Malachi 3:6-15

Please turn to Malachi chapter 3. It's the last book of the Old Testament. I will finish it the book next week.

Malachi 3 · chapter mention

As we've gone through Malachi these last three weeks, we've seen that the people who Malachi was preaching to, they were marked by three things.

First of all, it was an age of questioning and doubt. Malachi is full of questions, isn't he?

I don't know whether you noticed that as you've read through the book. There are question marks everywhere.

You can almost tell the character of the book by the punctuation.

Again and again, the people are asking questions.

You have not loved, where have you loved us, they say to God, when God says I've loved you.

In the passage that was read, how have we robbed you? How can we return to you?

There's 26 questions in the book of Malachi.

They are asking questions of God and God is asking questions of them.

Their questions were one of doubt.

It was also an age of carelessness and casualness.

The people of God, they found themselves, when it came to sacrifices, when it came to gathering with the people of God,

they looked for a lame animal and they looked for a blemish offering, something that was on offer.

The principle was really simple but actually very frightening.

It was that anything will do for God.

That's really what they were saying.

Anything will do for God.

God is lucky to have us turning up.

The third thing was, it was a stage of infidelity and instability.

In their family lives and in their human relationships, lots of them just didn't last.

They gave themselves to someone really quickly but they grew tired very quickly.

How they treated each other with unfaithfulness was how they were treating God.

It was one of the great characteristics of that generation.

Amongst God's people, there are these three characteristics.

Their arrogance in questioning God.

How have we robbed you?

You can almost see their chin in the air held high in defiance.

Secondly, shabby sacrifices presented to God.

And thirdly, a shallow commitment to God.

Nothing went deep with these people.

And God is pleading with Israel.

And he's pleading with these people and he's warning them about their lives.

That they are in a really critical condition.

But the great tragedy was they didn't understand that.

They were willfully blind to the truth.

They refused to see the truth about themselves.

And so God comes again and again and again to them.

And he gives them opportunity to repent, to change, to turn.

And so you find that in our passage, don't you?

Where God says, return to me, in verse 7.

Return to me.

It's been the message of the book, clearly.

Return to me.

But Malachi is preaching to a people that refuse to listen to him.

Daniel Defoe wrote, Robert C. Crusoe, he's got this line in it of a people who are not ashamed to sin, but too ashamed to repent.

Not ashamed to sin, but too ashamed to repent.

That's the people of Malachi's day.

And in the passage that was read to us from verse 6 to 12, there are three scenarios.

And again, the focus is on God and his relationship with his people.

And so, first of all, we see, don't we, in verse 6, a changeless God and an unchanging people.

And let me explain what I mean.

Look at the first half of verse 6.

For I, the Lord, do not change.

God is simply proclaiming to his people and he's declaring this glorious truth,

which is, in many ways, the basis on which we as believers live and pray.

It's that God is different to us.

He is unchanging.

Six words.

I, the Lord, do not change.

Six life-changing words.

That's the message of the Bible.

It is one of the essential elements of the character of God.

I, the Lord, do not change.

So, from generation to generation, he is the same.

His love every morning is steadfast.

It doesn't go and disappear with the morning mist.

His mercies, they are new every morning.

Greater to your faithfulness, they say to God, because God is unchanging.

He is, as James reminds us, he's the father of lights,

with whom there's no variation or shadow due to change.

And one of the things that the Christian church has always gloried in,

and that Christian believers glory in today,

is that God does not change.

It's one of the things that Christians discover early on in their Christian life,

about the character of God,

that his love does not change.

Even though my love for him changes a lot.

That unlike human love,

God's love is not a response to what he finds in me.

He is like a steadfast rock.

A rock of ages that never changes.

And the fact that God does not change

is the foundation of everything in our Christian living.

He is an anchor for our souls.

He is a rock to stand on.

But notice the second half of the verse.

Verse 6.

Jacob was a great schemer.

I'm not consumed.

Because you, God, are unchanging,

we're not destroyed.

You see, his love to them, his mercy,

his patience with them is unchanging.

No matter how long they go on refusing

and refusing to return to the Lord,

he stretches out his hands in mercy.

Now, you can understand it in that way,

but I think actually the context is

there's a greater depth to it than that.

There's another way of translating this.

There's another way of seeing it.

I, the Lord, do not change,

but you, O sons of Jacob,

you've not changed either.

That's particularly brought out in verse 7, isn't it?

He's saying this very simple truth.

I, the Lord, do not change,

but actually, you're sons of Jacob.

There's very little change in you.

I think the parallelism is there, isn't it?

Verse 7.

I, the Lord, do not change.

Are you still the sons of Jacob?

That twister.

With all the characteristics of Jacob in your heart.

Ever since then, you've been exactly the same.

You've turned away from my decrees.

You've not kept on going with obedience.

You're always the same.

You've gone on being a twisted people like Jacob was.

Right from the beginning.

So he says,

I, the Lord, do not change.

And in a totally different sense,

you haven't changed either.

People of God, you've still got the same arrogant attitude.

The same shabby sacrifices.

The same shallow commitment.

And then he pleads with them, doesn't he?

As if he holds on his arms and God says,

return to me.

And I will return to you.

This, this lack of change,

this kind of spiritual stagnation or falling back,

or the absence of progress,

that is a really serious thing in a Christian's life.

And the eternal God comes to us this morning

over whom he has wept and broken his heart

and yearned and longed for.

Over whom he shed mountains of love in Jesus Christ,

and yet he looks about us,

and maybe he says,

and actually you've not really changed.

One little bit.

The same questioning.

The same shabby sacrifice.

The same shallow commitment.

But here's the words.

Return to me.

And I will return to you.

It's a bridge into the next section.

The unchanging God and a people who refuse to change.

And then from verse 7,

you find the grieved God,

and an insensitive people.

It's as if they've been anesthetized

to his voice.

You know, you go to the dentist

and he gives you those injections.

He waits five minutes.

And then he says,

can you feel anything?

And you can't feel a thing.

It becomes more apparent, doesn't it,

in the book of Malachi,

that this really does describe the truths

about the relationship between God and his people.

God is grieved, distressed,

in his heart about them,

and they did not know it.

They heard God's voice speaking to them,

and they wondered,

what are you going on about?

What is all the fuss over?

And he comes and he addresses them,

and he says this.

He says,

verse 8,

will man rob God?

Will a man rob God?

Return to me,

and I will return to you.

And then they say,

well, how are we to return?

Where are we to return from?

What is it that you're saying is wrong with us?

Do you see the problem?

The problem is,

they don't recognize there is any problem.

They thought everything is going really fine

in their spiritual lives,

and they're blinded to the truth about themselves.

In fact,

they're blinded about two things,

aren't they?

They're blind to the fact

that they've drifted away from God.

You know what it's like

if you go swimming in the sea,

and you swim in the sea,

and you're in for a little bit,

and you suddenly realize

just how far you've drifted.

You get out of the water,

and you're half a mile

from where your stuff is,

because the water has pulled you away.

You didn't even realize it

when you were in the sea.

You've drifted.

You've got no idea

that you were drifting,

and God says,

return to me.

Return to me.

And they'd not even realized

they'd drifted away.

They had no awareness

of spiritually drifting away from God.

Well, they were unaware,

and this is even more serious,

of the absence of God.

You see how God says,

return to me,

and I will return to you.

They're unaware

of the fact that

God has withdrawn

himself from them.

They assumed,

we turn up

every Sabbath,

we're there.

We're there in your gatherings.

We gather in your name,

but he's absent.

Do you realize

that's possible?

the absence of God

for blessing.

The absence of God

for blessing.

Do you ever think about that?

To cherish

the presence of God

and that it might have

something to do

with your spiritual condition.

Do you think it's possible

for people,

for a church,

to have experienced

the presence

and the blessing of God

and for

the glory of God

to depart?

Do you think that's possible?

Go around healing.

Go and see the churches

that once preached

the gospel,

that once proclaimed

Jesus Christ,

that knew something

of his blessing

and now they are

Hindu temples,

Kasha rooms.

So doubt that that happens,

isn't it?

It could happen here.

But God says,

return to me

and I will return to you,

says the Lord.

The people still came,

they went through

the outward sacrifices,

they offered shabby sacrifices

to God,

but they kept up

the sacrifices.

And God says,

it's only

when you return to me

that I will return to you.

He is an aggrieved God

and they are

an insensitive people.

And they're unaware

of how

the heart of God

is broken

by their sinfulness.

They come back to God,

don't they?

They hold their chin up,

they come back again

and they say,

verse 7,

you say,

how shall we return?

And God puts his finger

on what they're least,

what they're most likely

to notice.

They wouldn't have noticed

some theological issue

or some profound issue,

but do you understand

what God puts his finger on?

He says,

you've been robbing me.

I think they understood

the language of robbery.

Will a man rob God?

Yet you,

and before he

got it out,

you can imagine

responding,

will a man rob God?

Never.

Well,

he says,

I know you've been robbing me.

I don't know

whether you know

what it's like

to be robbed.

Undoubtedly,

most of you will.

About two years ago,

it was a Saturday afternoon,

we were watching a film

and we heard noises

in our front garden.

And I,

Claire got up

and looked out the window

and said,

someone is stealing,

someone is stealing

Noah's bike.

And as I looked up,

I saw this guy

riding off down the road

with Noah's bike.

So I ran out of the house,

jumped in my car,

drove as fast as I could

down the road,

overtook the man,

didn't,

kind of handbrake turn,

but stopped the car,

got out,

and grabbed the bike

and said to the man,

get off my bike.

Which he did.

He then proceeded

to walk down the road

and I shouted

some things at him,

which I won't repeat here.

I was so angry.

As a preacher,

never tell a story

where you're the hero

of the story,

apart from this kind

of story,

all right?

My heart was pounding.

I was so angry.

I was so furious.

Really,

really angry.

I'm sure you've

experienced that.

That somebody

had a temerity

to steal something

from you,

to rob.

It makes us

rightfully angry,

doesn't it?

Will a man rob

another man?

Well,

sure,

yeah.

Will a man rob

God?

And do you begin

to understand

what it means

to rob God?

What is it?

It is to take

what belongs

to him.

It is to take

what belongs

to him,

what he has

formed,

and what he

has created,

and above all,

what he has

redeemed at the

price of the

blood of his

only son,

and it's stolen

from him,

and God is

furious about it.

And when they

say to him,

come on now,

how do we rob

you?

He puts his

finger,

doesn't he,

on this most

obvious thing.

He says,

in your tithes

and your

offerings.

And you are

under a curse,

the whole nation,

because you are

robbing me.

And of course,

what he's speaking

about is their

material possessions.

Tithing in the

Bible has very

deep roots.

The person who

gave tithes

usually gives

tithes to a

superior.

So,

you have,

we learn that

from Abraham

giving tithes

to Melchizedek,

they were from

the inferior

to the superior.

And God

had commanded

that his

people were

to recognize

that he had

given everything

that they had

by giving

tithes to God

because he

commanded it.

The tithes

were to be

given to

the Levites

for the

service of

the temple

and for the

worship of

God and for

the functioning

of the people

of God.

And it was

really a picture,

it was a picture

to tell the

people of Israel

that all

the resources

that they

had belonged

to God.

Everything

that they

had belonged

to the

Lord.

Not just

the first

tenth,

but the

other nine

tenths.

In fact,

when you look

at the Old

Testament,

the tithe

was nearer,

about 23

or 24%.

But the

principle was

that God

first had

his call

on me.

And God's

principles of

generosity

are not

lesser,

are they,

in the

New Testament.

God has

first call

on me,

on my

money,

on my

resources,

on my

energy,

on my

time,

on my

love,

on my

affection,

my

mental

powers,

everything

I have

and do,

God gave

me,

and God

has first

call on

it.

And God

says to the

people of

Israel in

those days,

you're robbing

me,

because of

the way

that you

deal with

those things.

I enjoy

biographies,

like you

do,

I'm sure.

And I

read a

really

interesting

thing about

someone who

was writing

a biography,

they were

researching

for a

biography.

And people

research for

a biography

of someone

at a

great length,

don't they,

and great

cost in

time and

energy.

You've

got to do

all the

research

writing.

And they

asked the

guy who

was writing

the biography,

where did

you learn

most about

the man?

And he

said,

really

interestingly,

he said,

from the

stubs of

his check

book.

Let me

explain to

you what

a check

book is.

You get

it sometimes

from old

people at

your

birthdays.

Let me

put it

another way.

I learned

most about

the man

from his

bank

statement.

He went

through his

bank statement

and he

could tell

what was

important to

the man.

He could

tell from

the bank

statement

what was

his

priority.

It's just

what Jesus

says,

where your

treasure is,

there your

heart is

also.

So let

me ask

myself,

let me ask

you,

what does

your bank

statement

say about

your relationship

with God?

God

says,

you rob

me.

You rob

me in

tithes and

offerings.

robbing

God means

making my

own and

using for

myself what

belongs rightly

to him.

And that is

absolutely

everything.

So for the

Christian believer,

God has

given you

absolutely

everything and

everything belongs

to him.

What do you

have that you

have not

received?

Paul says.

And you

say,

well,

if you're

going to

live that

way,

that's

pretty

extreme,

isn't

it?

That must

be the

very

exceptional

kind of

missionary

type of

Christian.

Let me

tell you,

that is

plain,

ordinary,

basic

Christianity.

It's

Christian

living at

its most

basic.

My dad

went to

speak at a

Christian

union

meeting

of students

back in

the 80s.

and they

had a

quiz before

he got

up to

speak.

With an

overhead

projector and

acetates on

the wall,

remember those?

And it

was a

true or

false

quiz.

And the

aim of

the quiz

was that

it would

show us

something about

ourselves.

So they

put these

true and

false

questions

up.

And so

you had

a shout

out.

Was

Abraham

Sarah's

husband

true or

false?

And all

the students

shouted

true.

There's

loads of

them there.

was

Jacob

Isaac's

father?

True or

false?

They all

kind of

thundered out

their answer.

Was

Jesus

born in

Nazareth?

True or

false?

And they

all thundered

out

false.

And it

went on

something

true,

something

false.

And then

the slide

was put up

on the

screen.

Take

my

silver

and my

gold,

not a

mite

would I

withhold.

True or

false?

False.

false.

And they

all shouted

out earlier

on.

Was

Abraham

Sarah's

husband

true?

But when

it came to

that last

slide,

take my

silver and

my gold,

not a

mite

would I

withhold.

There was

silence.

True or

false?

you have

robbed me,

says the

Lord.

And they

were totally

unaware of

it.

I can

leave it

there and

you would

feel really

uncomfortable

a little bit

at the

moment,

but then

you'd

thank me

for it.

But I

want to

speak to

the members

of this

church.

There are

really,

really

encouraging

things about

church life

at the

moment,

really

wonderfully

encouraging

things.

The Lord

is growing

the church

and we're

really

blessed in

that way.

We're seeing

people become

more like

the Lord

Jesus.

That is a

really,

really

encouraging

thing.

The

ministries

are growing,

aren't they?

Really,

really

encouraging.

But what

isn't

encouraging

and what

is quite

discouraging

is how

very few

of us

are

sacrificially

giving.

I don't

know who

gives what.

Please don't

think I

know that.

I can

barely

understand

the

balance

sheet.

But I

do understand

this,

that there

are very

few of us

who are

tithing.

And there

are very

few of us

who are

giving

sacrificially.

And I

wonder,

does God

say to us

this morning,

are you

robbing God?

God, you

say to me,

Paul, we

live in

one of the

most expensive

cities in

the world.

How dare

you talk

like this?

And I

think God

would answer

back, all

that you

have is

from me.

What

does your

bank

statement

say about

your relationship

with the

Lord?

God?

And I

changed

God,

and I

have

changed

people,

and I

grieved

God,

and I

have

insensitive

people.

And then

stick with

me on

this.

Thirdly, we

see the

challenging

God,

and a

heaven-blessed

people.

So let

me give you

the reasons

why I'm

encouraging you

to tithe and

to be

generous.

Listen to

this challenge.

Look at

verse 10.

Bring the

full tithe

into the

storehouse,

that there

may be

food in

my house.

Storehouse,

there is,

it's a

picture of

the temple,

that's what

he's referring

to.

The place

where God

meets with

his people,

that there

may be

food in

my house,

and thereby

put me

to the

test,

says to

the Lord

of

house.

In

the Bible,

I'm told a

number of

times,

do not put

God to

the test.

And yet,

in Malachi 3,

you are told

this morning,

and I am

told,

put God

to the

test.

Prove me,

this day is

another way

of translating

it.

Prove me

today,

God says,

test me

today,

and see

whether I'm

true to

my word.

In your

giving,

give generously.

Bring the

whole tithe

into the

storehouse,

so there

may be

food in

my house,

the whole

thing,

everything,

everything that

you are,

everything that

you ever

hoped to

be,

everything grace

has made

you,

everything nature

has made

you,

every gift,

every ability,

every moment

of your time,

every ounce

of your energy,

bring it all,

says God.

And that's

the challenge.

It's an

amazing promise,

isn't it?

It's altogether

amazing.

Look what it

says,

it says this,

see if I will

not open the

windows of

heaven,

I don't know

whether there

are windows in

heaven,

but it's a

lovely picture,

windows of

heaven for you

and pour down

upon you a

blessing until

there is no

more need.

I'll rebuke

the devourer

for you,

that it will

not destroy

the fruits of

your soil and

your vine,

vine in the

field,

shall not

fail to

bear,

says the

Lord of

hosts.

Then all

the nations

will call

you blessed,

for you

will be a

land of

delight,

says the

Lord of

hosts.

God says,

I'll open

the windows of

heaven and I

will pour

down blessing

upon you

until there

is no

more need.

water.

You walk

by the

canal,

the

locks,

there,

and you'll

see it

when you

sometimes

by the

canal,

the locks

are holding

back the

water and

then they

open them

just a little

bit and the

water comes

pouring through.

But it's not

really like that,

it's much more

traumatic than

the Brentford

locks.

You look up

on YouTube,

there's whole

dams in

China where

the dam

bursts and

water comes

flooding over.

The flood

tides come

sweeping over.

And here's the

picture,

it's the flood

tide of the

blessing of

God and

sweeping over

a whole

community.

Just look at

that last

little phrase

in verse

10.

Three

words,

no

more

need.

I will

pour out

blessing upon

you until

no

more

need.

It

happened in

David's

date,

didn't it?

Where there

was no

more need.

And God

longs

to pour

out his

blessing

upon his

people.

And we

pray,

don't we,

for revival.

And we

pray for the

blessing of

God and

for his

kingdom to

come and

for the

church to

grow and

congregations

to be

planted.

And we

long for

that.

And God

says to

us,

what about

your giving?

What about

your giving?

One of the

things that I

want to really

encourage you

with today

is this.

If you

want a

heart for

God and

a heart for

God's

church,

give

financially.

Let's

just say

you

invested

in

Burger King.

All right?

I suspect

many of you

don't care for

Burger King.

All right?

It's to you.

You've got no

interest in

Burger King.

You don't eat

there, you

don't like it.

But you put

your money

into Burger King.

You invest

in Burger King.

Suddenly,

you follow

what Burger King's

doing.

You see

whether the

share price

is going up

or down.

You see

whether the

restaurants are

doing well

or not.

You suddenly

become interested

in Burger King

because you've

invested in it.

And one of the

ways that the

Bible says

that you

get a heart

for God

and you

become more

interested in

his work

and you begin

to know him

better is by

investing in

God's work.

And you say

to me,

Paul, you

sound like a

prosperity preacher.

You're right.

Tell the

masses,

Paul Levy's a

prosperity preacher.

All right?

What am I saying

to you?

I'm saying

to you,

give of

yourself.

Give to the

Lord's work.

And what is

the promise?

He will pour

out blessings

upon you.

I, the

Lord,

do not

change.

Return

to me

and I

will return

to you.

I will

open the

windows of

heaven for

you and

pour down

for you a

blessing.

until there

is no

more need.

Then all

the nations

will call you

blessed and

you will be a

land of

delight,

says the

Lord of

hosts.

Let's

pray.