Today’s Sermon Notes

“Simplify” Doing What Matters Most

Sermon Series

“The Heart of Giving”

Malachi 3:1-12

Introduction

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

Prayer

Our Hearts as it Relates to Worship (vv. 1-5)

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. 5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.”

Matthew 11:10 “For this reason is he of whom it is written:‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

Our Hearts as it Relates to Money (vv. 6-12)  

6 “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts”.

“I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed Genesis 15:9 ff.

Can you tell the difference between giving and sacrifice?

(1) protection from destruction; Lev. 26:24, 25; Deut. 28:21; Egypt 12:29, 30.

A curse therefore may be that our possessions or what we depend on for our income may be destroyed.

(2) productivity in labor —  “fields will not cast their fruit.”

A curse therefore would be that no matter how hard we toil we can never seem to get ahead.

(3) popularity – when we are obedient to God will bless us because it is His desire that His name be lifted up.   

A curse therefore would be that we have robbed ourselves of the blessing that comes from giving.

Another reason God requires a whole tithe is that tithing ultimately is a test to determine if we trust God.  It reveals the reality of whom we love more God or money.