PAY TITHES, GET FLOODGATES OPEN
Malachi 3:10
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Texas Cowboy Humor
1. Where do cowboys cook their meals? On the range.
2. What advice do cows give? Turn the udder cheek and mooooove on!
3. Why did the bowlegged cowboy get fired? Because he couldn't keep his calves together!
4. Why did the cowboy ride his horse? Because the horse was too heavy to carry.
B. TEXT
“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 there will not be room enough to store it. Mal. 3:10
C. THESIS
1. Tonight we’re looking at a shocking promise from God’s Word about tithing, how to “prove” God, and the incredible reward promised to tithers.
2. The title of this message is “Pay Tithes, Get Floodgates Open.”
I. WHAT IS THE TITHE?
A. GOD IS THE RIGHTFUL OWNER OF ALL
1. “The earth is the LORD‘S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.” Ps. 24:1; Lev.25:23
2. Our cars, houses, lands, bank accounts, etc., don’t belong to us, but to God who lets us use them during our lifetime, then someone else gets to use them.
3. While we are using them, God requires we use them as stewards, understanding we will be accountable to Him for how we use His goods.
B. EVERYONE “OWES” THE TITHE
1. “A tithe (tenth) of everything...BELONGS to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.” Lev. 27:30. A tenth of our income, of whatever source, God asks us to bring back to His House.
2. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.” Mal. 3:10. The CHURCH is the “storehouse.” If we desire to give extra money to other causes – evangelists, outreaches, missions, charity – those are called “offerings,” but they are not to receive ‘tithes.’ That goes to God’s church.
C. TITHING IS A TEST OF FAITH
1. Elijah told the widow of Zarephath to “FIRST make a small cake of bread for me from what you have” (1 Kgs. 17:13). This required an act of faith, for there was only a handful of meal left. But God said, through the prophet, that if she would trust Him and give all she had to God first, then God would provide for her until the famine ended (years later), which is what happened.
2. So do we believe God is our provider? Many have balked at this requirement (tithing), but those who’ve trusted God have found that He makes you live easier on 90% than 100%, and gives us abundance in addition! [If we don’t pay the tithe, God will find ways for you to lose even more than that 10% - in medical costs, repairs, troubles, lawyer fees, taxes, etc. You WILL end up paying that 10% & more!]
3. Some have said, “I CAN’T AFFORD TO TITHE.” The TRUTH – you can’t afford NOT to tithe. You will NEVER out-give God. “IF I HAD MORE, I WOULD.” That’s not true: the Bible says he who is faithful in little will also be faithful in much. People who don’t tithe on $1 will never tithe on $10,000. It’s the same proportion of both.
II. GOD TELLS US TO “TEST” or “PROVE” HIM
A. TITHING IS A PROMISE TO BE PROVED
1. The idea of “testing” God is usually a sin (Matt. 4:7). But when it comes to tithing, God challenges us to ‘test’ Him [“prove” KJV]. This word means to “make the experiment” or to “verify” His faithfulness [Benson Comm., Matthew Poole, Gill’s Exposition. Barnes’ Notes] to care for you.
2. To all those who doubt His goodness, God says, “Prove Me!” “Have I ever broken My promise? In what have I ever failed to fulfill My word?” God says. “Try Me out & see!”
3. The devil wants us to doubt God’s faithfulness; he says, “Surely this is too good to be true.” But God cannot lie! History shows God keeps His Word.
4. There are 3 KINDS OF PROMISES in the Bible: 1. CONDITIONAL promises—only fulfilled under specific conditions; 2. some which are exclusively for the FUTURE; and 3. ABSOLUTE promises, which have no conditions whatever. To prove a conditional promise requires us to meet the condition. That’s why, if we want to see God’s real power of provision, we have to meet His CONDITION – TO TITHE!
B. WHEN DOES GOD WANT US TO PROVE HIM? NOW!
1. It’s important we begin proving God when we start our walk with God. Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to start. Someone said, “As the twig is bent, so grows the branch.” If we start off our walk trusting God with our finances, then when our blessings increase, we’ll continue giving – it will be natural!
2. Starting NOW is also important, while we have smooth sailing, because rough seas are bound to come. If we can’t serve God in the good times, how shall we serve Him in the bad times? Don’t wait for your ‘ship to come in’ to give; start with your first $1. Then, by faith, continue to trust Him and give – and He’ll be your Provider, even in times of famine and financial collapse!
C. THE MISTAKE OF HOLDING ON
1. There was a wealthy family who had expensive artwork in their large home; one was a beautiful vase from the time of Alexander the Great.
2. One day their two-year-old toddler boy got his hand stuck in the priceless vase. They tried everything to get his arm out, but with no success. Finally, the father took a hammer, and broke the vase.
3. To their surprise, the reason the boy’s fist couldn’t come out because he was tightly gripping a paltry penny hed found in the bottom.
4. Like many, he was grasping something worthless and lost what was priceless! That’s what we do when we fail to trust God with the tithe.
III. THE SHOCKING REWARD FOR TITHING
A. ASTOUNDING PROPORTION
1. The terminology for how God will reward tithers is extreme. God says He won’t just send you a nice rain or even a 100-year flood! (a flood event that has a 1 in 100 chance in any
given year; there are 500-year floods, 1000-year floods, and even 10,000-year floods in risk projections.)
2. God says He will “open the floodgates of Heaven.” This phrase was first used to describe the amount of water that fell during Noah’s flood (Gen. 7:11; 8:2). The highest mountain-peaks were covered by water over 20 feet deep (7:20). It’s hard to imagine that much water! Yet so shall our blessings be.
3. But that’s not all. God bends the laws of normal life to say, “[I will] pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” Can you imagine having so much that not even storage could be arranged for it? The Message Version says, “blessings beyond your wildest dreams;” CSB says it “blessings without measure;” and the NASB says, “until it overflows.” WOW! What an awesome God!
4. If there was an investment that could yield results even close to what God describes, no investor in his/her right mind would refuse to put their money into it. There would be a stampede! People who didn’t get in on the bonanza would be thought foolish! High returns are one of the most sought after things on the planet, but these shall be the reward of the righteous.
B. THE 3 KINDS OF GIVERS. There are three kinds of givers in the world.
1. SQUIRRELS - they don't really want to give anything. They just want to hide it all away, because who knows, they might need it later.
2. LAWYERS - they're always looking for loopholes: "Do I have to tithe on my inheritance? My poor old mother already tithed on that. And what if I find $50? Do I have to tithe on that?" Lawyers are always looking for a way out. Essentially, there's no real difference between a squirrel and a lawyer. They'll give if they have to. But neither of them wants to give. They won't do anything more than they have to. Then there's the third kind of giver...
3. FOUNTAINS – They're not looking for a way out. They're looking for ways and excuses to give and keep on giving! Which are you? A Squirrel, a Lawyer, or a Fountain Giver?
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: You’ll Never Regret Giving
1. In Waco, Texas, there is a fine school: Baylor University. You may have heard of the school, but you probably haven't heard about the Christian man who gave the money to build that school. The story is an interesting one.
2. Later in life the benefactor lost all his property. More than one friend asked him, "Don't you wish that you had all the money you put into your school?"
3. His reply is a solid one. He said, "Not at all. It is all I've ever saved. If I had kept that money, I would have lost it too. I am thankful that I gave that building when I did." We will be glad too when we get to Heaven!
B. THE CALL
1. As rich as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, or Bill Gates are, none of them will take one penny with them when they die. They will enter eternity just as penniless as you or me.
2. But if we have served God and been faithful to support God’s work, WE will discover, in eternity, that we are wealthy beyond measure. All we have invested in God has been saved up and God will multiply it many-fold and give it back to us on that Day!
3. Jesus said, “And every one that has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” Mt. 19:29.
4. Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you....pressed down, shaken together and running over...For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Praise God!
5. PRAYER
