Several years back, in a Texas panhandle town, it was time to preach the annual stewardship message at the Baptist church. It was during the time when headsets were made available in the first few pews for the hearing impaired. When the preached announced his text as Malachi 3, an old man in that section of the church promptly unplugged his wife and then took off his head set and laid it in his lap, and for good measure unplugged himself, too.

I realize there is a danger today that some of you will unplug me. I will run the risk for the potential reward that some will obey God’s Word about tithing.

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me 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.”

Someone said, “We are all manufacturers in a way—making good, making trouble, or making excuses.” And there is no greater area where excuses show up than when you bring up tithing. There are so many empty excuses when it comes to tithing. “My dog ate my tithe.” Sorry, that’s about homework, wasn’t it? “I can’t tithe because I have to take care of my family.” “I can’t tithe because I need to save for retirement.” “Tithing is under the Old Testament law. We are under grace and we don’t have to tithe.” “Tithing doesn’t make any sense to me. There is no way 90% after tithing is more than 100% not tithing.” “I am already in financial problems and you say I need to tithe. I can’t afford to tithe.” “If I had more money I would tithe.” “I give to other worthy causes, so I don’t have to tithe to my church.”

Having heard some of the excuses, let’s do a careful exposition of Malachi 3:10.

THE PLAN...Bring.

This Scripture says, “Bring,” not “send.” The wise men did not send their gifts, they brought them. The woman with the alabaster box did not send her gift. “She hath done what she could.” Have you? In the act of bringing there is personal worship. “Bring.”

THE PEOPLE...Ye

In the KJV the “T” words are singular, the “Y” words are plural

This “ye” means all the people of God are to bring their tithes. Young and old. Single and married. Men and women. Rich and poor.

This is a command. We should tithe because we are commanded to and love obeys God’s commands. You’ve seen the bumper sticker, “Honk if you love Jesus.” I saw one I really liked, “Tithe if you love Jesus. Any fool can honk.”

Barna Research Group...3%

Christian Financial Concepts….Sept 2000 20% of evangelical church members give 80% of the money contributed to their church. 30% give the other 20%. 50% of church member give virtually nothing to their church.

THE PROPORTION...the tithes.

God’s Word specifies the amount. The word “tithe” means “tenth.” If you choose to give more you may, but you have no choice below a tithe. You will never be led to do less than tithe. Do you know why I said that? Because the Holy Spirit inspired this Scripture and He will never move you to do less than what He says in His Word.

Tithing is such a wonderful proportion because no matter our incomes, when we give our tithe we are on the same level.

Randy Alcorn says, “Tithing is not the ceiling of Christian giving; it’s the floor. It’s not the finish line; it’s the starting blocks.”

Some have the idea that they want to start tithing, but may get there gradually. “I’ll start at 5%.” That’s like ssaying, “I used to rob six convenient stores a year/ This year, by God’s grace, I’m going to rob only three.” The point is not to rob God less—but not to rob God at all!

May I make sure you understand this completely. You might be asking yourself, “Is the preacher saying that 1/10 of my income and 1/7 of my week belongs to God?” Absolutely not! Everything belongs to God. The 1/10 and the 9/10’s. Sunday and Monday through Saturday. We hold nothing in absolute ownership. In 50 years everything you now possess will belong to someone else, if it even exits. You came into this world naked and you will leave the same way.

4. THE PLACE...“The storehouse.”

Note: The word “tithes” is plural, but the word “storehouse” is singular.

1 Corinthians 16:2 “Lay by him in store…”

God’s storehouse in the Old Testament was the Tabernacle and the Temple. God’s storehouse in the New Testament are His churches.

It is not your prerogative to take God’s tithe and scatter it here and there. You are to bring your tithes to the church.

THE PURPOSE. . . “That there may be meat in mine house.”

Tithing is God’s method for funding and furthers His work.

THE PROPOSITION...“Prove me…”

I would not have said this. But God said it, so I’ll say it. God is willing to take up the challenge. But let me clear something up. Tithing is not something you try, it is something you trust God by doing.

Tithing is a great place to start, but it is a terrible place to stop. In the purest biblical sense, a tither is simply a reformed thief!

The First Christian Church in Owasso, Oklahoma, made an offer to its people: “Try tithing for 90 days, and if you are not blessed, the church will refund your money.” That’s bold. But God will prove faithful to His Word. In fact, I’ll give you the same guarantee. If you try tithing for ninety days and you are not blessed . . . contact the First Christian Church of Owasso, Oklahoma, and they will refund your money!

Seriously, God is a debtor to no man. The more we give to Him, the more He gives to us.

Have you ever thought about this? The very people who say they can’t tithe maybe can’t tithe because they aren’t tithing. If we pay our debt to God, then God will ...

THE PROVISION...PROMISE...“Open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

If every Christian truly believed this every Christian would tithe.

God is not a genie, waiting around to give us everything we want just because we tithe. God’s promised blessings have two qualifiers.

God’s blessings take time. We don’t sow a seed and then reap a bountiful harvest the next day or the next week. It takes several long months for the seed to germinate and grow to maturity. Just because you begin tithing today doesn’t mean you will automatically reap riches tomorrow. God will supply your need, but the bountiful harvest takes time to grow.

Not all God’s blessings are material.

Mary Crowley, who founded Home Interiors, Inc., was a devout Christian who used her wealth as well as her talents to extend the kingdom of God and help others. At one time she had very little materially. She did not even have an automobile. She and her two children walked faithfully every Sunday to the services at the First Baptist Church of Dallas. Members of the congregation often picked them up and gave them a ride to church when they encountered them along the way. All the while, in those years, she faithfully tithed her meager income to the Lord. In time, her home decorating talents and business mind resulted in exceeding wealth. When prosperity came she continued her faithful stewardship. She wore around her neck two small gold shovels. One was larger than the other. When people inquired about their meaning she would answer, “The little shovel is mine. I can shovel it out. The big one is God’s. He shovels it in ten times faster.”