Bring It On
Scripture Reading: Malachi 1:6-14
6 “ A son honors his father, and a servant his master.
If then I am the Father, where is My honor?
And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?
Says the LORD of hosts
To you priests who despise My name.
Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’
7 “ You offer defiled food on My altar,
But say, ‘ In what way have we defiled You?’
By saying, ‘ The table of the LORD is contemptible.’
8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil?
And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?
Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you
favorably?”
Says the LORD of hosts.
9 “ But now entreat God’s favor,
That He may be gracious to us.
While this is being done by your hands, will He accept you favorably?”
Says the LORD of hosts.
10 “ Who is there even among you who would shut the doors,
So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain?
I have no pleasure in you,” Says the LORD of hosts,
“ Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.
11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My name shall be great among the Gentiles;
In every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering;
For My name shall be great among the nations,” Says the LORD of hosts.
12 “ But you profane it, In that you say, ‘ The table of the LORD is defiled;
And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’
13 You also say, ‘ Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,” Says the LORD of hosts.
“ And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering!
Should I accept this from your hand?” Says the LORD.
14 “ But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—
For I am a great King,” Says the LORD of hosts,
“ And My name is to be feared among the nations.
Today’s lesson is a difficult one to hear and also to teach. As difficult a lesson as it
may be, it is very necessary to hear. God didn’t put it in the book for no reason.
Usually, when you hear the book of Malachi preached, it’s from the third chapter
and we’ll be getting there but we’re going to start here in chapter one.
The reading began with God asking a very simple question. If a son honors his
father and a servant his master, where is His honor and reverence? You call Him
your Father, but do you give Him the honor that goes with the title? You say He is
your Lord and Master, but do you reverence Him as you would an earthly boss?
Do you do the things that He wants you to do? Do you make sure that He receives
honor and glory from everything you do? It’s very easy to call Him Father and
Lord, but it takes much more to let Him be your Father and your Lord and Master.
Next, He speaks to the priests about offering things that are defiled. Now, you may
think this has nothing to do with us in the twenty-first century. Let’s look in the first
chapter of Revelation, the end of verse five and then six. To Him who loved us and
washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and
Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. You see that Jesus has
made us priests, so the passage in Malachi is for us. So, let’s ask ourselves, in
what way have we defiled God? The scripture says that when we offer a blind
sacrifice or the sick and lame isn’t that evil? So, you may ask, how do we offer the
blind, sick, or lame? When we don’t bring our best. God always expects our best
and nothing less.
He says would you bring that to your governor? We all know that our tithe is ten
percent, right? Let’s say we’re in the twenty percent tax bracket for our federal
income tax. Can we tell the IRS that we’re just going to give them seven percent
because things are a little tight? Would we even try to do something like that and
not expect to get into some serious trouble with the government? If we have a
healthy reverence for our government, why would we not have an even greater
reverence for our God? Yet how many will put off tithing because things are tight
but go to the movies or go out to eat in the same week. What type of reverence is
that showing God we have for Him? God says that He will not accept our defiled
offerings. He says He will have no pleasure in us if we come to Him with such
offerings. How can we expect what we do to cause our to honor and reverence
God if we are not honoring and reverencing Him ourselves?
His name will be great among the Gentiles; those who are on the outside of the
covenant. If we are serving our Lord with our best, it will bring glory to God. Yet,
this scripture says that the name of God is profaned, because we say negative
things about the things of God. It says we say it is weariness. Have you ever
heard someone complain that they ‘have to’ go to church or that they ‘have to pay’
their tithe? I can’t stand that, by the way. When people say they pay their tithe. I
have never ‘paid’ my tithe. I guess it’s because I had been down so low, down and
out, when I got saved. When I first began to tithe I felt so honored that God would
allow me to partner with Him. I was well aware that I did not deserve such an
honor. Since I got saved I have let the Bible be my final authority in all things and
this is no exception.
Malachi 3:8-11,
8 “ Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say, ‘ In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
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.
11 “ And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the LORD of hosts
This was a passage that I just grabbed hold of and never let go. God says that we
rob Him when we don’t bring our tithes and offerings to Him. He commands us to
bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. So where is the storehouse? Most
agree that it is the local church where you’re being spiritually fed but I really think
that’s between you and God. Remember, God knows your heart. He says the
reason we are to bring it is so there will be food in His house. This makes it seem
that He is referring to a house of God and not just taking it and giving it to a person
who needs the money. Some people say that they tithe by giving to different
charitable organizations and that nay fit into this description if the are a house of
God. Yesterday we went out to the local bus stops and gave out cold water in
Jesus’ name. We would not have been able to do that if not for the sacrifice of
those who offer their tithes and offerings to this house of God. I think that’s what
God means by having food in His house.
This is the one place in scripture where God challenges us to test Him. He says
that if we bring the tithes and offerings that He will open up the windows of heaven
and pour out such a blessing that we will not be able to receive it all because there
will be so much. He also says that He will rebuke the devourer for our sakes. That’
s a pretty awesome promise from the creator of the universe. Do you believe
Him? Do you trust that His words are faithful and true? I can promise you that He
has not let me down since I took Him up on the offer. Does that mean that nothing
ever goes wrong in my life? Of course not. Jesus told us that in this world we will
have trouble. That is a given. But He will be with us through every bit of it.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: August 13, 2006