Thank you for this privilege.
Thank you for the meetings already. What a blessing they are. Wonderful experience living in
the desert. Find a place where there's water. I'd like to begin this evening
in the book of Malachi. This is without question a most needed book of Holy Scripture
in our generation. The state of affairs in the Jewish
religion of Malachi's day, and after his prophecy, God does
not speak for 350 years of silence. Silence. When God's prophet, Malachi's
name means messenger, Malachi Jehovah, messenger of the Lord, God gives him in the most direct
and succinct manner as you will witness anywhere to put his finger
on the charges that are against the religion of this prophet's
day. And it is exactly and precisely
the world of professing Christianity in our generation. The curse,
the sickness, The disease of professing Christianity right
now at this moment is one simple, single, solitary thing. That is self-righteousness. Religious self-righteousness. It's not only the world of the
church. It's the world altogether. People do not have to go to church
to be self-righteous. We are self-righteous. It sticks
to us like glue, and we'll go to our graves with it clinging
to us. Let me show you quickly by way
of introduction, and I have a watch and it is working. Seven things in the book of Malachi. You'll have to go back and read
the details. We simply cannot cover. I want to speak to you
on the subject tonight, will a man rob God? The answer is
simply yes, we have, we do, and we will. First thing I'll show you, and
this follows a Oh, I don't know what to call
this, but seven times in just a short space of Scripture, the
Lord puts words in our mouths. And each statement is prefaced,
yet you say. The Lord says to us, yet you
say. Slight variation before we get
all seven of them, but it is in essence the same. And every
one of these seven things, we respond by saying, wherein have
we done thus and so? Seven times. The first one is
in chapter 1, and it is in verse 2. And the subject, the subject
is the love of God. The love of God. My soul, that
one subject alone. is butchered and slaughtered
more than all the animals in the world in a given day. And it starts in the pulpit. It didn't start yesterday. It
was true in Malachi's day and it's true in ours. What were
they saying about the love of God? Verse 2, chapter 1, I have
loved you, says the Lord, yet You say, remember those three
words, yet you say, wherein have you loved us? I mean, doesn't
He love everybody after all? My dear friend, if that's the
only claim we have to the love of God, we have nothing, nothing of eternal importance.
God has great benevolence for all men. He has pity and compassion
for men. But his love is in Christ, and
in Christ alone. Yet you say, what's so special
about your love for us? And he answered, Was not Esau
Jacob's brother, says the Lord? Yet I love Jacob, and I hated
Esau. Now try that. That the church down this road,
and the one down that road, and that road, and that road, and
all the other roads. And you won't finish before you're
invited out. I know, I've been there. Second one is found in verse
6. And the subject in verse 6 has
to do with despising God's name. Despising His name. A son honors
his father has to do with the honor of God and the honor and
glory of his Son, our Savior. A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If
then I be a father, where is my honor? And if I be a master,
Where is my fear, says the Lord of hosts, unto you, O priest?"
We would change that. It would just say, O preachers,
where is my honor? O priest that despised my name,
and you say, wherein have we despised your name? And in the
first part of verse 7, we have this short answer. And it will
be further amplified as we go through these seven things. You
offer polluted bread upon my altar. You and I have but one offering.
It is the offering of praise for God's Son, our Savior, and
His grace to poor sinners in Him. If you put anything else on that
altar, it is polluted. Pollution is a big deal in our
generation. Most of it is bogus. But it cannot
hold a candle to the pollution that men spew out of their mouths
and that we spew out of ours concerning the glory of God.
Alright, the third one is in verse 7, right after this statement
about offering polluted bread upon God's altar. There's only
one bread to offer. What is that? The bread of life. Wherein, we say, have we polluted
you? How did we pollute you? Look
at the end of verse 7, and we have a short reply. In that you
say, the table of the Lord is contemptible. Contemptible. And to understand that statement,
I do not have time now to stay, but you need to read verses 8
through 14 of Malachi chapter 1, and it'll explain the details,
and they are basically this. They offered blind, sick, lame,
and torn animals that were supposed to be a picture and a type of
God's Holy Son, the Lord Jesus, they had to be without blemish
and without spot. And that is precisely the Jesus
that is being worshipped in our generation. It is an absolute
slander on the Son of God. The things that men say, proclaim,
and claim to find it in this book. concerning the Son of God. And the fourth one of these is
found in chapter 2. This is leaving out a great deal.
Verse 17, last verse of chapter 2. You have wearied the Lord with
your words. Words. Words. Words are important. They reveal the heart. You have wearied the Lord with
your words, yet we say, we don't remember wearying you. Wherein
have we wearied you? And the Lord does not leave us
to answer our own question. But through His prophet, He proclaims
this answer. When you say, everyone that does
evil is good in the sight of God. And not only that, God delights in you. If you ain't in His Son, He doesn't. God delights in His Son. Or, he phrases it yet another
way, so that we cannot misconstrue the meaning of this statement
of wearying God with our words, our words. Here it is, the end
of verse 17. Where is, in America in 2008,
Where is the God of judgment? Where is He? In the vast religious
world of America, there is no such person, the God of judgment. My friend, God judged His Son
on the tree. We must never ever declare that
outside of Christ, God is not a God of judgment. Our God outside
of His Son is a consuming fire. And the fifth one is in chapter
3 and verse 7. Even from the days of your fathers
you are gone away from my ordinances, and have not kept them." Now,
here's a strange statement that, in order to be understood, has
to be read backwards. Return unto me, and I will return
unto you. When God returns to His people,
then they return to Him. It is never the other way around. Return unto me and I will return
unto you, says the Lord of hosts. Can you guess what we would say
to that? We've never left God. Wherein shall we return? What area, what subject, in what
way do we need to return? Every way you can slice it. from
top to bottom and side to side. If you'll look over to verse
18 in this same chapter, we'll pick up the subject having to
do with returning to God. Wherein shall we return? Here
it is in verse 18. Then shall you return and discern
Discriminate between the righteous and the wicked. Between the righteous and the
wicked. Do you know the difference? Do
I know the difference? Am I clear in preaching and teaching
this book concerning the difference? between him that serves God and
him that serves Him not. Chapter 3, verse 8, is the sixth
one of these statements. Will a man rob God? Yet you have
robbed Me. But you say, here it is again,
Wherein have we robbed you? We plead not guilty to robbing
God. Yet we are born God-robbers,
and to some degree will die God-robbers. Can you say with any satisfaction
in your soul that we give God the glory that His blessed person
deserves? Does any man render to God a
return in regard to His glory and His Son? Here the charge
is, wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. And
I say to you this evening, forget the tithes and offerings. Let
us worry about robbing God of His glory. His glory. My title is, Will
a Man Rob God? Now, if you've been counting
on your fingers, we've got one more to go. Just one. I can't believe I've covered
all seven of these things. What else am I going to say?
Look at verse 13. in the third chapter of Malachi. Through the prophet, God charges
men with this statement. Your words have been stout against
me. Now, I know Tennesseans don't
need any help understanding that statement. Stout. Stout. Our words have been stout against
the Lord, yet we say, yet we say, what have we spoken so much
against God? What are men saying concerning
God that is against Him? It would be easier to say, What
is it that we are saying that is not against Him? What have we spoken so much against
you? The answer to that question is
in the following two verses, verses 14 and 15. We have said, it is vain to serve
God. And what profit is it that we
have kept his ordinances, and that we have walked mournfully
before the Lord of hosts? Verse 15, now listen carefully. This is not tiddlywinks. This is the crux of the whole
matter. And now, we call the proud happy. Yea, they that work wickedness
are set up and held before men as fine examples of Christians. They that tempt God are even
delivered. Can you imagine how many times
tomorrow this statement will be carried out in just this one
town? God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life. You're such a fine person. You
have so many talents and abilities. God needs you. God help us. We need Him. Now that's the introduction,
such as it is. So now let's work on this statement
about robbing God. Will a man rob God? You've gathered by now that my
answer to that, the answer of the Scriptures, is yes. Emphatically, yes. Yes, indeed. I don't know where I got these
five questions. I'm almost certain they could
not have originated with me, but I found them scratched on
a piece of paper among a stack of stuff on my desk about that
high. But I think they get to the heart of the question, will
a man rob God? of His glory. First question, what is so wrong about God and
me sharing the glory? What's wrong with that? Why cannot
we give God part of the glory and ourselves part of the glory?
And why is it wrong to use this tactic of puffing up men's pride
and thoughts of themselves in order to get them to do something
for God? What's wrong with that? The plainest answer in all the
Scripture is found in Isaiah chapter 42 and verse 8, when
the Lord says that He will not share His glory with another.
He said it! And we best be found saying it
as well, or He'll leave us to ourselves and to our own glory. If you would, please turn to
the twelfth chapter of the book of Acts. I kept worrying there that Brother
Bell was going to just take all my scriptures away from me. But he didn't. Acts chapter 12. What's wrong with giving God
part of the glory and giving men the other part? You know
how it is in most churches. When visitors come, they fawn
and pawn over them like they're the world's greatest. They make
them king and queen for a day. And in doing so, They make the
Son of God to be nothing. Beginning at verse 20 in Acts
chapter 12, King Herod was highly displeased
with them of Tyre and Sidon. But they came with one accord
to him, and having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their
friend, they desired peace, because Pure selfishness now because
their country was nourished by the king's country. I think that's
still how politics does it, you know. I don't know much about
that stuff. Don't want to know much about
it. No more than I want to know. And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed
in royal apparel, sat upon his throne. and made
an oration, a speech unto them. And these people now, their country
is nourished by the king's country. The people gave a shout. They
said, it is the voice of a God and not of a man. They ain't even in church, brethren. This was purely a political meeting. But the glory of God is affected. And immediately the angel of
the Lord smote him. Why? Because Herod gave not God
the glory." My dear friends, if he did this, to any degree,
among the general populace of any place on this earth, you
and I would not be here this evening. We would have been long gone
from this scene. I want you to notice the order
of something here in this statement. I can't tell you how many times
I read this verse and never saw it. He was eaten of worms. And then he gave up the ghost. Do we imagine that God is not
jealous concerning the glory of His Son? Second question. How about staying in Acts? If
you already left it, chapter 17. This is ready-made. Can't bypass this one. Now this question has everything
to do with robbing God of His glory. Why is it that this book says,
and preachers who tell the truth say, God cannot be worshipped
by men's hands. Acts chapter 17, verse 25. Paul's standing among the most
intellectual and arrogant men on the face of the earth in that
day and time. He's looked at all their altars.
And he finally found one to the unknown God, and he said, that's
the one I want to talk to you about. And here he is. Verse 25, this God whom men cannot
know until God makes Himself known to us, cannot be worshipped
with men's hands. Now listen. as though he needed
anything. Now you take that one single
little phrase, as though God needed anything, and take it
with you everywhere you go, and see what you find in this fine,
wonderful world of religion in our day. We're so smart, we're stupid. We know more than God and don't know anything. If you'd like to interview someone
in regard to this matter of why God cannot be worshipped with
men's hands, why don't you talk to a fellow
in the Bible by the name of Cain? Genesis chapter 4. He'll answer
it for us. Third question. Why does God insist in this book? And why do preachers who preach
the truth tell men that God does not need them. Why tell people that? There's a little verse of poetry,
I reckon it's part of a hymn, I don't remember. Hey, I might
not remember the words. It goes something like this,
"'Til to Jesus Christ you cling, by a living faith, Doing is a deadly thing. Doing ends in death. I'll never forget the statement
an elderly man made to me. Well, let's see. I went to Bethel
in 1881. I mean, 1981. And after about
a couple of years, An elderly gentleman came to
me and he said, your preaching makes me want to sit on the stool
of do-nothing. And that's where every man must
sit until he truly knows and believes and worships the Lord
Jesus Christ. And after that, All our works,
John 3.21, are wrought in God. My dear friends, whatever we
give to Him, He must first give us. And He gives it in His dear
Son. See if you can find this verse
in your Bibles. I cheated on you and marked mine, but if I
trusted my memory and I don't, as some of you have already found
out, I've told you, I'm losing IQ every day that passes. Ecclesiastes
chapter 9. And I was so nervous before I came
to church tonight, I forgot my handkerchief, so I had to go
to the bathroom and get me a couple hand towels. I forgot to take
my little sinus pill to keep my nose from dripping. I get uptight when I have to
preach. I don't know why. Here's a little statement Mr. Hawker introduced me to a long
time ago now. Verse 7. Ecclesiastes 9. I want to read you the verse and
then re-read it for you if you don't mind. Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry
heart. How come? For God now accepts
your works because He is the worker. It
is His working in us. Now let me re-read it because
you just can't have that statement just, you know, willy-nilly any
old way you want to take it. Go your way if Christ is my only
way. Eat your bread with joy if the
food is Christ the bread of life. Drink your wine with a merry
heart if that means to drink Him who is the water of life. For God now accepts your works. My dear friend, that statement will separate the precious from
the vile. the righteous from the wicked,
them that serve God, and them that do not. Question number four. We're going
to make it. Why does God's gospel have to
be so offensive Why doesn't the Lord alter the
gospel message, removing some of the prejudices
that we as human beings have against it? The offense of the gospel is
like the corners on this pulpit. It is that sharp angle that is
its strength. To remove the offense is to remove
its saving power. Brother Bell got awful close
to this. John chapter 6. I'd have still used it anyway. At the very end of John 6, well,
not the end end, but near the end of John 6, beginning at verse
63 and reading through verse 66, I believe we have a conclusive
answer to why God's gospel is such an offense. It is the Spirit Sometimes I
think that should be a capital S. It is the Spirit that quickens,
the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
the words that God in Christ speaks to our soul, they are
Spirit and they are life. But there are some of you, our
Lord said to His followers on this occasion, that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not and who should betray Him. And He said, Therefore said I
unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given
unto him of My Father. And that is a repeat, not quite
verbatim, of verse 44 in this same chapter. And there's no
more offensive statement in all the Bible than this one. We're proud and arrogant. We
will not tolerate such humbling pills as this one. And it is
evident from the next verse, verse 66, Brother Faulkner and
I seem like somebody else gave us a lesson on these italicized
words, so I need not say anything. Leaving out the word time. From
that. What's that? What he just said
in verse 65. And he'd already said it. Why
do you have to say it twice? From that. Many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. And that's what the
gospel still does. Question number five. If you'll turn to Deuteronomy. And I believe I'll make that
my last request for you to turn. Deuteronomy 32. One more question on robbing
God of His glory. Why do you and I have to be so
out of sync, out of tune with the vast majority of the professing
Christian world? Why do we? Now, this is a short
answer. But it's the absolute truth,
because we do not worship the same God. Deuteronomy 32, verse
31. Moses said in this psalm of the
rock, their rock, little r, is not as our rock, capital R. If you don't believe it, just
ask them. Just ask them. Tell them who your God is. And
ask them who their God is. My dear friends, we do not worship
the same God. Paul said, after the way men
call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers. Thank you.