September 23rd

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Malachi 2:10-4:6, Joel 1-3

Commentaries on Malachi passage
Let None by Faithless to the Wife of His Youth by John Piper (Malachi 2:10-16)
He is Like a Refiner's Fire by John Piper (Malachi 2:17-3:6)
You Will Be a Land of Delight by John Piper (Malachi 3:7-12)
I Will Spare Them as a Man Spares His Son by John Piper (Malachi 3:13-18)
The Sun of Righteousness Will Rise by John Piper (Malachi 4:1-3)
He Will Turn the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children (Malachi 4:4-6)
Commentaries on Malachi on Bible.org
Sermons on Malachi by David Legge

Commentaries on Joel
Sermons on Joel by John Piper

I love how my Life Application Bible sums up the book of Malachi....
Malachi gives us practical guidelines about commitment to God. God deserves the best we have to offer (1:7-10). We must be willing to change our wrong ways of living (2:1,2). We should make family a lifelong priority (2:13-16). We should welcome God's refining process in our lives (3:3). We should tithe our income (3:8-12). There is no room for pride (3:13-15).

There are so many different things that we could focus on in these passages, but the one that jumped out at me was this one.....
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:8-10 (emphasis mine)

Now that is an incredible word picture for an incredible promise.

Money is a pretty sensitive topic. But I'm gonna tackle it anyway! ;)

As a whole, I think that Christians have taken advantage of the freedom we have in Christ to avoid giving back to God what is His to begin with.

In Malachi, God was telling the people that they were robbing Him by refusing to tithe - and their excuse at least, was that they were experiencing hardship and couldn't afford to tithe. Now that is still wrong.

But we in America, have the opposite "problem". We are refusing to tithe - and we have, if anything, too much! We are a wealthy people. Of course, some of wealthier than others, but the statistics show that the more money we have made, the less we have tithed.

Why is that?

I think there are 3 main reasons.

1) Because we love our money and we love our stuff and we love to spend our money on ourselves. Harsh, but true.

2) Because we view our money as our money and not God's money. A wrong perspective results in wrong action every time.

3) We do not believe God. If the reason we are not giving is because we are tight for cash, our actions say that we do not trust God and we do not believe God.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Contrary to popular belief, the NT has not abolished tithing per se. No, tithing is not specifically commanded. But it is assumed.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." Matthew 23:23 (emphasis mine)

Jesus was not telling them that their tithing was wrong, in fact He states that they shouldn't be neglecting it. He was telling them that they were neglecting the spirit of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness. They were to practice EVERYTHING.


In fact, not only is at assumed, MORE is commanded. We are commanded to give, not 10%, but sacrificially! We are commanded to give cheerfully. We are commanded to store up treasure in heaven, not on earth (the only way to do that with our money is to invest it in things that will impact eternity - like church, missions, etc).

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

Giving our 10% because we feel we have to, will not be blessed. Paul is emphasizing willingness!

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 2 Corinthians 8:1-8 (emphasis mine)

Poverty resulting in generosity. Sacrificial giving. Giving in love. Giving out of joy.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 2 Corinthians 9:6

In his sermon You Will be a Land of Delight, John Piper says of this verse....
In other words the issue isn't meeting a minimum limit. The issue for Paul is how to unleash the maximum liberality. The command to tithe just doesn't suit this approach. (emphasis mine)

He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4:28 (emphasis mine)
The opposite of stealing, is not working to earn a living, but working in order to be able to give!!

In his sermon on this Malachi passage, David Legge says....
William MacDonald has made this very piercing statement regarding the lack of stewardship in the church of Jesus Christ today: 'We rob God in this sense: often times the Lord's own money is not available to Him'. Imagine and contemplate the possibility that God's own money is not available to Him, because the Christians of Malachi's and today's day are so tight-fisted that they won't let go of it and allow Him to use it! This is the principle of stewardship. (emphasis mine)

Our view on money should not be.... "What is the minimum amount of my money I can give to God and still receive His blessing?" We should acknowledge everything we have as God's, and seek to find out how He wants us to use everything we have to bless others.

I think that it is easy for me to be legalistic, and it's actually easy to become legalistic in the area of generosity too. In other words, does that mean that we all have to live in little shacks and literally give everything away? I don't think so.

I believe this is where the Spirit comes in. We are to give as we are led. If you hear of a need, and you feel the Lord tug at your spirit to give - give! If you don't, and you not just looking for an excuse not to give, but truly don't feel led to give to that particular ministry - don't! Maybe God is waiting for a different opportunity for you. If we sincerely pray and ask God to direct our giving, He will.

And don't just give of your money. Give of your time! If every member of our church used their gifts to serve, even in only one area, imagine what we could accomplish for God!!

And in Malachi - God issues a challenge. A dare, if I may. He challenges us to outgive Him.
"Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."

Are you up for the challenge?

Tomorrow we're taking our first steps into the NT! I am especially looking forward to reading the gospel's chronologically - to really see the different perspectives of these 4 men.

Tomorrow's passage: Mark 1:1, Luke 1:1-4, John 1:1-18, Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38, Luke 1:5-38