A Thief in Your House
Malachi 3:8-12
Intro: When most people hear this verse, they think the preacher is about to ask them to give more money. They already believe that the church is only interested in them for their money. They ask, “Why should I give them money when I don’t have enough to get by myself?” Or they say, “All they talk about is money. Give and it shall be given unto you. God loves a cheerful giver. Give and you’ll have treasures in heaven. Well, I want my treasure now. I got bills to pay.”
Preachers also know how congregations feel about sermons on money. They’ve heard the same complaints you have. They know that if they preach sermons on sin or money, they won’t get any ‘amens’. But we are charged to preach the whole counsel of God, not just what is pleasing to the people. Jesus oftentimes preached what was not popular. In fact, His teachings got so controversial, that everyone, save the Disciples, left Him.
But I am not here to ask you for more money. I am not here to give you a slick presentation on why you should give more. No, I am here to help you help yourself. I am here to help you get all the blessings God has in store for you. I am here to help you stop cheating yourself. God intended for us to live on the leftovers, instead we give Him what’s left over, which is usually nothing. Then we wonder why we are not blessed.
There may be a thief living in your house and he’s stealing from you. In fact, the thief may very well be you. Why do I say this? We all say we want more. God says it is ours for the taking. So why is it that we left blessings fall through our fingers? Why do we give away money we don’t have to? Why do we take on debt we don’t have to? Why do we live beneath our potential? It is because we have been disobedient to God’s command. It is also because we don’t trust God to take care of us. As a result, we have become too stressed to be blessed. God’s message to Malachi tells us how we can go from being too stressed to be blessed to being too blessed to be stressed.
I. The Problem of the People
a. God confronted the people about their sins. He had created them to be a holy people, a people set apart for Him. Yet, they were defiling themselves with idolatry. They were brash asking what profit is there in serving the Lord. They were also secure in themselves. They didn’t see any need for God in their lives. Their security was in their possessions. The Israelites in Malachi’s time didn’t tithe not because they didn’t have it. They didn’t tithe because they didn’t see any need to. Sort of the opposite of the Pharisees. These Israelites didn’t tithe because they trusted in their wealth not in God. The Pharisees tithed but not out of obedience but to be adored by men. Yet, their security was in their possessions as well. Malachi’s people just didn’t think God would come through for them.
b. Today, we have many people on both sides of the aisle. We have some who tithe to be seen of men. You may hear about how they’ve given X number of dollars to fund this or that. Yet, there are those who don’t tithe because they see no need to. Their faith is in their possessions until their possessions can’t save them then they turn to God. Then there are those who don’t tithe because, like the early Israelites, they don’t trust God. They don’t believe that God will come through for them. They don’t believe that God has got their back. I know I can pay my bills because the money is in my hands. That’s not faith and without faith it is impossible to please God.
c. The Israelites did the wrong things and missed the blessings of God. The Pharisees did the right things for the wrong reasons and missed the blessings of God. If we are not careful, we, too, will do the wrong things or the right things for the wrong reasons and miss our blessings.
II. The Request of God
a. The Bible says that it is a wicked thing to try the Lord. It even goes on to say that God cannot be tempted, something the devil obviously didn’t believe. Yet, here is the only place in the Bible where God says it is OK to test Him, to try Him, to prove Him. He says, investigate this thing for yourself. Examine my command and see if it is true. Put it to the test. If I do not do as I say I would do, then you are off the hook. Just as preachers tell you to examine the Word for yourself to see if what we are telling you is the truth, you should examine God’s promise for yourself to see if God will do what He said He would do.
b. God wants us to put Him to the test. Putting God to the test does not mean you tithe for a while then stop when no BMW appears in your driveway. It does not mean that you are to stop when God doesn’t help you win the lottery. It does mean that if you give and you don’t see any improvement in your financial situation, then you don’t have to tithe. You have proved God to be a liar.
c. God says that we are to bring all the tithes into His house (temple, church) that there may be meat (sustinence) in My house. He wants us to bring our tenth so that the temple, the church will have something from which to operate. Bills have to be paid. Salaries have to be paid. Ministries have to be financed. Benevolence funds have to be funded. Buildings need to be built and maintained. As Jesus did with the 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread, He will do with your tithe. Tithing is not a just a test of obedience, it is a test of faith.
III. The Promise of God
a. God promised several things if we are obedient to Him. If we put our trust in Him, He promised that He would rebuke the devourer, the eater, the waster. It gives the connotation that God will call off the attack dog. Literally, verse 10 says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so that there may be sustenance (food) in my house and prove me in this now; that I will not cause the windows of heaven to burst forth with blessings that will overtake you like a flood. Remember Hurricane Katrina?
b. You’ll suddenly find that you have more money that you have month. Car won’t have to go to the shop. Your kids won’t need anything expensive for school. You credit card bill won’t be so high. He said He would also bless our fields. This gives the connotation that He will bless our labor. Maybe we’ll get an unexpected raise or we’ll get an unexpected pay bonus. Maybe will get money from sources unexpected. Maybe that book you’ve been writing makes the Best Seller list. Maybe that hobby you have brings in some extra money. Perhaps something you’ve been trying to sell finally sells for more that you thought it was worth.
c. He told the Israelites that they would be called blessed by all the nations and be a delightsome land. In Exodus 23: 25-26, God tells the people what He is willing to do if they are obedient to Him. God wants us to be so blessed that others will be jealous. It is not God’s desire that we be begging bread from anyone. It is not God’s desire that we be in debt to anyone. It may not be God’s desire for us to be rich, but it is not God’s desire that we stressed out over money issues, yet we are because we 1) don’t know how to use what God has given us. We can’t trust Him with the 10% and can’t manage the other 90%. 2) We throw away our blessings.
d. 2 Kings 4 recounts the story of a widow who pleaded with Elisha that her husband’s creditors were coming to take her sons away to be slaves to pay the debt. Elisha asked her, “What did she have?” She said, “I have nothing but a jar of oil.” He told her to collect vessels from her neighbors and fill them with the oil that was in the jar. She did. When she went back to Elisha, he told her to sell the oil and pay her debt then live on the rest. How many of us, if God told you to get vessels from all your neighbors then fill them with the money from your coin jar, use the money to pay your debts and live off the rest, would only collect a few jars? Yet, when we fail to tithe, thus causing God to close up the windows of heaven, we are essentially doing just that.
e. God asked the devil, “Have you considered my servant, Job?” The devil replies, “Do Job serve you for nothing? Haven’t you put a hedge around him and prevented me from getting at him?” Because Job was faithful to God and did not consider his possessions things to be grasped, but said, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; blest be the name of the Lord, God blessed him with wealth, family, and prestige. If you are not faithful in little, how can He trust you with more?
f. I remember in my own life seeing this verse come true. When I first start ministry, I remember I was trying to be obedient to the Word and I was tithing. When I began my ministry in Jacksonville, they had what is called a “pounding party.” I had more things literally than I had room for. I tithe now and God has blessed me—showed me ways to save money and provided opportunities for me to make more.
Conclusion: Tithing is not about giving. It is about obedience. God is not concerned about what you have. It is already His and He can reclaim it when He is ready. He can either remove it from you or He can remove you from it. What He is interested in is your heart. If He can get your heart, He can have your wallet. If He can get you to trust Him, to believe that He will provide for you, then you will have no problem being obedient to Him. This is not just true in tithing but in many areas of life. Tithing is harder because it deals with money and, for many people, money is a tough thing to surrender. Just ask the rich young ruler. Yet, when we put our trust in our possession (which are not really ours) and not in God, then we are showing where our faith really lies.
We often find ourselves too stressed over bills and other issues to be blessed by God. But God says if we trust Him and obey Him, that He will open the floodgates of Heaven and release blessings too numerous to contain.
If we trust Him and obey Him, He has promised to bless us. We won’t have to…
Worry about having more month than we do money
Worry about our car breaking down on us
Worry about our children being in the jailhouse or the cemetery
Worry about house being eaten by termites
Worry about our house being foreclosed
Worry about your house being burned down
Worry about soaring price of gas and food
Worry about our job being outsourced
Worry about our position being downsized
Worry about our company closing
Worry about bill collectors calling all hours of the day/night
Worry about the crops in our fields going bad
Worry about the crops being eating by pestilence and disease
Worry about your health failing
Worry about more money going out than you got coming in
Because God will bless you with finances and with peace of mind. He said test me in this. Try me now. Have you ever tried Him? He invites you to try Him today. In order to trust Him, you have to know Him. He invites you to get to know Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.
