Obeying God’s Commandment to Worship Him, Ensures Blessing from God.

Malachi, 3:1-12

Our theme for this year, “Living the best life in Christ through obeying God’s word,” is not just words on paper.
 
It is God’s message to his people on how to walk with Him and be blessed in your walking.
 
Walking suggests an intimate, healthy relationship, fellowship with God in a cursed, corruptible, defiled world.
 
I Cor. 10:11, declares “the Old Testament is given for our learning and admonition.”  It is a warning for believers today.
 
This matter of worshiping God is paramount to God; the powerful truth is that how we worship determines how much God blesses us, with His presence, power, and provisions.
 
The element of worship that we neglect most is giving. Giving is the element that moves God the most.
 
It has been erroneously taught by men and women; it does not matter what you give as long as you give something. That is a lie that violates a core principle of scripture throughout the Bible.
 
If the false premise was truth, then God would have accepted Cain's offering along with Abel's, but he did not.
 
When it comes to obeying God’s commandment to worship.
  • It matters what you give.
  • It matters how you give.
  • It matters when you give.
Israel has committed a great sin by not obeying the first and second commandments.
  1. Thou shall worship the LORD thy God and Him only.
  2. Thou shall not make any graven images.
 
Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, is Israel’s failure to worship God like God loves them.
 
Mal. 1:2, “I have loved you, saith the LORD, yet ye say, wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacobs’ brother? Saith the LORD: Yet I loved Jacob."
  • God chose Israel as His chosen people to love.
  • But Israel is not loving God like God loves them.
 
Worship is how we show and prove our love to God.
 
Israel’s worship was defiled because they did not give God their best offering
 
Vs. 7, They offered polluted bread upon God’s altar.
Vs. 8, They offered the blind, the lame, and the sick.
Vs. 13, “And ye have brought that which was torn and lame, and the sick; thus, ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? Saith the LORD."   
 
As much as we don’t want to hear it, but worshipping God involves giving money, your time, and talents, which is not enough for a God who gives us everything.
 
Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”
 
Financial decisions show whether your heart belongs to God or your money.
 
Listen, it is not the amount that matters, but the percentage of what you have left over. 
 
Worship is a matter of the heart, and our heart proves to God that I really, really love you, LORD!
 
 
Obeying God’s Commandment to Worship Him Ensures Blessing from God.
 
  1. The very essence of God deserves our worship- vs. 6.
  2. God’s faithful demand of worship and Israel’s sin- vs. 7-9.
  3. God challenges Israel to worship Him- vs. 10.
  4. God’s promise to those who really worship Him- vs. 11-12.
 
I am not trying to anger anyone, but I am trying to help you position yourself to be blessed with the best life.
 
God gives us what we have just to see if we would give some back.
 
Living the best life hinges on our stewardship to God; how we handle money demonstrates our love or lack of love for God.
 
  1. The very essence of God deserves our worship- vs. 6.
“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
  1. God’s character is the reason we are not destroyed for our disobedience.
  2. The immutability of God is good news for us.
  • God’s faithfulness changes not.
  • God’s love changes not.
  • God’s mercy changes not.
  • God’s promises changes not.
  1. God demands our worship because He and He alone deserves worship.
  • For I am the LORD, Creator and Sustainer of life.
  1. God’s faithful demand of worship and Israel’s sin- vs. 7-9.
“Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you saith the LORD of host, but ye said wherein shall we return?"
  1. Generations of failure to worship God
  2. A long history of disobedience.
  • Gone away, not physically but spiritually
  • The longer you don’t worship, the less likely you are going to worship.
  • Continued disobedience to worship God is like a boat on the sea drifting away from the shore.
  1. God’s call to return is to worship Him, and the I will return to you is God’s blessings upon your life. 
  2. They were living in denial of their sin of not worshiping God.
  • They thought the blind, lame, and sick animals for sacrifice were good enough.
God laid their sin out plain and clear in regards to worship!
 
Vs. 8, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me but ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings."
 
  1. Giving is a major part of worship.
  2. The tithes are a tenth of your gross income.
  3. The offering is a love offering to the LORD.
Paying your tithes is a commandment from God; you owe it.
  • Lev. 27:30, “The tithe is the LORD’S"
Giving the offering on top of the tithes is where the blessing comes in; it’s a freewill giving, it’s grace giving because God gave you grace.
 
The tithe is a debt we pay; the offering is an expression of how much we love God.
  • Giving to God proves how much you appreciate his goodness and mercy.
  • When we give from our heart, God covers us with favor and abundant blessing joy.
The consequences of not paying our tithes and giving generous offerings!
 
Vs. 9, “Ye are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.”
 
Listen, this is not a Bewitch curse, nor is it a Voo Doo curse, but the almighty God, the giver of every good gift, withdrawing his hand from your life.
 
God says go ahead and live like it’s your money, and I am going to let you bless it, protect it, and multiply it.
 
Haggai shows us what happens when we use God’s money for our pleasure only and not for His Glory!
 
Here is the curse: 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 you want to live the best life Christ, you'd better pay God his tithe and give God a generous offering.
 
 
  1. God challenges Israel to worship Him- vs. 10.
“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.”
  1. The challenge is to trust God with your finances.
  • We trust God to get us to heaven, but we can’t trust him with our money.
  1. The commandment is to bring all the tithes into the storehouse.
  • The storehouse is not your house; it is God’s house.
  • The tithe is not a tip; many of us give God a tip on Sunday when He has blessed us all week long.
  • Even with that, we tip the server with more than we tip the LORD.
  1. The tithe is commanded for ministry, meeting the needs in God’s house and God’s work.
  • Many of us are free loaders, we enjoy the air conditioning and heat, but we don’t help pay for it. We eat in the kitchen, we drink water, we use the bathroom, we walk on the carpet, we watch the tv’s, but we don’t help pay for it.
God challenges us, try me, test me, and see if I will not bless you if you obey my commandment to tithe.
 
“Prove me now herewith saith the LORD of host if I will not pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” 
God promises overflow blessing.
                 1. Spiritual and material.
 
  1. God’s promise to those who really worship Him- vs. 11-12.
"And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field saith the LORD of hosts."
  
 And all nations shall call you blessed for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts
  1. God will protect your money from the devourer.  
  2. God will grow your money, in large your territory.    
  3. All people will call you blessed.
    1. Blessed in the city, blessed in the field.
    2. Blessed going in and blessed coming out.
    3. The glory of God is all over your life!
When you give God what God deserves, God will bless your life with his presence, power, protection, and provisions!