We are stewards of all that God has given us.
• And the number one thing that we are most concerned about – and therefore God is concerned about – is money.
• God is concerned about your money – or rather, how you handle it. He is interested not because He needs your money, but because you need it.
• Money is something we use everyday, our very survival depends on it.
• And because you need it so much, He is concerned. He wants to know how you secure it, spend it, save it and share it.
Some people say, “Don’t talk about money. Talk about something spiritual.”
• But Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matt 6:21) “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Tim 6:10)
• In order words, money affects you spiritual. It affects your relationship with God.
• How can the Lord care about us, and not care about that which is so intrinsically tied to our very survival?
This explains why Jesus spoke so much about money and possessions in the 3½ He was on earth – 16 out of the 36 parables about money, about 500 references on prayer but 2,300 references about money.
• God is concerned also because Satan is interested in your money too. He loves to lure you with it. He wants to make you fall in love with your money.
• In order to stay free from his snare and not allow him to create a stronghold in our lives, we want to hold on to the principles God set for us.
Read Malachi 3:6-12.
• Do words ever jump out at you when you read something? For this passage, the word that jumps out is the word ROB.
• It is a strong word. God says the people of Israel ROB Him. Four times in verses 8 and 9, the word “rob” appears, or some variation of the word.
• Robbery is a serious charge. It’s one of the Ten Commandments.
In a sense, we can see 3 different robberies in this passage – robbing God, robbing the church of resources, and robbing yourselves of God’s blessings.
• This first one – the most foundational one – robbing God – leads to the other two.
(1) Don’t Rob God – Principle of OWNERSHIP
God uses the word ‘rob’ because everything belongs to Him.
• Tithing serves as to remind us that everything we have comes from Him.
• I wish this thought will just come to us naturally but it doesn’t.
There are 3 different groups of people approaching God each Sunday:
(a) Everything is mine. I worked hard, earned it and deserved what I’ve got. And I can do what I want with it. So when the offering bag comes, I can give if I want to, but I don’t have to. If I feel led to give, a dollar or $10, I will, but it’s mine.
(b) The tithe belongs to God, and the rest is mine (90%). In obedience I give Him 10% (since He said so), and with the rest, I’ll do what I want to with the rest. Not really happy but obedient.
(c) It all belongs to God, the tithe and the rest of it. I return to Him what He has commanded, and He entrusts me with the rest of His money. Everything is God’s gift to me, so I want to use them wisely. I want to be a good steward of ALL of His money. I will be judged someday for what I do with it!
• The first one says I will share with God if I want to.
• The second says I will share with God because I have to (He said so).
• The third says it’s all God’s and He shares with me!
So to make sure we remember that, God in His wisdom tells us to return 10%.
• This is not OT Law. God put that in the heart of His people long before the Law was given.
• Gen 14:17-20
17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand."
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
He gave a tenth of the spoils of war to the priest, for the continuation of God’s work.
• Gen 28 Jacob has a close encounter with God in a dream. Read Gen 28:16-22.
So we have Abraham commencing it, and then Jacob continuing the practice.
• Then Moses came along, and God gave him the Law - Lev 27:30 “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.”
A few hundred years later, Malachi confirmed it (we read that a moment ago).
And then Jesus came, and He commended it – Matt 23:23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
We saw Abraham commenced it, Jacob continued, Moses commanded, Malachi confirmed, and Jesus commended it.
• It is the most basic act of thanksgiving to God. It is a privilege, not a duty.
And then the Lord says, “Test me in this…” – it is an issue of trust.
(2) Don’t Rob Yourself of His Blessings - Principle of TRUST
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. There is a difference here. God did not say, “I will curse you.”
• He is talking about the consequence of their foolish action. There are consequences when we do things. If I bang my head against the wall, I will get a headache or a concussion.
• The consequence of robbing God will be the robbing of His blessings in their lives.
The tithe is God’s way of blessing us – 3:10-12 - Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. 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. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.
It RELEASES His blessings. When you acknowledge Him and tithe, you are opening up the floodgates of heaven.
• You have to believe that you can achieve more with the 90% (with God’s blessings) than what 100% can do (without His blessings).
• I’ve heard people say, “I can’t afford to tithe.” But the truth is, “I can’t afford not to tithe.” You are missing the much needed blessings from God.
• No wonder the people were poor – the pests were eating up their crops, the vines are not bearing fruit.
• This phrase “floodgates of heaven” was used in Gen 7:11 to describe how the sky opened up and it rained and rained during Noah’s time, and flooded the whole earth.
The tithe is the TRUST fund – the Lord is testing you. Can you really trust me?
• You can talk about financial freedom all you want, but as a believer, you’ll never be free (from worrying over money) until you do this.
• The tithe is God’s way of doing His work.
(3) Don’t Rob the Church - Principle of SUSTENANCE
There are many places we can put our money in today. You can invest it in things and properties, in food and clothing. But the tithe is for the work of God’s church.
• In a sense, God is God and He does not need your money. “Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” (Ps 50:10)
• God doesn’t need our money to be God, but the Church needs the money to be the Church.
• In order to fulfil the mission of the Church, there has to be some financing.
The call of God is simple - “Bring the WHOLE tithe INTO THE STOREHOUSE, that there may be food IN MY HOUSE.” (3:10)
• The storehouse or my house refers to the Temple of God. It is the place where the people worshipped. Today’s equivalent is be the church –where you worship and is fed the Word of God.
• God calls us to support His ministry on earth.
If you don’t tithe, and you are still a little sceptical, I am going to issue a challenge to you.
• If you start tithing faithfully, and after 3 months of faithful tithe, God isn’t blessing you, just stop tithing. God is up to the challenge. He said it Himself.
• 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?
1. Don’t rob God – principle of OWNERSHIP
2. Don’t rob yourself (of God's blessings) – principle of TRUST
3. Don’t rob the Church – principle of SUSTENANCE
