Ron Dunn Podcast - Seven Sins Of Malachi Part 5

Episode Date: June 15, 2022

Ron Dunn speaks from Malachi

I want you to open your Bibles again, surprise, to the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 3. We have another of these heated dialogues between God and his people. God makes the statement, the accusation, and they deny it, and then he proves it. In chapter 3, I want us to begin reading with verse 7. Malachi chapter 3, beginning with verse 7, and we will read through verse 12.

Even from the days of your fathers you are 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 you said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you 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 the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be no 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 forth 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.

The Lord does this a couple of times. When he makes a statement and they ask, how can we obey you? He does it by asking another question. He said, you have not returned. And they said, well, how do we return? And he said, you have robbed me. And they said, well, how have we robbed thee? And he answers in tithes and offerings. Now, the idea is when God says, you need to return to me, and the people say, well, how do we return? What God is saying is, you return by keeping the rules. You return by obeying the law. You return by what?

Well, you've been robbing me in tithes and in offerings. Now, you prove me and you do what you're supposed to do, and that will be returning unto the Lord. In other words, God is not saying that returning unto the Lord is simply a matter of weeping and crying and making all kinds of resolutions, but it is actually doing something. It is actually keeping the rules and keeping the laws. And so we come to this very familiar and infamous passage in the book of Malachi, Will a man rob God, yet you have robbed me? When God created the universe,

he made it a harmonious whole. By that I mean everything fit together, and everything functioned properly, and it was good. God also instituted certain laws by which this universe would operate. We would call them, I would, fixed laws, laws that are a part of nature, laws that are built into nature, which are really an expression of the mind of God, fixed laws. For instance, the law of gravity is a fixed law in our world. Everything that goes up must come down, as is the simplest way to put it. The law of gravity, we're all familiar with that. That is what I would call a fixed law as far as our earth is concerned. Now these laws that God instituted, when you and I are in a friendly relationship to these laws, they will bless us. But if we ignore these laws or rebel against these laws, then they curse us. Be a blessing.

I'm glad we're not all floating around this morning in the air. I'm glad my water is not floating around in the air. The law of gravity keeps that. And so it is a friend to man when I'm in friendly relationship to it. But if I ignore, violate the law of gravity, it will be a curse. If I get on the top of my hotel and say, I defy the law of gravity. I'm going to break the law of gravity, and I leap off the building. I won't break the law of gravity. Break my neck, but I won't break the law of gravity.

That's a fixed law. And when I am kind to it, it is kind to me. When I am unkind to it, it is unkind to me. When I'm unkind to it, it is unkind to me. And so God has established certain laws that are universal and that are eternal. Basically, if I had to just put into two phrases or two sentences what I believe the most fundamental of those two laws are as God towards us, it would be these. Number one, the law of provision and the law of possession. The law of provision and the law of possession.

You start back at the book of Genesis, and one of the most remarkable things is that God has created every need to supply every desire. The Bible says he opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living creature. And there was the provision long before there was the need. The Bible says that God made heaven and earth, and he made water, and then he made fish. He didn't make fish and then tell them to hold it for a minute while he got water made. He made air to breathe, and then he made Adam. He didn't say, Adam, I've made you. Now you've got to hold your breath for a little bit

because I've got to make some air for you to breathe. You trace it back in the chapters of Genesis that describe creation. God made provision for everything even before the things that needed it were created. And that's God's way, isn't it? I remember reading somewhere in the Bible that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth. There was a cross on Calvary before there was ever a Garden of Eden. That's God's law. God is the law of provision.

He provides. And when we obey these laws, they provide for us. If we obey the law of sowing and reaping, then we will reap and they will be kind to us. Then there is, quite bound to that, the law of possession. The law of possession. God makes it clear from beginning to end that he is the possessor of heaven and

earth. The earth is the Lord's, and all that is therein, the silver and gold, the cattle on a thousand hills, the earth is the Lord, and everything in it. He is the law of possession is ignored and violated, then the law of provision will also be broken and violated. And you see that right here. Here is the law of provision. Flocks, fruits, vines, storehouse, rain. Notice they have violated the law of possession. They've robbed God in their tithes. Notice what has happened to their provision. God says, if you will obey me, I will do certain things. In other words, I'm going to make what's wrong right again. But notice what is wrong. He says, 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. You see what's happening? The people have broken, violated the law of possession. They had denied God his right as sovereign owner, and the result had been that they were unkind to that law, and so the law was unkind to them. The law of provision would not operate in that way without the law of possession being acknowledged. Now, I want us to talk about one of these laws. And yes, you guessed it. It's the law of possession.

Well, a man robbed God, yet you have robbed me in tithes and offerings. And I just knew that you would all be disappointed in me as a Baptist preacher if I didn't talk about tithing at least once in this conference.

But I am not really talking about tithing. Tithing, I feel, here is not really the main message, the issue. It seems to me that tithing here is an expression, a manifestation of a deeper and more vital issue. And I'm not going to get into that old business of whether we're supposed to tithe nowadays or not under the law, under grace. There have always been tithes. It wasn't unique to Israel. The Assyrians, the Canaanites, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, they all had their tithes. It wasn't unique to Israel. The Assyrians, the Canaanites, the Babylonians, the Egyptians,

they all had their tithes. And there is some evidence and some mention of the tithes in the New Testament. And there are some who believe we ought to tithe a tenth and some, you know, whatever you want to give. And I'm not going to get into that with you. I believe that I couldn't be right in giving less under grace as they gave under law. And I think usually if a person is right with God, he's not going to quibble over 10% or 11% or 12%. But anyway, I'm not really going to get into that and talk about that. Because it would be impossible anyway

to discover what kind of tithes Malachi is talking about. They had so many various kinds of tithes that it is impossible to know exactly which one he was talking about. But that tithe represents something else. That tithe represents God's ownership. And when a person tithes, he is admitting and acknowledging and recognizing that God is sovereign owner of the universe.

The tithe is not for God. You can't use, I think, you cannot use that, oh Saul, that the tithe was under the law. That's not so. The tithe was before the law. The tithe predated the law. When Abraham met Melchizedek, he offered him tithes. Remember what Melchizedek said

or what Abraham said as they conversed? Melchizedek said, I am the priest of God, the possessor and heaven of earth, the possessor of heaven and earth. And immediately Abraham paid him tithes of all that he had.

What was he doing? He wasn't trying to buy Melchizedek's ticket back to his home. He was recognizing that God was sovereign owner. Now, there wasn't any churches to build in. There were no missionaries to send around the world. There were no pastor salaries to pay. There was no work of God to be carried on, but he gave him tithes. Same thing with Jacob. At Bethel, he paid him tithes of everything. And again, there was no church work to support, no pastors to pay salaries,

no missionaries to send around the world. I've heard people say, well, I'm not going to give my tithe because our church isn't using it right. I don't think they need a new building. Listen, that is really none of your concern. I just feel, this is my humble and accurate opinion,

but I just feel that God holds me responsible to obey Him in the matter of giving, and when I give unto the Lord's storehouse, that ends my obligation. I have obeyed God, and the powers that be, they're the ones who have to answer to God for how they use it. And maybe my church doesn't need it. That have to answer to God for how they use it. And maybe my church doesn't need it. That's not the issue.

I need to do it. Church may not need it. Need it. I need to give it because it is my recognition of God's sovereign ownership. Now, interesting thing about this. He says, will a man rob God? And I was thinking about this about 2 a.m. this morning, and the thought came to me,

can a man rob God? To me, the question is not, will a man rob God? The question is, can he do it? How can a man rob God? I mean, it's pretty hard to take a gun

and point it to heaven and say, Lord, hand over. You cannot break into heaven in the dark of the night and burglarize his house. How can a man rob God? Can a man rob God? Well, obviously he can. So the question is, will a man do that? You mean to tell me that somebody would be so bold and audacious

and stupid to rob God? Yes. Well, how do we rob God? This Hebrew word, robbed, is really tricky. It only appears one other time in the Bible, Proverbs 22, 23, somewhere around there, and then it's translated spoiled. And nobody really is sure what this word means.

If you happen to take down the theological word book of the Old Testament and you read what such scholars as Bruce Walker have to say about it, when you come to this word rob, you know what they say about it? Meaning unknown. Well, I took that as a challenge.

And so I have come up with a meaning. As far as anybody can tell, the wheelback route of this word is the same route from which we get Jacob. It's amazing how much Jacob shows up in the Bible when it's not even called by his name. But any time you want to talk about somebody deceiving or somebody cheating or somebody defrauding, the best word to use is Jacob. This word, as far back as anybody knows, meant to circumvent, to go around.

It had the idea of covering, covering something up. Of defrauding is one way. Defrauding, cheating, covering up. I think the best word to translate this is the word embezzle. Embezzle. You can't stick a gun in God's face and rob him. You cannot break into his house and steal from him. All you can do is embezzle from him. The difference between robbery and embezzlement is this. When I walk into, if I should,

a 7-Eleven down here and stick a gun in a man's face and say, hand me the money, that's robbery. And a year or so ago in Little Rock at the Holiday Inn when that fellow stuck a gun in my face and took what was mine,

you know what that was? That was robbery. You know why it was robbery? He was taking money that he had no right to handle. Taking money that you have no right to handle, that's robbery. What is embezzlement? Embezzlement is taking money that you do have a right to handle.

If I go into that 7-Eleven and stick it up and empty its cash drawers, that's robbery. But if I'm working for the owner of 7-Eleven and every once in a while I'll skim ten bucks out of the cash register. I'm embezzling then. Because I am stealing money that I have a right to handle. And what has happened is that God has given all things into our hands. As he said to Adam and Eve, you go and you eat of every tree, and you have a right to handle it. You have a right to till the ground. You have a right to till the ground.

You have a right to pick the fruit from the trees. You have a right to all of this. God says to me, I have a right to handle everything I have, to handle my clothes, to handle my money. But if I fail to give to God that which is His as a recognition of His ownership,

then I am withholding from Him that which he has a right to. I am embezzling. And somehow I think that in a way embezzlement is a meaner sort of sin. The man who walks into the 7-Eleven and sticks it up, you don't know him from Adam. But the man who embezzles from you is usually a trusted employee, a friend, somebody that you trust. And not only have they taken your money, but they have even worse than that, they have violated your trust. They make it a mockery

and they make you look like a fool because you entrusted them with that. When you and I withhold from God, I believe that is a meaner sin because we have been entrusted by God with these things. Now, are you still with me? Okay, all right. God has always been trying to prove to man that he is sovereign owner. And I said a moment ago, I believe that the primary theme here is not so much the dollars and cents offering. It was, of course, to Malachi in their day.

But as for us today, to see what is really in this is not to deal with it just in the terms of dollars and cents it is basically as i've already said i think it is basically a recognition of god's ownership of all things now i'm going to make a statement and i'll make it about five times over and over not right now but throughout the rest of my minutes. Here's the statement. God always reserves something for himself in the physical realm where man obtains his living to remind man that God is sovereign owner of all things. Now, I'll say it again.

God always reserves something for himself in the physical realm where man obtains his living to remind man that God is sovereign owner of all things. Now, every sin really is a sin against property rights. Every sin is a violation of God's property rights. And God is teaching us this is his property. First of all, he taught it with a tree. He put Adam and Eve in the garden, and he said, Now, you can eat of all the trees.

Well, there's one tree you're not to eat of. There's one tree you're not to eat of. What was that tree? That was the tithe. That was the tithe. That was the tithe. That was the one solemn reminder that Adam didn't own the garden, that he was a tenant, he was a guest. That was a solemn reminder

as Adam would circle that tree a dozen times a day, picking food and plowing and tilling. He'd look at that tree and look at that tree and he'd remind himself that it was God who built the garden and God who put him in there and God who was giving him life to live it.

A reminder. And when Eve and Adam ate of that tree, they were violating God's property rights. And they didn't need to anyway. They had every other tree in the garden to eat from. And they violated God's property rights. Why? Because that tree was God reserving something for himself in the physical realm where man obtains his living to remind man that God's sovereign. God not only did it with a tree, he also did it with a day. You remember he said,

six days thou shalt labor? Not sure how we are going to interpret that one today. But he says on the seventh day is a Sabbath day and you shall rest. The Sabbath day is a holy day. That's my day. A Sabbath day. A day of rest. A day of rest. When you don't do anything, you just be something. You see, God, I think, is trying to get across to us that it's more important to be something than it is to always be getting something and having something and doing something. And so he says, on the seventh day,

I don't want you doing anything. You just be, be my child and rest. Six days thou shall labor. On the seventh, that's mine. What's God doing? He's reserving something for himself in the physical realm where man obtains his living to remind men that God is sovereign owner of time as well as everything else. And when men break the Sabbath, they are doing what? They're violating God's property rights. They are embezzling from God, that which is rightly his. God taught it with a day. God taught it with a tree. God taught it also with a city.

You remember when Joshua was going to lead the people into the land of Canaan, the first city that they would confront would be the city of Jericho, which was the greatest fortified city in the land. The most heavily guarded and armed city in all of Canaan was number one on their schedule. Now, how is the army of Israel going to live as it moves through Canaan one city at a time? They live on the spoils of victory, as any marching army does. When they conquer a city, they spoil the city, they plunder the city, and they replenish their they spoil the city, they plunder the city,

and they replenish their supplies from the city. But God said, when you go into Jericho, don't touch it, for Jericho is holy unto the Lord. What was God doing? He was reserving something for himself in the physical realm where man obtained is a living to remind man that God is sovereign owner of all things. And when Achan stole the gold and the silver and the garments, what was he doing? He was violating God's property rights. And then one more I think would be sufficient. God taught it with a year. Remember over in Leviticus and other places when God gave them the law and they were supposed to settle in,

he said, now, you will kill the land for six years. You kill the land for six years. But on the seventh year, that is a Sabbath year. That is my year. And on the seventh year, you let the land rest. And that just makes good sense anyway, as far as cops are concerned. So he said, you kill it for six years, and every seventh year, that's my year. What's he doing? God is reserving something for himself in the physical realm where man obtains

his living to remind man that God is sovereign owner. Now, what do they do? Well, if you put all the years together, you'll find out something quite interesting, that for approximately 490 years, those people till the land. For 490 years, they till the land straight without ever having a year off. All right. Now, they owe God one year out of every seven, right? Say right. It helps if you agree with the preacher. I guess that makes it easier. They owe God one year out of every seven, right? Say right, it helps if you agree with the preacher. It makes it easier. They owe God one year out of every seven. They till the land for 490 straight years.

How many years did they owe God? Seventy. That's very interesting. I've heard that somewhere before. Oh, yes, I remember where I saw that. Over in 2 Chronicles, I believe it is, if I can find it real quick. 2 Chronicles chapter 36.

Come on, Chronicles. I never do this, and that's why I'm not ready for it. Chronicles chapter 36 verse 21 talking about the people being carried off into Babylon in verse 21 chapter 36 verse 21 carried off into Babylon to fulfill the word of the Lord

by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed her Sabbath, for as long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath to fulfill threescore and ten years. It was not by accident that they were in captivity for 70 years. Why? Because God knows how to collect his rent. They owed God 70 years. Why? Because God knows how to collect his rent. They owed God 70 years. The land needed to rest 70 years.

They wouldn't do it. God says, all right, we'll just carry you off. Why? Because you're violating my property rights. God always reserves something for himself in the physical realm where man obtains his living to remind man that God is sovereign owner. Now, God says here that if they obey him and bring all the tithes into the storehouse, they will prove him, they will prove him.

The word literally means to discover his integrity, to know intuitively that God is a God of integrity. He keeps his word and is honest. And he says, if you do this, then I'll release the law of provision. And notice he doesn't say, I'll heal your sick or I'll raise your debt. He's talking strictly about economic things here. Why? Because it was the matter of ownership and possession

that they were having trouble with. And so God said, I'll rebuke the devourer. I won't let those things happen to you, and you will become a blessing. Now, God says, here's what I'm going to do. If you bring your tithes and offerings into the storehouse, what I'm going to do is I'm going to bless you with material blessings, he's saying to the people of Israel.

I'm going to give you corn and... They didn't have corn, I don't think, the Indians did that. But anyway, they had figs and pomegranates and bananas and whatever. All right, now you bring it over today. Have you ever asked God in prayer for some money? You know, just honestly, have you ever asked God in prayer for some money? Not to buy a Cadillac, but I mean because to pay your bills or something. Anybody ever asked? Come on, come on. Okay, all right. All right, let me ask you another question. Has anybody had God answer that prayer? Has anybody ever had that prayer answered?

Yeah. A lot of us. I have. You know, I got to wondering one day, where does God get that money he gives to me? I'm serious. Haven't you ever thought about that? Where does God get that money I remember

asking him one time for $700 and the next day coincidentally somebody gave me seven $100 bills where did he get that where does God get it

does God have a printing press up in heaven does he slip an angel into the Denver Mint Where do you get that? Where does God get it? Does God have a printing press up in heaven? Does he slip an angel into the Denver Mint late at night? Where does God get the money he gives us in answer to prayer? I'll tell you where he gets it. He gets it from me. And he gets it from you.

And he gets it from Jamal. And he gets it from everybody else. You're over here praying. You have a need. And you say, dear Lord, it from everybody else. You're over here praying. You have a need, and you say, Dear Lord, I have this need. I have this desperate need, and I need $500 now. And so God comes around to Jamal and says, Jamal, you need to give him $50. And he comes over here to Dr. Stedman,

and he says, You need to share him $200 or $300. He's better off than Jamal. And it's all in proportion, y'all. And so then he comes to me and says, why don't you give him the rest? You know, I don't know about anybody else. I don't know that he's talking to Jamal. God doesn't come and say, hey, listen, we're taking up a collection between all of you. He doesn't tell me who else is in on it.

All of a sudden, I just feel impressed, moved upon the Spirit, moved upon my heart to give to that person. You know what's happening? God is putting that impression in my heart. I guarantee you, left to myself,

I'm never impressed to give anybody money. God impresses me, puts it upon my heart to give money. Now, what is actually happening is God is coming to me and says, I want some of that money you've got, and I want to put it over here. What is God doing? He is redistributing the wealth. He is redistributing the wealth. But what right does God have to ask of me money? I earned it by the sweat of my brow, and I don't believe in the redistribution of wealth. What right does God have?

I'll tell you what right. It's by the right of sovereign ownership. It's by the right of sovereign ownership. It's by the right of sovereign ownership. God would have no right at all to redistribute the wealth unless all the wealth was his. Now, are you with me here? If a person does not recognize the principle of the tithe and the practice of the tithe, and I'm not now talking about the strictly 10% because I know not everyone follows that, some give more and so forth, but what I'm saying, if I deny the validity of the tithe, both in principle and practice, then I have no right to ask of God to give me anything in prayer, except spiritual prayer. What I'm saying is, if I reject the principle and practice of the tithe,

I have no right to go to God in prayer and ask him to give me $500 to meet my house payment. Why? Because I'm asking God to do something in prayer that in practice I'm denying he has a right to do. When I embezzle my money each week, I am saying God is not sovereign owner. God is not sovereign owner. This is my money. God is not sovereign owner. And then all of a sudden I come up short and I fall on my face and I say, dear Lord, I've got to have a thousand dollars by the end of the month or they're going to repossess my house. Well, I wish I could, but I can't. Why not? Because I'm not owner. You say, well, I know this fellow over here who's got a lot of money. I say, well, I know, but I can't ask him to

do that. He owns it, you know. You said yourself that you own all your possessions. I do not have the right to ask God to do something in prayer that in my practice I'm denying he has a right to do. And so God is able to say, if you will tithe, if you will bring your offerings into the Lord, into the storehouse of the Lord, then I will allow the law of provision to operate in your life. If you acknowledge the law of possession, I will acknowledge the law of provision.

Now, of course, the ultimate tithe is in Romans 12.1. When Paul says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. And to the Corinthians he said, You are not your own. You are not your own. You are not your own. And a Christian must recognize that he is not his own.

He does not belong to himself. He has not a right to his own life. He hasn't a right to live life the way he wants to. Why? Because he has been bought and paid for with a price, and therefore I have only one alternative, and that is to glorify and honor God in my body. And part of that honoring is acknowledging that he is the sovereign God, owner of heaven and earth.

And when I acknowledge his right of possession, he will acknowledge my right to provision. And I believe that's what God is saying to Malachi in these words. The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church.

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