The Spiritual Side of Giving
Text: Mal. 3:6-12
Introduction
1. Illustration: A new survey conducted by the Barna Research Group shows that...born again Christians are much more generous than the norm, but very few give 10% or more of their income - a proportion described in the Bible as a "tithe" - to their church. The survey confirmed that the admonition is rarely followed. One out of every six born again Christians (16%) gave no money to his/her church during 1999. The proportion who tithed to their church was just 8% (www.barna.org).
2. The concept is a simple one: God gives us everything we have and asks only 10% in return.
a. If we do, He promises to bless us so much, that we will not be able to contain it.
b. If we don’t, He tells us that we will be cursed.
3. Now if you were to ask most people if they want to be blessed they are going to say, "Well of course I do." Yet only 8% of Christians tithe.
4. In Malachi 3:6-12, we learn of God’s
a. Chastisement
b. Challenge
Proposition: Tithing is a matter of obedience, and God blesses us when we are faithful.
Transition: First, there is...
I. A Chastisement (6-9)
A. Have Not Changed
1. The context of this text, as is usually the case with the prophets, is that the nation of Israel has fallen under God’s judgment because of their sin and rebellion.
2. In addressing His people about the reason for the judgment the Lord says, “I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed."
a. One of the things that we know about God and His character is that He does not change.
b. Heb. 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
c. There are people here today that can remember when there was no internet, cable TV, satellite dishes, mp3 players, or compact discs.
d. We live in an ever-changing world, but we have a God who is constant and unchanging.
3. However, in this context this idea of God not changing takes on several different aspects.
a. Because God does not change, He has remained faithful to them even though they did not deserve it.
b. He remained faithful to them because He had made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
c. He had made a promise to their ancestors, and that is the only reason He had not destroyed them yet.
d. If it hadn’t been for His unchanging character, He would have already wiped them off the map.
e. Did you get the impression that the Lord is very unhappy?
4. On the other hand, the fact that God does not change also indicates that He will not continue to put up with their sin.
a. The Lord has never turned a blind eye to sin, and that will never change.
b. It was true in the Garden; it was true in the wilderness; and it is true today.
c. The Lord reminds them "I have not changed, and I never will."
d. The standards of our society may change, our standards may change, but God’s standards are always the same.
5. Another part of the problem, however, is that they have not changed either. The Lord tells them "Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them."
a. They have always been a stubborn, rebellious people.
b. They have always scorned the decrees of the Lord.
c. A decree is something that is prescribed, a rule, a regulation.
d. They have always disobeyed Him.
6. The great thing about God’s unchanging character is that He always has been, and always will be a God of forgiveness. He says, "Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies."
a. Illustration: "God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination." Saint Augustine
b. The word return, in essence, means to repent since to repent means "to turn around."
c. One of the great things about our God is that He is the God of the second chance.
d. He will always give us the opportunity to get it right.
e. They had sinned against the Lord, and now He was giving them the chance to get it right.
B. How Can We Return
1. But the problem is that they don’t think that they have done anything wrong.
2. They say to the Lord ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’
a. Their ignorance of their wrongdoing shows just how far they have fallen and reveals a lack of guilt (Verhoef, NICOT: Book of Malachi, 302).
b. Their response says, "Why should we repent when we have done anything to repent from?"
3. Therefore, the Lord makes it very clear to them what they have done. He says, “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!"
a. The word "cheat" or "rob" means "to defraud, or rob" (TWOT).
b. Stealing means not only taking what is not yours but also keeping back for yourself what belongs to someone else. (Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM).
c. Therefore, they were taking or holding back something that belonged to God.
4. However, they are still not convinced. They responded, "‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ And the Lord tells them “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me."
a. So what is a tithe?
b. The Hebrew word literally means "a tenth part."
c. In other words, if your make $500 a week, your tithe is $50 a week.
d. The practice of tithing goes back into ancient history.
e. Abraham practiced tithing in Genesis 14.
f. It was required by God under the Law of Moses.
g. Lev. 27:30 “One tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD and must be set apart to him as holy.
5. At the heart of tithing is the idea that God own everything, and everything that we have is because of Him.
a. Every breath that we take is because God gave it to us.
b. Every thing that we own is because God has provided us with a means to make a living.
c. If it wasn’t for God, we would have nothing.
6. Notice that the verse in Lev. 27:30 states that the tithe belongs to God.
a. It belongs to God and not to us.
b. To withhold it from Him is stealing from God.
c. Illustration: W.A. Criswell tells of an ambitious young man who told his pastor he’d promised God a tithe of his income. They prayed for God to bless his career. At that time, he was making $40.00 per week and tithing $4.00. In a few years, his income increased and he was tithing $500.00 per week. He called on the pastor to see if he could be released from his tithing promise, it was too costly now. The pastor replied, "I don’t see how you can be released from your promise, but we can ask God to reduce your income to $40.00 a week, then you’d have no problem tithing $4.00."
d. So are you saying that not paying your tithes is a sin? Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying.
7. In fact, the Lord goes on step further. He says, "You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me."
a. Not only is holding back your tithes from God a sin, but it puts you under a curse.
b. How can expect God to bless disobedience?
c. Tithing isn’t about money; it’s about obedience.
d. God cannot and will not bless us if we are not being obedient with our tithes and offerings.
Transition: However, God’s desire is to bless His people, so He offers us...
II. A Challenge (10-12)
A. Bring All the Tithes
1. The first part of the challenge is a command "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple."
a. The Hebrew verb used here is an imperative or a command (Verhoef, 306).
b. In other words, it’s not a suggestion; we don’t have an option.
c. There is a reason they are not called the Ten Suggestions!"
d. Also, notice that the command is to bring the entire tithe. Five percent won’t do it!
2. Now there are those who actually say, "But the New Testament doesn’t talk about tithing, therefore, I don’t have to tithe.
a. Oh really? Whoever says that has not read the New Testament very closely.
b. Matt. 23:23 You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
c. Here we have Jesus himself telling us to tithe. What else do we need?
3. The second part of the challenge says, "If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!"
a. Those two simple letters "i" and "f" form one of the most important words in the Bible.
b. This is what we call a conditional statement. If we do this, God will do that.
c. The Lord says if we will obey Him with our tithes, He will bless us beyond imagination.
4. He promises to bless us so much that we will not be able to take it all in.
a. God’s storehouse of blessing is unlimited, and the only limitation on God’s blessing is our ability to handle it all.
b. Now I don’t know about you, but I could use some more blessing today.
c. Now I don’t know about you, but the church could use some more blessing today.
d. Now I don’t know about you, but I would love to see the floodgates of heaven open up on us today.
5. The third part of the challenge is "Try it! Put me to the test!’
a. Usually, God doesn’t like to be tested, but that is when the test is our idea.
b. Here the test is His idea. He is saying "Go ahead; let me prove it to you."
c. Illustration: I heard a story of a missionary in Africa who received a knock on the door of his hut one afternoon. Answering, the missionary found a native boy holding a large fish in his hands. The boy said, "Reverend, you taught us what tithing is, so here. I’ve brought you my tithe." As the missionary gratefully took the fish, he questioned the boy. "If this is your tithe, where are the other nine fish?" At this, the boy beamed and said, "Oh, they’re still back in the river. I’m going back to catch them now."
d. Now that is putting God promise to the test.
B. All of the Nations Will Call You Blessed
1. Next, the Lord tells us what will happen if we accept His challenge.
2. He says, "Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease."
a. Keep in mind that the original hearers of this message were in an agricultural society, and so their crops were their basis for income.
b. However, the point is, if we take God up on His challenge He will prosper us no matter what our means of income may be.
c. He promises to bless and prosper us and take care of our every need.
d. Does that mean that we will all be millionaires and drive a Lexus because we don’t want to get our good car dirty? No, but God will provide!
3. He promises to protect our source of income from insects and disease.
a. The Hebrew word being used here is "he that eats" (Verhoef, 308).
b. God will not allow things that keep us from prospering to come in and eat up all we have grown.
c. The Bible tells us that the Devil came to steal, kill, and destroy.
d. However, if we take up God’s challenge, He will protect us from being eaten up.
4. In addition, He says, "Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,”
a. He promises us that what we put our hand to will succeed.
b. We won’t work for nothing.
c. Again, does this mean we will all be rich and live in an earthly mansion? No, but there are things that God blesses us with that cannot be measured with money.
d. Some of us will be rich in faith. Others will be rich in wisdom. You cannot put a price on these things.
5. Finally, He says, "all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,”
a. Illustration: There is a chorus to an old song that says, "Count your blessings name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God hath done. Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
b. However, the Lord says that if we take up His challenge to tithe, others will be able to count our blessings.
c. Other people will look at us and say, "The Lord sure has been good to you!"
d. Your house will be a place of blessing and peace.
e. Your life will be filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Transition: Take up God’s challenge and see if he won’t prove it to you.
Conclusion
1. It’s God’s challenge; it’s our choice.
a. We can be curse or...
b. We can be blessed
2. Some will say, "But Pastor I can’t afford to tithe." My response to that is: "Can you afford not to tithe?"
3. Will you take up God’s challenge? If you do:
a. God will bless you
b. God will prosper you
c. Others will call you blessed
4. God’s challenge is before us. How will you respond?
