Some Lesser-Known Attributes Of God

Malachi 3:6-18

Some Lesser-Known Attributes of God

Introduction

A. When you think about the attributes of God there are certain ones that come real easy

B. God is love

C. God is all powerful

D. God is all knowing

E. God is perfect …

F. (Maybe ask for some)

G. However today we are going to look at three of them that we do not talk about that often

H. Let me give you some background

I. Keep in mind what we learned about last week

J. How we learned that Malachi was making the people aware of the way they were treating God, and how God was going to react

K. The people were treating God bad, and God was going to react, let just say bad

L. The passage that we are dealing with today is talking about repentance

M. God, through Malachi, will tell us how to prevent experiencing God’s wrath

N. By doing so, Malachi reveals three attributes about God

a. Unchangeable

b. Unacceptable

c. Unforgettable

I. Unchangeable (6-7)

A. Explanation

1. “I am the Lord and Do not change”

2. That is a very important verse. This verse tells us that God is unchanging, that God is God and will always be God.

3. That should provide comfort to you

4. Imagine if God did change

5. God would have surely wiped out the people of the land

6. Last week we learn of some of the things they were doing

7. Yet God is still God and will always be God

8. Notice what God says

9. “Return to me and I will return to you”

10. After all that they had done God is still willing to forgive and let them return to him

B. Application

1. So God doesn’t change, what does that have to do with me?

2. Everything, This should be some of the greatest news you have ever heard

3. God offers forgiveness, all we have do it ask for it

4. God is the same yesterday today forever

5. He will always be willing to take you back

6. You can never mess up so bad that you loose God’s love forever

7. He will still let you return

C. Illustration

1. Imagine you get a new job. You start your new job and the boss goes over the rules and procedures and tells you how to do your job. Now somehow you manage to break all the rules follow none of the procedure and do not do your job correctly. What do you think would happen? You would get fired! Now if you were to back to that company and ask them to hire you again what do you think they would say? NO!

2. See that is the difference with God.

3. He will allow you to return

4. He will allow you to join with him again

5. That has to be some of the greatest news that you could imagine

II. Unacceptable (8-12)

A. Explanation

1. Notice how this part begins, It begins in a way that I would never want it to begin, it begins with God telling us that we are robbing him

2. I love the way Malachi gives the human response to the comment just made by God

3. In typical human fashion “How do we rob you” surely we do not do that, never wanting to take blame for anything

4. Well the Lord is not buying it, He tells the people how they have been cheating him on their tithes and offering

5. Back at the time this was written the people were still living under the law

6. Now the law has been fulfilled with the perfect sacrifice being offered on the cross

7. Under the law however, one of the requirements was that you give 10% of everything as your tithe.

8. There was not as much currency available back then as there is today so many people offered cattle, and products that they had made or grown. That was perfectly acceptable

9. However, what was happening was people were cheating

10. They were not offering the best of the best, they were not giving the full 10%

11. This is what was making God upset

12. God offers them a little Challenge. If they were to start giving like they are suppose to give then He would begin to give showers of blessing

13. He would open up the floodgates of heaven and shower of blessing would flow

14. Their crops would not wither

15. Pest would not bother them

16. And their would be enough left over that they could take it and bless others with the leftovers

B. Application

1. That’s nice why should we care though.

2. Let me explain

3. It is true that we no longer live under the law. Hence the 10% is not a hard and fast rule