Sermon Notes, April 28, 2019 AM
Giving God Our Best
Steve W. Reeves
stevewreevessermons.blogspot.com
INTRODUCTION:
A. A ninety-five year old man was convicted of tax evasion. The judge ordered him to
spend twenty years in prison. The man complained, “Judge, I’m ninety-five years old,
I won’t live another twenty years.” The judge replied, “Just do the best you can.”
1. I want to encourage you to do the best you can do in your faithfulness to God and
commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. I want to exhort you to give God your best. To do this we are going to turn to an
example from the Old Testament.
B. For many people the books of the Old Testament known as the “Minor Prophets” are
the least familiar and least studied part of the Bible. These books are like a buried
treasure that lies at our own doorstep. In today’s message we will be going to
the very last book of the Old Testament, the prophet Malachi.
1. Malachi, along with Haggai and Zechariah are called “post-exilic” prophets.
2. Ancient Israel had been conquered in two stages. The first was in 722 B.C. when
the Assyrians conquered the northern ten tribes. The remaining two tribes were
overthrown by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Following their years in exile the
Israelites returned to their homeland in three stages.
a. The first group led by Zerubbabel returned approximately 537 B.C. This group
led the initial rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple (516 B.C).
b. A second group arrived under the leadership of Ezra in 458 B.C.
c. The final group was led by Nehemiah in 445.B.C. Under his leadership the walls
of Jerusalem were rebuilt and its gates restored.
3. Malachi lived during this “post-exilic” period. The people of Israel had become
complacent in their faith. They were going through the motions of worship but
their hearts were not in it. As B.B. King used to sing, “The thrill is gone.”
4. Kyle Yates in Preaching From The Prophets, makes this observation about the
people of Israel during this time: “The people complained against God and
bemoaned their sad plight, refused to pay their tithes and offerings, were guilty
of social injustice, and had married themselves with the heathen people of the land.
Divorce was common. YAHWEH’s covenant had been forgotten and a low type of
behavior was the common order of the day” (p. 214).
D. In the book of Malachi there are seven discussions in which God states His case
and the people object. God then answers their objections. It’s almost like a series of
debates between God and the people.
. The outcome of these debates is as relevant today as it was then. God challenged the
“status quo.” He expressed His displeasure with their careless and calloused hearts.
He challenged them to do their best. This is a message we need to hear.
I. DO OUR BEST IN WORSHIP
A. In Malachi 1:6 God says, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then
if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?
says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name.”
1. Twenty-four times in Malachi God calls Himself, "The Lord of Hosts” (NIV – “The
Lord Almighty). This is the term Martin Luther referred to in his hymn, “A Mighty
Fortress” with the lyrics, “Lord Sabbaoth His name, from age to age the same.”
2. God is worthy of the highest praise and best effort we can possibly extend.
B. The people to whom God was speaking were not giving Him their best.
1. The people asked in verse 6, “How have we despised Your name?”
2. God responded in verse 7 – “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar.”
3. Again the people ask, “‘How have we defiled you?”
4. God replied in verses 7-8 – “In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be
despised.’ 8 But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when
you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor?
Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord
of hosts.”
a. The priests were not giving God the respect and reverence He was due.
b. They were sacrificing animals that were blind, lame, and injured. These were
the animals no one wanted (See Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 1:3, 10; 22:18-25 and
Deuteronomy 15:21). These people were giving God the left-overs.
c. God chides them in verse 8, “Try offering them to your governor! Would he
be pleased with you? Would he accept you?”
C. God wants the best we have. He will not accept left-overs.
1. Notice God’s desire in verse 10, “’Oh that there were one among you who would
shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not
pleased with you,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘nor will I accept an offering from
you.’”
2. God’s name will be praised according to verse 11 - “’For from the rising of the
sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every
place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure;
for My name will be great among the nations,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
3. At the conclusion of verse 14 God said, “For I am a great King,” says the Lord of
hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.”
II. DO OUR BEST IN MARRIAGE
A. Beginning in chapter 2:11 God talks about Judah. This is a reference to the
people of Israel who had returned from exile.
1. He said, “Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been
committed in Israel and in Jerusalem.”
2. The word, “abomination” is translated “detestable” in some versions.
3. What is this thing they have done? Verse 11 continues, “Judah has profaned the
sanctuary of the Lord which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign
god."
B. We often think that divorce is only a
contemporary problem. This is not the case. In post-exilic Israel divorce had become commonplace. Men would divorce their
wives and intermarry with the pagan people of the land. This gave rise to a new
race called “Samaritans.” This had been prohibited by the Law of Moses (see
Exodus 34:15-18 and Deuteronomy 7:3-4
B. In Malachi 2:15 the prophet sets the stage for what Jesus would later say when He
was asked about divorce in Matthew 19:1-9.
1. “Let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.”
2. Proverbs 5:18 says, “Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of
your youth.”
3. In verse 16 Malachi said, “For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel.”
a. Understand please, that God does not hate divorced people.
b. God hated the contemptible spirit of these people who were disregarding
their marriage vows.
C. God’s concern for faithfulness in marriage should have a powerful impact on us.
1. We should begin teaching our children about God’s plan for marriage when they
are young.
2. We need to teach our teenagers and university students God’s desire for
marriage and the components that produce successful marriages. We must do
all we can to fight the communication of our culture that seeks to distort and
defile the marriage relationship.
3. The church should have an active ongoing plan and strategy to strengthen
marriages and families. After all, the relationship of Christ and His church is the
pattern upon which marriage is based (See Ephesians 5:21-33).
III. DO OUR BEST IN GIVING
A. The people of the United States are the most charitable people in the world. Giving
to churches exceeds 60 billion dollars each year. At the same time, however the
percentage of our giving remains small. We spend more on luxuries and
entertainment than we give.
B In Malachi 3:8 the question is raised, “Will a man rob God?” He could have asked,
“Will a man cheat God?”
1. Once again the people reply, “How have we robbed you?”
2. God responds, “In tithes and offerings.”
a. In the Old Testament there were numerous regulations regarding tithes
and offerings (Leviticus 27). The foundational principle to all of them was that
God was to receive the first portion. Tithing actually predated the Law of
Moses (Genesis 14:20).
b. In the same manner the people had been bringing inferior sacrifices to offer at
the altar they were not giving as they should have been giving.
c. According to verse 9 – “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me,
the whole nation of you.”
B. At this point God sets forth a Divine principle for giving. You cannot out give God.
Notice verse 10. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be
food in My house, and test 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 a blessing until it overflows.”
1. Is there any limit to God’s resources?
2. Our greatest limitation is the one we impose on ourselves when we do not give
our best with a proper attitude. Remember, in the New Testament we are not
under a tithe but we are recipients of better promises and a better covenant
offering better hope. God calls on us to be “cheerful givers” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
3. A mother wanted to teach her daughter a lesson. She gave the little girl a
quarter and a dollar for church "Put whichever one you want in the collection
plate and keep the other for yourself," she told the girl. When they were coming
out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given.
"Well," said the little girl, "I was going to give the dollar, but just before the
collection the man said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I'd be a lot
more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did."
CONCLUSION:
A. Many people in our society have developed a “bare minimum” attitude. “What’s the
bare minimum I can do and still get by?” Can you think of any area of life where that
attitude is healthy? It certainly is not healthy when it comes to the three subjects
addressed in Malachi; worship, marriage and giving.
B. How would your life be changed if, instead of saying, “What’s the minimum I have to
do to get by,” you said, “What’s the best I can do?” May we invite you to give God
your best by giving Him your heart and life today?
