MALACHI 3:8-11 Biggest, meanest thief in the world!

EDITOR: This is a somewhat lengthy message on an extremely critical biblical subject.

TOPIC: Tithing; Hypocrisy

TITLE: BIGGEST, MEANEST THIEF IN THE WORLD - Exposé on a 21st Century Holy Pickpocket!
TEXT: MALACHI 3:8-11

"Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings."

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What does Scripture teach about tithes and offerings?
CONCISE OUTLINE

I. SCRIPTURE TEACHES US WHY WE SHOULD GIVE!
II. SCRIPTURE TEACHES US HOW WE SHOULD GIVE!

TRUTH CLAIM/CONTEXT: In their neglect of the Temple service the Jews were guilty of what those worshiping idols considered sacrilege; even a pagan would not shortchange the required offering. [Gill]

It's doubtful God would build a nation, a church, a people, or a life which offends Him in such a fundamental manner!

Tithes and offerings are not just a duty; they are each an expression and an indication: - an expression of our love returned, an indication of our faith!

Who is "the biggest, meanest crook in the world?"

Enron's Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay?
Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski?
ORU's Robert Roberts?
Carlton Pearson or Earl Paulk?
Lincoln Saving's & Loan's Charles Keating?
Saddam Hussein?
US Congress?
Louisiana Politicos?
The IRS?

Robert Sumner said the Biggest & Meanest Crook In the World is the one who steals from God! Christians stealing from God is like an inmate stealing from his cell-mate during a lockdown.

One is left in breathless amazement at those who claim the blood of the Lamb yet steal from The Great Shepherd.

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What does Scripture teach about tithes and offerings?
EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. SCRIPTURE TEACHES US WHY WE SHOULD GIVE!

A. Because God Tells Us To!

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house."

Malachi 3:10

[PERCENTAGES] Some are like the tenant farmer’s 90% corn crop. He agreed with his master that 10% belonged to the owner ... but no matter how he planted every harvest only 90% came in; he never did have a season with a 100% crop!

B. Because It's A Testimony To The World!

[DUPLICITY] I recall a couple in a small church who decided they could drive out a pastor they did not agree with through backbiting and tale-bearing, and by getting others to join them in withholding their tithes and offerings.

Not only did they fail to drive out the pastor, but they brought shame and reproach on the church and the name of the Lord as word spread that the church was not able to pay its bills.

And the contra of this is true! You cannot out give God!

C. Because It's Not About You!

"God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things."

Acts 17:24-25

"... the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

Ephesians 4:16

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house ..."

Malachi 3:10

It is about the greater good of the body through obedience!

D. Because It's For The Cause!

Remember, the real point of the "fishes & loaves" feeding of the thousands was the miracle of God creating much from little.

II. SCRIPTURE TEACHES US HOW WE SHOULD GIVE!

A. With The Right Attitude!

1.) Humbly!

Jesus said,

"But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6:3-4

2.) Faithfully!

"But he who doubts is condemned ... for whatever is not from faith is sin."

Romans 14:23

"Therefore, to the one who knows the right thing to do and does it not, to that one it is sin."

James 4:17

3.) Lovingly!

Giving is another of those outward expressions of an inward reality! What you give demonstrates how much or how little you love the One who loves you!

[INCOME] Try dividing your annual current tithe by your annual income (that's line 7 on your IRS Form 1040). How loving are you?

4.) Expectantly!

We must give and not expect anything in return; for a return is made on investments; tithes and offerings are not investments ... they are by their very nature - gifts!

Yet we can, without manipulating God, give expectantly.

"But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

"Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed ... "

2 Corinthians 9:7, 8

5.) Liberally!

[CHURCH] A man's son opens a sidewalk lemon stand: his father is buying a lemonade and offers his son a dime! His son looks at the dime and then at his dad and says , "Dad!!!! This is business not church!"

"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

Luke 6:38

“'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.'”

Malachi 3:10b-11

B. With Deliberateness!

1.) Regularly!

"On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside..."

1 Corinthians 16:2

2.) Proportionally!

"On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come."

1 Corinthians 16:2

[PEARLS] I read of one lady who told her pastor that just as soon as things get better she's start tithing. He replied, "No, Pearl, you won't!" "I beg your pardon!" She huffed. "Pearl, if you won't give a dime off of dollar you sure won't give $100 off of a $1,000."

A man who makes $100,000 tithes $10,000, then lives on the $90,000 is not to be admired for the size of his gift! More the widow who on her fixed income of $5,400 tithes $540, then lives on her $4,860.

C. And with fear and trembling!

In Acts chapter five we are told of two hypocrites, Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who withheld a portion of their offering from God. Their sentence was death.

Those who chose to withhold what is God's and not their own are likewise deserving of death!

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: One problem some have is that they think they can't give enough to do any good. But that is not the point! Give what you can while you can and God will show you how to give your tenth.

Others think they can't get by on 9/10. Let me tell you that you can live better on 9/10 than 10/10 when God's your bookkeeper! My wife and I know this to be true!

Try stealing from your neighbor! See if he still loves you! Better yet sneak into your father's house and steal something!

Only when the people of God reach that point in their stewardship that they understand the principle of giving as ordained will they ever hear the sound of "the windows of heaven" opening wide on their golden tracks!

A man's heart and his treasure are revealing companions!

Christianity, Expository, Homiletics,
Hypocrisy, Malachi, Offerings, Outlines,
Preaching, Sermons, Tithing

ACTS 5:1-11 - The Great Pretenders

SERIES #8: Acts of the Apostles - Witnesses to Jerusalem
TOPIC: Hypocrisy; Deception, Duplicity, Fear of the Lord, Sin

[PLATTERS] During the late 1950’s The Platters sang a classic song called “The Great Pretender”; telling of a love which wasn’t sincere. Today’s mes-sage is about something even more egregious.

TITLE: THE GREAT PRETENDERS -- The Cost of Doing Business with Satan!
TEXT: Acts 5:1-11 [4:29-5:16]

INQUIRY: What was the sin that precipitated such severe discipline?
CONCISE OUTLINE

I. One of many was PRETENSE!
II. One of many was UNBELIEF!
III. One of many was ARROGANCE!
IV. One of many was THE SIN OF EDEN!

TRUTH/CONTEXT:

[F. F. Bruce] The great Scottish scholar says of this event: “An act of deceit interrupts the victorious progress of the people of God.” [Cited in Stott, Acts, p.109]

In this passage we are given a positive and a negative of early church life … notice the word “But” in verse one, contrasting Ananias and Sapphira’s niggardliness with the preceding events and Barnabas’ generosity.

[ROGERS] A few years ago Adrian Rogers, pastor of Bellevue BC of Cordova, TN, spoke on the subject of sin to the student body of one of our seminaries … he named three prominent precursors to a person’s fall into sin:

1. an undetected weakness
2. an unexpected temptation
3. an unprotected life.

[FAME] Andy Warhol, that weird artist of the post-sixties era, is credited with having said, “Everyone gets fifteen minutes of fame.”

Little did Ananias and Sapphira imagine theirs would come in this way.

We can agree this was probably not this couple’s first temptation to sin, nor was it the first occurrence of sin by them. Is it God’s warning to the church? Yes!

REVIEW: This passage is great for the purpose of recalling the threefold theme of the book of Acts:

1. the Preeminence of Christ
2. the Prominence of the Holy Spirit
3. the Power of the authentic church.

Authentic fellowship is marred; the authentic followed by the counterfeit.

Sadly we have many people today who are either disbelieving or offended or shocked by this story. When we compare it to others there is no reason to be; for example: Achan or Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, Jephthah, and the Levitical Priest who divided his wife into 12 parts and sent a part each to the tribes of Israel.

INQUIRY: What sin precipitated such severe discipline?
EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. One of many was PRETENSE!

They took the name of the Lord their God in vain! And their selfish desires got the best of them.

A. The desire to belong
B. The desire for the esteem of others
C. The desire to be seen
D. The desire to appear

1. fruitful among the fruitful is strong
2. righteous among the righteous is strong
3. spiritual among the spiritual is strong

Note: taking the Lord's name in vain is not using God's name when cursing (though it is a sin), it is calling yourself a Jew or a Christian when you are not one!

II. One of many was UNBELIEF!

They did not trust the Lord to meet their needs if all was given!

A. They didn’t truly trust God to care for them in the present
B. They didn’t truly believe that if they gave all, the Lord would meet their future needs

Conclusion: giving it all taxed their faith too much

C. They had no reality of relationship

[RELEASE] Susan Smart wrote about an experience as a student pilot. It seems she did well with all of the in-flight training except recovering from stalls. She previously panicked every time; her instructor told her she must master it to be licensed. On her first attempt she froze, her hands glued to the controls, the Cessna 150 flip-flopping in the air, spin-ning downward out of control. She tried to recall what her instructor had told her … “If you ever get into a spin in a Cessna 150, just let go of the controls. It’s built to pull out of a spin on its own.”

Instead she fought for control. Finally, in desperation, she called on God and shouted at herself, “Let go!’ She released the controls. After some wild yawing and pitching, the craft leveled out. She had descended al-most a mile but she was safe.

Smart pointed to similarities with our relationship with God. We’re told to trust and let go in spite of how fearful it is and in spite of how hard it is to release the controls of our lives! Before Cessna designed it into their aircraft, God had designed it into His plan for our future with Him.

III. One of many was ARROGANCE!

Like the Jews of old they thought God could not see what they were doing!

He says to himself, "God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it."

Psalms 10:11

They have said, "The LORD does not see, nor does the God of Jacob pay heed."

Psalms 94:7

Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'"

Ezekiel 8:12

IV. One of many was THE SIN OF EDEN!

They heeded Satan and one another rather than God!

A. The text says, “Satan filled his heart.”

“You’re of your father the devil, & the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, & doesn’t stand in the truth, because there’s no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar & the father of it.”

John 8:44

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Luke 16:13

“And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’”

1 Kings 18:21

B. In the same way that God needed to make a point in the Garden, make a point with the Tabernacle (i.e., the sons of Aaron), in the Promised Land (Achan), and with two kings (Saul & David) … He needed to make a point at the inception of the authentic church.

APPLICATION: There were many other sins committed by this couple besides lying to the Holy Spirit ... the story here begins in the hearts of the two antagonists: it is their inward disposition not their outward operation that reveals the problem.

Wheat can only recognize the tares among us when we reach maturity.

CHALLENGE: What lessons may we learn?

1. The non-discrimination of iniquity; even you can be its victim
2. The Enormity of Sin: God hates it; it ruins fellowship, unity
3. The commonness of guile (deception, fraud, duplicity, etc.); Jesus called Nathaniel “a man without guile.”
   
4. The unfortunate necessity for church discipline.
5. The deceitfulness of our heart and the need for the Holy Spirit to goad our consciences.
   

God desires transparent, real people for His Body; as the east African church is fond of saying, “[God wants a people] without ceilings and walls.” (Stott, ibid)

Most Christians are oblivious to what is going on around them in the visible Body of the Church today.

Many are living a lie, faking it: hoping no one notices … believing God will not hold it against them … knowing but not comprehending the Living Word of God.

For examples I give you the following links as examples of church leadership in the past two years: Bynum & Weeks, Paula & Randy White, Tommy Tester, Carlton Pearson, the Paulk brothers, Jason Christy, Dick Dewert, Lonnie Latham, Ted Haggard … and hundreds more who are hiding in sinful deception as I write this!

Romans 3:18 warns us about "the fear of the Lord" ... where is the fear of the Lord in all of this?

This discipline of Ananias and Sapphira, however, got everyone’s attention: see 5:5 and 11 ... “great fear” … I wish it would today … for He is the same God today as He was back then!

Apostates, Christianity, Deceivers, Expository,
Fear of God, Holy Spirit, Homiletics,
Non-believers, Outlines, Preaching, Sermons