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“Robbing God?”
Malachi 3:7-12
Rev. Min J. Chung
(Sunday Lord’s Day Worship, April 13th, 2014)
Introduction
· Praise the Lord. We are on the journey through the book of Malachi. Robbing God is the
accusation the Israelites received because they were withholding their offering and tithes. It
teaches us much about how to use money, how to be generous. I think good Christians should
be good stewards of their time and money because they are both avenues to share our hearts
with the world. Money becomes a very powerful thing because it can infect our hearts but it
can also incredibly and powerfully show the world tangibly the heart of God. We can have
two philosophies: we can use it for our pleasure, or to use it for God. I pray we would have
the correct philosophy in using money for the glory of God.
I. Robbing God [7-9]
A Robbing God [7-9]
The person has a robbing heart and robbing hands.
1. Heart [7]
-Malachi 3:6
This comes right after verse 6 where God says, “I the Lord God does not change.”
This means that we must change. We need to change in our giving. Our hearts show
that it is away from God. God is never after our money but always after our hearts
and hands. God wants us, God wants you, God wants to give the best. The heart that
is away from God is expressed through our hands.
2. Hands [8-9]
It is clear that through tithes and contributions were held back. Contributions were
other offerings and gifts to the Lord. Many people use this verse for Prosperity
Theology: if you give you God, He will abundantly bless you. This verse isn’t about
obtaining money. If you serve two masters, you will love one and use the other. If
you love God, you will use money. If you love money, you will use God to get
money. As you get older money can be the litmus test for you love for God. Money
can get you lot of things that you want. Money may not be so attractive to you right
now, but as you get older you’ll realize that money can get you popularity, attraction,
friends, etc. When you are blessed in your heart, you start to give more. Think about
Zacchaeus.
-Luke 19:8
After Zacchaeus meets Jesus, he becomes generous. When Jesus goes into your
heart, money comes out.
-Mark 10:21-22
This young man was really rich and really religious. He kept most of the
commandments. Now this wasn’t a command to everyone but to him specifically
because that was his problem. It seemed like the young man could not give up his
riches. Israelites were like this, they were withholding tithes and giving. All crime is
really dumb but robbing God is really dumb because He knows everything. God
curses the Israelites and it sounds very harsh. Curses are usually a sign of warning, a
chance to repent. Without the tithes and offerings, the priests had to live on their
own expensive which meant the quality of temple worship would deteriorate.
B Returning to God [7-8]
As they were robbing God of money, it seemed like they were robbing something
more. God made us and He owns us, though we ran away. By the virtue of creation
and redemption, He bought us with the blood of Jesus Christ. We are in slavery of
sin but He bought us with the blood of Jesus Christ. The use of our money reflects
our hearts. We are stealing ourselves from the Lord. It doesn’t say “Return to keep
my laws.” It says, “Return to ME.” Does God need our money? No. He already
owns everything. He wants to see the heart that is full of Him, not with money. He
wants us to give money but more so to give UP. So He can give us more, so He can
give us Himself. The father is running to us with forgiveness and restoration. God
wants to be in your heart. God wants your heart to be His home, but we fill our
hearts with money. We have stolen ourselves from God through our tithes and
offerings. So we have to return to Him and trust Him.
II.
Trusting God [10]
A Testing
This is an odd verse. God says “Put me to the test.” Store house was the place you
store crops so the priests and Levites can eat from it. It seems like people were only
giving portions of it, not the full tithes. God gives this dare. The only place in the
Bible where God says, “Put me to the test.” Some use this as a general promise, but I
believe this is a specific promise given to them. There is a general promise that if
you seek God, He will fill. However, in this specific promise to the Israelites, the
idea of man testing God is rare.
-Matthew 4:7
There are rare occasions when man can test God so that they can prove themselves
faithful to the Lord.
-Matthew 6:33
God will provide whatever we need. God is saying “Test me.” He basically saying
“Trust me, I have been faithful since Abraham and I will be faithful to you. I will
make you into a great nation, trust me.” This is done by giving tithes. This is a risky
dare because it deals with our money. It would’ve been easier if it was our serving
or keeping the laws. You cannot fake it with giving. It really is the bottom line. God
follows our treasure. When you invest, you always check the papers. If you really
focus on something for the future when you start earning money, you invest in the
things you really want to pray for. Pray and be concerned, whether its missions or
ministry. Pray about what your heart will follow. Trust and follow. I believe this is
what this passage is teaching us. There was a man couldn’t really give tithes because
he didn’t know whether he could be provided for. The pastor talked to this man and
said, “Give your tithes and if you’re short, come to me and I will provide for you. If
I do that, will you start tithing?” Think about this the man trusted the pastor to
provide, but he could not trust God to provide. Some of us are like that. Another
illustration: a pastor comes to a farmer and says, “If God gives $10,000 to you,
would you give $5,000 to God?” The farmer says of course. Then the farmer asks,
“If God gives you two pigs would you give up one of them to God?” The farmer
couldn’t answer because he had two pigs.
B Tithes – full obedience
I believe it’s important to learn about tithing for our members now and for the future.
There are two questions; what’s the purpose of tithing? Are the NT people still
required to tithe since it is not specifically mentioned? There are three different
kinds of tithing in the OT
1. Lord’s Tithe
-Numbers 18:21
There were 12 tribes and 11 tribes received land so they can work and earn money.
One tribe was not given land because they were to take care of the temple. So how
did they live? They lived off the tithes. The tribes were serving each other by tithing
and serving the Lord. Tithes were given to the Levites who worked in the temple.
2. Festival Tithe
After the first tithes, a second one was given for parties!
-Deuteronomy 14:22-23
Of course its about having a good time, but it was about making His presence dwell
there. They were to celebrate three times a year, to picture the redemptive history.
They were to remember and worship the Lord so His name can dwell there.
-Deuteronomy 16:11
As they were celebrating, they were rejoicing. The Levites and the sojourners, the
orphans, and widows were fed so the name of God can be heard. So these programs
were done so that God’s name would dwell there and they feared God.
3. Poor Tithe
This one was done every 3 years.
-Deuteronomy 14:28-29
It seems like feeding the Levites were always a good thing. This was called a poor
tithes. This was given so there would be food in the storehouse to feed the poor and
needy. So including their voluntary gifts and sin offerings, they were giving about
25% of their earnings. A controversy arises then, because there are no specific
verses in the NT that addresses this. I would say if you can see these functions given
to the church, you can see that we need to give tithes. The principle still stands.
-Galatians 6:6
Let’s apply this. Who is the one who’s taught? You. Who is the one who’s teaching?
Me. I’m just reading the text haha.
-1 Timothy 5:18
There is responsibility to provide for full time ministers in the NT.
-1 Timothy 5:9-10
Widows of good standing who has been serving the church, who cannot provide for
themselves, were to be provided for. The needy people, especially within the body
of Christ. We provide for those around us so we can show the gospel.
-Romans 15:25-26
What about missions and evangelism? Paul was doing mission but he was going to
Jerusalem to take money to the saints and church people. These churches giving to
the poor among the church and the body. Now, many times we think “We need to
help the poor outside the church.” But there’s a priority in helping the needy people
within the church so THEY can go and preach the gospel and share. I would say the
principle still remains. Tithing for every Christian should be MINIMUM. When we
are thankful and when there’s a need within the church, please give and provide.
Your obligation as a church member, church leader, make sure to provide for your
leaders and pastors out of your love for others. You can give without loving but you
cannot love without giving. Make sure when you have things, you don’t have a
sense of ownership but a sense of stewardship. If God gives, we don’t keep it for
ourselves but we should use it to give to others. Live with necessities, and when God
gives you more, be ready to give it away. Our offering must be a total tithe. Make
sure you tithe wherever you are.
III.
The Blessings of God [10-12]
If you do this, there will be blessings. God is the source of blessings.
A The source of blessings [10]
God is the source of every blessings for us. God is the source, everything else is
resource. God gives to you, so you can decide prayerfully what necessities are. Will
you use it for the Lord? If we give tithes, will He richly bless us? God will bless you,
but it does not mean through the means of money. You will bear fruit but it doesn’t
mean you will become a millionaire. God says He will provide for our needs, not
our greed.
B The adequacy of provision [10-11]
-2 Corinthians 9:8
You can never out-give God. Keep giving because there is more coming.
C Fruitfulness of ministry [12]
The world can concretely see God at work through our money. It says all nations
will call you blessed. We become the channel of blessings. The deliverers of
blessing. How you use your money is very important to the point where all nations
will call you blessed. There will be fruitfulness of your ministry because your heart
is full of money.
D Being a delight [12]
Are you in delight? You are the cause that CChampain, Urbana, Chicago, Los
Angeles, Beinjing, Seoul, New York, all over the world, can be a land of delight.
That sounds pretty attractive to me. This happens when you use your money right.
George Mueller, cared very much for the orphaned children. His deeper motive in
opening orphanages was to show the faithfulness of God. He never wanted to make
the financial needs of his work known. He kept a log. Although there were several
times they were need, the children never missed a meal. He gave away millions
away to other ministries from funds that came for his OWN support. If he wanted he
could’ve lived luxuriously but he gave it away. He gave away about 86% of his
personally income to the Lord. It wasn’t about how much he can attain, but about
how much he could give.
Conclusion
I’ve experienced this personally in my life. Especially when CFC first started out. We were just
sharing what was going on. Many of us pastors were poor. We were sharing about how we
couldn’t provide for our families. Out of nowhere an older pastor runs to me, puts something in
my pocket and runs away. It was a wrinkled $100 bill. It wasn’t much in the world’s eyes, but it
showed God’s hands. I was so sure God was in it. It strengthened me so much. Lot’s of people
have helped me over the years, but I will never forget that. We have to be frugal, but I rarely see
church members that know how to be generous. Sometimes I pray for all the people younger
than me. I pray for all the restaurant owners. This old man was working there and I told him he
should take a break. He felt like he was so understood. I think he felt something there. He knows
I am a pastor. I don’t usually go out to eat breakfast but a missionary came and I went to feed
him. We went out and I was thinking all the small groups would be out eating so I had to a
remote place but of course 90% of the people in there were CFC people. As we sat down a man
who works there said, “Somebody paid for your bill.” I thought, I’ve taught them well. He said,
“Well there were two other groups that were willing to pay for your bill.” He was sharing how he
was so touched and blessed. Money is a powerful way to glorify God. Let’s show the world.
Let’s not be robbers. Let’s pray.