It’ a Test

Malachi 3:6–12 ESV

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 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. 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.

Introduction

Recap

Last week we started a new series called, “Living a life of Blessing.”

And through it were looking at how God places a blessing on the lives of those who honor him with in the stewardship, giving, and generosity of their money.

Heart

And we set the tone for the series last week by looking at how This is about more than money..

Because Giving is all about the heart.

Jesus said where you treasure is your heart is..

and giving, all giving, not just monetary giving

It a reflection of the heart.

Jesus

We saw last week how God modeled this for us..

God gave Jesus, John 3:16

and Jesus gave his life.. John 10:17-18

Us

When we choose to be giver

we are honoring God in our heart and lives..

We are imitating God in our actions

and We are putting our trust in god with out Faith..

Giving it about the heart

Today

With that in mind, Were going to look at one specific type of giving this morning

A type of give that is instructed of ALL believers in the Scriptures..

both old an new testament.

Were going to talk about tithing..

The Parable of the tallents

(Three people)

I want you to imagine with me that Im going on a long trip..

maybe I’m gonna go to Spain and spend a few months there really learning how to speak Spanish..

And since I’m going to be gone for a while..

I have provided for Krista.. but I want to spread that provision out a little

so I ask these thee to help me..

And so Im going to give each a thousand dollars every month..

But It come with instruction..

“Listen, im gonna give you this money”

“but I want you to help me provide for my bride.. “

“So Im going to give you $1,000 dollars a month and then I want you to give Krista $100 of that.. and you can keep the rest.. “

and your going to help provide for her.. look out for her..

pretty good deal right?

Follow up

So while I’m gone..

I call krista every day..

and one day I ask her..

Hey..

Are these three doing what I asked..

And she says..

Well ....._____ bought the $100 just like you told them too..

and _______ is going above and beyond! they they have been bringing $200

oh great..

and what about… _____________

Well.. the first month they brought me $70..

and since then i havn’t gotten anything else..

Questions..

… No let me ask you some questions..

who’s money was this?

MINE

and who did what i asked them to do?

THE FIRST TWO..

And do you think im going to continue to give to the one who didnt?

NO..

What about the one who went above and beyond? MORE..

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a parable of the tallents..

and its the same story..

God is the source

God is the one who gives to us..

Because everything we have comes from him..

Philippians 4:19 ESV

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 24:1 ESV

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

Matthew 6 Jesus reminds us that if we seek first the kingdom GOD will provide for us..

IT ALL COMES FROM HIM..

We have been given instruction

But he has instructed his people to bring the tithe to the store house..

Malachi 3:10 ESV

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house….

AND WHEN WE DO ..

If we will obey we will be blessed.

GOD PROMISES TO BLESS THE REST..

Malachi 3:10 ESV

…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.

Tithing

Tithing is a choice..

I want you to be careful in viewing this conversation this morning..

If were not, we can hear the word tithe and feel grumbly inside..

and feel like we are forced to give..

I want you to understand theres no forcing here..

This is not a salvation issue..

It is at its core a choice..

You can choose not to tithe.. and still go to heaven..

BUT ..

It is an invitation..

AND IT IS AN ESTABLISHED INSTRUCTION OF GOD..

Kingdom economy

God established the kingdom economy of tithing..

And he wants every believer to participate in it.

Tithing Its an invitation to bring blessing on your life..

But just like salvation..

Just like all things in scripture..

You have the choice to decline that invitation..

But with that declining you also get the outcome of that choice..

You can choose to tithe and be blessed..

Or you can choose not too and live under a curse..

thats what the scripture plainly says..

but well talk about that more in a moment..

Tithing is the tenth

So what is tithing?

the Hebrew word that we render Tithe in english means the tenth portion

It was to be the first 10% of the increase

When Israel came into the promised land that GOD was giving them..

He instructed them to bring a 10 of all of their increase to the house of god..

In thanksgiving and honor of the God, who gave them what they had..

This was an established principle given by God himself..

And its still relevant today..

Tithing is the Lord portion

Tithing is not just any tenth though..

Its god tenth..

Its his portion..

NOTICE..

Malachi says bring..

not give..

Why do you think that is?

because you cannot give whats not yours..

We dont give our tithe..

we bring our tithe..

because its Gods..

And we are returning it to him

And where?

and where do we return it?

To the store house..

The storehouse in the biblical days was the temple..

or the preist..

It was the place where the levites dwelt

its the place where the people received ministry and the priest minstered before god..

Today

The store house in the modern day is the church

Its the place where your being fed gods word..

where your being shepherded..

ITS NO THE TV EVANGELIST..

ITS NOT THE FORIEGN MINISTRY..

ITS NOT EVEN THE PASTOR..

Its the church..

we bring it to Gods house..

for gods use..

AND AFTER THAT..

WE DONT GET TO DECIDE WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WITH IT..

Tithing is a test

at its core.. tithing is a test..

10 is for Test

The number 10 in the scriptures represents testing many times

The test of 10

I want us to take a quick test..

See if you can answer these questions..

1. How many plagues did God send on Egypt..

10.. God was testing the heart of Pharaoh

2. How many commandments were written on the tablets of the law?

10.. they are a test of our obedience to God..

3. How many times were the children of israel tested in the wilderness?

10..

4. How many times was jabobs wages changes?

10..

How many times was daniel tested in the first chapter of daniel?

10

5. how many virgines had their preparedness tested?

6. How many days of testing are mentioned in revelation 2:10?

10..

How many disciples did Jesus call?

12….. Are you paying attention?

The number 10 represents testing many times through scripture..

and the tithe.. the first tenths of our increase is the ultimate test of the heart for a believer!

At test of us

Whats god testing?

Through tithing God is testing our heart…

He is testing whether we will really trust and obey his word..

It tests our trust because it forces us to trust him with less, and believe he stretch it into more.

When tithing, like with first fruits, we are literally putting our faith in God that the 90% we have left will be more than enough to meet our needs!

A test of God

BUT CATCH THIS..

Tithing is also one of the only places in scriptures where God invites us to TEST HIM..

look what it says..

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 puts a guarantee on the instruction to tithe..

He says.. try me.. and see..

SEE IF I DON’T OUT GIVE YOU..

tithing is a test..

So what happens if we pass the test?

Tithing commands a blessing

Look what is says..

do it..

Test me.. see

look..

Malachi 3:10–11 ESV

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.

God says theirs two things that come with passing the test to tithe..

Blessing

First.. i’ll pour out a blessing on you that you cannot contain

CAN I TELL THAT YOU CANNOT OUT GIVE GOD..

Ask any tither and they will tell you the same..

Testimony

If you ask any tither..

almost every one of them will tell you the same thing..

that their blessed..

They may not be rolling in $100 bills..

but their needs are met..

God supplies for them..

and he out gives them..

GOD MATH

Most tithes live on God math..

what is god math?

Its the math of the loaves and the fishes in the story of Jesus..

You know what you have..

but somehow it went much further than you thought possible..

thats god math..

When you give.. God gives back in creative ways..

And that doesnt just mean more money..

Tithers are the kind of people where they pray and groceries show at the door..

because God provides..

Its unexplainable many times.. other than the blessing of god..

BUT look what the second part of that verse says..

Rebuke the Devourer

God says..

Listen..

im not just going to bless you..

but im going to take care of what you already have..

The children of israel..

I love the story of the wilderness experience for israel..

because theirs a part where the bible says that even there cloths and tents lasted through the expereince..

They ate the manna every day..

God gave them more..

BUT WHAT THEY HAD HE TOOK CARE OF AS WELL..

AND THE SAME IS TRUE FOR TITHERS..

God promises to make rebuke the devourer off what we already have..

Paul

Paul tell us something like this in Romans that puts it all into perspective..

Romans 11:15–16 ESV

If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Simply put..

When you offer your tithe to the lord..

God blesses the entire thing..

not just what you offered..

but the remainder becomes blessed..

what you have already becomes blessed..

but what happens if we choose not to tithe?

Choosing not to tithe continues the curse..

First God tells us that when we choose not to tithe were robbing him..

that not my words..

that his..

look..

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.

how is that robbing god?

Because he gave it to you in the first place remember?

and he instructed us to bring the tenth back to him..

So when we choose not to tithe..

we literally are keeping what is not ours..

its Gods..

CURSE

AND BECAUSE OF THAT..

WE PUT OURSELF IN A CURSE..

Look..

Malachi 3:9 ESV

You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.

now.. listen.. God is not saying i curse you if you dont tithe..

God is not doing the cursing..

We choose to live in a curse..

Deuteronomy tells us that choices is ours..

Deuteronomy 30:19 ESV

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

We can choose to participate in god economy and be blessed..

or we can church to participate in our own economy and live in the curse that is this fallen world..

thats the choice we are making..

GOD CAN BLESS WHAT I HAVE BY TITHING..

OR I CAN LIVE AS I WANT AND DEAL WITH IT ON MY OWN..

I hear this all the time..

And listen to me carefully..

im not casting judgement on anyone..

im not saying that if you choose not to tithe your a bad person..

of that your going to hell..

or that your eternal life is in jepordy..

thats not the outcome of this passage..

BUT..

I hear all the time ..

well pastor..

I cant afford to tithe..

But i want to lovely tell you something..

Util you do .. youll never be able to afford it..

WHY?

because until you do youll continue to miss our on the blessing that comes from tithing..

TITHING IS NOT WAITING FOR GOD TO BLESS YOU AND THEN GIVING IT BACK BECAUSE YOU HAVE ENOUGH..

TITHING IS GIVING GOD THE TENTH BECAUSE HE TOLD US TOO..

REGARDLESS OF WHAT WE HAVE IN OUR HANDS..

AND WHEN WE DO..

HE WILL BLESS IT AND MAKE IT MORE..

Tithing is Wholly Biblical

Something else I hear every so often is this..

Well that an old testament principle..

We live in the new testament age..

BUT I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT THATS NOT TOTALLY TRUE..

Because tithing is not just old testament..

Jesus

Jesus in Matthew 5:17 said..

Matthew 5:17 ESV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Jesus didn't initiate the new covenant and wipe away the old testament..

He came and fulfilled much of it..

but the new testament is still relevant to our lives..

Think about this..

The eight commandment is though shall not steal…

Is that still a valid comand?

Yes..

Come here phil..

Give me your wallet..

This is mine now..

Thanks..

Were a new testement church so I dont have to abide by the ten commandments..

THATS SILLY!

JESUS DID NOT ABOLISH THAT..

BUT EVEN FURTHER MORE JESUS AFFIRMED TITHING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT..

Look

New Testament

Luke 11:42 ESV

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Jesus tell them..

listen..

You tithe..

And you should..

but you dont love like god does..

BUT IN CORRECTING THEM HE TELLS THEM THEY SHOULD TITHE AS WELL!

MORE SO

even more..

in the new testament..

things are taken futher than the old many times..

Jesus said.. youve heard dont commit adultry..

but i say if you look at a woman like that you commit adultry..

He said youve heard do not murder..

but if your angry with your brother I says its like murder!

The church

the new testament church even went further with giving..

in act 3..

the bible said they sold everything they had and brought it to the disciples so that it could be shared and everyone taken care of..

SO I GUESE WE SHOULD DO THAT INSTEAD!!!

The new testament affirms tithing..

Jesus affirms tithings..

But probably even more important than all of that..

God demonstrated the tithe..

God Gave his Tithe

Look what Paul said..

1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Jesus was Gods tithe..

he was the first fruits..

the very first..

given for us..

so we could live..