The Heart of Giving
Notes
Transcript
I want to start hear this morning, one simple question:
Do We Trust God?
Do We Trust God?
Let’s make that a little more personal for a moment?
Do you trust God?
Do you trust God?
You see, when we are done here this morning…it is the desire I think the Lord has placed upon my heart for us each to be able to answer that question.
And I don’t mean to give lip service to that question, but truly believe what we are saying...
A belief that drives action!
Would you stand with me this morning, in honor of reading the Word of the Lord?
7 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?’
8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.
10 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.
11 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.
12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
We have to start by reminding ourselves that this book is written first to those in leadership amongst God’s people, but flows to all those who belong to the Lord:
Let’s begin with the verse that sets the stage for our passage:
Our situation—setting
7 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?’
Three questions we ask before we go further:
What’s Up?
What are we to do?
Why would we do that?
1. What’s Up?
A) “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them.”
2. What are we to do?
A) “Return to Me”
3. Why would we do that?
A) “…and I will return to you”
This our Spiritual setting.
You see here Malachi tells us essential God’s calling out of His people in their specific situation.
They have strayed.
He is calling them home.
He is giving them a promise.
“Although they had noticed the absence of God’s blessings, they had not noticed the absence of their God.” —Richard Taylor
What make’s one recognize the loss of relationship more than the loss of the benefits within the relationship.
The Lord gives us both sides of the discussion with His people over and over again when He gives the generic of the opinion by saying you ask How or What over and over again.
This speaks to the abundance of patience and longsuffering of our God…just look back to our final verse last Sunday.
6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
In their brokenness of thought, lack of faith, question of God, and all out rebellion…God has remained a loving Father and a Gracious God.
Here is once again going to draw their attention back to where they should be headed.
Let’s read the background one more time:
Malachi 3:7 (ESV)
7 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?’
“How?”
God Calls Out Misappropriation of Funds
God Calls Out Misappropriation of Funds
8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.
Misappropriation of funds--the intentional, illegal use of the funds of another person for one's own use or other unauthorized purpose.
He says, “You are robbing me...”
In a Spiritual sense —the misappropriation is in recognition that all we have belongs to God. He may have commanded His people to give back a tenth, but all belonged to Him.
He reminded them of the stewardship of the land, not ownership:
23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.
And then He told them why:
10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build,
11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full,
12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
They, like most begin to forget where the blessings come from.
Not only did God tell them what they were doing, but also the current results:
“you are cursed with a curse...” Their situation was a result of their misappropriation.
Lest we, like many begin to think this does not apply today...
Because so many folks thing, “That’s O.T. law”
Let’s look to the Words of Jesus in the N.T.
Matthew 23:23 (ESV)
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
The Only Time God Called Us to Test Him
The Only Time God Called Us to Test Him
10 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.
Bring the Tithe
Test Me
I Will Pour A Blessing
Look What He Promised To Do!
Look What He Promised To Do!
11 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.
12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
Walking Away, But In...
Walking Away, But In...
Trust God
Surrender to His Precepts
Watch Him Work