Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3. I'd like to read verses 7 to
12. Malachi 3 verse 7, Even from
the days of your fathers. You have gone away from mine
ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will
return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein
shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have
robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed
thee? in tithes and offerings, you
are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this
whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into
the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove
me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open
you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing. that
there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke
the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the
fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit
before the time in the field, saith the Lord of Hosts. And
all nations shall call you blessed, for you shall be a delightsome
land, saith the Lord of Hosts." Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening, how
thankful we are, Lord, for the blessed privilege to meet together
and to hear the Word of God. We ask you, blessed Father, to
bless the Word, Lord, to the fruition of your people being
called out, comforted, Lord, I pray that you might have mercy
upon us. Pray for those that are sick,
those that have been mentioned, and Lord, those that we've not
mentioned. Lord, you know. Have mercy upon
us for Christ's sake. Amen. Will a man rob God? That's what I've entitled this. It should never cease to amaze
the people of God for His mercy to frail creatures such as we
are. The Lord had told Israel through
the prophet Malachi, this is what we looked at last week,
verse 6. He said, for I am the Lord. I
am Jehovah. I change not. Therefore, ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed." Now let me tell you what I saw in
that fresh today. He's talking to his people. He's
talking to the sons of Jacob. Those that he loves. The sons
of Jacob. I don't change. I change not. That's why you're not consumed. Now, it's not that God's elect
are not deserving in ourselves to be consumed. Now, just left
to ourselves, we would deserve that. We do deserve that. We're
sinners. We're rebels born in Adam. rebels
against God, but because he will have mercy and compassion on
whomsoever he will. His people, for Christ's sake,
are not consumed because the Lord Jesus Christ has borne their
guilt at Calvary. That is the only hope that a
sinner has. Christ has put away their guilt. God has robed them in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, in mercy, the Lord speaks
to Israel. He's talking to national Israel. But they are a type of God's
elect. And in mercy, the Lord is going
to chasten them. He's going to rebuke them. He's going to convict them. Now,
I want you to understand something. Remember while we look at these
few verses for a few minutes tonight, who is He talking to? He's talking to Israel. But they are a type of His elect. So when we look at this, remember,
God is talking to His elect, to His people. And it starts
off, and He says in verse 7, Even from the days of your fathers,
you have gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept
them. Return unto Me, and I will return
unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we
return?" Now, this is what we all did. All men, including God's
elect, all men that have done this in Adam, gone away. What have you done? Even from
the days of your fathers all the way back, you've done this
one thing. You've gone away from my ordinances.
You've not kept them. Man by nature is a sinner. That's the first thing we know.
Man is a sinner. Return unto Me, I will return
unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. Here is the mercy of Almighty
God in the cause. There's a general cause. There's
a general cause. There's an effectual cause. That
general call is heard by all men. That effectual call is heard
by His elect when it pleases Him. But listen to the deadness
of the ears of those that God speaks to. Speaking even to His
elect before He is pleased to call them out of darkness. They
do not hear. Even the Lord's elect, until
Almighty God is pleased to give them a new heart, they don't
hear. Let me show you that. Return
unto Me, and I'll return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts.
But ye say, wherein shall we return? Even in that call that
God's people shall hear in due season. They don't hear until
the Lord gives them ears to hear. Yes, we're born ignorant. We're ignorant of God. We're
ignorant of our ability. We're ignorant of our need. We're
ignorant of the way back to Him only by the grace of God. Does
a man have any understanding of his need of Christ? But then
the Lord speaks again, and He asks this question, the question
that is presented to those that don't even know that they're
aliens from Almighty God. They don't know that they're
in the fold of God's mercy and grace. They don't even know they're
in darkness of sin. We're in. Shall we return? Where
do you think we are? I mean, we're Israel. We're religious. Abraham's our father. And he
asked him this question, verse 8. Will a man rob God? Let me ask you this. Is that
possible? Obviously it is. But will a man rob God and be
so daring as to steal from God? Obviously he will. But can a man be so irrational? Can a man be so irrational as
to steal from Him who is never absent? The one who ever sees
From the omnipresent God, the all-powerful God? Can a man be
so blind to the irresponsibility and the rebellion? Can he be
so desperate as to rob one who is absolutely going to punish
sin? If he's dead, he will. And here's
the sad thing. That nature right there that
has no love for God's honor, no love for God's grace, no love
for God's mercy, that nature right there still resides within. That's the nature that we war
with, that new man wars against. Now you remember something. This
question is from him who cannot be mistaken. Him who cannot lie. He who never accuses unjustly. He said, yet you've robbed me. Will a man rob God? Yet you've
robbed me, but ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? And the
Lord says, in tithes and offerings. Now, I know this. These people that the Lord is
talking to are ignorant. They're ignorant of themselves.
They're ignorant of who God is. They're ignorant of their plight.
They're ignorant of God's mercy. They're ignorant. They're ignorant.
But in speaking to them, that the Lord would say anything to
them, It's merciful. Hold your place right there in
Malachi. I want you to turn over to Leviticus 5. Leviticus chapter
5. Listen to this. Oh, when I read
this today, I thought, Lord, oh, but for Your grace, where
would we be? Lord, but for Your mercy, where
would we be? Now, the Lord has told these
people, He said, You've left me." And they said,
where have we gone? He said, you've robbed me. They
said, robbed you how? How have we robbed you? Ignorance. Listen to this, Leviticus chapter
5, verse 15. If a soul commit a trespass and
sin through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord, then
he shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish
out of the flocks with thy estimation by shekels of silver after the
shekel of the sanctuary for a trespass offering." Now, you know this. If a man is ignorant, and what
man is not, what's the depth of my rebellion? I don't know. How far have I gone in rebellion
before God? Lord, You know. I don't know. But I do know this, the Lord
has provided a sacrifice. If a man sinned through ignorance,
and I'll tell you this, when Almighty God says back in Malachi,
return unto Me, Lord, how far have I gone? When the Lord says
to me, you've robbed me, you know what my answer is? Lord,
as you say, it is. It is. But do you know I won't
say that until after God has called me out of darkness? Before
then, I'll argue with Him. I'll rebel against Him. Lord,
I've not robbed you. There's no ignorance. There's
an ignorant creature right here. If a man sinned through ignorance,
Bring for his trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish, beautiful
the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, out of the flocks, with
thy estimation, by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the
sanctuary, for a trespass offering." Then look at verse 17-18. And
if a soul sinned and committed any of these things which are
forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he wished
it not, though he knew it not, Yet he is guilty, and shall bear
his iniquity, and he shall bring a ram without blemish out of
the flock with thy estimation for a trespass offering unto
the priest. The priest shall make an atonement
for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred, and wished
it not, and it shall be forgiven him." Oh, thanks be unto God. that there is an offering. God
has provided an offering. Wherein have we robbed God? He said, in tithes and offerings.
Well, I know in mercy, the Lord does not leave His people to
themselves. He tells them of the error of
their way. Think of the mercy of God that
even would tell us even now. How many This evening, I wonder,
know anything about these Scriptures. How many this evening are not
sitting, not concerned, not hearing the Word of the Lord? It is by
the mercy of Almighty God that God has opened unto us the revelation
of His blessed Word. He says in verse 9, You are cursed
with a curse, for you have robbed me, even the whole nation. Now let me say this before I
get into the heart of this message. Now, though the duty, and I use
that word duty because it was a duty, it was a tax. The duty
of tithing is not set forth today as it was in the Old Testament.
It was a tax. It was a 10%. A tax that was to be paid on
everything, whatever it was. Your vegetables, your animals,
your money, everything. Everything was to be tithed. Today, believers give. They do give. They give according
to the dictates of the Spirit of God's leadership. The Scripture says, as a man
purposing, in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, but
of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians
9. Now, it's not that the Lord loves
a man because that man gives, but it's the evidence of God's
love for a man in that that man gives graciously. He gives generously,
he gives faithfully of his time, of his money, of his love, of his
life. He gives. But this issue in Malachi
3.8 of giving, robbing God, though that issue is true concerning
giving, The issue that is dealt with in Malachi 3.8, robbing God, robbing God in tithes
and offerings, is not concerning what most people would think.
As a general rule, what men will do is they'll take that Scripture
right there and they're going to use that as a whip. Going
to whip people into giving more money. You don't have to whip
God's people into giving. God's people give. You don't
have to beat them. They do it not grudgingly. They're
cheerful givers. But the issue that's being spoken
of right here concerning robbing God, the withholding of tithes
and offerings, is set forth back in the book of Nehemiah. Now,
I want you to hold your place right there. Now, Nehemiah. Find
the book of Job and go back two books. Nehemiah 13. Nehemiah 13. Well, a man robbed God. You've
robbed me. You've robbed me in tithes and
in offerings. I pray that the Lord bless this
revelation to us concerning What is it to rob God? What are we
robbing Him of? I believe it is set forth right
here. Nehemiah chapter 13. Let's read verses 1 to 3 first. On that
day, they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the
people. And therein was found written
that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation
of God forever. Because they met not the children
of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against
them, that he should curse them. Howbeit, our God turned the curse
into a blessing. It came to pass, when they had
heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude."
Now, in the Lord's covenant to national Israel, The Jews were
forbidden to have alliances with the people of the land. They were to set forth in type
the separation of God's people, true believers, with the world's
religion. They couldn't mix. They were in the world and not
of the world. Now this separation, They were
not allowed to have the Amorites and the Moabites. They couldn't
come into the congregation of God. Why? Because when the people
of God came to the land and asked for assistance, what they did
was the people of the land feared them. And they hired Balaam and
said, why don't you go out there and you curse these people. And
Balaam, you know, couldn't curse him. God wouldn't allow him to
curse him. Turned the curse into a blessing.
And because of their rebellion against God and God's people,
the Lord said these people are not to be in the congregation. So that separation reveals God's
one way of salvation by His Son. by the Lord Jesus Christ, the
way, the truth, the life, grace, grace alone. And God's people
were to dwell alone in Christ. And not to be reckoned and to
mingle with mixing of works in grace. That's what the whole
thing is. No mixing of works in grace,
which is actually no grace at all. No Amorites or Moabites
were allowed in the congregation because of their hatred and resentment
toward God. When they did it to God's people,
He said, you did it to Me. They weren't allowed. Verse 3,
written again, it came to pass, when they heard the law, they
read the law, and when they heard the law, that they separated
from Israel the mixed multitude. What they did was, that third
verse right there is a picture of God's people made willing
in the day of God's power. They heard, they did. A type, a picture. of hearing
the Word of the Lord, obeying the Word of the Lord. So, verse
4, it says, And before this, before the reading of the Word,
before the book of Moses was read in the audience of the people,
and before the people were brought to their mind what had happened,
what God had said, and before they obeyed, before all of that, Eliashib, the priest, having
the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was
allied until Tobiah. Now, before the people heard
the word of the Lord, and before they obeyed, this is what was
happening beforehand. Eliashib, the high priest, he
was the first 28 of this chapter, you can look at that, it tells
us, and one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib, the high
priest, was son-in-law to Sambolat, the Horonite. because I chased
him from me. So we know that Elisheb was the
high priest. And he was allied, the Scripture
says in verse 4, to this man Tobiah. That word, allied, he
was related to him. That's what it means. He was
a man that was by a marital tie. Tobiah was married into the family. Now, let me show you who Tobiah
was. He was an Ammonite. Look at verse
10 of chapter 2. Hold your finger right there
in Nehemiah 13. Nehemiah 2, verse 10. the Horonite, and Tobiah the
servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly,
that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children
of Israel." Now, Tobiah was an Ammonite. He was one of the ones
that they had just read back in verse 1 of chapter 13 of Nehemiah. It was found written that the
Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation
of God forever. What it was saying is there is
no mixing of the world with God's people. There is no mixing of
works and grace. God Almighty does not allow it.
And Tobiah was an Ammonite. And by marriage, he was tied
in with the high priest in the temple. He was one of his in-laws. Well, this Tobiah, an Ammonite, because he was tied in with a
high priest, look at verse 5. Here's what the high priest did.
And he prepared for him, that is, the high priest prepared
for Tobiah, prepared for him a great chamber where aforetime
they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, the vessels,
and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil which was
commanded to be given to the Levites. and to the singers,
and the porters, and the offerings of the priest. Now, what happened,
here was an Ammonite. He was not allowed by God's law,
by God's decree, he wasn't allowed to be in the congregation, to
be in that temple. And the high priest had taken
the place where the tithes and the offerings were to be kept. for the upkeep of the Levites.
And he took those out. And he put this Ammonite in there. Gave him a place to stay. Gave
him a chamber in the very place where Almighty God had set up
for the provisions of God's priests. The honor and the kindness of
Almighty God to send a priest to give a priest to the people
and to provide for the people through those priests. And the
maintenance for those priests was what was supposed to be in
those chambers. And this high priest put that
Ammonite in there. Well, here was the reason of
God's displeasure. The very disgrace of God's kindness
and mercy This high priest substituted that which Almighty God had set
up for the honor of his worship. And he put in that place that
which was cursed, that Ammonite, cursed and hated, God's truth. That's what Tobiah did. He hated,
he was resentful back in chapter 2 when he heard that the people
of God were going to be cared for. He hated them. Now that's
man's nature. That's his character. Man by
nature is going to substitute works for grace. It doesn't matter,
as I said last week, last time I preached, it doesn't matter
what you call it. It's all going to be outside
of the grace of God. It's going to be works. It's
going to be disrespectful before God. It's going to take the things
of God The provision of Almighty God, the grace of God, the mercy
of God, that's the type right there. And it's going to take
in that place, and it's going to put in that place that which
hates God and resents God. It's going to call itself worshiping
this disrespect. That's man by nature. And to
say that God doesn't know better than man is all they're doing.
They're just saying God does not know what's best. I know
what's best. Man will install vile every time
when it's left to himself. But I'll tell you this, here
it is, before the reading of the law, before they heard, before
they obeyed and cast out that thing that was impure, this is
what was going on. Just imagine, this is man by
nature. Here's man by nature. He's resentful
before God. Well, look at the mercy of God
to His people, verse 6 to 9. But in all this time, and here's
Nehemiah speaking now, in all this time, was not I at Jerusalem,
And in the 230th year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, came I unto
the king. And after certain days obtained,
I leave of the king. And I came to Jerusalem and understood
of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah in preparing him a
chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved
me sore. Therefore, I cast forth all the
household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I commanded,
and they cleansed the chambers, and thither brought I again the
vessels of the house of God with the meat offering and the frankincense."
Nehemiah came back. He had been in Babylon. All this
was going on. And he didn't know what was going
on. And he came back and he found out what was going on. And he came in and he cleansed
that. Here was Nehemiah, a true picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nehemiah was not aware of what
was going on. Our Lord knew what was going
on. He has ever known the need of His people. And He came, just
as Nehemiah came back, the Lord Jesus Christ was made flesh. And He came, Nehemiah did, and
purged that temple. And so did the Lord Jesus Christ
coming in, purging His temple, that which was desecrated. Oh,
how beautiful is the picture of the zeal of our Lord. It reminds
me of that when our Lord came into that temple. He took that
plaited whip, and He went in and this is desecration. What a picture. Think of this
temple right here. The temple of the Lord. When
the Lord Jesus Christ comes in mercy and zeal and purges out
the dross of the rebellion of His people, those that had fallen
prey to the lies of Satan, and has set up that which is rebellious
against Almighty God in the chambers that was reserved and made for
God's glory and God's honor, but man fell. Now man is going
to set up that which hates God. He'll bow to it every time, but
God. But God will not leave His people
to themselves. Comes to them in mercy. Comes
in, binds the strong man. Binds Satan. Satan has no ability
to stop the Lord from the regenerating power and grace toward His people. He sets His people free. There's
old Nehemiah picturing our Lord casting out the refuge of lies
from God's temple, from God's people. Look at verses 10 and
11. And I perceived, Nehemiah said, that the portions of the
Levites had not been given them. The Levites and the singers that
did the work were fled, every one, to his field. Then contended
I with the rulers and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And gathered them together and
set them in their place." These false professors with total disregard
and disrespect of the gifts and the mercy of Almighty God, just
as men do today, as being born in Adam. I'm telling you, man
is disrespectful. But for the grace of God, he'll
die just like that. The Lord's Word, His honor, His
glory, His sovereignty, His people, all disrespected but all things
shall be set in their place. I love that. He said, verse 11,
Then contended I with the rulers and said, Why is the house of
God forsaken? And have we not by nature forsaken
God, forsaken His house, forsaken His honor? And I, Nehemiah is
a picture of Christ, gathered them together and set them in
their place. I thought of that Scripture back
in Psalm 69, 4, I restored that which I took not away. Almighty
God, That which man willingly relinquished, did not Adam willingly
rebel against God. You want to know what a man will
do with his will? Every time. Every time. What
will a man willingly do but for the grace of God? He will willingly
rebel against God. The Lord came back, pictured
by Nehemiah, Set all things in place. Set them in place where
they need to be. Verse 12, Then brought all Judah
the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the
treasuries. Do we not see in the response
of the people the willingness of God's elect when they're taught
in regenerating grace to bow to the Lordship of Christ. Now,
in closing, I want you to look back with me. See what happened.
The Scripture says the book of the law was written. The people
heard what God had to say. And they willingly, in verse
3, they did what the Lord... they pursued out. And then from
verses 4 through verses 11, It showed what was going on, how
the people had rebelled against God, how they had taken that
which God had provided, the giving of the tithes and offerings,
the honor, the obedience before God. for the maintenance of God's
people, the respect of the priests who were pictures of Christ and
the honor that's to be given Him, and the praise and glory
that's to be given Him. And they took that away and set
up this which is hateful before God and resents God. But Nehemiah,
a picture of Christ, came back and purged that temple. A picture
of our precious Lord who in power and grace purges His people,
set up those things, putting them back in their place. And
then, God's people, regenerated by the grace of God, brought
all Judah, then brought all Judah, the tithe of the corn, the new
wine, oil, into the treasuries. Now, as I said, turn back to
Malachi chapter 3, and I'm going to close right here. Look back
at chapter 3, verse 10. Let me read verses 8 through
12. Will a man rob God? Yes. You've robbed me. But you say,
wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. You're
cursed with a curse. He robbed me, even the whole
nation. Now, bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that
there may be meat in mine house. And prove me now herewith, saith
the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven,
pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough
to receive it, and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes. He shall not destroy the fruits
of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before
the time and the field, saith the Lord of Hosts. And all nations
shall call you blessed, for you shall be a delightsome land,
saith the Lord of Hosts." Do we not behold the exercise of
the mercy of Almighty God and the faith of God's people in
Christ. The tithes and the offerings
that were brought by the people, those tithes that were for the
sustenance of the priest, and the giving of that which God,
back in the law, required, says this, Lord, You are our priest. That which we give, the tithes
and the offerings, the offering of our praise, the offering of
our love, the Lord Jesus Christ worthy of the praise of our thanksgiving
and the blessing in honoring Him, we believe Him. And we admit, Lord, truly, where
You are, There is meat in the house of God. You are the food
in your house. You are the bread, the living
bread. And when a helpless sinner comes by faith, by the grace
of God, has not the Lord of glory truly proven Himself? To be faithful and to open the
windows of heaven and to pour out a blessing so bountifully
that the people of God cannot possibly hold it, contain it. There's more here that can be
perceived. How much have we been blessed? How much has the Lord given? Prove me now, saith the Lord,
that I will not open the windows of heaven. Pull out a blessing.
And truly, the devourer, Satan, is rebuked. He cannot stop Almighty
God from doing that which God has purposed to do. God's people
are preserved in the Lord Jesus Christ. Kept by the power of
God. And the Lord gave this promise.
To those who in themselves rebelled against Him. To those who robbed
Him, and robbed Him willingly. To those who left, and He said,
return. They said, where have we gone?
God, who will not leave them to themselves, sent the great
Nehemiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Nehemiah. The one who
truly came and purged His temple. The One who truly set all things
in order, and Almighty God has said this of His people, all
nations shall call you blessed. I read that this afternoon and
I was thinking to myself, it may not be so openly right
now in this life, but I can tell you for a fact, there will come
a time according to God's Word, when the people of God, those
who have been shown the mercy of Almighty God, when all mankind,
those that have ever been born, stand before God, and those that
know not the Lord Jesus Christ, and try to justify themselves,
and plead their own cause, Lord, Lord, we've prophesied, we've
cast out devils, we've done many mighty works, And when He says
unto them, I never knew you, depart from Me. Depart from Me,
ye workers of iniquity. And they hear Almighty God say
to His people, enter in to that which has been prepared for you
from before the foundation of the world. All nations shall
call you blessed, for you shall be a delightsome land, saith
the Lord of Hosts." Will a man rob God? Yes, he will. Yes, he will. He'll rob God of
His honor. He'll rob God of His glory. He'll
try. He'll rob God of His right if
He could. but Almighty God who is rich
in mercy. God Almighty who has everlastingly
loved His people has said unto them, I will have mercy on you. I will have compassion on you. So then, it is not of Him that
willeth, nor Him that runneth. It's God Almighty that shows
mercy. Lord, have mercy on us tonight
for Christ's sake.