Everyday Faith

“Are You Robbing God?”

Malachi 3:8-10 “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, Even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be meat in mine house, And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, If I will not open you the windows of heaven, And pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

I. Intro

Who gets your tithes? Tithes go to your local church called the storehouse. Tithes go to Jesus. Hebrews 7:8 “And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.”

II. What Does Jesus Want From You?

Believe. John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Learn. Matthew 11:28-29 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Follow. John 1:43 “The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.”

Endure Hardness. Luke 9:23 “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

Be Baptized. Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Witness. Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Manage your life. Matthew 25:23 “His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

III. What is Stewardship

Stewardship is proper management of your time, talent, and treasure for the glory of God. -Elmer Towns-

1. Give money to Him. Luke 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

IV. What happens when you tithe?

a. Giving a tithe won’t get you to Heaven, tithing shows our trust and obedience in God. Acts 8:20 “But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.”

b. Giving a tithe doesn’t make you spiritual; tithing reflects your relationship to God. The Holy Spirit makes you holy and makes you spiritual. When you are “spiritual” you want to give everything to God. Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

c. Giving a tithe doesn’t guarantee a financial return, tithing reflects your priorities in life, which put you in a place to prosper in all areas of life. Matthew 25:18 “But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.”

God. Whose money?

Manage. What is our task?

Report. What happens when our time is up?

Take away. What does God do for poor management?

Give more. What does God do for good managers?

d. Giving a tithe is not paying dues to the church, tithing is a faith-gift to God. Lev. 27:30 “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.”

Disobedient. To give the wrong amount with the wrong attitude.

ii. Not right. To give the right amount with the wrong attitude.

iii. Not enough. To give the wrong amount with the right attitude.

iv. Faith-gift. To give the right amount with the right attitude

e. Giving a tithe is not tipping God; tithing is giving God the first tenth of all that you possess. Exodus 34:26 “The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.”

V. Conclusion

From the days of the patriarchs until Malachi’s time, the nation frequently disobeyed God’s Word, and God had to send prophets to call them to repent and return. When the people heard Malachi call them to return to the Lord, instead of obeying that call, they began to argue with God’s servant. They remind me of those people who evade the issue by saying, “Define your terms! What do you mean by ‘return’?” But Malachi didn’t hesitate to tell them how to start returning to God: “Bring God the tithes and offerings that are rightfully His! The word “tithe” comes from a Hebrew word that means “ten.” A tithe is 10 percent of one’s grain, fruit, animals, or money. There were special storage rooms in the temple for keeping the grain, produce, and money that the people brought to the Lord in obedience to His Law. If people didn’t want to carry heavy produce all the way to the temple, they could convert it into cash, but they had to add 20 percent to it just to make sure they weren’t making a profit and robbing God. Lev. 27:30-34 “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.” Since God made and owns everything, He doesn’t need anything that we can bring Him. Acts 17:25 “Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;” But when we obey His Word and bring our gifts as an act of worship with grateful hearts, it pleases him. In robbing God, the people were not fulfilling the covenant they had made with the Lord; therefore, God couldn’t fulfill His promise and bless them. Lev. 26:3 “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;” Whenever we rob God, we always rob ourselves. To begin with, we rob ourselves of the spiritual blessings that always accompany obedience and faithful giving. 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the …” But even more, the money that rightfully belongs to God that we keep for ourselves never stays with us. It ends up going to the doctor, the auto body shop, or the tax collector. Hag. 1:6 “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; Ye eat, but ye have not enough; Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; Ye clothe you, but there is none warm; And he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” If we don’t trust God to care for us, whatever we do trust will prove futile. People who lovingly give tithes and offerings to God find that whatever is left over goes much farther and brings much greater blessing. Yes, giving is an act of faith, but God rewards that faith in every way. That isn’t the reason we give, because that kind of motivation would be selfish. We give because we love God and want to obey Him, and because He’s very generous to us. When we lay up treasures in heaven, they pay rich dividends for all eternity.