Malachi- Opening the Windows of Heaven

We have been looking at the book of Malachi for the last few weeks. God’s people have been through a hard time, they are losing hope, they are worn out, they have started some bad habits.

They have forgot the importance of their worship with God. They are cutting corners, they are becoming corrupt, and apathetic in worship. The priests are not doing what they were commanded and taught. Last week we saw how they had walked away from the covenant they made with God.

They were losing God’s blessing. The windows of heaven were closing. One of the many things they weren’t doing right was tithing. Now if you’ve ever heard a sermon on tithing you will almost always here Malachi chapter 3. So you know what’s coming today. We are in Malachi chapter 3.

Malachi 3:7–9 ESV

From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.

Malachi 3:10–12 ESV

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

God says, “If you will do thus and such, I will open to you the very windows of Heaven” (Malachi 3:10)—the floodgates of Heaven will be opened, and the blessings of God will be poured out upon His people. My dear friend, how would you like to have Heaven’s windows opened over your head? How would you like for the God of Glory to open the windows of Heaven and begin to pour, upon your life, His blessings. I want to talk to you today about opening the windows of Heaven—opening the windows of Heaven. And the way to do that is to get right with God in our finances.

And may I tell you, this morning, that, when I’m talking about finances, I know that there are at least three that are interested.

I. Who is Interested in Your Finances?

A. God is interested.

God is very, very much interested in your finances—not because God wants your money. God doesn’t need your money. “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). God said, “If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you” (Psalm 50:12). Don’t get the idea, now, that, somehow, God is broke, or God is in financial difficulty. God is very solid; and yet, God is interested in your finances.

As a matter of fact, you just read the Bible, and you’ll find out, very easily, that God is interested. In the parables that Jesus Christ told, 16 of those 38 parables dealt with man’s use of finances: how he secures his money, saves his money, spends his money, or shares his money. As a matter of fact, one out of every ten verses in the Gospels deals with our financial resources. Over and over and over again, God is talking about this, because God knows, where our heart is, there will our treasure be; and, where our treasure is, there will our heart be (Matthew 6:21). And so He talks about our earthly treasures, our material goods. There are about 500 verses in the Bible about prayer. There are about 500 verses in the Bible about faith. And there are, my dear friend, some 2,000 verses in the Bible about our personal possessions. And so over and over again, God speaks to us about our possessions.

B. Satan Is Interested

I’ll tell you somebody else who is interested in your finances: It’s the devil. Satan is interested in your finances, because he knows that, if he can get you into financial bondage, he can wreck and ruin your life. And my dear friend, he has done a good job in blasting the lives of so many, because they have not learned God’s principles of finances. And Satan has wanted the windows of Heaven shut up, so that you will not be blessed.

C. You Are Interested

I’ll tell you a third one who is interested in your finances, and that is you. If you say you are not, I’m just going to think that, perhaps, you are not telling me the truth. You are interested, and you ought to be interested, because God expects you to be a good steward over that which He has placed in your hands.

So there is lots of interest in our finances! And Malachi says “if you will do these things…God will open the windows of heaven and pour out his blessings to us.

So we are going to look at four steps to God opening the windows of heaven:

II. Four Steps in Opening the Windows of Heaven

A. Recognize Your Failure

Now first of all, step number one—and this is a painful step—but recognize your failure.

Now you’re not going to get right until you recognize where you are wrong. Now not everybody here is a failure, but many are; and we must recognize that. God says here that some people are cursed with a curse. Do you see that, in verse 9? “You are cursed with a curse” (Malachi 3:9).

We’re going to find out what that curse is: It is financial bondage. Did you know you can have a lot of money and be in financial bondage?

Do You Try to Find Satisfaction in Your Riches?

A rich person is in financial bondage when he tries to find satisfaction in his riches and can’t find it. The Bible says, “He that loves silver won’t not be satisfied with silver” (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

Do You Spend Time Worrying over Your Wealth?

You can be in financial bondage when you spend your time worrying over your wealth. The Bible says, in Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 6: “In the house of the righteous is much treasure: but in the revenue of the wicked is trouble” (Proverbs 15:6). Maybe, maybe your revenue is high, but your trouble is also high.

Are you a Slave to Your Money?

You can be in financial bondage when you become a slave to your money. Proverbs 23, verse 4: “Labour not to be rich” (Proverbs 23:4). Maybe that’s your problem: Gold is your god.

Are you Rich Toward God?

Or, maybe…maybe you’re in financial bondage, because you have plenty in the bank, but you’re not rich toward Heaven—you’re not rich toward God.

Now are you—are you—cursed with a curse, financially? Does it just seem that nothing really works out financially?

All right, step number one: If you want the windows of Heaven open, just recognize your failure. Just go ahead and admit it—admit it before God. Say, “God, I am not what I ought to be in the financial realm; and I don’t believe I am what You want me to be.” God wants to teach you these principles, so He can bless you. Point number one: Recognize your failure.

B. Renew Your Fellowship

look again at verse 7

Malachi 3:7 ESV

From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

if you want the windows of Heaven open, first of all, you just return to God. And I want to remind you that it is not your money that God wants. Please hear me say that. It is you that God wants. God needs nothing. God wants you. God says, “Return unto me, and I will return unto you” (Malachi 3:7). And if you give your money without giving yourself, remember that proverb: “The gift without the giver is bare.”

Here’s the way they gave in the Bible—2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 5—the Bible says, “They…first gave their own selves to the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8:5).

2 Corinthians 8:5 ESV

and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

You give yourself first. Just come back with and to God.

Now a lot of people are trying to get right with God, but they never get right financially, and that’s the reason they never get right.

The kind of repentance and the kind of consecration that does not reach the purse, that does not reach the bank account, has never reached the heart.

Now you can say all you want that you’re going to get right with God, but if you don’t get right with God in your finances, you are not right with God.

Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, says: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Now you put God first, and things second, and things will begin to happen in your life. But you put things first, and then, God second, you’ve just canceled it all out.

Now God says, “‘Return unto me,’ and renew your fellowship” (Malachi 3:7). And the people said, “Well, how shall we return?”

God answers—look in verse 8:

Malachi 3:8 ESV

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.

the point of return is the point of departure. If your off course, go back to where you got off course.

First of all, recognize your failure. Secondly, you need to renew your fellowship. I’m going to return unto You, Lord, with my tithes and with my offerings.” That is the starting place. You cannot plow around it. You cannot say, “Well, I’ll get right in every other area but this area.” Get right in this area, or you will not be right with God. Tithing is God’s way to bless you. It’s always a blessing, when you give it; it’s always a curse, when you steal it.

C. Release Your Finances

Look, in verse 10:“

Malachi 3:10 ESV

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

All right, how are we going to do this? When we release our finances to the Lord, what do we do? Well, God tells us exactly what steps to take, if we want the windows of Heaven—the floodgates of Glory—to be opened on us.

1. A Definite Proportion

you now that the word tithe means “tenth.” One-tenth of all of our increase is to be set aside for God’s use. And the other nine-tenths belong to God, and we are stewards of it. But one-tenth is to be set aside and consecrated for God’s use.

Now I know how the minds of many folks are working today. You are saying, “Now wait a minute, Pastor. That tithing business—that’s all legalistic. And you know, we’re under grace; we’re not under the law.”

We see tithing several places before the law was even established: Abraham tithed, Jacob tithed. Jesus preached tithing in Matt. 23.

Did you know that there’s a law that says a man has to feed his children? And if you don’t feed your children, you can be arrested for child neglect. Is there anybody who feeds his children for that reason? Of course not. You feed your children, because you love them. But suppose you fail to live by love, but the law is still there. Suppose there’s a Christian who says, “I’m not going to live by grace.” The law is still there. Does grace make void the law? No, faith establishes the law. Let me say that again: Any Christian who would let a Jew, in the Old Testament, do more under the law than he himself would do under grace is a disgrace to grace.

2. A Designated Place

Where does he say bring it? To the storehouse...

Now in the Old Testament, they had a temple, and in that temple there was a storehouse. And so they brought all the tithe into the storehouse in the temple. They would bring their tithe, and it was put in the storehouse.

You say, “there is no temple today.” Well, friend, you’re wrong. There is a temple today. The Bible says, of the Church, “You are the temple of God” (1 Corinthians 3:16). In 1 Corinthians 3, and 1 Corinthians chapter 6, the Bible teaches that the Church is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19).

And so the Apostle Paul said, in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 2:

1 Corinthians 16:2 ESV

On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

And the words “store it up” are translated in the in the Old Testament, “storehouse.” Storehouse, in the Old Testament; store up, in the New Testament. What’s he saying? We just bring to the storehouse, to God’s temple, on God’s day, God’s tithe, that God’s work will be done in God’s way.

There’s a definite proportion: Bring all the tithe. And my dear friend, there is a designated place: You bring it to the storehouse.

Now that’s just the tithe. No doubt God will lead you to be generous and helpful in other ways to your friends or relatives who are in need, or to some other organization you believe in, but that’s not the storehouse.

3. A Determined Purpose

And what is the determined purpose?

“That there may be food in mine house” (Malachi 3:10). That is, that God’s work is going to have all that it will need to get done. Now you can not only rob God in your tithe, but you can rob God with your offerings. You haven’t finished, when you tithe. As a matter of fact, when you tithe, you really are just paying the tithe; you’re returning the tithe. The tithe is the Lord’s.

I really believe we have one of the most generous churches in the country. We really do. Believe me, what we experience most of the time is unusual. I know many friends all over the country and the church finances are a constant huge struggle. But we are able to accomplish so many great things, and see great fruit because our people realize there is a purpose in our giving.

The last step in seeing God open the windows of heaven is...

D. Restore Your Faithfulness

Here’s the good part. And here are the steps God says.

First of all, you recognize your failure—you’re cursed with a curse. Secondly, you renew your fellowship. God says, “Just return to Me. Then here’s the good part:

Malachi 3:10 ESV

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

God says, “I am going to open up Heaven on you. I am going to pour you out a blessing; there will not be room enough to hold it all” (Malachi 3:10).

look at what God promises to do!

*God Will Renew Your Faith

He will renew your faith. “Test me”—“prove me” (Malachi 3:10). God is giving you a challenge. God is saying, “Put me to the test.”

Friend, if you can’t trust God with your finances, how is God going to trust you with true spiritual riches? God says, “Listen. If you will just test Me, I will renew your faith. Your faith will begin to grow.”

*God Will Rebuke Your Foes

God will renew our faith, and I’ll tell you something else He’ll do: He’ll rebuke our foes.

Malachi 3:11 ESV

I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.

These were farmers. Maybe you’re not a farmer, but you still have foes: hospital bills, car repairs, your loss of job, recession, depression, all of these things. God says, “I will come to your side. I will rebuke these things that have been devouring your income.”

*God Will Restore Your Fruitfulness

And my dear friend, God will restore your fruitfulness.

Malachi 3:11–12 ESV

I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

God will just make you fruitful. Should a poor person tithe? Of course. Of course. Who needs God’s help more than a poor person? You say, “You’re being unfair to the poor.” Oh, no. Oh, no! I want the poor man to have the power of God in his life. Luke 6:38

Luke 6:38 ESV

give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

you hold the key in your own hand.

God wants to bless you. God wants to open the windows of Heaven upon you.