Why Is Tithing So Important?
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. Tithing is important because:
a. It Belongs To God
b. To keep for yourself brings a curse
c. God Blesses Our Obedience
5. Read Mal. 3:6-12
Proposition: Tithing is a matter of obedience, and God blesses us when we are faithful.
Transition: Tithing is important because…
I. It Belongs To God (6-8).
A. You Have Cheated Me
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. There are people here today that can remember when there was no internet, cable TV, satellite dishes, mp3 players, or compact discs.
c. 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. 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. The word return, in essence, means to repent since to repent means "to turn around."
b. One of the great things about our God is that He is the God of the second chance.
c. He will always give us the opportunity to get it right.
d. They had sinned against the Lord, and now He was giving them the chance to get it right.
6. But the problem is that they don't think that they have done anything wrong. 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?"
7. 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.
8. 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."
B. It’s Not Yours To Keep
1. 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."
2. What Is A Tithe?
a. Leviticus 27:30 (NLT)
“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.
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.
3. The tithe does not belong to you, it belongs to the Lord.
a. Notice that Lev. 27:30 is very clear, it does not belong to us; it belongs to the Lord.
b. God gives us everything and all he asks in return is His 10%.
c. It is not our to decide what to do with or not.
d. It is not our to keep.
e. It belongs to God and to keep it is stealing from God.
4. To hang on to your tithe is sin!
a. James 4:17 (NLT)
Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
b. God tells us that if we do not pay our tithes it is stealing from him.
c. To steal is a direct violation of one of the Ten Commandments which says, “You must not steal!”
d. If stealing from a relative, friend, or neighbor is stealing, how much more serious is stealing from God?
Transition: Tithing is also important because of what happens to us if we fail to tithe.
II. To Keep It For Yourself Brings A Curse (9).
A. You Are Under A Curse
1. There are always going to be positive and negative consequences to our actions.
a. If we get all A’s on our report card people are going to be proud of us.
b. If we get all F’s on our report cards because we were lazy and didn’t want to do our homework, we’re going to be grounded for life!
2. There are physical laws in the universe.
a. What goes up must come down.
b. However, if you are standing underneath it when it comes down it is going to hurt.
3. Just as there are physical laws, there are also spiritual laws. One of those laws says if we do not pay our tithes we are under a curse.
4. V. 9 tells us, "You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me."
a. But I want us to notice something, nowhere in this text does it say that God is cursing them…they brought it upon themselves!
b. Not only is holding back your tithes from God a sin, but it puts you under a curse.
c. How can expect God to bless disobedience?
d. Tithing isn't about money; it's about obedience.
e. God cannot and will not bless us if we are not being obedient with our tithes and offerings.
B. No One To Blame
1. Illustration: Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace (Thomas a Kampis).
2. Tithing is an act of obedience.
a. 1 Samuel 15:22 (NLT)
But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
b. It is not about money; it is about obedience.
c. It is not about having; it’s about doing what is right.
d. It’s not about “but Lord”?; it’s about “yes Lord!”
3. Tithing is an act of faith.
a. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT)
For we live by believing and not by seeing.
b. It’s not about whether or not you have enough money, but whether or not you trust God to provide.
c. It’s not about whether or not you can afford to, but about whether or not you can afford not to!
d. It’s not about finances, but it’s about standing on the promises of God!
e. Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God.
Transition: Tithing is important because…
III. God Blesses Our Obedience (10-12).
A. Try It! Put Me to the Test!
1. If you’ve ever asked the question “why should I tithe?, the answer is simple…because God said so.
2. In v. 10 God says, "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. Two percent won’t do it.
e. Five percent won't do it!
3. 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. Matthew 23:23 (NLT)
“…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?
4. However, there is another reason we should tithe. If we do God will bless us. The text tells us, "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!"
1. Those two simple letters "i" and "f" form one of the most important words in the Bible.
2. This is what we call a conditional statement. If we do this, God will do that.
3. 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.
5. God's storehouse of blessing is unlimited, and the only limitation on God's blessing is our ability to handle it all.
6. Now I don't know about you, but I could use some more blessing today.
7. Now I don't know about you, but the church could use some more blessing today.
8. Now I don't know about you, but I would love to see the floodgates of heaven open up on us today.
5. Now here to me is the most awesome aspect about tithing. God says, "Try it! Put me to the test!”
a. In essence God is saying, “Let me prove it to you!”
b. Usually, God doesn't like to be tested, but that is when the test is our idea.
c. Here the test is His idea. He is saying "Go ahead; let me prove it to you."
d. 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."
e. Now that is putting God promise to the test.
B. Let God Prove It To You!
1. Illustration: A few years back, a Galveston church had a Tithing Demonstration Sunday for its members. On a designated Sunday everyone was asked to give a tithe of one week’s salary. They urged everyone … whether or not they usually tithed … to give a tithe that one time.
As you could imagine, the offering that Sunday was the largest ever given. In fact, it was 6 times the usual offering. The aftermath was even more exciting. Many who had never tithed before changed their attitude and decided if they could do it once, they could do again.
By the end of that year giving was up almost 3 times what it had been before the demonstration. The enthusiasm was up more than that. Over and over, people gave testimonies of the many changes in their lives as God fulfilled his promise in Malachi 3:10. All of this came from a simple obedience to Yahweh Jireh, the God who provides.
2. God wants to bless you!
a. Deuteronomy 6:10-11 (NLT)
10 “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build.
11 The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land,
b. This does not mean we will all be millionaires and drive Cadillac’s, but it does mean that God will provide for your needs.
c. You will have a roof over your head.
d. You will have food on your table.
e. You will have clothes to wear.
f. You will not go without.
3. However, you need to put yourself in position to be blessed.
a. Malachi 3:11-12 (NLT)
11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
12 “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
b. God can only bless obedience.
c. God can only reward faithfulness.
d. You need to put yourself in a position where God can bless you.
e. Test Him and see if He is not a God who keeps His promises!
Transition: God is faithful and He will do it!
Conclusion
1. Why should we tithe?
a. Because it belongs to God
b. Because it protects us from a curse
c. Because God will bless our obedience
2. Are you ready to be blessed by God?
3. Are you willing to let Him prove it to you?
