, says the Lord almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” Right away everyone want to get technical on weather it is on the gross or the net. Well, the average according to the Barna group is that only 2.7 % of Christians give 10 %. So pick one and start somewhere.

John Wesley

Get all you can, save all you can, give all you can.

Martin Luther

I have tried to keep things in my hands and lost them all. But when I have given it into God’s hands I still possess it.

Cory Ten Boom

I don’t want to have to have God pry my fingers off of something he has given me”