The conversation journeys through Malachi 3, where God’s dialogue with Israel about tithes and offerings reveals age-old truths applicable even today. Explore the spiritual promises attached to practicing generosity and the immense blessings that come with an honest heart. As the podcast unravels insights from biblical stories, a stirring call resonates – to participate in God’s love mission and experience His boundless grace. Learn how you too can be part of this transformative journey by supporting the mission and embracing a life centered around faith and generosity.
of foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith
SPEAKER 03 :
As we’ve studied the book of Malachi, we’ve talked a lot about giving God our best. But in today’s study, we’ll discuss a related topic. Is it possible to steal from God? Well, you might not think so. But the prophet Malachi had a strong message for Israel in his day. And that same message is relevant for us too. Welcome to Through the Bible. I’m your host, Steve Schwetz. And I’m glad that you’ve hopped aboard the Bible bus as our journey through God’s entire word continues in the Old Testament book of Malachi. Now, years ago, Dr. McGee read a letter from a young man who stopped going to church but didn’t give up looking for God. It’s a great letter, and I think that you’re going to like it as much as Dr. McGee did. So let’s listen now.
SPEAKER 01 :
This letter I want to share with you now is a remarkable letter. It comes from Phoenix, Arizona. It says, “‘I hopped on board the Bible bus in Proverbs.'” And I’m still riding along. And I hope to keep riding as long as your program is on. And I’m alive. I’m 21 years old now. But when I was 17, my father died. I’d been going to church all my life and thought I was an all right guy and was very idealistic and thought life was a bowl of cherries. My father’s death changed all of that. and turned my life into a nightmare. I turned to my pastor for help, but found none. So I quit church. I turned to a Christian psychologist, and he helped a little. But for $27 an hour, I want more than a little help. So I quit him. I didn’t know where to go. I thought about suicide, but I was too scared. I didn’t really want to die. In fact, that was the whole problem. I was scared of dying, and now it was a reality. In the past, I had tried reading God’s Word, but it didn’t make any sense. Then one day, I accidentally tuned in to your program. My, oh my, you made the Word of God real and understandable, and you solved my problem when you said anybody that has intellectual problems as sin problems. And you know what? You were right. I was a sinner and I needed Christ. I came to him offering nothing but receiving forgiveness and salvation. Forgiving. Hooray! God is rich in mercy. Nobody in my life had told me I was a sinner like you did. And this letter I deeply appreciate, let me tell you, because after all, that’s the purpose of the Through the Bible radio program. And that’s the reason that we don’t pull punches, friends. We know out there there are people that need to be told they’re sinners because they are sinners. And that is the best news you can tell them because then you can tell them how to get saved.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s hard to hear but it’s true. We’re all sinners. And once we find the remedy, the sacrificial gift of love that God gave us through Jesus Christ, we need to share that good news with others. As Dr. McGee told us, our purpose here at Through the Bible is to take the good news of God’s forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ to the whole world. You’re welcome to join us in this mission by praying for and supporting the Bible Bus as it travels the world in more than 250 languages. And we also believe, we genuinely believe this, that your faithful prayers are key to this broad reach. We pray as a team, the world prayer team that is, every weekday. And then I even pray over the weekend too for the requests that still stick in my mind. To learn more about our World Prayer Team and how to join us as we travel the world on our knees, just click on it in our app or go to ttb.org. We travel through countries and regions asking God to change the hearts of people that we meet along the way. Again, that’s ttb.org forward slash pray. And then if the Lord puts on your heart to financially support the Bible bus with a tank of gas or an oil change as it makes its way through your neighborhood and around the world, just call us 1-800-65-BIBLE. And to those of you who do pray and support through the Bible, thank you. It really is true. The family of God is touched and impacted by your investment of time and treasure. You put this offering in God’s hands, and he’s going to multiply it as we speak. Now let’s turn to the Lord in prayer as we begin our study in his word. Father, thank you for the opportunity to watch you work in lives all over the world. May your word go far and go deep into our spirits. We pray that many will hear it and turn to you. In Jesus’ name we ask.
SPEAKER 1 :
Amen.
SPEAKER 03 :
We’re off to Malachi 3 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, last time we were dealing with the seventh very sarcastic statement that these people made to God’s question. God asked the question, will a man rob God? And the answer, of course, is yes, because God says, you’ve robbed me. And they act as if they are very much peeved like little children. And they say, well, how have we robbed thee? And then the Lord spelled it out to them in tithes and offerings. And then in verse 9, he continues on this line. He says, ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Now, they had robbed God. And we mentioned the fact last time of certain men that God has marvelously blessed in the past. The founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company. He was a Christian who was very regular in giving to the Lord. William Wrigley, the founder of the Wrigley Gum Company. And J.C. Penney, who was actually a preacher’s son, and his father died when he was just a boy, and there was no arrangement made to take care of the preacher’s wife except, you know, to say the Lord bless you. So she had to take in washing. And J.C. Penney, when he was a little boy, would go around and get the washing. He said, when I grow up, I’m going to make money. and see to it that no preacher’s widow has to work like this. And he made good, and God blessed him in a very marvelous, wonderful way. Now, the question, of course, arises here, would this be applicable to the church? Well, we made it very clear, I trust, last time that we are not under the law today and the tithe is not required today. In fact, under grace, God wants you to give as you’re able to give. And for some people, it would be less than the tithe. And for other people, it would be more than the tithe. And I’m of the opinion a great many today in this affluent society ought to be giving more to God. Now, if you want to know actually how this thing works out, here in Southern California, there are the headquarters are semi-headquarters of three of the major cults today. And one of the things that they do is put people back under the law, and they have them keep the law. And they urge the people to give tithes as part of the system. You’re going to belong to it. You’re going to give a tithe. Those three cults are the richest that you’ve ever seen. Why, this little operation we have here, we think it’s great, and it is. We thank God for it. But my friend, we are actually Mickey Mouse when you put us down by the side of these organizations where millions of dollars are just rolling into them. Why? Because even on the tithe, the old legal system, look how much would come in. Now, doesn’t that tell you something? Doesn’t that tell you that God’s people today under grace are sure not giving as they should? I think it reveals very clearly that God’s people are not giving to the Lord’s work as they should give. Now, that’s one of the reasons that I feel there’s not the blessing that should attend God’s work today. Many churches have a minister who’s teaching the Word of God. And they don’t seem to be moving very fast, not going anywhere. Well, I would say that God still is making it clear that this is something that he looks at. And that is your giving. And if a church is not giving or an individual is not, God has not promised to bless them at all. Any person who’s devoted to God, I think God’s going to bless them, not necessarily with material things. We’re told today that we’re blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, and therefore God, in a very gracious manner, will bless those that are generous with him. I believe that that’s a great principle that runs through the entire Word of God, and that one of the reasons many churches that actually believe were Bible churches, just dried up. They died on the vine. And I think it can all be traced to the fact that the people were not giving as they should unto God. And if we open our heart to Him, He’s promised us spiritual blessings, blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly. Now, God made good this to His people back in the time of Hezekiah. It was a time of revival. And in 2 Chronicles 31 10, I read this. And Azariah, the chief priest of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings unto the house of the Lord, we’ve had enough to eat and have plenty. For the Lord hath blessed his people, and that which is left is this great store. In other words, they were giving more than enough. And actually, at the time they made the tabernacle, Moses asked for offerings and he had to stop the people from giving because they were bringing too much. And that’s the only case on record I’ve ever heard of them stopping people from giving. And they did it in that day. Now, he goes on to say in verse 10, Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in mine house. And test me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Now, again, I would remind you, we are not under the tithe system today. I don’t think that is the thing God is requiring of believers. As we’ve said before, there are many humble believers today with very little income that a tenth, I’m confident, would be too much. And then there are others today that God has blessed in such a wonderful way. Why, that they could give as much as even the government will allow. Give that to the Lord when you have a certain income. So that today, friends, we find very few that are giving like that to the Lord. And I’m of the opinion that the tithe is certainly a yardstick that you can measure yourself by. But I don’t think that it’s legal at all. And then to bring it into the storehouse. Now, there are many churches and some denominations that have said the storehouse is the local church, or it is a denomination. And frankly, just as the tithe is not for the church today, well, the storehouse isn’t either. The storehouse was in the temple in that area. They had many buildings around it, and those buildings were storerooms. And when people brought the tithe, they brought it and it was stored away. So you find in Nehemiah, that took place right before this period. Nehemiah, when he came back to Jerusalem, found Tobiah, the enemy of God, living in one of the storerooms that had been cleaned out. And why it was cleaned out was because people weren’t giving generously, so they made him an apartment there. But Nehemiah cleaned up the place because he took Tobias’ things and pitched them out the window and told him to get out of town. And then the people began to bring their offerings and fill up the storeroom again. Now, there’s no such thing today as what’s called storehouse giving. I don’t believe that at all because that’s not quite the way we give today. And produce, that’s the way Israel was giving. In fact, if you’ve noticed the law concerning the offerings, God gave a certain part of an animal to the priest. And always he said, you are to eat it there. You know why he said that? Because they didn’t have any frigidaires. They didn’t have a great big ice box to put it in, the meat. And in that warm climate, why, it would go bad in a hurry. And so God says to them, you eat it right there. You don’t store that away. If you did, you’d be in trouble. And so that is the picture that we have here before us. Now, verse 11, God says, and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes. Now, when they were generous with God, he said, I’ll open up the heavens and pour you out a blessing and I’ll rebuke the devourer. Well, the devourer evidently means the locust that had a ravenous and insatiable appetite. That was the locust. He’d eat everything that was ahead of him. He was a regular gourmet on green salad. And so he just took all the green stuff that was ahead of him. Now, God said, and many of the plagues came like that, God says, I’ll rebuke the devourer for your sakes. Judgment comes from God. on a nation today when they reject God. I think that explains the fact that we’re having a shortage, not only an energy shortage, but a shortage in so many areas today. Our supermarkets for years were groaning, the shelves were. Well, my supermarket still does pretty well, but there’s some things that are absent there. And you can’t get the cut of meat today that you’d like to have. And even if they had it, you can’t pay for it unless you mortgage your home. My, no one seems to be interpreting these things today as a judgment from God, that is a warning. I think a warning of that which is to come in the future. In other words, I don’t think we’ve seen anything yet. Now he goes on to say, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. In other words, your vineyards will produce abundantly. And then he says, and all nations shall call you blessed. For ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. Now, when they were right with God, they became a blessing to the other nations of the world. And you see, honesty with God. And you couldn’t have holiness without a little honesty with it. That was the thing that made them a blessing to all nations. And by the way, I think probably I ought to just drop back to Zechariah. We just finished that a short time ago. And in the eighth chapter of Zechariah at verse 13, let me read that. And it shall come to pass that as ye were a curse among the nations… O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong. Now, that’s looking forward to a future day. But God said at that time, I will make you a blessing to the nations. And when Israel is serving God, it becomes a blessing to the other nations. Now, let me read verse 13. And we come now to the eighth and the last sarcastic remark they make to God. We have seen seven of these sarcastic statements they’ve made to God in response to his statement. Now he says in verse 13, your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, what have we spoken so much against thee? Well, we don’t recall that we said anything against you. Well, in each one of these, he puts it right on the line. He says, ye have said, verse 14 now, ye have said it’s vain, that is empty. It’s a vain thing to serve God. And what profit is it that we’ve kept his ordinance and that we’ve walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? They said, well, what good is it for us to serve God? It’s an empty thing. And for them it was an empty thing because their heart was not in it. And since their heart was not in it, God did not bless them. And so they blame God for the situation. They say, well, it’s not worthwhile to serve God. Well, the way they were doing it, it’s not worthwhile. And I want to make a very strong statement right now. Actually, there are some people today who are attending church That very frankly, I think they’d do better if they just take a drive on Sunday. Their heart’s not in it. They go there to criticize. Or someone says, some people go to church to either close and others to close their eyes. Nice place to get a nap. If your heart is not in it, friends, if you don’t love him and you don’t want to praise and serve him and worship him, Well, it’s no value, and that’s true today. We are on a marvelous, wonderful plane. The Lord Jesus said to that woman at the well, well, woman, believe me, the hour is coming now is. True worshipers will not worship God in this mountain. And believe me, they’re still offering bloody sacrifices at that mountain. nor yet in Jerusalem. And Jerusalem is not a place to worship God. You’ve got every form of so-called Christianity there. And most of it’s as far from the message of the Lord Jesus and the early apostles as anything possibly could be. And he said, you’re not going to worship God here in Jerusalem, but true worshipers, they’re going to worship God in spirit and in truth. They’re going to love the word of God. They’ll want to serve him. They’ll want to obey him. They’ll want to worship him. They’ll want to praise him. Man said to me, he says, well, McGee, I guess you think I’m going to hell because I play golf on Sunday. And I said, no, you’re not going to hell because you play golf on Sunday. You’re going to go to hell because you’ve rejected Jesus Christ. Golf hadn’t anything to do with it. And I said, I know a lot of church members. I wish they’d go play golf on Sunday, get them out of the church because they’re troublemakers and they’re not worshiping God in spirit and in truth. May I say to you, all this outward religion, it’s no good, friends. It’s the condition of your heart and your relationship to Jesus Christ. Now, will you listen to him? Verse 14, you have said it’s vain to serve God. And what profit is it that we’ve kept his ordinance and that we’ve walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? The Lord said, as far as he was concerned, it was vain and empty for them to worship him. But the problem wasn’t with God. The problem was with them. I went to see a man in a hospital here many years ago. They told me his wife outside the door said that the doctor says that he’s dying. I went in to see him and have prayer with him and say a word not only of comfort, but that his wife might have the assurance of his salvation. And he said to me, he says, Dr. McGee, he said, I’m about to freeze to death. He said, would you get that blanket over and put it on me? And I did. And I thought. Did you know that that room was hot? Oh, it was warm. And a man was freezing to death. He blamed it on the room. He said, they just never keep these rooms warm. Well, it was overheated. There are a great many people say the church is cold. They go to. Now, are you sure that the church is cold? Or maybe you are cold. It might be well to check up. The problem here was with the people, wasn’t with God at all. Now, verse 15, and now we call the proud happy. Yea, they that work wickedness are set up. Yea, and they that test God are even delivered. They can tempt God and get by with it in that day. And it looked that way. But Habakkuk found out God was moving and moving in the life of the nation and was going to judge them. I’m of the opinion that if we could see back of the scenes and see the wheels of God that are moving today, we would cry out to God to have mercy because I think he’s moving, but we don’t seem to recognize it. Verse 16, “…then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another.” In other words, there was a little remnant that loved God, and they met together, and they feared the Lord, and they spoke one to another. It was fellowship they were having. And the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. Now, I do not have time to develop that, but running all the way through Scripture, there is this idea that God keeps books. Now, if you think that I think he’s got a book up there that he’s writing, then I don’t think so. God never forgets, and he doesn’t need that book. And I don’t think he even has an IBM computer up there. I don’t think he needs that at all. If he has anything, I guess it would be a computer. But what does it mean here that a book of remembrance was written before him? Now we’re going to find out, and when we get to Revelation, there’s a danger of it being rubbed out. That mean you can lose your salvation? I don’t think so. But we’re going to look at this before we get to the book of Revelation to understand what the books really mean. So until next time, may God richly bless you. I have a letter.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, these studies in Malachi are great, aren’t they? As we come to the end of this book, remember that your personal Bible study can go on and on. All of Dr. McGee’s messages and Sunday sermons are available for you free online anytime through our app or at ttb.org. Do you have a copy of Briefing the Bible yet? It’s really a great collection of all of Dr. McGee’s notes and outlines for every book of the Bible, a truly valuable resource, including our next study in Revelation. So if you have our app, well, you’ve already got the notes right there. Or you can download Briefing the Bible anytime at ttb.org or call us at 1-865-BIBLE if you’d like an abbreviated print copy sent to you by mail. And if you’ve got Kindle, well, look for it there too. Again, that’s 1-865-BIBLE. Or you can write to us at Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. Or in Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C, 6B1. And when you’re in touch, please tell us how you listen, especially if you listen by radio. Knowing the call letters of your station and giving it to us really is valuable as we make decisions regarding how we spend the money that you have so faithfully entrusted to us. Our study of Malachi continues next time, so be sure to hop aboard the Bible bus and join us. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll be here saving a seat just for you.
SPEAKER 02 :
All to him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 03 :
Our story on the Bible Bus today is just one step in a five-year journey through the entire Word of God. Come along for the ride, and you’ll study both the Old Testament and New Testament, discovering God’s great redemption story. Is this your story too?
The conversation journeys through Malachi 3, where God’s dialogue with Israel about tithes and offerings reveals age-old truths applicable even today. Explore the spiritual promises attached to practicing generosity and the immense blessings that come with an honest heart. As the podcast unravels insights from biblical stories, a stirring call resonates – to participate in God’s love mission and experience His boundless grace. Learn how you too can be part of this transformative journey by supporting the mission and embracing a life centered around faith and generosity.
