MALACHI #6 - WILL MAN ROB GOD - PTR VETTY GUTIERREZ - 4PM AFTERNOON SERVICE

2. MALACHI 3:6-18
6 “I the LORD do not change. So
you, the descendants of Jacob, are
not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time
of your ancestors you have turned
away from my decrees and have not
kept them.

3. MALACHI 3:6-18
7 Return to me, and I will return to
you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But
you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet
you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we
robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.

4. MALACHI 3:6-18
9 You are under a curse—your whole
nation—because you are robbing
me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the
storehouse, that there may be food in
my house. Test me in this,” says
the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will
not throw open the floodgates of
heaven

5. MALACHI 3:6-18
10 and pour out so much blessing
that there will not be room enough
to store it. 11 I will prevent pests
from devouring your crops, and the
vines in your fields will not drop
their fruit before it is ripe,” says
the LORD Almighty.

6. MALACHI 3:6-18
12 “Then all the nations will call you
blessed, for yours will be a delightful
land,” says the LORD Almighty. 13 “You
have spoken arrogantly against me,”
says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What
have we said against you?’

7. MALACHI 3:6-18
14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to
serve God. What do we gain by
carrying out his requirements and
going about like mourners before
the LORD Almighty?

8. MALACHI 3:6-18
15 But now we call the
arrogant blessed. Certainly
evildoers prosper, and even
when they put God to the test,
they get away with it.’”

9. MALACHI 3:6-18
16 Then those who feared
the LORD talked with each other,
and the LORD listened and
heard.

10. MALACHI 3:6-18
16 A scroll of remembrance was
written in his presence
concerning those who
feared the LORD and honored
his name.

11. MALACHI 3:6-18
17 “On the day when I act,” says
the LORD Almighty, “they will be
my treasured possession. I will
spare them, just as a father has
compassion and spares his son who
serves him.

12. MALACHI 3:6-18
18 And you will again see the
distinction between the
righteous and the wicked,
between those who serve God
and those who do not.

13. EXPLORING
ROADS IN THE
BIBLE

14. Sections of the Bible are like
roads. Some we travel on
frequently, some infrequently,
some, perhaps, never at all.

15. We would like to explore all
the roads in the Bible and go
down to see what God has
said and what God has done
and what that means for us.

16. The question that is supposed
here is, will man rob God?
Some of you have never even
thought of this section of the
Bible.

17. Maybe some of you even grew up
in church, and you’ve never taken
a look at Malachi 3. Some of you,
however, have heard a lot about
it, lots of sermons on this section
of the Bible.

18. And if you’re very familiar with it
because it was a well-worn path at
your previous church, you may
have come from something called
prosperity theology.

19. It’s real timely because we’re at
that time of year when people are
giving and receiving gifts,
generosity tends to increase.

21. So in the providence of God, it’s
all very, very timely. But before
God talks about wealth, he talks
about worship.

22. Before he talks about us, he talks
about himself and what he tells us
is that he is unchanging.

23. This is a bedrock fundamental
teaching of the Bible that God is
unchanging.

24. MALACHI 3:6-18
6 “I the LORD do not change. So
you, the descendants of Jacob,
are not destroyed.

25. MALACHI 3:6-18
7 Ever since the time of your
ancestors you have turned
away from my decrees and have
not kept them.

26. The whole book is a series of
arguments that they’re having with
God.

27. They’re actually giving
accusations toward God disguised
as questions for God, and they
are arguing and fighting with him
here.

28. The basic idea is this: they
fundamentally disagree with God.
God says do this; they don’t want
to.

29. God says this is right; they say it’s
wrong.
They’re in a position of
disagreeing with God.

30. Here’s what God says, “I don’t
change.”
What that means is they need to
change, and we are no different.

31. God says, “I do not “Change.
I’m not moving.”
When we talk of God, we talk of
his attributes.

32. Here we see a clear declaration of
his immutability, which means
that God is unchanging.

33. And this is absolutely essential:
God does not change,
We must change.

34. We cannot remain
unchanged and demand that
God change.

35. God has no sin.

36. God makes no
mistakes.

37. God has nothing to
learn.

38. God has no way to
mature.

39. There’s nothing in
God that should
change.

40. There’s everything in
us that must change.

41. And praise God that
he’s unchanging.

42. God is a loving
Father.

43. God is not current;

44. God is eternal.

45. God doesn’t need to
change;
We need to change.

46. God doesn’t change
with the times;
God is working on
change all the time.

47. There’s an analogy in
Scripture that’s
frequently used: it’s of
a potter and clay.

48. God says, “I am the
Potter, you are the clay.”

49. God says, “I shape you. You
don’t shape me. I make you
into what I want. You don’t
make me into what you
want.”

50. HEBREW 13:8
8 “God is the same
yesterday, today and forever,
and it’s a good thing for his
children.”

52. MALACHI 3:8
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God?
Yet you rob me. “But you ask,
‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings.

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

54. Sometimes pastors are
cowards when it comes to
finances because we have fear
of you, more than fear of the
Lord.

55. God doesn’t have that kind of
fear.
God talks of money a lot, money,
wealth, stewardship, investments,
possessions.

56. If you look at Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John, the four Gospels,
25 percent of all Jesus’ instruction
and words are on money, wealth,
possessions, and stewardship.

57. MATTHEW 6:21
21 “For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also”

58. Giving is an indicator of your
first love.

59. If we love God, we will use
money but if we love money,
we will use God to get more
money.

60. The question is, what’s the
goal,
God or greed?

61. “They’re not giving. God says
give. God says if they give,
he’ll bless them.”

64. God says something to one
person or one group of people,
but it’s a special circumstance, not
everybody gets that.

66. God does something that
applies to everywhere,
everyone, all the time.

67. Jesus died on the cross in
your place for your sins.

68. If you turn from sin and trust
in him, all your sin is forgiven
and you’ll be with him
forever.

69. That’s for everybody, and if
you’re here, that’s for you,
too.

70. That’s not just for one person or
one group of people, that’s God
dying on the cross for the sin of
the world.

71. That’s a miraculous thing for
everyone, everywhere, all the
time.

74. God made the earth.
God gave it to them.

75. God says, “Because you’re not
tithing to me, you’re robbing
from me,” and a tithe literally
means a tenth. Ten percent off
the top, first fruits off the gross
not the net.

76. They don’t see that God is part
owner and that he has every right
to expect a percentage of their
income.

77. “You’re robbing me, and then the
result is you’re cursed.
The reason why things are so hard is
because you’re stealing from me.”

78. Make up on all your giving, catch up.
Give what you were supposed to
give, and what will happen is, a
blessing will come down from
heaven.

79. He said that literally it would flood
down from heaven.
That’s the deal.
The big idea here is this: all the
blessings come down from heaven.

80. “Every good and perfect gift comes
from above, from our Heavenly
Father.”
Ultimately all blessing comes down
from God to his people.

81. This all foreshadows the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
greatest blessing of all, and he comes
down from heaven.

82. The gates of heaven open, and down
comes the greatest blessing in the
history of the world, the Lord Jesus
Christ.

83. God becomes a man. That’s what we
celebrate every Christmas season.
The problem is they’re stealing.
The answer is they need to stop
stealing and start giving.

85. No! It’s a one-time promise with all-
time principles.
This was God’s interaction with his
people, and there’s a promise there
and for us, there are principles there.

86. A promise is “It will come to pass
just like this.”
A principle is, “This is usually how it
works.”

88. Principles are about wise living,
cause and effect, how things tend
to work according to how God
has wired the world.

89. “
”

90. God gave us the earth.
God made us in his image and
likeness.
God gave us the Lord Jesus Christ.
God gave us the Holy Spirit.
God gave us forgiveness of sin.
God gave us righteousness.

91. God gave us eternal life.
God gave us gifts to serve
meaningfully and valuably and
purposefully.
God’s a giver.
God so loved the world that he gave
his only Son.
God’s generous.

92. “
”

93. He’s telling the people in
Malachi, “You’re committing
adultery.
You’re getting divorced wrongly.
You’re stealing money.

94. There’s all these troubles and issues.
Bring them to me.
We’re gonna forgive it, sort it out,
and work it out. Bring me the worst.”

95. And then God says, “Tithe, bring me
your best.”
God wants us to bring him our worst,
all of our sin, and our best—our
wealth.

96. What happens is people get more
excited about bringing God their
worst than their best.

97. Give Jesus your sin.
And your wealth.
“I don’t know, It’s unclear to me.”

98. God wants our worst and God wants
our best.
And God gives Jesus, God gives his
best.

99. “
”

100. Who you are is most clearly seen in
how you spend.
I would encourage you to look at
your budget from this past year and
next year and ask, “What is this as an
autobiography?

101. What does this say about me?
How does this reveal who I truly am
by how I spend?”

102. “
”

103. James says that faith without works is
dead.
Faith is a devotion to God in here
that results in a changed life out
there.

104. So James says, “You can’t have faith
for God in here and not change life
out there.”
Malachi is kind of like James in that
way. He’s saying, “You say you have
faith, but it doesn’t show up in your
finances.”

105. So faith without giving is dead.
You can’t say you love God in here,
but it doesn’t affect how you spend
out there because out of the overflow
of the heart, the wallet spends.

106. “
”

107. These people are not changed.
They are arguing and fighting with
God, as some of us are.
And God doesn’t say, “Well, get
your hearts right and when your
hearts are right, then start giving.”

108. God says, “Start giving” because he
knows that, that will help to get the
heart right.
So God says, “Start giving and that
will be the process by which you start
changing.”

109. You start to become more grateful.
You realize all that you’ve been given
by God and others.
You’re more grateful, more thankful.

110. In addition, you become more
compassionate toward the needs of
others.

111. “
”

112. God says, “I’ve got plenty of
resources, but I’m not giving them to
you because you’re bad stewards.

113. You’re not giving generously to me.
You don’t care about the poor.
You don’t care about the ministry.”

114. He’s looking for good stewards.
He’s looking for people who are
going to take the money that he gives
them and then to use them in a way
that is godly and good.

115. luke 16:10
10 “Whoever can be trusted with
very little can also be trusted with
much, and whoever is dishonest
with very little will also be dishonest
with much”

116. “
”

117. This is not give to get.
This is just a general principle for
how life works.
It’s that reap-what-you-sow kind of
thinking.

118. Their life in Malachi 3 is going
difficult.
It’s hard.
It’s a frustrating season for them.

119. But part of it is that they’ve not been
a generous people, yet they’re
expecting God to be generous with
them.

120. “
”

121. You will be tested to rob God.
See, they’re in an economic
downturn, and times are hard.

122. The first thing they did is cut their
giving to God.

123. That was the first thing they cut out
of their budget.

124. You will be tested.
I will be tested.
We will be tested, principally
speaking, to rob God.

127. Yes, That’s what God is asking.
Romans 6:14

128. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is the place in
the New Testament that talks about
giving the most clearly and the most
extendedly.

129. It says that our giving should be, as
believers, cheerful.
“I love the Lord. I’m glad to give,”
It should be sacrificial.
Whatever is sacrificial for you.

130. It’s regular, and it’s also proportional
so that those who make more give
more, and that those who make less
give less, but all give something.

132. In FCC majority of us are tithers,
glory to God.
All workers are required to tithes.
That’s why we are blessed.
We are just weak in Missions giving.

134. In giving it is increased as well
because you to give 10 percent and
cheerfully.

135. You need to give to the Lord.
And whatever that is, if it’s cheerful,
regular, sacrificial, proportional, then
do that, and don’t rob God.

136. What I want is that make 10% as a
floor and not a ceiling in your giving.

137. This is a good place to start a life of
generosity, and by God’s grace,
aspire to increase our giving through
the course of our life as we mature in
everything.

138. You want to grow in Bible
knowledge.
You want to grow in service.
You want to grow in prayer.
You should aspire to grow in giving.

139. It’s part of your spiritual
development and part of your
spiritual growth.

141. The Bible summarizes that as the
heart, the seat, the sum, the center,
the decision-making headquarters of
your soul.

142. We may be talking about your
wallet, but ultimately, it’s directed by
your heart, and giving reveals your
heart.

143. MALACHI 3:13-18
13 “You have spoken
arrogantly against me,” says
the LORD.
“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said
against you?’

144. MALACHI 3:13-18
14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to
serve God. What do we gain by
carrying out his requirements and
going about like mourners before
the LORD Almighty?

145. MALACHI 3:13-18
15 But now we call the
arrogant blessed. Certainly
evildoers prosper, and even when
they put God to the test, they get
away with it.’”

146. MALACHI 3:13-18
16 Then those who feared
the LORD talked with each other,
and the LORD listened and heard.

147. MALACHI 3:13-18
16 A scroll of remembrance was
written in his presence concerning
those who feared the LORD and
honored his name.

148. MALACHI 3:13-18
17 “On the day when I act,” says
the LORD Almighty, “they will be
my treasured possession. I will
spare them, just as a father has
compassion and spares his son who
serves him.

149. MALACHI 3:13-18
18 And you will again see the
distinction between the
righteous and the wicked, between
those who serve God and those who
do not.

150. Why would we give to the Lord?
What profit do we get?
Why would we serve the Lord?
How does it benefit us?

151. This is consumerism.
Consumerism is a religion, and it’s
not a new one.

152. And a consumer knows what they
want, and they look at a religion and
ask if they get what they want without
giving very much.

153. How many of you have approached
our church, a church in ministry, and
said, “Well, if I give, what do I get?
If I serve, how do they serve me?
Will I receive more than I give, and
if not, what use is it to me?”

154. God doesn’t think like that.

155. God doesn’t look at you and say,
“Where’s my profit?”

156. God doesn’t look at you and say,
“I’ve served you.

157. When are you going to serve me
back?

158. When are you going to match my
gift?”

159. We can’t match his gift.

160. It’s grace.
It’s unmerited.
It’s undeserved.
It’s inexhaustible.
The ungodly asks, “What’s in it for
me?” And he says the godly ask,
“Why would he choose me as his
treasured possession?”

162. What is your most treasured
possession?

163. What is the one thing that if God
took it, you would be arguing and
fighting with him as they are in
Malachi?

164. You’re like, “God and I would have
a war if he took my spouse, my kid,
my house, my job, my car, my
health. If he took that—my
reputation—we would have a war
because that’s my treasured
possession.”

165. Here’s what God says, “You’re my
treasured possession.”
You belong to him.
All of you belongs to him, and he
treasures you.

166. He values you.
He purchased you through the gift of
his own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
that you would be his children, his
people.

167. Well, this changes everything.
If we are his treasured possession,
then he is our treasured possession.

168. Nothing compares to the Lord.
Nothing is as valuable as the Lord.
Nothing matters as much as the
Lord.

169. And even if we lose our treasured
possessions, we’ll never lose our
treasured possession.

170. The world doesn’t understand this
God.

171. I need you to love this God because
he has loved you, and if he’s willing
to make us his treasured
possession—it is only fitting and right
that we would choose him as our
most treasured possession.