Giving Matters

1. Read: Malachi 3:8-10

2. About the Text:

1) Malachi’s prophecies occur during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.

2) After the temple was rebuilt under Zerubbabel, the world crept into the nation of Israel.

3) Their focus became their own desires instead of God’s.

4) As a result, their giving was compromised.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. Malachi is operating from the principle that God owns everything.

1) “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1).

2) “For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10).

3) “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness” (Psalm 50:12).

2. God is the greatest giver.

1) He blesses His creation abundantly.

2) “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

3) “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11).

3. We are stewards of His possessions.

1) “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).

2) “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

3) When we selfishly use what is His as if it were ours, we rob Him.

1. Lack of giving stagnates us.

1) Sea of Galilee vs. Dead Sea illustration

2) When we don’t give, we become selfish.

3) “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:1-3).

4) “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

2. Lack of giving destroys trust.

1) Who do we trust when we think we must hold onto everything we have?

2) We must give to trust!

3) “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the Lord” (Psalm 4:5).

4) “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8).

3. Lack of giving creates isolation.

1) What do we have when we don’t give?

2) We are left alone.

3) Adam gave a rib and got Eve.

4) Jesus gave His life and got the church.

5) “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

6) “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6).

1. God challenged Israel to see if He would not respond to their giving.

1) God challenges us today also.

2) “Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10).

3) “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8).

2. He gives so much more than physical blessings.

1) “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).

2) “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

3. What is the greatest gift that God can give?

1) “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”” (Luke 11:14).

2) “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32).

3) The greatest gift that God can give is Himself.

1. Giving Matters!

1) God Owns Everything

2) We Hurt Ourselves when We Don’t Give

3) God Gives Himself to Us When we Give to Him

2. Invitation