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You may turn in your Bibles to 
Malachi, the prophet, chapter 3. Malachi, chapter 3, we'll be 
looking at verses 6 to 12 this evening, where the prophet, under 
God, calls the people to repentance. It's a blessed reality. When 
the Lord shows us our sin, he calls us to return to him, to 
repent from our sin. We have the sure word of God. 
that when by His grace we do return, He most gladly receives 
us unto Himself. I'll just read Malachi chapter 
3, verses 6 to 12. For I am the Lord, I do not change. Therefore, you are not consumed, 
O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers 
you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return 
to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you 
said, in what way shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet you have 
robbed me. But you say, in what way have 
we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You 
are cursed with a curse. For you have robbed me, even 
this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the 
storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And try me 
now in this, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open for 
you, the windows of heaven, and pour out for you such blessing 
that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke 
the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the 
fruit of your ground. Nor shall the vine fail to bear 
fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts. And all nations 
will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says 
the Lord of hosts. Amen. Let us pray. Father, thank you for this, your 
Word. We pray for the Spirit now to guide us and instruct 
us in these things. We thank you that there is forgiveness 
with you, that you may be feared. And we pray, God in heaven, that 
you would bring to our minds and bring to our hearts those 
areas that we need to return to you in. God, help us to be 
faithful. Help us to be in earnest. Help 
us to want to serve you with all of our heart, our soul, our 
mind and strength. May we not fall prey to the sorts 
of sins and the sorts of things that Israel of old fell prey 
to so often. God, we pray that your church 
would indeed learn the lessons of those who have gone before 
us, that we would take these things to heart and that they 
would affect us in a righteous and in a godly way. And we ask 
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, as we have 
seen several infractions, several breaches of the covenant throughout 
this prophet Malachi, remember that the prophet served the Lord 
God in a manner similar to a prosecuting attorney. God would send the 
prophet to the people when they were in patterns, when they were 
in particular areas of sin. And then the prophet, functioning 
under God as the voice of God Himself, would lay these sins 
before the people, show them where they had fallen short, 
show them the remedy, show them that it was incumbent upon them 
and necessary for them to return unto the Lord God Most High. And this particular discourse, 
this fifth oracle given by the prophet Malachi to the people 
of Israel, is no different. There is a particular sin mentioned 
in this passage that we'll look at in more detail. But remember, 
when he says, return to me, it's not just the sin indicated in 
this immediate context. Here specifically, this issue 
of robbing God in tithes and offerings. But it's all the sin. 
that had plagued the nation up until this point. Remember in 
chapter 3, they had been saying, where is the God of justice? 
They had been calling into question His veracity, His truthfulness, 
His reality, if you will. And so God then tells them, He's 
going to send the messenger of the covenant, that He would come. 
And much to their chagrin, instead of dealing with their enemies, 
He would deal with them because of their sin. Remember, prior 
to that, in chapter 2, the particular sins addressed there. They intermarried 
with pagans. They were not to marry the daughter 
of a foreign god. That would compromise their own 
faith. It wouldn't be long once you 
said I do to that Canaanite woman, to that pagan woman, that you 
would be saying I do to their gods as well. The Lord is very 
jealous for his own honor and for his own glory, and he forbids 
us from marrying with those who are outside of the covenant of 
grace. And then as well, they were divorcing 
their Israelite wives. More than likely, they would 
marry a pagan wife, and then they would put away the wife 
of their youth, their companion, the one whom they had covenanted 
unto until death did them part. But they were sending them away, 
they were getting rid of them, they were divorcing them. And 
it's in that context that God says, I, the Lord, hate divorce. And then remember that the sins 
of the priests were also addressed in this particular book as well. Chapter 2 takes up that whole 
infraction, the whole sin, the whole mindset of the priestly 
office. where they were prostituting 
the Word of God. They were not teaching it accurately. They were not setting forth the 
truth. They were as well messing up with the sacrificial system. 
Israelites are bringing to the temple lame animals and blind 
animals and at times stolen animals and trying to offer that up as 
sacrifice. The priests were guilty. for 
taking those mangy animals. The people were guilty for taking 
those mangy animals. In a sense, it was as if the 
very worship of God had been brought into the gutter. They 
had no concern, no care for the honor and the glory of God, even 
expressing such things like we find in Malachi 1.13. You also say, oh, what a weariness, 
and you sneer at it. says the Lord of hosts, and you 
bring the stolen, the lame and the sick. Thus you bring an offering. Should I accept this from your 
hand, says the Lord. When we take and when we treat 
worship as if it's a weariness and it's boring and it's something 
we just have no heart for, That puts us in a bad place before 
the living and the true God. Well, as we come to consider 
chapter three, verses six to 12, we look at specifically four 
observations. And the first is the immutability 
of God. The immutability of God. Some 
commentators put verse six with what precedes. But what we find 
in verse five and we compare that to 217, that seems to be 
an oracle or a discourse on its own. Chapter three, verse six 
seems to go with what follows in chapter three. But it is that 
doctrine of the immutability of God. Verse six, for I am the 
Lord. I do not change. It's a very 
comforting doctrine, a very encouraging doctrine. It is what God is all 
about. He is an unchangeable being. In Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 
4, it says that He is the rock. It's a great title, a great description 
for our God. He is the rock. When you think 
rock, you think stability. You think something that's solid, 
something that is entrenched, something that is not going anywhere. The book of Deuteronomy continues. 
He is the rock. His work is perfect. For all 
his ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice. 
Righteous and upright is he. This idea of God's immutability, 
the fact that he does not change, is a great cause for encouragement, 
and you'll see how that fleshes itself out in this immediate 
context. But a couple of other verses 
that highlight this truth of the unchanging character of God. 
In Hebrews 1, quoting the psalter in verses 10 to 12, we read, 
And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, 
and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, 
but you remain. They will all grow old like a 
garment, like a cloak you will fold them up, and they will be 
changed, but you are the same, and your years will not fail." 
That ought to be something that encourages the saint of Christ. 
We are filled with change. We are mutable. In fact, that's 
our next major consideration as we work our way through this 
chapter. God is immutable. God is unchanging. We are just the opposite. We 
change. We're subject to change. We change 
on a whim. Yet, God is constant. God is 
a rock. Hebrews 13.8 says of Jesus Christ, 
He is the same yesterday and today and forever. That ought 
to encourage you. If you have come to Christ, If 
you have believed the gospel, if he has received you unto himself, 
he will never, ever cast you off. We may at times have second 
thoughts. We may at times struggle. We 
may at times be fair weather fans. But when Christ saves, 
according to Hebrews 7 25, he saves to the uttermost all who 
draw nigh unto God. through him. This doctrine of 
the immutability of God Most High is a great cause of encouragement 
for the Saint of Jesus. He's not going to cast you off. 
He's not going to throw you off. Though friends may fail me, though 
foes may assail me, He, my Savior, makes me whole. He will never 
ever discard those for whom he has died and for whom he has 
risen again. He will never cast off one who 
has come in faith, believing the gospel. Let that encourage 
your heart. James 1 17 Every good and perfect 
gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights 
with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. You see, the older theologians 
and the older confessions of faith spoke of the doctrine of 
impassibility. God is not subject to reaction. God is not like the creature. 
God is wholly sufficient in and of Himself, and He does not change. He doesn't react the way that 
you and I might react. There is a world of comfort in 
Malachi chapter 3, verse 6. Notice the specific practical 
result in the context. For I am the Lord, I do not change. Now notice, therefore, You are 
not consumed, O sons of Jacob. You see the connection there. Israel is not the covenant community 
because of their faithfulness. Israel is not the covenant community 
because of their constancy. Israel is not the covenant community 
because of their performance They are the covenant community 
because God, most high, does not change. You've got to see 
the connection. I am the Lord. I do not change. Implication, 
therefore, you are not consumed. You see, if God reacted and God 
was a changing being, as soon as the people went astray, he 
would just do this with them and cast them off, never having 
anything to do with them again. The doctrine of God's immutability 
is that doctrine of rock-solid confidence for the saint of Christ. He doesn't change, therefore 
we are not consumed. They had the gall to ask, where 
is the God of justice? And all the while, the God of 
justice is sustaining them in His immutable glory by His power, 
His faithfulness, and His goodness. This doctrine is evidenced in 
the book of Lamentations as well. You may turn there for just a 
moment. In fact, we sing a hymn based on these verses. Lamentations 
chapter 3 verses 22 to 24. Lamentations 322 through the 
Lord's mercies, we are not consumed because his compassions fail 
not. They are new every morning. Great 
is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says 
my soul. Therefore, I hope in him. I wonder, 
when we sing that hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, we open 
to Trinity Hymnal number 27, and we sing this particular song 
to God, and we reflect what is captured here, or what is summarized 
in the hymn from chapter 3, verses 22 to 24. If we ever think about 
the context. What's lamentations mean? Crying. You know how Jeremiah was known? The best preacher in Israel? 
The most biblical preacher in Israel? Well, of course, he would 
have been the most biblical. He was Jeremiah. What was Jeremiah's 
title? The Weeping Prophet, right? We 
even have a word for it. It's called Jeremiahed. It's 
an adjective describing somebody who is weeping. The Book of Lamentations 
is Jeremiah's lament over the destruction of Jerusalem in the 
sixth century B.C. The Book of Lamentations records 
tragedy. The Book of Lamentations records 
the covenant curses of God having been applied. Remember Deuteronomy 
28. You go into the land and you 
live like this, then these things will happen to you. Well, that 
is precisely what lamentations record. He highlights the reality 
that women, women of compassion, women of mercy, ended up eating 
their babies in the siege of Jerusalem. That's how bad it 
was. But notice in the midst of this 
lament, in the midst of this calamity, in the midst of this 
hardship and trial, the prophet says, through the Lord's mercies, 
we are not consumed. It would be a whole lot worse 
if God wasn't merciful. It would be a whole lot worse 
if his compassions failed. It would be a whole lot worse 
if his compassions were not new every morning. It would be devastating 
beyond belief if great was not his faithfulness. You see, we 
would take Lamentations 3, 22 to 24, and plug it in to a specifically 
nice time in our lives. When our jobs are well, when 
our families are in order, when everything is going well, we 
sing, great is thy faithfulness. The prophet is singing, great 
is thy faithfulness, when everything around him was a mess, a wreck, 
devastation and messed up. And yet this is his confession. 
The same idea is true here in Malachi 3.6. I am the Lord. I do not change. Therefore, he 
says, You are not consumed. It's not your merit. It's not 
your goodness. It's not your glory. It's not 
your majesty. It's not your faithfulness. It 
is because of God, being who God is, that you are not consumed. It's a blessed reality. Notice, 
secondly, the mutability of man. If the immutability of God means 
his unchanging nature, The mutability of man means his changing nature. Notice in verse 7. Yet from the 
days of your fathers, you have gone away from my ordinances 
and have not kept them. This has been your pattern. In 
some senses, it is the immutability of man. We don't change as far 
as faithlessness is concerned. We don't change as far as rebellion 
against God is concerned. We don't change with reference 
to our dispositional antagonism to the God of heaven and earth. 
He says, yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away 
from my ordinances and have not kept them. You have defected. You have apostatized. You have 
rejected the living and the true God. Notice, he highlights the 
reality that it's from the days of your father. This has been 
a long, ongoing process with these people. What we're finding 
here in Malachi's day is not new with reference to the nation 
of Israel. T.V. Moore says, as men love 
their children, let them avoid that sin that will be to them 
a legacy of sorrow. The fathers set the pattern. 
The children followed the pattern. They perpetuated the cycle of 
apostasy and of defection from the living and true God. Though 
the prophets came, though the prophets preached, though the 
prophets called them to repentance and faith, nevertheless, they 
continued in this downward spiral of apostasy from God Most High. And it's on the heels of this 
statement in verse seven. Yet from the days of your father, 
you have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Now notice, 
return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord. Please 
appreciate this, my dear brothers and sisters. We sin, don't we, 
as Christians? We sin a lot as Christians, don't 
we? We don't want to admit it, but 
yeah. We sin against the living and true God. Yet return to me, 
he says. I love the prophet Jeremiah chapters 
three and four in the space of, you know, all of chapter three 
and in the first few verses of chapter four, six times, God 
through the prophet says to the people, return to me. Now, again, 
going back to the context, what were they doing in Israel at 
the time of the prophet Jeremiah? They were engaged in gross sin, 
vile sin. In fact, at one point he says, 
yet return to me, you backsliding children, and I will heal your 
backsliding. You see, God's logic is not our 
logic. God's thoughts are not our thoughts. 
See, we think we have to clean up our act before we can ever 
go back to God. God says, come, I will cleanse 
your backsliding. Come, I will wash you from your 
sins. Come, I will deal with that. 
I will put those things away. That's precisely what God through 
Jeremiah says to the nation. Yet, return to me, says the Lord. This is how the prophet Zechariah 
opens up as well. Remember that Haggai, Zechariah, 
Malachi are all post-exilic prophets. This one thing they have in common. 
They call the people of Israel to return to me, says the Lord. Repentance is what is being spoken 
of here. Douglas Stewart says repentance 
of all actions inconsistent with his covenant, which demanded 
that he be the only God. In other words, the inadequate 
worship attacked in the second disputation, the infidelities 
attacked in the third, the serious societal sins attacked in the 
fourth. All would have to change. Go 
back for just a moment to verse 5. These are the sorts of things 
going on in Israel at the time of the prophet Malachi. I will 
come near you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against 
sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers, those who exploit wage earners 
and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien 
because they do not fear me. So God, through the prophet, 
is telling the people to return to Me and I will return to you. You see, that was the great calamity 
in Israel's history when the city of Jerusalem was destroyed. 
It wasn't that they lost their temple. It wasn't that they lost 
their city. Those were temporal difficulties 
to be sure. But what really was the painful 
thing was that God the Lord withdrew from them. You can read about 
this in the prophet Ezekiel. I mean, it's displayed there 
in chapters 8 to 11. Please don't miss that, brethren. You know, 
we get to the book of Ezekiel. Here's how most Christians read 
Ezekiel. They get freaked out by this wheel thing, and they 
just don't even move on. The wheel thing is God's battle 
chariot, God's presence. The wheels demonstrate that apart 
from the temple, He is with His people. That even if they're 
in exile in Babylon, I will be a sanctuary unto them. That's what the wheels signify 
in this scene that Ezekiel has, in this vision that Ezekiel has. 
But there is a dramatic display in chapters 8-11 where the glory 
of God is withdrawn from the temple. That was the problem 
in the exile. It wasn't the city. It wasn't 
the temple. It wasn't their stuff. It was the lack of the felt presence 
of God Most High. So He says, return to Me. I will 
return to you. This is the way it is in our 
Christian life. Yes, we damage relationships. 
Yes, we have trial and turmoil. Yes, we have horizontal issues. But when we're in sin and we're 
not repentant, the big problem is that we don't have the presence 
of a felt Christ. And so our Christ says, return 
to Me and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts. This is the reality that the 
people of God most desperately long for and desire. The means is repentance. Do not 
hold on to sin. Do not cleave on to sin. Do not 
die with your sin, but rather get rid of it. There's no sin 
worth holding on to, to the sacrifice of our blessed and wonderful 
Savior. If we confess our sins, 1 John 
1.9, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse 
us from all unrighteousness. That's one of those verses you 
should keep in your wallet or in your purses, ladies. That's 
one of the verses you keep near and dear to your heart. Psalm 
130. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, 
O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with 
you that you may be feared." You see, we as the people of 
God ought to be returning to God. And He will return to us, 
says the Lord of hosts. Now, unfortunately, look at what 
they say in this instance. The end of verse 7, but you said, 
in what way shall we return? We've seen this pattern in Malachi's 
prophecy, haven't we? Everything the prophet indicts 
them with, they say, who, us? What do you mean, us? Here, I 
think the sense of it is, how are we supposed to return? I 
think we see something of this in the prophet Micah. You may 
turn there, Micah chapter 6. Micah chapter 6. Probably one 
of the most famous Old Testament verses after Deuteronomy 6.4 
would be Micah chapter 6 and verse 8. I'm sure you're all 
familiar with that particular verse. Micah 6, verse 8 says, 
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord 
require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly 
with your God? Now, have you ever noticed that 
this is a response to something? It is a response to the indictment 
from God through Micah that they were in sin. And notice how they 
respond in Micah 6, 6, with what shall I come before the Lord 
and bow myself before the high God? Now, don't think for a moment 
they're honest and serious. They're not really legit here 
saying, how is it that we can return to God? How is it that 
we can come back to the father? How is it that we can repair 
the ruins? How is it that we can fix this distance that has 
existed between us? It's more like what we find here 
in Malachi. How are we supposed to return? 
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before 
the high God? Again, Micah 6, 6. And here's 
how we know it's not legit. Shall I come before him with 
burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be 
pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Should 
we go empty out our pens? Should we take every animal in 
the community? Should we bring every specific 
ram and offer it up as a sacrifice to God? And then they get so 
arrogant as to say, shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, 
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? You see what 
they're saying? What does he want? What's with 
him? Why doesn't he accept us? So 
on the heels of that, that verse 8 comes. He has shown you, oh 
man, don't act like you don't know. Don't act like you're ignorant 
of the covenant. Don't act like you don't understand 
what keeps the distance between you and Yahweh close. He has 
shown you. What does the Lord require of 
you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with 
your God? In other words, rightly relate 
to God, rightly relate to men. The same thing is true over here 
in the prophet Malachi in chapter 3. Return to me and I will return 
to you, says the Lord of Hosts. But you said, in what way shall 
we return? We see the immutability of God, 
the mutability of man. Now, notice the specific sin 
here that the prophet takes up in this fifth discourse. It is 
the rejection of God himself. You say, wait a minute, they 
just didn't bring their tithes and offerings. Exactly. It's 
the rejection of God himself. This would probably have been 
a sin easier to conceal. You see, when they brought one 
of those mangy animals to the temple, Their neighbors would 
have been able to see that. Might not have been as widespread 
as perhaps this offense was. Let me face it, when you're giving, 
it's between you and God, right? Not all your neighbors, not everybody 
in the community knows how many animals you have. They don't 
know how good or how well your crops have done. They don't know 
how much grain is in your storehouse. No one can really quantify if, 
in fact, you are bringing the 10%. But you see, God the Lord 
knows. And in this instance, he indicts 
them of this particular sin. Again, it's one among many. This 
is a concrete illustration or a concrete application of a specific 
offense that they should clean up immediately. Notice in verse 
eight, will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, here it is again. You talk about a hard hearted 
people here. And just as an aside, you've 
got to really pound these people in the head to get them to understand. 
You have robbed God. You have cheated the Lord. You 
have defrauded Him. Us? What do you mean? They knew 
good and well they weren't tithing. They knew good and well that 
what they had in their barns or what they had in their pens 
and what they were offering at the temple was not ten percent. 
They knew that. For them to say, me? What do 
you mean? It's like when you catch your 
kid doing something. He's red-handed. He's got the cookie in his hand. 
Son, you stole that cookie. What, me? You've got chocolate 
all over your mouth. Don't try to fake this. Don't 
try to finagle your way out. Don't try to escape. I see the 
cookie in your hand. I see the chocolate on your mouth. 
I see the stain on your shirt. Quit playing games. You have robbed God, he says. 
Or us? How have we robbed you? In tithes 
and offerings. You see, God has called you to 
give a tenth. Three particular reasons for 
the tithe in the Old Covenant. One was for the Lord. Not because 
God needs our money to live. Not because God needs grain to 
live. Not because He needs your rams 
to live. But it is an evidence and an 
expression of one's humility before God, an acknowledgment 
of his sovereignty and of his provision, an acknowledgment 
of the reality that the earth is always and the fullness thereof. And when we bring the tithe, 
we are acknowledging that reality. Stuart makes the great observation 
that a tithe is given to the owner. It's not given by the 
owners. You see that? When you tithe, 
you're giving it to the owner. Oh, well, I'm giving my money. 
I'm giving my grain. I'm giving my rams. No. Those are God's money, God's 
rams, God's grain. You are giving it back to the 
rightful owner out of obedience to Him, out of humility before 
Him, as well with an old covenant Israel. That tithe money went 
to fund worship. Probably this is why they weren't 
tithing and offering, because they didn't care about worship. 
You see, men will spend their money on things that really matter. 
But when the worship of God and the house of God is in disrepair, 
when the worship of God and the house of God is a weariness, 
Do you think that that's going to be reflected in one's pocketbook? Absolutely. When you don't care 
about worship, when you don't care about God, you will certainly 
not part with your stuff for God or for his worship. So the 
tithe in Israel functioned for the tabernacle, the temple, specifically 
for the Levitical, the tribe of Levi, and for the priests 
within the Levitical tribe. And then as well, the tithe functioned 
as we saw on Wednesday night. Interesting how we just were 
looking at this in Deuteronomy 14. There was that triennial 
tithe. Every third year you would bring 
a portion and you would put it in the storehouse and that money 
would function for the downtrodden and poor. The downtrodden and 
poor within society would be blessed and benefited by the 
goodness and the kindness and the generosity of God's people. So the stranger, the widow and 
the orphan would all profit or prosper rather from the blessing 
God gave to others. You see, not everyone in Old 
Covenant Israel had the ability to take a parcel of land and 
turn a profit. There's a division of labor. 
Not everybody is great in agriculture. Not everybody is great in economics. 
Not everybody is great at everything there is to be great at. And 
so the ones who prospered, the ones who did well, when they 
gave that triennial tithe, there would be a storehouse for the 
people who had need. And you see, so God says, you 
have robbed me. You have not acknowledged my 
sovereignty. You have not acknowledged my goodness. You have not acknowledged 
my bounty. And you have not acknowledged 
my compassion and my heart for the needy. This was the particular 
crime, or the sin rather, that the prophet is dealing with in 
this particular instance. It is something that Nehemiah 
takes up as well. Remember that Nehemiah and Malachi 
are contemporaries. And so both men, the prophet 
and the governor, are seeking to call the people to repentance 
in this particular area. Because what we think about God, 
what we view concerning his worship, how we look at other people, 
oftentimes is reflected in the way that we spend or don't spend 
our money. So you see, that is what the 
prophet says. You are cursed with a curse, 
verse 9, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. The nation is under a curse for 
disobedience. The curse is the result from 
robbing God, and the robbing of God is one of many aspects 
of covenant unfaithfulness. That's usually how sin goes. It is systemic. We don't usually 
just sin in one area. It's usually combined with a 
whole host of things. When we are sinful with reference 
to God and His worship, it affects the way that we deal with other 
people. When we are sinful to people 
that we're supposed to be nice to, it affects our heart before 
the living and true God. We are whole creatures striving 
by the grace of God to live in a manner that is consistent with 
His Word. But when we fail or when we sin 
in one area, it doesn't take long for it to affect the whole. 
And then finally, notice the remedy offered by God in this 
particular section, verses 10 to 12. Your problem is tithes 
and offerings. What does God say? Tithe. Offer. Fix it. Right? He doesn't say you're done. It's 
over. Sayonara. No, he's going to counsel them. 
What's a return look like? Even when they say, how are we 
supposed to return to God? You want to know? I'm going to 
tell you, God says. He's so good, isn't he? He's 
so kind. He's so gracious. He's so gentle. He tells us very specifically 
in this passage what a return to him looks like. He says, bring 
all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in my 
house. You see, he calls it my house, 
again, not because he needs that ram, or he needs that grain, 
or he needs that new wine in order to satisfy him, but rather 
it is an indicator, an acknowledgement of his sovereignty, of his provision, 
and of his compassion and kindness to others. He says, bring all 
the tides into the storehouse that there may be food in my 
house and try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts. If I 
will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you 
such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive 
it. A couple of thoughts here first on the challenge itself. 
God is challenging. God says, try me now in this. He's issuing this forth as a 
statement. Stuart, again, says this. For 
God to invite investigation or action that will confirm his 
promises is a gateway to blessing. For people to demand that God 
prove himself through is a door to sin. You see, this isn't the 
people testing God like they did at Massa. Oh, you say you're 
God. You say you can do great things. 
Then we want you to send this forth and perform in such a manner. 
That's not what's in view here. But as well, something else that's 
not in view here. How many times have you heard 
this verse? You just give to God and you'll get blessing. 
Brethren, may I just say gently, kindly and lovingly, you don't 
give to get. You don't give to get. You give 
because God says to. If he makes you to get, if he 
prospers you, that's his prerogative. This is not an individualized 
promise. This is not a health, wealth 
and prosperity text. You know, the shiny televangelist 
with all of his bling and all of his jewels and all of his 
money signs hanging off him, taking this text from Malachi 
saying, you give and you'll get. That is not the thrust of the 
passage. Any statement of abundance in 
Israel was a corporate promise. Remember, this is a nation in 
covenant with God, a nation that has blessings and curses stipulated. a nation that is founded upon 
a unique status with God the Lord. For a preacher to take 
this verse and tell you that the pathway to economic independence 
is to be found in tithing, that is not the thrust of the passage. You give because God says to. Whether you get or not doesn't 
change the reality. How mercenary a spirit is that? Well, I'm going to tie So I get 
a new car. I'm going to tithe so he'll give 
me a good bankroll. I'm going to tithe in order to 
pursue economic freedom. No, you tithe because God says 
to. You see the difference then? 
Guy pulls up in a Rolls Royce and says, I'll tell you how to 
get one of these. You just give to God. And I just suggest he 
could pull up in a 1972 Pinto, rolling bomb, and say, give to 
God because God says to. Not because you can get a car 
like this. Hopefully if he rolls up in a 
Pinto, don't go, oh yeah, that's good, that's a great car. We 
want that Pinto. This is not the passage that 
we ought to appeal to for our economic prosperity. our economic 
independence. Why do we have such a mercenary 
spirit? We'll give to you, God, provided 
that you give to us. Does anyone see how cheesy such 
a transaction is? That's the extent of our religion. We'll give, we'll do, we'll serve, 
as long as it's reciprocated. And God, I know we're going to 
give you this sheep, but we want it all's rights. We're going 
to give you this head of grain. We want a summer home. It's not 
even commensurate with the gift, is it? This is not the passage 
given. Again, Stuart says, it does not 
constitute a promise that individual believers become prosperous if 
they tithe. The promise is, however, corporate, 
not individual. as are virtually all Old Covenant 
promises of abundance. Now, you'll hear people and you'll 
meet people that say, by the grace of God, we've given from, 
you know, day one of our Krishna experience. And we have tried 
and we have seen and we have known the Lord. He's faithful. 
He doesn't leave the righteous to perish. He doesn't leave the 
righteous to famine. He's a good God. There's a legit, 
consistent testimony in such a disposition. But that's not 
the disposition of saying, you should give in order to get. 
The whole televangelist and health, wealth, prosperity gospel, which 
is no gospel. If good news is that you'll get 
big cars and summer homes and nice clothes on this side of 
the judgment day, that's not good news. You see, the good 
news is that God in Christ is reconciling the world to himself. 
The good news is that God so loved the world that he gave 
his only begotten son. The good news is that fleeing 
to Christ, one receives pardon from iniquity and the imputation 
of righteousness that avails with God. You see, the good news 
answers the man's most necessary issue, sin. That's what good 
news is all about. So God issues forth this promise 
and then our issues for this challenge. And he does say and 
test me in this. Try me in this, says the Lord, 
if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out 
for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive 
it. So there's abundance in God's 
promise here. But as well, there's protection. 
Again, you've got to think covenantally. Deuteronomy 28. One of the specifications 
was that if they went into the land and they sinned against 
God, then the devourer would come. It's a devourer. Blight. Locusts. crop destruction, things 
of that nature. You see, if you sin against the 
living and true God, there will be negative sanctions. So he 
says, test me in this, try me in this. You will receive abundance. 
You'll also receive protection. Verse 11, I will rebuke the devourer 
for your sake so that he will not destroy the fruit of your 
ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the 
field. And this is just affirming or confirming all that's already 
been stated in the book of Deuteronomy. Blessings for obedience, cursings 
for disobedience. This is not new information. 
This isn't something that Israel should have said, wow, you mean 
this? This is what they were supposed 
to know. And then thirdly, there would be prestige or blessing. 
Verse 12, all nations will call you blessed, for you will be 
a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts. The idea here is to 
magnify or extol another person's condition as a desirable one. That's what it means when all 
the nations would call you blessed. Remember in Deuteronomy chapter 
four, the people of Israel would go into the land and if they 
lived consistently and they functioned accordingly, then the nations 
around them would say, what kind of a nation is this that has 
such a law and such a God like this? In other words, they would 
call this nation blessed. So the prophet highlights the 
immutability of God, shows the defection or apostasy of man, 
counsels them to return, and then specifies a practical, specific 
manner in which they could, by the grace of God, fix things. Ty, bring your offerings into 
the storehouse, and God Most High will receive it, and God 
Most High will bless. So, in summary, we see here the 
encouraging doctrine that God changes not. It is because of 
that reality that we're not consumed. Tomorrow, when you wake up and 
you open your eyes and you stretch and you yawn, you ought to think 
of lamentations. You ought to think of Malachi. You ought to realize I'm not 
in hell this morning because God is good. You see, this is 
where doctrine and theology really does matter. You're not waking 
up tomorrow, stretching, yawning, rubbing the sleep out of your 
eyes because you're a great guy or a great girl. You're doing 
that because God is a great God. Jesus is a great Savior. Secondly, 
we learn in this passage the wickedness of man. It's an unfortunate 
reality. But from the days of your fathers, 
you have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Yet, 
he says, return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord 
of hosts. And then with reference to that very big question that 
often comes up with the people of God, this whole issue of tithing. 
I want to read two statements. I thought about this. Am I hiding 
behind this particular man? You know, it's not always an 
easy thing to preach on subjects of this matter. But I do want 
to quote at length one man named John Benton. He's a contemporary. 
He wrote a commentary on the book of Malachi. I believe it 
was in the 1980s. It's in the Wellwyn commentary 
series. And I think he sort of nails 
this subject head on. He says, the general idea of 
the tithe, although it finds its origins in the Old Testament, 
is the right idea. We can rob God by not tithing 
our possessions and our earnings. We rob God not by giving him 
nothing, but by giving him less than we ought to. You see, I 
doubt that these people were coming with nothing. They just 
weren't bringing the tithe. Think about that for a moment. 
Is a partial tithe a tithe? No. It's a sin. A partial tithe, it's like a 
jumbo shrimp or old news or military intelligence. You can't have 
it. A partial tithe. Go to Revenue Canada and say, 
I'm going to give you a partial payment of my tax due. Oh, thank 
you. Sure. Yeah. We'll visit you in 
prison. Pay your phone bill with a partial 
payment. Now I realize you can call and 
set up a plan and all that sort of thing. I'm just talking generally 
here. Go to the grocery store. Get 
$100 worth of groceries at Superstore and say, I'm going to give you 
a partial payment. Oh, great. Sure. No problem. 
You're not leaving the store until you pay. Or you're not 
taking the stuff. It's pretty simple. Says we can 
rob God by not tithing our possessions and our earnings, we rob God 
by not giving him nothing, but by giving him less than we ought 
to. But perhaps you say we can't have tithing that is going back 
to the Mosaic law and we are not under the law. But I argue 
that Abraham was giving tithes 430 years before the Mosaic law 
existed. Genesis 1420. The law simply, and I love this, 
institutionalized what Abraham did willingly. The gospel should 
free us from bondage to self to follow in Abraham's footsteps 
out of love for God who first loved us. You see, this whole 
idea of giving to God ought to be a no-brainer, right? We've 
been bought with a price. Jesus died for us. Jesus rose 
for us. Jesus freed us from the curse 
of the law. Jesus took out the sting of death. Jesus freed us from the wrath 
of God. We're not going to give him a 
goat. We're not going to bring some grain. We're not going to 
part with some of the money that he gives us. Really? Really, 
that's where we're at. He says the law simply institutionalized 
what Abraham did willingly. The gospel should free us from 
bondage to self, to follow in Abraham's footsteps out of love 
for God who first loved us. He then says, but we should go 
beyond that. Jesus calls us to be those whose 
righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. And 
those fastidious religionists were red hot tithers. The tenth 
of everything they could think of, they gave. The tenth might 
be a good rule of thumb for the Christian, but if we stick to 
that legalistically in a way, we are missing the point. The 
Christian is not ruled by the giving of the tenth. The Christian 
is to give sacrificially. Surely that is the governing 
factor. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, 
in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, 
holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 
12 1. He says Christ has sacrificed 
his life for us and we are to respond with sacrifice. You see, 
it may be possible for some wealthy Christians to rob God, even though 
they give the tithe. If a tenth of our income is not 
a sacrifice, then we are robbing God. We should give to God in 
such a way that we feel the pinch. That's what it's about. Sacrifice, 
right? It's not like pay the cable bill, 
pay the gas bill. We got hydro over here and God 
over here. He's not a category in our budget 
that we sort of apportion things out to. And then TV more. Listen to this. No man ever lost anything by 
serving God with a whole heart. No man ever lost anything by 
serving God with a whole heart or gained anything by serving 
Him with half a heart. That's a subtle distinction and 
most powerful. No man ever lost anything by 
serving God with a whole heart. or gained anything by serving 
him with half a wine. God, through Malachi, says, you 
have robbed me. May God in heaven put in us the 
spirit of obedience, a spirit of joy, a spirit of delight. We saw that on Wednesday night. 
They were to take a portion of the tithe and have a feast, rejoice, 
delight, praise, celebrate. so that they may learn how to 
fear God. Deuteronomy 14. And finally, we ought to praise 
God that ultimately we're saved, not by what we give, but what 
Christ has given for us. Right? You're not going to be 
saved because you gave all the rams, or you gave all the goats, 
or you gave all the grain, or you gave all your money. You 
will not be saved as a result of that. You are saved because 
Jesus gave himself for your sins. That's what we ought to rejoice 
in. Whenever we come face to face with the law of God, whenever 
we come face to face with his demand, more than likely we are 
mindful of the fact that we have fallen short of that particular 
standard. Let us go again and go to the 
mercy of God most high in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, 
confessing our sin, asking for cleansing, asking for forgiveness 
and asking for the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may go 
and do what he calls us to do. Well, let us pray. Father, thank 
you for your word. Thank you for this prophet Malachi 
and the great things that he instructs the church in the 21st 
century. We pray that you would help us, 
God, to receive these things. Help us, God, to check our own 
hearts, to check our own lives and truly to return to you. God, 
we all confess there's areas of sin in our lives that we need 
to repent of. And I pray that you would grant 
repentance and grant great grace to each and every one of us, 
that we may flee to you, that we may find mercy in and through 
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray that you would go 
with us now, that you would cause your face to shine upon us in 
this coming week, that you would bless us and that you would grant 
us peace. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord.