Unchanging Generosity

In my missions class for seminary, we read a book called When Missions Shapes the Mission by David Horner. And one of the things that was interesting in this book is the first chapter he shared a number of statistics concerning giving. And he, being a Southern Baptist like this church, concentrated on the Southern Baptist denomination as an example. And some of the statistics that he included were that there are, this is 2006, 2007, there were 16 million Southern Baptist members. And these 16 million members contributed $8.7 billion in the year 2006 to 2007. Now that sounds like a really big number, but if you do the math, that works out to around $540 per person per year. Which, if we assume just median U.S. household income and an average of two members per household, then that works out to less than 2%. of the income of Southern Baptist members is given to their local church. Now you could account for the fact that at least half of those members actually do not even attend church regularly. And so if we assume they don't give anything, then maybe we're up to close to 4%, but even that is still far short of the Old Testament standard of 10% of a tithe. Horner also talks about missions giving, which is really his main interest in this book. And he points out that if you look at all the IMB missionaries, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, you look at how many missionaries there are, that means that about one out of every 3,300 Southern Baptist church members is an IMB missionary. So one out of 3,300 goes overseas in missions. And even still, we have a hard time coming up with enough money to support these missionaries. Horner points out that of the 8.7 billion that Southern Baptists give to their local church, about 1.15% actually makes it out of the local church to international missions. So in other words, out of every $5,000 of Southern Baptist Church members' income, about $1 is invested in international missions through the International Mission Board. Now, there are many other ways to support missions, right? There's a lot of things that these statistics don't adequately capture, but I share them because it seems to me that we, as American Christians, are some of the most wealthy Christians in the history of the world. And yet rather than our abundance and our wealth leading to us being models of generosity and giving, we are possibly some of the least faithful Christians in terms of financial giving. And so with that in mind, we are turning this morning to the book of Malachi chapter three, verses six through 12. And we are challenged to consider our ways in regard to giving. Now, believe it or not, this is actually the fifth in a six-part series going through the book of Malachi, in spite of the fact that the fourth sermon was about seven months ago. So I'm going to give a little bit of review just to remind us where we are in the book and what this book is all about. Now, Malachi is preaching in Jerusalem sometime in the general time period of Ezra and Nehemiah. So just to remind us of the biblical history here, Jerusalem was destroyed and the people are carried off into exile in Babylon around 586 BC. Then it's around 539, 538 BC when Cyrus, the king of Persia, issues the decree where Israel can return to the land and rebuild the temple. And so Israel, who went into exile because of covenant unfaithfulness, they also had this promise from God that there would be this return from exile. And there would be a coming Messiah, and the Spirit would be poured out, and the nations would be brought in, and that there would be this new Eden, this kingdom of God, and a new creation that would come. And so you can imagine the kind of hope and expectation that the people of God would have coming back from exile. And they return and then in, it takes all the way till 516 BC when the temple is finally reconstructed, but it's not like the former glory. Instead of being more glorious, it's not the same. And instead of this being the start of, you know, this wonderful, you know, new creation, this new Eden, life is actually quite hard. You know, the people of Israel are largely poor. I mean, they've just returned from slavery and exile. There's no wall around Jerusalem. So in fact, Jerusalem is not a good place to live. People are moving out of the city to live out in the countryside because it's safer because the marauding raiders come through the city that has no walls and steal things. And so the temple is not well maintained. Worship of God is not being prioritized. And the people who had all this hope and expectation, they're beginning to ask, where's God? You know, does he care? Where is he? And their worship is growing more and more half-hearted and second-rate. In fact, it's about 60 years that pass by from the finishing of rebuilding the temple to the time when Ezra returns to Jerusalem to teach the people the law. So that's around 458, and then it's 445, another 13 years later, when Nehemiah comes to have the wall around Jerusalem rebuilt. And that is certainly helpful, but that doesn't fully fix the situation. You can study the history of Judah and Israel, and there's a lot more ups and downs after that. And so we come to the Book of Malachi, and we know it's sometime in this period. The temple has been rebuilt. And it either is sort of in this period before Nehemiah comes, or some scholars would date it to, you know, 10, 15, 20 years after Nehemiah comes. Personally, I think it probably fits better to see it before Nehemiah and Ezra, but it doesn't make a great difference in how we interpret the book. The point is the people are offering God this half-hearted worship, because things are hard. And so the book of Malachi itself can be divided up into these six disputations. And in every disputation, what you see it starts with, there is this assertion by God where he is taking personally Israel's failure in worship. And the first and the sixth disputation seem to focus primarily on Israel's attitude towards God, right? They question his love in the first one. They're critical of his justice in the sixth. Then the second and the fifth seem to focus on Israel's religious behavior. So we saw in the second disputation, they were bringing blind and lame sacrifices. And now today we're going to look at how they are bringing ties that's not the full amount. They're giving less than they're commanded. And then the third and the fourth really deal with interpersonal relationships. So in the third, it's about marriages, how they're mistreating their spouses and how they're marrying pagans. And then the fourth one is about how they are oppressing their neighbor and they're not loving their neighbor well. So the point is that all of these things from interpersonal relationship to religious behavior to attitude of heart, all of these are about worship. All of these affect our relationship with God. And God is calling Israel out of half-hearted, partway worship into a full, faithful, trusting obedience to him. So, With that said, by way of introduction, let's look now at Malachi 3, verses 6-12, where as I've already said, God is focusing especially on Israel's giving. And there are five things that this passage teaches us about giving that I want to call your attention to. And the first is this. God's unchanging generosity is the foundation for our giving. Look at verse six. For I, the Lord, do not change. Therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. God here is getting ready to confront them in their unfaithfulness in giving, and He begins with a reminder of His grace. Now, you may read this verse at first and kind of think, well, I don't see the grace. This sounds more like wrath. But if you think about it in the context, it begins to make sense. You see, God had come to Israel who were slaves in Egypt, had lovingly redeemed them from slavery, had brought them to himself, had made them his own special people, had entered into covenant relationship with them, where they had promised that they would walk in his ways and God had promised that he would be their God. And Israel, rather than responding to all this grace with obedience, has responded with repeated disobedience. Verse 7, from the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. And God has been clear that the end of that disobedience is judgment and destruction. I mean, the picture here, to borrow from Jonathan Edwards, is like Israel is dangling there from a spider's web over the fire of hell, and God is holding them up. And rather than pleading with God for mercy, they are sitting there provoking God. By their repeated disobedience, it's like they are tempting God and daring Him to drop them in. And what God is telling them is that the one reason you're not dropped into the fire is because I don't change. It's not because of what you have done, it's not because of your behavior, it's because I am a God who has set my love on you. Like he said in Malachi chapter one, I have loved you. And I haven't loved you because of you, I've loved you because I am love and I have loved you with an eternal, unchanging love. And therefore I have preserved you and I have borne patiently with you. And brothers and sisters, as we come to think about giving for ourselves, This is where we need to start. When you came to know Christ, you realized that your whole life had been one day after another, a provoking God of living in sin. And then you came to realize that this God that you had been provoking, this God you had been ignoring, this God you had been sinning against, has loved you and He didn't start loving you just when you turned to Him. He has loved you with an everlasting love, a love that has never changed. He loved you so much that he sent his own son to suffer and die on the cross for you specifically 2,000 years ago. And so friends, as we begin thinking about giving, we need to understand that the God who calls us to give our pocketbook to him is the God who has already given his son for us. It is a God who loves us. It's a God who is not calling us to give so that we can earn his love, but calling us to give because he loves us and because he knows that giving is good for us. So God's unchanging generosity is the foundation for our giving. Now a second thing about giving that we learn from this passage. How we spend our money affects our relationship with God. How we spend our money affects our relationship with God. Look at the second half of verse 7. God says, return to me and I will return to you. And then they ask, well, how should we return? And God says, in your tithes and contributions. And verse 10, bring the full tithe into the storehouse. And so what I want you to notice here is that here you have Israel, who is in a covenant relationship with God, and yet there is this relational distance. And God calls them to return. And of course, we understand what this is like, right? If you're married, you can be sitting on the same couch with your spouse, right side by side. You can be in a covenant relationship. And yet, if you just had a fight, it can be like you're a million miles apart, right? And in the same way, Israel's unfaithfulness in giving has introduced this relational separation and distance between them and God. And friends, in the same way, our use of money can create relational distance between us and God. The fact that we are Christians does not just always automatically mean that we are as relationally close to God as it's possible to be. That's why James tells us in chapter four, he says, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. It's why Jesus tells us in John 15, I'm the vine, you are the branches, abide in me. Because it's possible for us, even as believers, to stray and to create this distance. And friends, what it means that Christ has now come is that God, in one sense, he has taken away every barrier. He has made the way, he has made it possible for us to be as close to him, in one sense, as we desire to be. That's why God says, return to me and I will return to you. Because he is a God who has already made the way clear. The question is, are we going to return? Friend, even if you're not a Christian and you are here this morning, God in Christ has made the way for you to return, and you to come as near to Him as you desire. He is like the father of the prodigal son. We have gone astray, we've turned our back, we've wandered from the way, And yet like the prodigal, when we wake up and we come to our senses and we realize, oh, there's food in my father's house, and we turn around and we just begin to go back, when we begin to return to God, what is God doing? He is the God who's like the father scanning the horizon, and as soon as he sees, the son runs to him. And in the same way, God says, return, and I will return to you. So friends, let's use our money like people who want to be near to God. All right, remember what Jesus said, no one can serve two masters, right? You can't serve God and money. The way we use money, it's like a lens into our soul. It shows us what we really love. Do we love God or do we love money? And also consider that the way we use our money, it's like gravity that pulls our heart with it. That's why Jesus tells us, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So let's use our money like people who want to be near to God. Now a third thing, third point that we learn about giving from this passage. Failing to give what God commands is robbery. failing to give what God commands is robbery. Look back at verse 7, picking up there. God says, return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, how shall we return? Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, how have we robbed you? In your tithes and contributions. You see, what I want you to notice is that Israel's failure to give, I mean, they're giving something. We know from verse 10, they're giving something, but they're not giving the full amount. And their failure to give the full amount is not just a lack of generosity, but God calls it robbery. Now, God has explicitly commanded Israel how much they're supposed to give. They were to give a tithe, that means 10%. And then on top of that tithe, there were other contributions and things for, you know, specific things. But this 10% tithe would go to, you know, provide for the Levites and the regular burnt offerings and sacrificial bread in the temple and those sorts of things. And the point is, Israel is, they're not giving 10%. They're giving something and yet in their poverty, they're withholding extra. And God is saying, this is robbery. This is taking what doesn't belong to you as if it were yours. This is robbery every bit as much as if you go out to eat and you sit down in the restaurant and not only do not tip the waiter, but you only pay half the bill and you get up and leave. It's robbery. And now the question for us to think about is, could our use of money, or our lack of giving to the church, could that actually be robbery? So let's think about this. Now in the New Testament, nowhere are we commanded to give a given percentage. The New Testament does not say, you shall give 10% to the church. But there are certain specific things that God commands us to give to, one of which would be pastors and missionaries. So I'll just read a couple of passages about this, 1 Corinthians 9, verses 13 and 14. Paul writes, do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. or 1st Timothy 5, verses 17 and 18. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, and the laborer deserves his wages. And then also in 3 John, this is speaking more specifically of missionaries. John writes, you will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. I also recommend to give to pastors and missionaries. We're also commanded to give to brothers and sisters who are in need. In 1 John 3, verses 16 and 18, John writes, By this we know love, that Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. And then in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verses 1 to 3, Paul says, As I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. So there it's just very clear, the expectation is to give to needy brothers and sisters in Christ. And then a third thing that we're specifically commanded to give to is taxes, right? Romans 13, for because of this, you also pay taxes for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing, that's the administration of civil justice. And so my point in reading these is just to show that even in the New Testament, there are examples of things that you and I are specifically commanded to give money toward. And I think there's wisdom and prayer that needs to go into, especially the first two of these things about how much and all of that. But I think there comes a point when we're not just being ungenerous, but actually disobedient. And therefore, we are actually stealing. We are taking and keeping for ourselves money that really doesn't belong to us. And then beyond that, the fact that God doesn't command a specific percentage is not an excuse to give less. But I think if anything, it's a reason to give more. You look at the shift from the Old Testament, where there is very carefully prescribed percentages and commandments, and we come to the New, where there is much less of that. And think about Galatians, where Paul talks about this as like, you know, a child being under the law. But now in Christ, we are maturing into this freedom and adulthood. And the point isn't, oh, your responsibility is less. The point is, no, the responsibility is actually more. And so the New Testament emphasis shifts from tithing a given percent to talking about stewardship and management. I mean, think about Jesus, and he tells the parables, right, of the talents and the minus. And the idea is that all that we have belongs to God. And God has entrusted it to us. So, and he's given us his word and he's expected us to search and study and understand his word and prayerfully discern how we can invest what he's given us to meet the priorities that he's given us. With the knowledge that we will give an account on the last day. And therefore he's not treating us like children, but like adults. And so friends, just think for a moment, if you had a manager that you put over your money and you said, okay, these are the things that I want you to prioritize as I want you to spend it. And then in the end, you sit down with that manager and you find out he's ignored all your priorities. He spent most of it on himself. Would you not accuse him of robbery? And so let's think about our giving Not just in terms of generosity, but also in terms of honesty. And recognize that there comes a point when we can be so disobedient to how God has commanded us to use our money that it can be robbery. Now, a fourth thing to notice from this passage. God rewards giving with blessing. God rewards giving with blessing. Look at verses 9 through 12. God says, you are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts." And so what we see very clearly, right, is that because of their unfaithfulness in giving, they are under a curse, and yet God says, bring in the full tithe. and then I will open up the windows of heaven, there will be rain, there will be fruitful crops, I'll rebuke the devourer, those devouring insects, I will rebuke them and take them away so that the crops will grow, and you will be blessed, and you will be fruitful, and you will be provided for. And now as we think about what this means for us, and how to understand this principle that God rewards giving with blessing, I want to do it by first addressing three myths that all relate to this, that I think are sort of wrong ways to understand giving. And the first myth is this. Give and suffer. And I would describe this, this is like the anti-prosperity gospel. I mean, this is the person that, like, almost thinks there's something inherently spiritual about being poor. You know, and you could take what I just said about, you know, we're stewards, all the money's God's, and if you interpret that in sort of this utilitarian kind of way, you know, you can think like, okay, if anybody ever, like, saves up and buys something nice for himself, they're in sin. You know, and you think, look, every dime that you spend for yourself or for your kid, that's one less dime that a starving person somewhere else in the world doesn't have. And therefore, their blood is on your hands. And I just want to point out, these verses fly in the face of that kind of thinking. I mean, the point here, God is not saying give and suffer. God is saying give and be blessed. God is saying, I am a generous God who delights to give good gifts to my children. God does not call us to give and just to suffer. He calls us to give because it's good for us and he loves us. And in this case, he's promising these people, and then I will open the windows of heaven and I will provide for you. And by the way, you know, the idea that every dime you spend on yourself is necessarily one less dime going to some starving person on the other side of the world is just not true. That is an inflated view of self and a low view of God because look at what the text is actually saying. God says, I will open windows in heaven and I will rebuke devouring insects. Right? It's not that there's just this limited amount of wealth in the world and provision. That God is trying to get people to distribute evenly. No, this is a God who can send down the provision from heaven, who can provide abundantly for whoever he desires to provide for. God does not need our money, but he wants our heart. And he doesn't call us to give because he desperately needs money. He doesn't call us to give even because other people are ultimately dependent on our giving. But he calls us to give. because he loves us and he is giving us the opportunity to participate with him in his provision. So friends, giving, it's not just give and suffer. Now a second myth to think about. This myth I've called give, but only after your needs are met. So this would be the person, you know, when they think about giving, they always emphasize wisdom. And they always emphasize being cautious, planning ahead, saving. Right? And then, you know, when you have sort of all of your needs met, then with the excess, well, that's what you can think about giving to someone else. And first, let me just say, there is a lot that's very good and right about that. There's a lot of biblical wisdom in that. I mean, Paul himself says, give as the Lord prospers us. I mean, it's okay to give less when you make less. But I don't think that adequately captures the full biblical picture of what giving is all about because it doesn't fit these verses either. Look at the situation from Israel. The problem is not that they have this excess and they're not giving the excess. The problem is that they're in need and they're withholding the full tithe. And the paradox here is God is telling them to do something that would fly in the face of all natural wisdom. He's saying, in the midst of your poverty, give the full tithe and then I will provide. And so friends, what we see is that the root problem here is not primarily greed, it's lack of faith. What God wants them to give here is because he wants them to trust him. He wants them to live like he is, in fact, the living God who provides for their needs. In fact, one way we see this is among these tithes and contributions, they were supposed to be tithing and giving of the first fruits of their crops. They were supposed to give the first of all their livestock when they give birth, they were supposed to give the firstborn to God. And just think about that. It's not you wait until the whole harvest comes in and you see how much you have left over and then you give that. It's you give something right at the beginning of the first. And then if you have leftover and you can give more, that's wonderful. But friends, I would suggest to us that one of the applications for you and me is that we should give of our first fruits, not just our excess. I mean, if we have excess, if we can give more, that's great, but give something no matter what. Don't believe the lie, well, I'll start giving once I get the excess. And once I've sort of got my needs met and I've got all my things paid off, well, then I can give something to God. Because I would suggest to you that most likely, you'll never get there. And you will find out that the more you have, somehow the more your need seems to grow with it. And you never have the excess. And so friends, let's give of our first fruits. Because as Jesus said, he who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much. But he who is unfaithful in very little things is also unfaithful with much. Now, a third myth. This is the myth, give to get rich. And this one is, of course, the lie of prosperity preachers, right? Give the full tithe to the church and then God will give you back double or triple or 30, 60, and 100 fold. And there are at least two problems with this. Number one, that wrongly tries to just pull out a promise in the Old Testament, just apply it to the New Covenant in a one for one way. But number two, that doesn't even rightly understand the old covenant. Look for a minute at what God is actually promising here. He actually does not promise riches, wealth, and extravagance. He promises provision. and sufficiency, until there's no more need, and fruitfulness, and blessing. And I think greedy people tend to equate those things, but they're not identical. Secondly, notice that these things are promised not on an individual basis, but collectively. God says the result of this, down in verse 12, is that all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight. This is not talking about all nations calling individual Israelites blessed. This is the nation as a whole, right? And when God opens the windows of heaven, I don't think he means he's gonna open the window of heaven over your land, because you gave, but the neighbor, they didn't give enough. And so there's, no, the righteous suffer with the wicked, right? When the nation goes astray, the righteous people suffer with them too. This is at a corporate level. So to try to take this and say, okay, if you individually give to the church, well, then God is going to, you know, reward you with wealth. Well, that misunderstands this text. A third reason this misunderstands the Old Covenant is that even in the Old Testament itself, one of the tensions is that there are lots of examples of the righteous suffering and the wicked prospering. It's one of these tensions in the Old Testament. You have examples like Job. That's a key theme in that book. Or Asaph in Psalm 73, where he confesses to having been envious of the wicked. And so friends, even in the Old Testament, a person's faithfulness did not perfectly correlate with material blessing. And then a fourth thing. These promises that God is giving Israel for their faithfulness in giving, we have to understand that these have an eschatological bent to them. What I mean by that is, as I said earlier in the sermon about Israel's coming back from exile, and what are they hoping for? They are hoping for this new Exodus, when there will be, like Amos had promised and like Isaiah had promised, there will be a new Eden. There will be a new creation. The curse of sin will be removed away, when there will be fruitfulness and there will be blessing. And so friends, these promises, it's not just about, you know, in my life right here. These have this eschatological forward-looking bend where God is talking about when there is this covenant faithfulness, that there will one day be this new creation and this restoration of Eden. And so even in the old covenant, it is pointing forward. There's a future dimension. So in light of that, Let's us now consider as New Testament believers, what then does it mean that God rewards giving with blessing? What does this mean for us? And I would suggest there are three dimensions to it. The first is this, there's a present dimension, and it's that when we give faithfully, God promises provision. Not that he promises to make us rich, but he promises provision, right? God tells Israel to first give to his house, and then he will provide for them. And then think about what Jesus tells us. When he says, don't worry about your life, what you're gonna eat, what you're gonna drink, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all these things will be added to you. There's a present dimension of when we trust God and we give and seek his kingdom first. God says, not I'll make you rich, but I will provide your daily bread. I will provide for your needs. But then in the New Testament, there's also a future dimension. And what's nascent in the Old Testament is all the more clear in the New, where we see that the reward that's in view, the blessing that God gives, is not just in the here and now, but it's in the hereafter. And that's where in the New Testament it becomes so clear. You know, Jesus says, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up treasures in heaven that last forever. Or James 2, has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom? Or Paul in 2 Corinthians 9, when he's talking specifically about giving. And he says, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. But he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. I mean, just picture that vision right here. God has given us financial resources. And it's like seed. If I just sow a little bit of seed, well, how much crop am I gonna get in the future when it grows? It's gonna be a little bit. And he says, if you sow bountifully, you throw lots of seed, how much crop are you going to get in the future when the crop grows? It will be a lot. God rewards giving with future blessing. But then thirdly, when you come to the New Testament and we think about God rewarding giving with blessing, there is also a spiritual dimension. And one of the things the New Testament does, in the Old Testament, there's a lot about God's blessing in terms of physical, fruitful abundance. But you come to the New Testament, and all these material things, in some sense they're there, but it's like they get eclipsed by an infinitely greater blessing. The all surpassing excellence of knowing God in Christ. And all of a sudden, all these material blessings are relativized to that. And the Apostle Paul can say things like, what things were gained to me, these are now lost for Christ. Indeed, I count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. And in fact, even suffering, even physical suffering, if it brings us nearer to God in Christ, it is something to rejoice in. Even if suffering is something, a means to which I can glorify God, it is something to rejoice in. And that's why Paul can say, I know how to abound, and I know how to suffer need. Because friends, the point is giving. will be rewarded with blessing, and that blessing comes in the form of present provision, that blessing comes in the form of future reward, and that blessing comes in the form of spiritual intimacy with God. So let's be motivated to give. We've seen so far that God's unchanging generosity is the foundation for our giving. We've seen that how we spend our money affects our relationship with God. We've seen that failing to give what God commands is robbery. And we've seen that God rewards giving with blessing. And I hope at this point you feel convicted and encouraged and moved to give. But the question is, well, how? And that brings us to our final and concluding point. And that is this. The glory of God's house should be the goal of our giving. The glory of God's house should be the goal of our giving. Look at verse 10. God says, bring the full tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. And why does God want food in his house? Well, then he gets down to verse 12, he says, God wants to raise up Israel as a light to all nations. But unless his house, his temple, is being full of food and his house is a place where his name is being glorified, he's not gonna do it. And this is similar to earlier in the book of Malachi, where Malachi is talking about the sacrifices and offerings, right? And how God says, you know, I wish someone would just come and shut the doors of the temple rather than offering these blind animals and sacrifices because they don't bring me glory. And then God says, for from the rising of the sun to its setting, my name will be great among the nations. And so friends, the point of this, right? God's concern, his chief concern is that his people use their finances so that his name, his house, the place of his glory will be great among the nations. And what does that mean for us? Well, as we know, the temple is there and then Jesus comes. And remember, Jesus goes into the temple, and he flips, he sees the ungodliness, he flips the tables, he drives out the money changers, and then he tells them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. And they think he's talking about the physical building, but no, John tells us no, he's talking about the temple of his body. Because Jesus himself is the true temple. Jesus himself is the word become flesh who has come to tabernacle among us. And then Jesus dies on the cross and he rises again and he ascends into heaven and he pours out his spirit so that his people will become his church, will become his body on earth, will become a holy temple in the Lord for a dwelling place of God in the spirit, composed of living stones. And friends, the point is now the church is God's house, not the building, but the people. And so how should we give? Well, God's chief concern is that he would get glory for himself in and through his church. And therefore we should use our finances so that God will be glorified in his church, so that his name will be great among the nations through his church. Right, so how do we use our finances? Well, use your money to ensure that men are set aside to faithfully preach and teach the Word of God. Use your money and give so that we can care for our brothers and sisters who are in need and so that people will look and see the glory of God in the way that his people love one another. Let's use our money so that there are missionaries who are raised up and supported so they can be sent out to take the gospel to all nations. And let's use our money so that when other people look at you and me, who are members of this church, they will see people who love Christ more than money and give glory to God. And so as we conclude, I just wanna leave all of us with a challenge. Let's talk to one another about this this week. Giving is something that we tend to keep very private and secretive. And I think it would be good for us, in light of everything we've studied here about what does God's word say about this, to actually have conversations with one another about what are you giving to? You know, how have you thought about what percentage of your money to give to what things? And actually to share about that and have conversation and try to spur one another on so that we can use our financial resources more faithfully. Let's pray. Our Father, we acknowledge that you have given us everything that we have. You have even given us your son. And so what a small thing it is that you ask us to give some portion of that back to you. God, may we do so with joy, cheerfully, knowing that you call us to give for our own good. God, would you give us wisdom to know how to use the resources we have? Would you give us faith so that even when it feels like we don't have enough, we can learn to trust you and to experience the fact that you really do provide for your children? Oh God, we thank you for this word. In Jesus' name, amen.