MALACHI 3:6-18

6 “I the LORD do not change. So

you, the descendants of Jacob, are

not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time

of your ancestors you have turned

away from my decrees and have not

kept them.

MALACHI 3:6-18

7 Return to me, and I will return to

you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But

you ask, ‘How are we to return?’8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet

you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we

robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.

MALACHI 3:6-18

9 You are under a curse—your wholenation—because you are robbingme. 10 Bring the whole tithe into thestorehouse, that there may be food inmy house. Test me in this,” saysthe LORD Almighty, “and see if I willnot throw open the floodgates ofheaven

MALACHI 3:6-18

10 and pour out so much blessingthat there will not be room enoughto store it. 11 I will prevent pestsfrom devouring your crops, and thevines in your fields will not droptheir fruit before it is ripe,” saysthe LORD Almighty.

MALACHI 3:6-18

12 “Then all the nations will call youblessed, for yours will be a delightfulland,” says the LORD Almighty. 13 “Youhave spoken arrogantly against me,”says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘Whathave we said against you?’

MALACHI 3:6-18

14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to

serve God. What do we gain by

carrying out his requirements and

going about like mourners before

the LORD Almighty?

MALACHI 3:6-18

15 But now we call the

arrogant blessed. Certainly

evildoers prosper, and even

when they put God to the test,

they get away with it.’”

MALACHI 3:6-18

16 Then those who feared

the LORD talked with each other,

and the LORD listened and

heard.

MALACHI 3:6-18

16 A scroll of remembrance was

written in his presence

concerning those who

feared the LORD and honored

his name.

MALACHI 3:6-18

17 “On the day when I act,” says

the LORD Almighty, “they will be

my treasured possession. I will

spare them, just as a father has

compassion and spares his son who

serves him.

MALACHI 3:6-18

18 And you will again see the

distinction between the

righteous and the wicked,

between those who serve God

and those who do not.

EXPLORING ROADS IN THE

BIBLE

Sections of the Bible are like

roads. Some we travel on

frequently, some infrequently,

some, perhaps, never at all.

We would like to explore all

the roads in the Bible and go

down to see what God has

said and what God has done

and what that means for us.

The question that is supposed

here is, will man rob God?

Some of you have never even

thought of this section of the

Bible.

Maybe some of you even grew up

in church, and you’ve never taken

a look at Malachi 3. Some of you,

however, have heard a lot about

it, lots of sermons on this section

of the Bible.

And if you’re very familiar with it

because it was a well-worn path at

your previous church, you may

have come from something called

prosperity theology.

It’s real timely because we’re at

that time of year when people are

giving and receiving gifts,

generosity tends to increase.

So in the providence of God, it’s

all very, very timely. But before

God talks about wealth, he talks

about worship.

Before he talks about us, he talks

about himself and what he tells us

is that he is unchanging.

This is a bedrock fundamental

teaching of the Bible that God is

unchanging.

MALACHI 3:6-18

6 “I the LORD do not change. So

you, the descendants of Jacob,

are not destroyed.

MALACHI 3:6-18

7 Ever since the time of your

ancestors you have turned

away from my decrees and have

not kept them.

The whole book is a series of

arguments that they’re having with

God.

They’re actually giving

accusations toward God disguised

as questions for God, and they

are arguing and fighting with him

here.

The basic idea is this: they

fundamentally disagree with God.

God says do this; they don’t want

to.

God says this is right; they say it’s

wrong.

They’re in a position of

disagreeing with God.

Here’s what God says, “I don’t

change.”

What that means is they need to

change, and we are no different.

God says, “I do not “Change.

I’m not moving.”

When we talk of God, we talk of

his attributes.

Here we see a clear declaration of

his immutability, which means

that God is unchanging.

And this is absolutely essential:

God does not change,

We must change.

We cannot remain

unchanged and demand that

God change.

God has no sin.

God makes no

mistakes.

God has nothing to

learn.

God has no way to

mature.

There’s nothing in

God that should

change.

There’s everything in

us that must change.

And praise God that

he’s unchanging.

God is a loving

Father.

God is not current;

God is eternal.

God doesn’t need to

change;

We need to change.

God doesn’t change

with the times;

God is working on

change all the time.

There’s an analogy in

Scripture that’s

frequently used: it’s of

a potter and clay.

God says, “I am the

Potter, you are the clay.”

God says, “I shape you. You

don’t shape me. I make you

into what I want. You don’t

make me into what you

want.”

HEBREW 13:8

8 “God is the same

yesterday, today and forever,

and it’s a good thing for his

children.”

MALACHI 3:8

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God?

Yet you rob me. “But you ask,

‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings.

Bring the full tithe into the

storehouse, so that there may

be food in my house

Sometimes pastors are

cowards when it comes to

finances because we have fear

of you, more than fear of the

Lord.

God doesn’t have that kind of

fear.

God talks of money a lot, money,

wealth, stewardship, investments,

possessions.

If you look at Matthew, Mark,

Luke and John, the four Gospels,

25 percent of all Jesus’ instruction

and words are on money, wealth,

possessions, and stewardship.

MATTHEW 6:21

21 “For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also”

Giving is an indicator of your

first love.

If we love God, we will use

money but if we love money,

we will use God to get more

money.

The question is, what’s the

goal,

God or greed?

“They’re not giving. God says

give. God says if they give,

he’ll bless them.”

God says something to one

person or one group of people,

but it’s a special circumstance, not

everybody gets that.

God does something that

applies to everywhere,

everyone, all the time.

Jesus died on the cross in

your place for your sins.

If you turn from sin and trust

in him, all your sin is forgiven

and you’ll be with him

forever.

That’s for everybody, and if

you’re here, that’s for you,

too.

That’s not just for one person or

one group of people, that’s God

dying on the cross for the sin of

the world.

That’s a miraculous thing for

everyone, everywhere, all the

time.

God made the earth.

God gave it to them.

God says, “Because you’re not

tithing to me, you’re robbing

from me,” and a tithe literally

means a tenth. Ten percent off

the top, first fruits off the gross

not the net.

They don’t see that God is part

owner and that he has every right

to expect a percentage of their

income.

“You’re robbing me, and then the

result is you’re cursed.

The reason why things are so hard is

because you’re stealing from me.”

Make up on all your giving, catch up.

Give what you were supposed to

give, and what will happen is, a

blessing will come down from

heaven.

He said that literally it would flood

down from heaven.

That’s the deal.

The big idea here is this: all the

blessings come down from heaven.

“Every good and perfect gift comes

from above, from our Heavenly

Father.”

Ultimately all blessing comes down

from God to his people.

This all foreshadows the coming of

the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the

greatest blessing of all, and he comes

down from heaven.

The gates of heaven open, and down

comes the greatest blessing in the

history of the world, the Lord Jesus

Christ.

God becomes a man. That’s what we

celebrate every Christmas season.

The problem is they’re stealing.

The answer is they need to stop

stealing and start giving.

No! It’s a one-time promise with all-

time principles.

This was God’s interaction with his

people, and there’s a promise there

and for us, there are principles there.

A promise is “It will come to pass

just like this.”

A principle is, “This is usually how it

works.”

Principles are about wise living,

cause and effect, how things tend

to work according to how God

has wired the world.

“

”

God gave us the earth.

God made us in his image and

likeness.

God gave us the Lord Jesus Christ.

God gave us the Holy Spirit.

God gave us forgiveness of sin.

God gave us righteousness.

God gave us eternal life.

God gave us gifts to serve

meaningfully and valuably and

purposefully.

God’s a giver.

God so loved the world that he gave

his only Son.

God’s generous.

“

”

He’s telling the people in

Malachi, “You’re committing

adultery.

You’re getting divorced wrongly.

You’re stealing money.

There’s all these troubles and issues.

Bring them to me.

We’re gonna forgive it, sort it out,

and work it out. Bring me the worst.”

And then God says, “Tithe, bring me

your best.”

God wants us to bring him our worst,

all of our sin, and our best—our

wealth.

What happens is people get more

excited about bringing God their

worst than their best.

Give Jesus your sin.

And your wealth.

“I don’t know, It’s unclear to me.”

God wants our worst and God wants

our best.

And God gives Jesus, God gives his

best.

“

”

Who you are is most clearly seen in

how you spend.

I would encourage you to look at

your budget from this past year and

next year and ask, “What is this as an

autobiography?

What does this say about me?

How does this reveal who I truly am

by how I spend?”

“

”

James says that faith without works is

dead.

Faith is a devotion to God in here

that results in a changed life out

there.

So James says, “You can’t have faith

for God in here and not change life

out there.”

Malachi is kind of like James in that

way. He’s saying, “You say you have

faith, but it doesn’t show up in your

finances.”

So faith without giving is dead.

You can’t say you love God in here,

but it doesn’t affect how you spend

out there because out of the overflow

of the heart, the wallet spends.

“

”

These people are not changed.

They are arguing and fighting with

God, as some of us are.

And God doesn’t say, “Well, get

your hearts right and when your

hearts are right, then start giving.”

God says, “Start giving” because he

knows that, that will help to get the

heart right.

So God says, “Start giving and that

will be the process by which you start

changing.”

You start to become more grateful.

You realize all that you’ve been given

by God and others.

You’re more grateful, more thankful.

In addition, you become more

compassionate toward the needs of

others.

“

”

God says, “I’ve got plenty of

resources, but I’m not giving them to

you because you’re bad stewards.

You’re not giving generously to me.

You don’t care about the poor.

You don’t care about the ministry.”

He’s looking for good stewards.

He’s looking for people who are

going to take the money that he gives

them and then to use them in a way

that is godly and good.

luke 16:10

10 “Whoever can be trusted with

very little can also be trusted with

much, and whoever is dishonest

with very little will also be dishonest

with much”

“

”

This is not give to get.

This is just a general principle for

how life works.

It’s that reap-what-you-sow kind of

thinking.

Their life in Malachi 3 is going

difficult.

It’s hard.

It’s a frustrating season for them.

But part of it is that they’ve not been

a generous people, yet they’re

expecting God to be generous with

them.

“

”

You will be tested to rob God.

See, they’re in an economic

downturn, and times are hard.

The first thing they did is cut their

giving to God.

That was the first thing they cut out

of their budget.

You will be tested.

I will be tested.

We will be tested, principally

speaking, to rob God.

Yes, That’s what God is asking.

Romans 6:14

2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is the place in

the New Testament that talks about

giving the most clearly and the most

extendedly.

It says that our giving should be, as

believers, cheerful.

“I love the Lord. I’m glad to give,”

It should be sacrificial.

Whatever is sacrificial for you.

It’s regular, and it’s also proportional

so that those who make more give

more, and that those who make less

give less, but all give something.

In FCC majority of us are tithers,

glory to God.

All workers are required to tithes.

That’s why we are blessed.

We are just weak in Missions giving.

In giving it is increased as well

because you to give 10 percent and

cheerfully.

You need to give to the Lord.

And whatever that is, if it’s cheerful,

regular, sacrificial, proportional, then

do that, and don’t rob God.

What I want is that make 10% as a

floor and not a ceiling in your giving.

This is a good place to start a life of

generosity, and by God’s grace,

aspire to increase our giving through

the course of our life as we mature in

everything.

You want to grow in Bible

knowledge.

You want to grow in service.

You want to grow in prayer.

You should aspire to grow in giving.

It’s part of your spiritual

development and part of your

spiritual growth.

The Bible summarizes that as the

heart, the seat, the sum, the center,

the decision-making headquarters of

your soul.

We may be talking about your

wallet, but ultimately, it’s directed by

your heart, and giving reveals your

heart.

MALACHI 3:13-18

13 “You have spoken

arrogantly against me,” says

the LORD.

“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said

against you?’

MALACHI 3:13-18

14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to

serve God. What do we gain by

carrying out his requirements and

going about like mourners before

the LORD Almighty?

MALACHI 3:13-18

15 But now we call the

arrogant blessed. Certainly

evildoers prosper, and even when

they put God to the test, they get

away with it.’”

MALACHI 3:13-18

16 Then those who feared

the LORD talked with each other,

and the LORD listened and heard.

MALACHI 3:13-18

16 A scroll of remembrance was

written in his presence concerning

those who feared the LORD and

honored his name.

MALACHI 3:13-18

17 “On the day when I act,” says

the LORD Almighty, “they will be

my treasured possession. I will

spare them, just as a father has

compassion and spares his son who

serves him.

MALACHI 3:13-18

18 And you will again see the

distinction between the

righteous and the wicked, between

those who serve God and those who

do not.

Why would we give to the Lord?

What profit do we get?

Why would we serve the Lord?

How does it benefit us?

This is consumerism.

Consumerism is a religion, and it’s

not a new one.

And a consumer knows what they

want, and they look at a religion and

ask if they get what they want without

giving very much.

How many of you have approached

our church, a church in ministry, and

said, “Well, if I give, what do I get?

If I serve, how do they serve me?

Will I receive more than I give, and

if not, what use is it to me?”

God doesn’t think like that.

God doesn’t look at you and say,

“Where’s my profit?”

God doesn’t look at you and say,

“I’ve served you.

When are you going to serve me

back?

When are you going to match my

gift?”

We can’t match his gift.

It’s grace.

It’s unmerited.

It’s undeserved.

It’s inexhaustible.

The ungodly asks, “What’s in it for

me?” And he says the godly ask,

“Why would he choose me as his

treasured possession?”

What is your most treasured

possession?

What is the one thing that if God

took it, you would be arguing and

fighting with him as they are in

Malachi?

You’re like, “God and I would have

a war if he took my spouse, my kid,

my house, my job, my car, my

health. If he took that—my

reputation—we would have a war

because that’s my treasured

possession.”

Here’s what God says, “You’re my

treasured possession.”

You belong to him.

All of you belongs to him, and he

treasures you.

He values you.

He purchased you through the gift of

his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,

that you would be his children, his

people.

Well, this changes everything.

If we are his treasured possession,

then he is our treasured possession.

Nothing compares to the Lord.

Nothing is as valuable as the Lord.

Nothing matters as much as the

Lord.

And even if we lose our treasured

possessions, we’ll never lose our

treasured possession.

The world doesn’t understand this

God.

I need you to love this God because

he has loved you, and if he’s willing

to make us his treasured

possession—it is only fitting and right

that we would choose him as our

most treasured possession.