"WHY HAVE YOU ROBBED ME?"
Mal. 3: 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
There is one subject in preaching that some people really take offense to, and it isn’t the subject of "sin" … or of Jesus’ 2nd coming … or "Hell" … it is money!
More people have worshipped money than any other idol or god.
There is no other thing in life that touches every area of our life more than money except God Himself.
It can be used for good or evil, it is necessity for life.
Jesus spoke about stewardship or money in 17 out of the 36 parables He gave.
The world has a bad attitude about money being given to God, you would kind of expect this, but many times it isn’t the unsaved that get bent out of shape when the subject of giving is brought up … it is people who know about God!
Most Christians agree that we should do something for God
The Bible teaches us that God takes seriously the use of money, that we cannot say we honor God with words but not with our wallet. Refusal to give to God is stealing from God and removes us from under many of God’s blessings. Worship INCLUDES the giving of our substance in recognition that God is the rightful owner of all things.
I. CIRRHOSIS OF THE GIVER! 3:8-9
3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
God begins with a QUESTION; To get Israel’s attention.
Israel had attempted to "steal" from God!
It is one thing to steal from man, but to rob God really takes guts!
But this is exactly the language God used about their failure to give to Him!
Their response to God’s charge is simply, "How have we robbed God?"
At the same time they were angry with God for not blessing them they were resistant to giving to God their tithes and offerings.
They didn’t like God withholding His blessings but they were withholding their giving to Him and didn’t see anything wrong with it!
God EXPECTS US TO PAY TITHES.
Why?
(1. Because it shows our submission to God’s ownership.
(2. It makes us realize that all we have comes from His hand, not our own cleverness and skills.
(3. Keeps us humble, we don’t own everything!
(4. It prevents us from worshipping "things."
Because I don’t want to have the Church cursed I will explain what tithes are.
Tithes are 10% of what your increase.
10 cents on a $1. $10 on $100, $100 on $1000.
Tithes are to be brought into the store house, not sent into some TV ministry.
Tithes are paid on what you make not on what you have left over.
Tithes are paid upon your salary, before taxes, insurance, Medicare,
MOST CHRISTIANS AGREE THIS IS PROPER FOR TITHES.
OFFERINGS are EXPECTED BY GOD. Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
God SETS THE TITHES.
YOU SET THE OFFERING.
5% tithes and 2% offerings and 3% missions are TITHES ONLY.
Someone told me if the pastor gets the tithe I will give MY TITHES in SUNDAY SCHOOL; my response was GOD’S TITHES were brought into the store house. SUNDAY SCHOOL WAS OFFERINGS.
Offerings are over and above tithes.
There are 3 ways an offering is accepted; God does not accept a TIP.
1. A willing mind. 2 Cor.8:12.
12 For if there be first a willing mind,
2. Gift according to what you have. it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
3. Out of Love. 2 Cor. 9:7Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
NOT GIVING IN THIS MANNER WILL CAUSE YOU AND THE CHURCH TO BE CURSED
3: Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Stinginess had put them under a curse … God’s choice of words, not mine!
Obedience brought the blessings, disobedience brought the curses.
The choice and quality of their life was literally depending on the choices they made concerning whether to obey the covenant or not.
Because they had chosen to disobey the covenant made with God they were now experiencing the curses … things could change however if they changed!
We blame God way too much for the troubles of our life, much of the kind of life we experience is up to us.
To "steal" from God was the worst choice they could make, they would gain nothing from keeping what belonged to God, in fact, they were actually losing out on God’s blessings!
This is a hard concept for some people to grasp … giving to God won’t leave you with less, in so many ways you gain!
God is always faithful to help those who obey His ways, and giving is one of His ways!
Israel had discovered that by taking away from God they were declining, not gaining.
ILLUS:
In the Middle East of the Old Testament era it was not uncommon to see an eagle swoop down and steal your sacrifice right off the altar while it was being burned. But, the eagle that did this was in for a big surprise when it returned to its nest to share the stolen sacrifice with its young. Usually, the stolen sacrifice had several hot coals clinging to it when it was quickly taken off the altar, hot coals that were stuck into the flesh as it was burning. These hot embers would continue clinging to the sacrifice as the eagle soared away with it flaming the coals into an even hotter burn. When the mother eagle would drop the sacrifice into its nest to feed its young the hot coals would quickly ignite the flammable material of the nest and her young would quickly be killed by the flames, and the nest which took so long to build would go up in smoke making it necessary for the mother to have to start all over again building another home, and raising another brood. Stealing a sacrifice off God’s altar that didn’t belong to them cost the home and lives of its chicks, it was not theirs to take
They were mad at God for withholding blessings from them while they withheld their tithes and offerings from Him!
II. CHALLENGE OF THE GIVER 3:10-12
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
God offers them a solution in the form of a challenge, things can change for them.
Notice clearly the challenge: "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse … TEST ME IN THIS, says the LORD Almighty, …"
Without faith it is impossible to please God!
Here is TRUST … will they TRUST God to take care of them if they do their part in giving the WHOLE TITHE, not a part, but the whole!
Tithing is really about trust, not in money but in God!
They clearly wanted God to bless FIRST, then they might give, but it doesn’t work this way.
IF God had blessed first they would have found so many reasons why they still couldn’t tithe, that is why we must start FIRST!
God was clear about what they could expect as a nation when they learned to be faithful in their giving … the windows of Heaven would be open and His blessings would be poured out in greater measures than they could expect.
How could they go wrong? By not giving!!!!
There was really nothing to lose, only to gain!
Nothing has changed with God …
.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
Their faithfulness in giving to God would be made Known to everyone else, even the other nations!
God would honor His side of the covenant, to bless them and help their crops … the sign of productivity.
The other nations would be amazed at how God has blessed them.
They would become the breadbasket of the world, a showroom of what can happen with God’s help.
Even the mood in the country would change, it would become a "delightful land."
Joy is a byproduct of giving!
They could not lose; their land would become a model of what happens with generous giving … God blesses the nation that gives!
How much better to trust God than in money itself.
Even our currency says it best, "In God We Trust!
God will always do a better job with blessing you than you can do in blessing you!!!!
So why not let Him do the blessing?
You’re in good hands with GOD!
So, are you going to test God or not? God says, "TRY ME ON THIS ONE."
CONCLUSION: Why is God concerned about tithing? Doesn’t He "own" everything already? Basically, giving is about 2 things:
(1. It shows OUR recognition that God has ownership of all things;
(2. It involves our whole being in worship.
The truth is that he or she who won’t commit to God the material parts of their lives are not likely to commit the immaterial part of their life to God either! If the law expected no less than 10% just think what love will do! God loves a cheerful giver, how cheerful are you?
