Faithful Giving

Malachi 3:7-12

Faithful Giving

You know there are a lot of things that cause us concern in our nation. But there has been one main item of concern that has been at the top of American homes for the last 8 months, care to take a guess what it might be? The economy.

If you have investments, 401ks, retirement plans or anything that pertains to finances, you have probably kept a close eye on it. Wanting it to rise in value but seeing it fall into the pits.

When times get tough financially, we tend to tighten the belt or add more water to the soup, as the expressions go. Basically, we try to reduce unnecessary spending, and cut corners to hold onto as much money as possible.

Now, I believe that we should not be wasteful spenders, that we should be good stewards of the wealth that we have been given. But one of the main areas that we cut first or disregard all together, is our giving unto the Lord. Surprisingly, only 13% of the church gives to the Lord.1 Which is a sad statistic, when we realize how much the Lord gives to us.

Friends, when it comes to the wealth that you possess, it is given to you by the grace of God. To be used for the building of his kingdom.

Now it can be easy to disregard giving unto the Lord, I mean, he owns it all. But God, looks at us and our giving, and directly relates our giving to his blessings. Now don’t misunderstand me, I am not preaching prosperity.

But there is a blessing to be received when you give to the Lord with a grateful heart. Look with me at the scripture.

(Read Scripture)

Now the Bible has a lot to say when it comes to money and wealth. And I believe many of you want to be obedient to the Lord, especially when it comes to your love for the Lord and your giving unto Him. But it is the follow through that we struggle with. The intentions are there, but the actions are never realized.

Now what the Lord says here, it seems hard, but it is the truth. And sometimes we need to hear the hard truth. Notice what we see here in this passage, and friends here is the main thing that we need to take away from what I am about to share, that we need to give lovingly unto the Lord.

The first thing we see is…

Point 1 – The Problem of their Giving (vs 7)

· Why weren’t these people giving to the Lord like they should? There was a problem in their relationship. – the bible says that they were “gone away from mine ordinances”

· They had left the Lord, they had left his Word, and they were living like they wanted too.

· And what was happening? They were experiencing problems, they were enduring struggles, they were going through hard times.

· You see, the people had turn their back on God and left him and His Word behind.

· Today, there is a similar struggle. We know who God is, we know what his Word says, but we fail to do it.

· Why? Because we have a relationship problem. We don’t turn to the Lord and depend upon his Word, instead many people turn away from Him and His word and go into the world.

· And when we go out on our own, we find that we struggle and problems come that we cannot take care of.

· ILLUSTRATION: The prodigal son’s struggles in the world.

· Friend, if we want our lives to be blest, we must return to the Father, who can care for us.

Point 2 – The Provoking of God (vs 8)

· Now notice what we see in verse 8 and what we find here is the “provoking of God”

· Their relationship problem had caused them to rob the Lord.

· They were not giving to the Lord their tithes and offerings.

· Now this was not meant for them to keep, but yet they held onto it regardless.

· One of the main problems for some, is that they are robbing God. They have never learn how to give to the Lord like they should.

· Israel, under the law that God had given them through Moses, was suppose to give a tithe. To give a tenth. And basically tithing was a form of taxation to raise funds to support the religious establishment and finance social services.

· Now today, we hear some say that you need to tithe. But in the New Testament tithing is not mentioned to the church as a requirement.

· Now, you might be sitting there thinking, well, I don’t need to give to the church. And you would be wrong.

· You see the law demanded that the Jew give a tithe, now praise the Lord we don’t live under the law, but we live under grace.

· And friend grace governs that we give, and we should give a portion of what the Lord has placed in our lives back to him.

· You see we may call it tithing, but it is really giving and tithing is not God’s way of raising money, it is his way of growing Christians.

· Now here is the problem among many today, God has blessed us, and he has blessed us greatly. How do I know? Because you show it.

· You show it with what you drive, with what you wear, and where you live. You can give. But do you give back to the Lord as generous as He has given to you?

· I did some math on our church, based on our giving, per family from January to May, again this is per family – the average weekly gift to the Lord is around $14

· Now some are robbing God. You don’t give, you haven’t give. Why? Because there is a relationship issue.

Point 3 – The Penalty of their Greed (vs 9)

· And that brings us to the third thing we see and that is in verse 9 – the penalty of their greed.

· What was the penalty for these people not giving? They had a curse placed on them.

· Have you ever felt like you were cursed? That bad things kept happening to you? Washing machine quits, the care breaks down, pipe burst under the house, a bill went up, job is slow, and the boss tells you that he doesn’t need you. I mean it is like the old Morton salt saying - when it rains it pours.

· Well friend, let me ask you, how is your relationship with the Lord? How are you giving to him?

· You see, some today are under a curse, because you don’t give to the Lord what is rightfully his.

· And what is his? You are!

· Friend the problem with our relationship, is that we have our love in the wrong place. Love for money will never bring you happiness, but love for the Lord will bring you peace.

· I heard it said once, that people spend the first half of their lives wasting our health to get wealth, the second half we spend our wealth to get back our health.

· Friends, understand the love of money is the root of all evil – 1 Timothy 6:10

· And when you love your money so much that you refuse to give it to the Lord, friend you are asking for a curse to come upon you.

Point 4 – The Plea of Generosity (vs 10a)

· Now understand, it is not in the Lord’s desire to make your life difficult. What is it that the Lord wants from each of us? Well we see it in the beginning of verse 10.

· And we see here the “plea of generosity”

· What does God want, He wants us to give to His house.

· There are three things that every Christian should give unto the Lord. Our Time, Talents, and Treasures.

· It is not just one of the three, but it is all three.

· Now he says to give to the storehouse. What is the store house? It is the church. He wants you to give to his church.

· You know the tithe was the first fruits of the Jew. Before he spent, invested, or gave it to anyone else, he would first give unto the Lord.

· There are a lot of things that our money goes too, but let me ask you, are you thinking about the Lord first with your money.

· When that check is placed in your hand, are you bringing your gift unto the store house?

· Friend, God is pleading for you to do that. Why? It is not because God needs our money. Remember, God owns it all. He doesn’t need our money.

· But he wants to bless us, when we give unto him.

· You know what I have come to learn about God? God is no man’s debtor. The more I give to Him, the more he gives to me.

Point 5 – The Pouring out of Grace (vs 10b-12)

· And that brings us to the final thing that we see, and that is the pouring out of Grace.

· You see God wants to bless His church, he wants to bless His people. And when we give with a loving heart, not a begrudging heart, God will stop the devourer from destroying your life.

· Remember when I was talking about all the things that go wrong, well that happens when I don’t give to the Lord like I should. But when I give to him with a grateful heart, he gives back to me by keeping the devil at bay.

· You see, the devil wants to ruin your life, he doesn’t want the Christian to give glory to God. So, if he can convince you not to give, he knows that the blessings of God will stop.

· But God wants to bless you. He wants to bring joy into your life. And when you give, you begin to find that joy.

· I mean that is the challenge he has laid out. He said it in this verse, prove me now.

· You want to see God move, move for the Lord.

Closing

· Now you might be here, and you have struggle with giving unto the Lord. And the curse is on your life. Friend, that can change if you would just come and first give of yourself.

· You know what God wants to do right now for you? He wants to open the windows of heaven. He want to just pour out on you his love, mercy, and grace.

· But friend, first you need to take that step towards him. Let him save you from the curse. Let him set you free from your struggles. Let him show you the way to freedom. By giving yourself to him today.

References

1 - https://www.christianpost.com/news/only-13-of-evangelicals-tithe-study.html