The book of Malachi contains excellent teaching for God’s people today, for Malachi is speaking of the days of the Kingdom and the great ministry of giving to the Lord. He is speaking of the purging fire which comes to refine the people of God so that their offerings to the Lord will be pure, enabling them to minister to the Lord. Malachi’s entire book seems to be devoted to what God’s people are giving to Him.
Most Christians do not understand the principles of giving. However, the Lord has provided new insight into these truths so that we can understand the nature of the spiritual and psychic realms where giving is involved. The giving of a gift opens the door for someone to give much more than just the gift. This is a key that Satan understands, and that is why a person who is practicing witchcraft will try to send something tangible to his subject. If the gift is received, the door is then opened for whatever he wants to minister in the realm of spirit.
There was a woman who put this principle to work in her life. She never let one of her many grandchildren into her house unless he had come prepared to give her something that was important to him. Then she would give him a gift which she had collected from one of the other grandchildren. She had learned this principle, that in the giving of a present there is the possibility of conveying an unequaled blessing. She collected a gift from one grandchild and gave it to another. She was a beautiful clearinghouse of giving, always having something to give because the grandchildren always had to give something they valued to her. Perhaps this is where our first concept of God comes from. God is saying, “I want you to give Me the best that you have, and I will always give you the best that I have.”
Most Christians still do not understand how the principle of giving works. If they give God something that means little to them, they fail to put Him in a place where He can bless them back again. But if they give God the first place in their lives and seek first His Kingdom, then everything else seems to be added to them (Matthew 6:33). While the majority of Christians do not know much about giving, they know even less about receiving. They do not know how to receive the goodness of God. They do not realize that He will pour back to them what they give—heaped up, shaken down, and running over (Luke 6:38). They are not able to comprehend that yet. Most of them are quite content to give God what they can spare and to be satisfied with the meager rations of survival that He gives to them, when they could have an overflowing cup.
David said, My cup runneth over. Psalm 23:5b. Do you ever wonder about that overflowing cup? What was it about David that gave him such a testimony, when most believers, if they speak honestly from their own hearts, will have to say, “My cup is not running over. I have much from the Lord, but I am not full to a point of overflowing. I can still think of areas of lack. I need an outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord.” Yet David said, “My cup runneth over.” Notice, however, that David’s worship of God involved a total commitment on his part to the Lord. When David did anything, he did it with all his might. When he danced, he really danced before the Lord. When he gave, he really gave.
When the plague hit Israel because David had numbered the fighting men of Israel, he went to the threshing floor of Ornan to make sacrifices to the Lord (I Chronicles 21). Ornan told him, “I will give you the land, and I will give you the oxen and everything else that you need to make your sacrifices.”
David answered, “I will not take it. I will not give to the Lord that which costs me nothing.” Then David reached into his pocket and paid a good price for those things. He did this because they were the basis of a sacrifice that he was going to make to the Lord, and he was not going to give the Lord anything less than his very best.
You must have that same dedication to give God your best. Give Him the best of your time. Find out when you are the freshest and the most alert. Then, no matter what else you must do in the course of a day, let each day see the peak of your energy and the best of your undistracted time going to the Lord. Plan your days that way. Give to the Lord the first fruits of your increase (Proverbs 3:9). Do not give Him that which costs you nothing; see to it that you give Him your very best.
In the Old Testament, the Lord said that the first fruit of the womb was His. Every male that opened the womb was to be consecrated to God, and a sacrifice was to be made for it (Exodus 13:2, 12, 15). The book of Malachi deals with the negligent way these sacrifices were made in his day. Malachi was concerned with God’s people giving Him the best they had to give.
We will read Malachi 1:6–14. “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. But you say, ‘How have we despised Thy name?’ You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled Thee?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be despised.’ 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?” (Imagine that.) “Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts. “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts. “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar!”
Malachi is saying that it would be better to close down the temple than for the priests to give the Lord something inferior. Likewise, true believers today would be better off not even opening the doors of their church buildings if they are only going to play church. If they are not going to press in and give God what He wants, then they should stay home. Who wants to be part of a halfhearted church?
“I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of hosts, “nor will I accept an offering from you.” Next Malachi brings one of the most important prophecies in the Old Testament concerning worshipers: “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. From the rising of the sun to its setting, God is going to have something special: this incense of worship and praise will be coming up to Him.
When people come into God’s end-time walk in the Spirit, they are encouraged with worship. However, they should never stop contending for the pure worship that God wants. They must never get into a religious rut in their worship, because this Old Testament prophecy is going to have its fulfillment—there will be a pure worship over the whole world. The day is coming when everything that hinders the house of God in its worship will be broken.
“But you are profaning it, in that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’ You also say, ‘My, how tiresome it is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery, and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?” says the Lord. “But cursed be the swindler” (He did not call them worshipers; He called them swindlers!) “who has a male in his flock, and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is feared among the nations.” God is saying that He does not take kindly to our giving Him something of our lives that is inferior. This being the case, there is no way that we can please Him until we fulfill the first commandment of loving the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength (Mark 12:30).
God does not become nearly as angry with the evil things that are still in a believer’s life as with the good things that the believer has allowed to creep in and take precedence over God. People may be concerned about many interests and responsibilities that are good and legitimate, but what about putting the Lord first? Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. That is the priority in our giving. It is the priority in our worship. It is the priority in our service to God. We are open to be overwhelmed by our problems until we put the Lord first. Many of the problems that exist in any particular church probably are not valid. They would not remain if the church would spend seven days forgetting about its troubles and magnifying the Lord first. The people would be surprised to discover how many enterprises and personal interests they are putting ahead of God.
Why even bother with a walk with God if you are not going to do it right? What would happen if you drank H2O2?
Because it is so close to H2O, water, would it be good to drink? You need to drink plenty of H2O every day; but H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide, and that is very dangerous to drink. When you deviate from a formula, even the slightest, it can become deadly. The same is true of a religion that very carefully follows many traditions, but deviates from the essential truths, adding to or taking away from them. In this end-time walk with God, pure principles have been laid down. If you want them to work then put God first. There is no other way.
You are not going to walk with God if you are diverted and give priority to everything else but the Lord. Then you will not have time to wait on the Lord or to read His Word. The sweet communion is gone when other interests and desires, other pursuits and responsibilities, take priority over the Lord. The man who says, “I cannot afford to tithe” never can. Everything else takes priority over his duty to God. The man who says, “I do not have time to go to church” never can please God because he never has time for anything else of the Lord either. It is a strange paradox how a man who is busy with many responsibilities but who still puts God first will find time to do many extra tasks. The only man whose life is under control is the man who is seeking first the Kingdom of God; all other things are added to him.
A pastor should not preach to people and make them feel guilty because they are sliding through, neglecting the things of God. Instead, he should inspire them by saying, “Do you love Him enough to put Him first? Does God mean enough to you that you will put Him ahead of everything else? Do you love Him so much that you will be willing to pay any price in order to be first of all a worshiper of God and a giver in His name?”
Malachi 3:7–12: “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will a man rob God?” The margin gives a better word: “Will a man defraud God?” Is it possible for a man to defraud God? If not, why would God have to point out the importance of this principle of tithing? “Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed Thee?’ In tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! 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 there is no more need.” (The margin reads, “not room enough.” This is the principle of overflowing: put the Lord first.) “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts. “And all nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.
People who do not tithe may excuse themselves by reminding us that the tithes in Old Testament times took care of the poor, the priesthood, and various other needs which we do not have to worry about today. They give a little contribution to the church, but they depend upon Social Security, old age pensions, and unemployment insurance to take care of most needs. Their attitude is, “Let the government do it.” But how much does the government collect? ten percent? We would be well situated if the government collected only ten percent in taxes. Yet the days when the tithe was collected, and things were done as they should be, were the days when the needs were really met.
The day will come when God will open up the windows of heaven and give grace to people to give. Giving will be a ministry of the Spirit. People will not just give a tithe; they will come before God, have hands laid on them or prayers spoken over them, and God will give them a ministry of giving. Poor people who seem to have no resources will find themselves walking in a miracle of giving as the Lord enables them by His grace. When this happens, there will be enough for every need.
Churches should strive, if possible, to operate their own rest homes, so that their old people do not have to die under the hands of attendants who do not care about them. If they die, let them die around people who will care for them and love them. We yearn to see the cold commercialism of the mortuary eliminated. Christians should be buried from the house of God. When the day comes that proper medical attendance can be provided, then our children no longer should be born in the cold atmosphere of a hospital. Methods can be used so that the mother does not have to be under an anesthetic which possibly could affect the baby.
Christians should be concerned that the ministries in the church who give all their time to the work of the Lord have enough to eat and enough to wear. Widows should not grow old and lonely with no one to take care of them. This is pure religion, undefiled before God, that children who come out of broken homes should not be raised without the proper guidance of a good father (James 1:27). Elders and deacons should minister to them and watch over them, and places should be provided where they can be raised. Let the concept of God’s heavenly family grow in our hearts until we care for and love one another. It is not important that any one of us prospers as an individual, but it is important that everyone in the Body of Christ prospers and that the needs are met. Lord, make us givers.
Can the day come in which we see such a revolution? Other societies in days of lesser blessing have been able to take care of their poor and needy; why can’t we? Perhaps you feel that the government should take care of these people. However, it is predicted that in a very few years the whole Social Security program will fail. It will take exorbitant taxation to keep the present system going. America might become bankrupt by its own relief program. Christians should begin to think about ways of taking care of their aged and needy in the house of God.
The end of Malachi 3 speaks of the way God deals with the heart that is set to give. The Lord said to Israel, “All nations would call you blessed if you would enter into this giving” (verse 12). But then He spoke this Word: “You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.’ ” This charge is often brought. It does not appear as though God is paying very close attention to the people who are so arrogant against Him.
Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another (now here are the humble), and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name. “And they will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession” (the margin reads, “special treasure,” and the King James Version reads, “make up my jewels”), “and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing.” (Notice, God is preparing this day.) Malachi 3:14–4:3a.
If there is one conclusion to be drawn from the book of Malachi, it is this: God is saying, “I want you to give Me your best. I want you to be dedicated to serve Me with all your heart. Then, when that day comes, I will spare you all the troubles that are going to come upon the earth. Put Me first, and I will take care of you first. Serve Me, and I will look out for you.” He said the same thing in Matthew 6: “Seek first the Kingdom, and I will add the other things to you.” Why worry about anything? Be concerned about the things of the Kingdom; be concerned about the Lord’s interests, about the Lord’s will being done in the earth. Take care of the family. Forget yourself and take care of God’s people, and watch God take care of you.
During the first half of this century, Smith Wigglesworth made a deep impression on the hearts of many people who heard him. His biography, Smith Wigglesworth: Apostle of Faith, by Stanley Frodsham, is a deeply moving book because it reveals his secret of giving. On numerous occasions when money was poured into his hands during a convocation, he often gave it away to missionaries who were present. Usually he even had to borrow money so that he could get home. His giving was an object of envy and jealousy in other pastors who criticized him for it. But he did not care for money; it was just something to be spent for the Lord.
Smith Wigglesworth told the Lord, “I cannot worry about money; I have to be concerned about the Word and ministering. So, Lord, take care of me, and I will put Your Word first.” God spoke to his heart and made a covenant with him, that from then on God would give him the money he needed, and he would just do the will of the Lord. Why not do what Smith Wigglesworth did? Stop worrying and say, “Lord, take care of me, and I will see to it that I put You first, above everything else.” This is the greatest security you can ever receive—to be linked with the unfailing, unceasing source of supply of all things. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. II Corinthians 9:8. He is able to do it.
“And now, this commandment is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.” Malachi 2:1–3. In other words, if you do not give the way God wants you to, then God is going to reverse even the good that you are trying to do. How often that has happened!
Are you thinking that it is about time for you to reconsider your entire budget and your emphasis and approach to expenditures? Perhaps you thought that the Lord did not care, as in this story of a man who was asked by his friend if he paid tithes. He answered, “No, I have not been paying tithes for a few months because I have so many bills.”
“Don’t you think that the Lord should be first?”
“Oh, He is first, but He is not pushing me like the others.” The Lord was not pressuring him, and so he was paying the bills that were most demanding. Tithing enters into a dedication, and it takes a great amount of discipline. When a person does not tithe, the fault does not lie with God, for God will make a way for a man to tithe. The fault is that he is not wise enough to accept the blessing of the Lord or faithful enough to follow through, with diligence and discipline, the course that God has set before him. Tithing yields a great reward to those who will do it.
Some Christians have not opened their hearts to the wonder of tithing, to the demand that the Lord makes. Tithing is a requirement that is not to be fulfilled just out of a perfunctory obedience, but by an obedience from the heart to do the whole will of God and to give Him the best of everything that is within us. Let it be today that God speaks to our hearts and shows us again where the emphasis and the focus of our lives should be. This is all to our benefit.