Try It, You’ll Like It

Try It You’ll Like It

Malachi 3:7-10

Intro: Two men were marooned on an Island. One man paced back and forth

worried and scared while the other man sat back and was sunning himself.

The first man said to the second man, "aren’t you afraid we are about to

die." "No," said the second man, "I make $100,000 a week

and tithe faithfully to my church every week. My Pastor will find me

. A woman gave her son Johnny 2 quarters. One was for his Sunday School offering. The other was for an ice cream cone on the way home from Sunday School.

Johnny was flipping one quarter in the air and catching it on the way down. This happened 8 times or so when all of a sudden Johnny missed catching it. It rolled down the storm sewer and was gone.

Johnny looked up into the sky and said I’m sorry God but that was your quarter.

. Our scripture this morning is out of the book of Malachi.

. Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament and there will be over 400 years of silence from God before John the Baptist comes on the scene preparing the way for Jesus.

. Malachi was writing to the Jews who had returned from the exile in Babylon.

. They had returned and helped to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple had been rebuilt.

. While there had been some success in this restoration process the people were not following God and apathy and half hearted worship was the norm.

. In these writings Malachi had assured the people that God did in fact still love them.

. He brought an indictment on a corrupt priesthood

. He called them to faithfulness in chapter two and warned them of coming judgment and then we get to our scripture thus morning where Malachi calls them to repentance of their ways and challenges them to obey God.

. This mornings scripture talks about tithes and offerings to God.

. While Malachi speaks of tithes and offerings, he is really talking about obedience to God.

. Malachi 3:7-10; I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.7Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

“But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’

8“Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!

“But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’

“You have cheated me of the gtithes and offerings due to me.9You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.10Bring all the htithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of iheaven for you. I will pour out a jblessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

. God says I am the Lord and I do not change.

. I am not asking nor expecting any more or any less from you than I always have.

. If I did change, I would have already let you be destroyed for your disobedience. You are constantly moving away from what I have taught you. The history of your nation is a story of rebellion and repentance.

. God then uses tithes and offerings as an example of how they had grown lackluster and apathetic in their worship of Him.

. First God says that you are not being obedient to me in your tithing.

. God actually uses some very harsh terms here.

. He says that they were cheating Him by not tithing the way they were supposed to.

. This subject is not the most popular subject to preach on but it is necessary.

. Pastors would much rather preach on God’s love and God’s forgiveness and our eternity in Heaven because our hearts are geared toward leading folks to salvation.

. You see, in order to become mature in our walk with Christ, all must come to an understanding as to what God expects from us as followers of Christ.

. Tithing is just one part of the mature Christians spiritual life.

. A small church in Virginia needed to have a new roof in the worst of ways, but there was no money in their account. Most of the congregation was very poor except for the local banker. He was an ornery old cuss, and he would be the first in church so he could always sit in the back pew by the door. That way, he could always get up and leave during prayer right before the offering was collected.