As you all know, when I was 25
years old, I had Hodgkin's disease, and I had to undergo quite a
few tests and some surgeries. One I remember very distinctly. The doctors told me they were
going to perform what they called a lymphangiogram. And this, long
and short of it, is what it meant. I've got to lay on a cold steel
slab for several hours, and they're going to make some slices in
my feet and pump dye up through the lymph veins in my body to
find out where all I was infected. The difficult part was no anesthesia,
and the cuts weren't deep, and they weren't made with a dull
knife. They were using a scalpel, but
they were very slow. and very painful. I don't want
to do that again. If I'm going to be cut on, put
me to sleep, please. But for some reason they couldn't
do that, that particular procedure. And sometimes preaching is that
way. I've got no anesthesia tonight,
just some deep cuts to make. And I pray God will do the operation. Malachi chapter three. Malachi
chapter 3. You are not your own. You are
bought with a price. Is that true? Do you belong to the Son of God? Has he bought you with his precious
blood? If so, nothing can be more reasonable
than this. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. No disagreement, is there? You're not your own. You bought
with a price, bought with a price of Christ's precious blood. You
belong to him. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. In the totality of
your life, glorify him. Not only is this inference something
that is commended at once, to your own conscience as that which
is reasonable, demanding our attention. It is the word of
God Almighty, not just a deduction, not just a supposition, not just
an inference. If I'm not my own, if I've been
purchased and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, I ought
to be utterly consecrated to God my savior. Dedicated entirely
to him. Anything less is base ingratitude. Now if this is painful for you,
I've been preaching it to myself for a while, so you just listen
in. Anything less than such utter
commitment to God is robbery. Utter robbery. Malachi 3 verse
8, will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me, but ye
say wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are
cursed with a curse, for ye 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. Oh God, give me grace so to give
myself to you that hour by hour and day by day, every day for
the rest of my life, I dare to live so as to prove God. God calls for us to prove him. Prove me whether or not I'm as
good as my word. Prove me whether or not my grace
is sufficient. Prove me whether or not my word
is true. Prove me. If you don't, prove
me therewith, 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 ye shall be a delightsome land saith the Lord of hosts. Now the title of my message tonight
is more than a tithe. I want to speak as plainly, as
pointedly, as practically, as powerfully as God the Holy Spirit
will enable me about this business of worshiping and serving God
our Savior. Let me say this at the outset.
This business of robbing God goes far beyond paying tithes
or not paying them. This thing of tithing, the law
established in the Old Testament, a tax required by God in the
Old Testament. And I read this, I've read it
for years and ask God, show me what this has for me. How does this apply to me? Since
God saved me when I was 16 years old, I've never thought, I've
never thought once about the possibility of not giving at
least a tithe. Thoughts never cross my mind.
Can't imagine such a thing. But how does this then apply
to me? Is this a passage that has no word for me? Is this no
word from God to me? And I have discovered it is a
word directly for me. And I pray God will make it a
word directly for you. The fact is every faculty and
talent, great or small, every faculty, every talent, every
ability, great or small, God has given me, every possession,
everything I call my own. We like that, don't we? That's
mine. That's mine. I've got this little
quarter acre ground, that's my piece of ground. I've got this
house, that's my house. I've got this son, that's my
son. Did you see my son's name in the paper? Did you see my
daughter's name in the paper? Everything we like to call our
own, everything, belongs to God. Everything. Not a breath in your
nostrils is yours. Not a power or ability or possession
you have in your hand is yours. Not a moment of your time is
yours. It belongs to God. God's trusted it to me. All these rich bounties he's
bestowed on me, he's trusted them to my hands to use for his
glory, for the interest of his kingdom, for the furtherance
of the gospel, for his honor, for the benefit and comfort of
his people, for his cause. I'm not responsible to God Almighty
for what he's not bestowed on me, but I am responsible for
all that he has trusted to me. I'm not responsible for what
God's put in your hands, nor are you responsible for what
is put in my hands. But I am responsible for everything
God's put in my hands and you for everything he's trusted to
your hands. I don't much like the word duty as a motivator. It's the least of good motives. but it is a word used in the
scripture, and it's used with a reason, and it is a word where
it is not used that is often inferred from the statements
that are made in scripture. Duty isn't the best of motives,
and when we have done all that we ought to do, we've just done
our duty and our unprofitable servants. But as Robert E. Lee used to teach his students
respecting every aspect of life, Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should
never wish to do less. That's pretty high. Do your duty
in all things. You can't do more. You should
never wish to do less. Turn to Psalm 19. Psalm 19. Even in the performance of duty,
even doing those things that are just right, those things
that we ought to do, even in the performance of duty to our
God, there is great delight. David sang about here in Psalm
19. Look at verse 7. The law of the Lord. Now that's
not just talking about the Ten Commandments. It's not just talking
about the moral or ceremonial law. It's talking about the whole
word of God, the whole revelation of God. The law of the Lord is
perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are
right, look at this, rejoicing the heart. The statutes of the
Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the
Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is
clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than
gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb. Moreover, by them is thy servant
warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. In keeping
God's statutes, in obeying His Word, in doing His will, we find
great reward, David says. Has that been verified in your
experience? As we're enabled of the triune
Jehovah to trust Him and delight in Him, which as I will show
you in just a moment is just the essence of obedience. As
we are enabled of God to trust Him and delight in Him, Our souls are made to rejoice
in Him. As we are enabled by His grace
to love one another and as we find ourselves walking in the
love of the brethren, our very lives are sweetened by the love
of our brethren. Every heaven-born soul can truly
say with the Apostle Paul, I delight in the law of God after the inward
man. Roland Hill once said, I do not
expect to be saved by a rule. But if I'm saved, I shall be
ruled. You can write that down. That's
worth remembering. I do not expect to be saved by
a rule. But if I am saved, I shall be
ruled. Ruled by God. Ruled by the law of the Lord
that is perfect converting the soul. That is ruled by the whole
revelation of God in this book right here. Ruled by what God
says here that determines what I believe. What God says here
that determines how I live my life. What God says here that
determines how I behave in my house, and how I behave in God's
house, and how I behave in this world. Ruled by his word, not
just ruled by the written revelation of God. Ruled by God's revealed
will, day by day, hour by hour, as his spirit directs me with
his word. We have meat to eat. The world
can never know. Meat to eat that sons and daughters
who don't know God will never understand. Meat to eat that
a husband or a wife who doesn't know God can never comprehend. Meat to eat that mothers and
fathers who don't know God can't enter into. No point in trying
to explain it. They'll never get it. Our master
said, this is the meat that satisfies me, to do the will of him that
sent me. Oh, God, give me grace to know
and do your will. Serving him. Oh, what satisfaction there is
in that. If I don't render to God, the fruit of those powers
by which I am made capable of serving Him, then according to
the expression here in Malachi chapter 3 and verse 8, I'm guilty
of robbing God. Be sure you get that. If we don't
render to God the fruit of those powers by which we are made capable
of serving Him, then we rob Him. Whether therefore you eat or
drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Now,
specifically talking to you who are believers, to you who are
the redeemed of the Lord, bought with Christ's blood, called by
his spirit, born again by his grace, redeemed, justified, and
sanctified. To you and me, this word from
God is addressed. From the sole of the foot to
the crown of the head, every human being is the creature of
God and the property of God. You here who do not know God
belong to God. You're his. He owns you. He can do with you what he will,
and he will do with you what he will. You belong to him, but
you haven't the ability to serve him. You can't do it. You have no faculty, no strength,
no ability, no capability to serve God. You can't do it. You
say, well, I can pray. Try. But see, you can't do anything
for yourself and you can't do anything for God. Not possible. Not possible. It's impossible
for you to serve Him. I know we live in this religious
age in which preachers have got everybody convinced that God's
a beggar at your doorstep, begging you pretty please to serve Him.
You can't serve God. Is that what Joshua said to the
children of Israel? You can't serve God. You can't
do it. How come? It is only by the omnipotent
power of God's grace in Christ that fallen man has his perverted
faculties restored and made new and obedient to the creator.
Fallen man has no power to serve God. He can't do anything to
help himself or help his neighbor. All a fallen man can do is injure. All you can do is corrupt. You
can't serve God. Oh, but brother Don, men do so
many good things that corrupt themselves and everyone around
them with even that which they call good. We have the power
by nature to stop our ears, but no man can open his ears. We
have the power to harden our hearts, but no man can melt his
heart. We have the power to run from
God, but none to come to him. We can darken our eyes, but we
can never enlighten our eyes. Yes, we have power to injure
ourselves and others, but none to help. David put it well. My help cometh from the Lord. He says, my grace is sufficient
for thee. And only his grace is sufficient. Only a heart sanctified by grace. Only the regenerate mind has
the power to rise above self to a life devoted to God's glory
in Christ. To that, I aspire. To that, I aspire. Don't you? A life devoted to
God's glory. Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Oh, may God the Holy Spirit give
us grace to live for Christ, to live unto Christ. This is
what Paul craves. And unless I'm deceived, unless I'm deceived, this is
what I crave. Philippians 3, verse 8. Yea,
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things and do count them but dung. that I may
win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may
know him. Paul writes this epistle as an
old man. He's been in the way of faith
for some time now, and he says, I want to know him. Oh, I want
to know him. Paul, what do you mean? I want
to know him in the fellowship of his sufferings. I want to
know him in the power of his resurrection. That is, I want
to know him as one raised from the dead with him and the fellowship
of his sufferings. I want to know him as one who
suffered with him. I want to know him as one who
suffers with him. I want to know him as one who
suffers for him, being made conformable unto his death. Not as I will. Thy will be done. I want to know
him in this resurrection power, in this sweet, intimate fellowship
of suffering. that so molds my life and my
heart and my will in all things that I desire nothing but his
will. Thy will be done. Read on. If
by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead,
not as though I had already attained, neither were already perfect.
Far from that. Far from that. But I follow after,
I pursue, I'm chasing like a hare on the stag, I'm chasing, if
that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of
Christ. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, I press toward the mark. The prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Will a man rob God? What a horrible supposition. I have known people who robbed
strangers, and that's bad enough. I saw on the news last night
or the night before, just flipping through the channels, I had a
picture of some fellow who was at a convenience store and stole
the money in a box for St. Jude Children's research stuff.
How horrible, how horrible. I've known folks who robbed their
own mothers. Terrible, terrible thing. But
to rob God? Will a man rob God? Dare you
rob God? Dare I rob my God? Well, Brother Don, how can it
be said that we rob God? Whenever we fail to use our tongues
to show forth his praise, these tongues that God has put
in our mouths, with which to praise Him. And we fail to honor
our Redeemer and His precious blood, our Heavenly Father and
His omnipotent mercy and grace, His everlasting purpose and sovereignty. Whenever we fail to speak of
His Spirit and the grace by which we are called and saved and preserved,
to honor Him with our lips in supplication, to honor Him with
our lips in speech, to honor Him with our lips in praise and
prayer as we call on His name. We rob God whenever we rob him
of worship, public or private worship. I'm not talking about
what people call family altar time or personal altar time.
I'm talking about worship. I'm talking about worship. Yes,
set aside a time to read the book, set aside a time to pray,
pray with your family, worship God with your family, but worship
God all the time. continually walk before God with
faith in the sweet communion and interjection of speech between
your heart and God's heart. God's heart and your heart. Rob
God will rob him of his worship in his house. We rob God when
we live unto ourselves. That's it. That's it. Turn to Romans chapter
14. Chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. Verse 7. None of us liveth to himself,
and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live We live unto
the Lord. And whether we die, we die unto
the Lord. Whether we live therefore or
die, we are the Lord's. You're not sure who. You're the
Lord's. Whether you live or whether you
die, you're the Lord's. For to this end, That is, this
is the reason why Christ both died and rose and revived, that
he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. We rob God if we give not to
our dear Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ our Savior, the honor
and the glory that rightly belongs to him. Not unto us, O Lord,
Not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and
for thy truth's sake. But back in our text, the prophet
asks, will a man rob God? And he speaks of robbing God
with tithes and offerings. In their original reference,
these words spoke of the Levites, who were robbed by the priest
in Israel of their tithes and offerings. The Levites, you'll
remember, had no possession. They had no inheritance given
them in the camp of Israel. They were God's distinct servants
set aside specifically for the priesthood, and they were to
be given continual sustenance from the offerings and the sacrifices
that God's people brought to him in the worship of God. These
things laid up in the storehouse for the Levites to live upon.
But the priest robbed the Levites of that which was their rightful
sustenance. They had no other inheritance.
But does this only have to do with tithes and goats and calves? Not hardly. God requires much
more than a tenth of your heart and a tenth of your life. God demands more than a tithe
of your time and a tithe of your money. He will not have a tenth. He will not have a tenth. How
can you say that? He says, my son, give me thine
heart. And he won't have any less. Give
me thine heart. Turn to Proverbs chapter three
for just a moment. God demands the whole of my being. Faith in Christ is nothing less
than the willing surrender of my being to my Redeemer. Proverbs 3, verse 5. I recall
shortly after Shelby and I started dating, I was 17 years old. we'd read the scriptures, we
came to this passage, and oh, how often it has both challenged
and reproved and comforted these many years. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Billy was talking to me Tuesday
night, I think it was, about faith. Have enough faith. Oh my God, no. No. No, what I speak of as faith
can hardly be called faith. The Lord God deserves and demands
that I trust Him with all my heart. But I just can't. And my blessed peace is not the
measure of my faith, but the object of my faith, the Lord
whom I trust. Oh, now, now. He I can and should
and ought to trust with all my heart and lean not unto thine
own understanding. You see it? You can't do both,
Joe. You can't do both. Well, I got
this thing figured out. Well, you're not trusting God.
Just that simple. Well, I figured out now how I
can go to New Guinea and be a missionary. Well, you're not trusting God
then. You're not trusting, now I figured out how it is that
I can go and give myself to the work of the gospel. Now I've
got this figured out and I've got this taken care of. You're
not trusting God then. You can't do both. You trust
him with all your heart or you lean to your understanding. Trust
in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not into thine own understanding
in all thy ways acknowledge Him, bow to Him, surrender to Him, obey Him, and
He shall direct thy paths. Faith in Christ, I repeat, is
nothing less than the surrender of my being to the Son of God. I call on you to call on the
name of the Lord. I call on you to believe on the
Son of God. But I'm not inviting you to come
join a party. I'm not calling you to come join
a church. I'm not asking you to sign up
for religious duty. I'm calling for you, where you
sit right now, to throw up the white flag of surrender in the
city of man's soul and give up all to the Son of God. We talk
about the Lord saving a man's soul. He doesn't do any such
thing. He saves a man, all of a man, the entirety of a man. He won't have less. Trust in
Christ. We trust him for our salvation.
We trust him alone as the Lord, our righteousness. We trust him
alone as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
But trusting Christ is more than that. Turn to Mark chapter eight. The son of God demands this surrender,
this absolute surrender. Look at verse 34. And when he
called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto
them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life
for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. Forty-four years ago, almost,
I took my place in a baptistry just like this, and I lifted
my hand to God. And I said, I'm yours. I testified
to God, to God's church, and to the world. I belong to Christ. And I've been struggling, praying
for grace. Now for 44 years, God give me
grace to live up to what I profess. I belong to him. Let me, oh God,
give me grace. Force me. to cease robbing you
day by day. Brother Don, is that really practical?
Is that really reasonable? No, it's not. It's not. Can't explain it to you on any
grounds of mathematical science, any grounds of logic or philosophy
or reason. Can't explain it to you on any
grounds like that. Now, if you want to measure things that way,
you go ahead and measure them that way. I fully agree with
Martin Luther. He said, the first thing that
faith does is knock the brains out of reason. You can't lean to your own understanding
and trust the Lord. Can't be done. But is it reasonable? Most reasonable thing on this
earth. Give you a couple of illustrations. Another Eric back here, his grandfather,
Walter Groover, 45 years ago, quit a good job, Cameron's Iron
Works, took his family, his wife and his children, moved to Mexico
to go preach the gospel. Well, how you gonna live? Don't
know. Didn't go on deputation, just went to Mexico. Didn't go
out begging, just went to Mexico. Didn't go out seeking somebody
to send him to Mexico. God sent me and he went. Well,
how do you expect to survive? There he is, 45 years later. And everything he's put his hand
to, God's honored it. This is what God said, 1 Samuel
2 30. Him that honoreth me, I will Prove me. Prove me. Dare I prove God? Dare I? Dare I not? Brother Fred Evans, his wife
Cheryl. Eric, how old are they, 40? Right around there, somewhere
in that vicinity. I've known Fred since he was eight years old. Both of them teaching school
in Houston, Texas. Had a little church in Louisville
called Fred to be pastor. So he moves up here, pack up,
quit the job. She decided she'd try teaching
school and she got her job teaching school so Fred could keep the
kids at home. It wasn't long, they both found
out he couldn't study and babysit. And so she quit her job. How they gonna live? You watch. You just watch. Just watch. The disciples on one occasion,
Peter said, Lord, what shall we have? We've left all to follow
you. He said, lacked ye anything? Lacked ye anything? Nothing, Lord. Nothing, Lord. Prove me. Prove me. See if I won't open heaven. Open
the windows of heaven. you the windows of heaven, not
open upon you, but open you as if to say the windows of heaven
are open just for you and pour you out a blessing day after
day after day until at last everybody looking at you will say, that's a blessed people. God's their God, and they're
God's people, and so it shall be. And this land, this land
where God finally brings us, shall be called a delightsome
land. Therefore take no thought, saying,
what shall we eat, or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall
we be clothed? Don't, just don't concern yourself
with that. Just don't do it. Brother Don, you're not being
very practical now. Oh, this is, this is called practical
theology. As practical as it gets. Do what
God says for you to do. Do what God shows you in his
word for you to do. Do what God teaches you by his
spirit to do. Obey God. For to obey is better
than sacrifice. Don't rob God, but prove him. How so? After all these things
do the Gentiles seek? Your brother who doesn't understand
you, your sister, who doesn't know you, your mother who thinks
you've lost your mind, your daddy who thinks you've gone overboard,
your neighbors who think you're just a bunch of ignorant zealots.
There's a reason for all that. All they've got is clay. That's all they've got. Give
me a roof over my head, but make sure it's made out of bronze
and gold and silver. Give me clothes for my back,
but make sure they look a little bit better than the fellow next
door to me. Give me riches! Give me honor! Give me the finest
of life. That's what the whole world lives
for. My God, don't let me live for
such. The love of the world will take
you to hell. I promise you. I promise you. We take our children and teach
them from their youth to seek after all the things of this
world. Would to God somebody have enough sense to teach them
to seek the Redeemer? After all these things, the Gentiles,
the heathen, the idolaters of this world seek. And besides that, your Heavenly
Father knows that you have need of all these things. I don't much qualify as a father
or as one to give counsel about raising children. I've just got
one child and he was a girl and she never caused me any trouble.
But I want to tell you something. Merle, if I thought that girl
was hungry, there's nothing under the sun I wouldn't do for her.
Nothing. If I thought she needed something,
needed a place to sleep, If I had to sleep in the streets, I'd
get it for her. You who are parents know what I'm saying. You reckon
your heavenly father doesn't care for you that way? He feeds
the sparrow. He clothes the lily. You reckon he gonna let you go
hungry? He gonna let you do without? Your heavenly father knows that
you have to do these things. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness. Seek Christ. Seek to know him
in the power of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his suffering.
being made conformable to his death, live to God's glory, and
you'll never lack. Prove God. Prove God. He says, prove ye me, saith the
Lord of Hosts. Amen.