Thank you for taking the time to read the sermon this week. I am very happy to be able to post the sermon. I hope and pray that everyone is doing very well.
I have had a good week in writing, and I want to thank the Lord for that. I have been feeling pretty well. I am currently working on several writing projects, and I hope to have some news on these in the near future.
In prayer this week, please pray for those in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I heard this week that there are many who still don't have their electricity restored. Please pray for the people. This should have been taken care of by now.
Please pray for Christians in this world who are suffering persecution for their faith in Jesus. Pray that the Lord will keep them safe, and pray that even in the midst of persecution, they might be a consistent witness of the love of Jesus.
Pray for peace in the trouble areas of the world. Pray for peace in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and South Sudan.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for Turkmenistan and Myanmar. Pray that many will hear the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
During the course of the last several weeks, we've been in a series of messages from the book of Malachi. This week, we will continue with our study in Malachi focusing our attention on Malachi 3:8-12.
As we've noticed, there is a pattern in the book of Malachi. God tells the people that they are not serving Him in the right manner, or He tells them that they are not honoring Him in the way that they should. When the people hear these words of the Lord, they deny it. They say, "How have when been doing this?"
We see this same pattern in our passage today. The Lord says, "You have cheated me." The people say, "When did we ever cheat You?"
The Lord lets them know that they cheated Him by not bringing their tithes into the storehouse. The people were not fulfilling their obligations under the law.
In order for there to be enough food for the priests in the Temple, the people were required to give a tenth of their increase to support the priests and Temple. Every so often, the people were supposed to give the tithe to help the poor.
Instead of giving a tenth to help the priests in the Temple and keep the Temple operational, the people were giving lesser amounts or nothing at all. By not keeping the house of the Lord operational, the Lord said that they were robbing Him or cheating Him.
This brings us to the whole question of tithing. Many people believe that Christians are obligated to give a tithe today. Many add to this the idea that the local church is the modern day storehouse, so all tithes should be given to the local church. What does the Bible say about this?
From what I see in the Bible, Christians should give a tithe as a minimum gift to the Lord if they are able to do so. I base this on the teachings of Jesus as found in Matthew 23:23.
In this passage, Jesus is condemning the Pharisees and the religious leaders for their hypocrisy. Jesus notes that they are diligent tithers even tithing the mint and cumin from the spice rack. However, they neglected the more important matters of the law such as justice, mercy and faith. Jesus said that they should have given the tithe, but they should not have neglected the more important matters of the law.
From this passage, I think it is clear that Jesus approved of tithing. As I said, tithing is the minimum requirement for most. Some people can give a tithe and they wouldn't even notice it. Some very wealthy people could give 99 percent of their income to charity, and they could still live like kings and queens.
Now, I don't think that the Lord expects everyone to give a tithe. This is my opinion, I don't have hard Scripture for this. Let me say this. Some people who are very poor, homeless or who are on benefits can barely scrape by. To give ten percent might mean they don't eat that week. Knowing the loving nature of Jesus, I don't believe that He condemns anyone in that situation who is not able to give the whole tithe.
In II Corinthians 9:7, the Apostle Paul tells us that each person should make up his own mind how much he should give. That is something we determine with the Lord through prayer. The Lord will tell us what we need to give.
Now, the question of where the tithe should go. I don't believe that the local church is the storehouse where all the tithe must go. I don't see anywhere in the New Testament that it is wrong in anyway to give part of the tithe to charities or to Gospel ministries. With that said, the local churches need money in order to operate. They have to pay the bills and the ministry staff. They have, or should have, local outreach ministries that need funds. So, we must not forget that.
I believe that if everyone who was able, and that is the majority in my country, would give a tithe to the church or charity, we could see many of the problems in the world ended. We could feed the hungry, care of the sick, help people with housing and make the world a much better place.
As I said, the tithe is the minimum. There are some wealthy people that I know personally who give less than one percent to charity. On the other hand, there is one man I know who is a musician who is very wealthy. Each year, he gives about half of his money to charitable causes.
If people who are billionaires and millionaires would be more giving, so much could be accomplished in this world. As Jesus said, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul."
Ask the Lord what He would have you do in your giving. Ask Him where He wants you to send your money. Then do what He asks.
By the way, I won't ever ask for any money from anyone on this blog. I started this to minister to people in fulfillment of the calling of God on my life. When I placed the books online here on the blog, I never asked anyone to pay anything. I don't want any donations at all. I am happy that the Lord has given me this opportunity. I work in writing, and other jobs as God provides, to make a living.
One thing that has really hurt the cause of Christ is the way that media preachers get up and beg for money. That is not right.
I also want to say that the whole notion of giving to God to get something for yourself is wrong. You give because you love the Lord. If you give, the Lord may bless you financially, or He may bless you in some other way. If He does or does not, that is not the basis for giving. We give because He has given so much to us.
Next week, Lord willing, we will continue with our series in the book of Malachi. On Monday, I will post the verses, and on Wednesday, I hope to post a review or poem. May God bless you all. Amen.
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