We're back in the book of Malachi. And I left off, if you remember, last time we were in chapter two, and I didn't get to the last verse of that chapter. So that's where we'll begin, which is verse 17 of chapter two of Malachi. And then I'm just going to read, to get us started here, to the first verse of Chapter 3. So we'll get into Chapter 3. And I originally, when we began our journey into this book, I thought I was going to get a sermon per chapter, but that ain't going to work out here. There's just too much information in Chapter 3, so I'll only take it partway through the chapter today. But let me pray for the Word. Our Father and our God, we pause before the reading of your word to acknowledge that we are handling reverently the very word of God. And Lord, we know your word is true, and Lord, it's powerful and mighty. And so Lord, we pray that you do that work in us of aligning our thinking to your word. We thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen. Before I start to read this, if you noticed in the book of Malachi that the style of the letter is a little bit different than some of the other prophets, whereas there's a lot of questions. A lot of Malachi, the prophet, speaking as if they are the people, saying, well, what are you talking about, God? And so there's several questions. We're going to get to another one today to look at. Before I read it, God in this text is going to use language that we can understand, because God is so high and lofty above us that he has to talk what some of the theologians would call like baby talk to us, that we can understand a little bit of how God feels about something. And so when you see that in this text that God is going to say that he is wearied, He's worn out. You've just worn me out, exhausted. You ever talk to somebody and say, that person just exhausts me? I have customers like that. When I see them call, I know their phone number, and I'm like, oh. It's Mrs. So-and-so, she just exhausts me when I talk to this customer, but I'll try to help her. God's gonna use that kind of language, but obviously he's conveying something that's much, much deeper than we can even understand, okay? So here we go, this is Malachi 2.17-3.1. You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, in what way have we wearied him? In that you say, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them. Or where is the God of justice? Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. So the first word here is wearied. God says, I am worn out. You've wearied the Lord with your words. You've exhausted me with your vain worship, he had said in the earlier chapters, and now with your wearisome words. What were they saying? What were they saying? I mean, when you read the Bible there, they were saying that God was not acting justly. They were saying that we see people that are wicked and we see you blessing them. This is not justice. It's almost like you're putting your stamp of approval on people who are doing wicked things because we look at them and they seem to be prospering. But when we look at ourselves, our own righteous selves, We see that we're under the thumb. We're falling apart. Our crops aren't producing like they used to produce. Things are not going well for us. Now, remember, they had been carried off into exile. A remnant had returned. They rebuilt the temple. And it wasn't the temple it used to be. The older folks said, we remember the older temple. It was so wonderful. This thing's nothing in comparison to that. And that's where these people are. And they think they're walking in righteousness, and God's not blessing them like God should. And they're complaining against the Lord. And God says, you know, you're just wearing me out. They actually say, where is this God of justice? Where is that? We want to, almost like Job, you know, if I could only have a day in the court with the Lord to plead my case, Job said at one point, you know, where's this God at? Now, Holman says of this, we must point out that the same people who were claiming to be so righteous and deserving were the very ones offering God blemished animals and complaining about how burdensome worship had become and marrying pagans and divorcing their wives. They were hardly paragons of virtue deserving of God's blessing. Much of their suffering, Holman says, was self-inflicted. And isn't that the case on our own lives when we're really going through a tough road or a tough situation? A lot of times, we self-inflict problems on ourselves. And we don't want to be like those who then complain against God, like God's doing us some harm, when God says, I told you what to do. My word was very clear on this, and yet you disobeyed me. And now you're just simply living in the natural results of what you've done in your folly. And that's what the people here have done, and they're reaping what they sowed, so to speak, and they're blaming God for it, is what they're doing. The Apostle Paul warns us as Christians not to do that. Can we weary out the Lord as Christians? Well, I mean, in Ephesians 4.30 it says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. So we want to have right attitudes. One of the things that's going on in Israel and Malachi, these chapter verses I'm reading here, you'll see really, really laid out in depth in Psalm 73. And it's when we get our eyes off of God, off of Jesus, onto ourselves, we're not focusing on the Lord and His purposes, we're not thinking about eternal things, we're just looking at life and thinking, this is awful difficult. Why am I going through this? Why me? And then we look at somebody else, and we think, that person doesn't even know the Lord. And it seems like the sun's always shining in their yard. Their crops are getting rain. I'm in a drought. Why is God blessing these people? I mean, they don't even know the Lord Jesus Christ. And here I am, a servant of the Lord, and look what I'm going through. And that's what Psalm 73 is all about. And it's not very long. I'm not going to read the whole psalm, but listen to this. This is Psalm 73, verse 2. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped, for I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there's no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They're not troubled as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore, pride serves as their necklace, and violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance. They have more than heart could wish. They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walks through the earth. You see what they're saying? Look at how they live, and yet they're living a life of abundance. Look at me, and I'm barely getting by. That's what the psalmist is saying. He doubts God's knowledge and care in verse 10 of Psalm 73. Therefore, his people return here and waters of the full cup are drained by them. They say, how does God know? And is their knowledge in the most high? Behold, these are the ungodly who are always at ease. They increase in riches. Spurgeon on that passage says, Though beloved of God, they have to drain the bitter cup. Their sorrows are as full as the wicked man's prosperity is. It grieves them greatly to see the enemies of God so high in themselves. so low. And that's what's going on in Malachi. They see their enemies seem to be exalted by God, and they see themselves as just being pressed down, and they think it's undeserved. It's undeserving. At the end of that text there, it says in Psalm 73, 13, "...surely I've cleansed my heart and vein." Listen to this. "...and I washed my hands in innocence for all day long. I've been plagued and chastened every morning. If I had said, I will speak, thus behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of your children. When I thought how to understand this..." I'm trying to wrap my mind around this, Lord. He says, "...it was too painful for me." Eugene Patterson does his own little paraphrase of that passage and says, it's like as if he's saying this, I've been stupid to play by the rules. What has it gotten me? A long run of bad luck, that's what, a slap in the face every time I walk out the door. Why am I trying to live God's way? And the turning point in that psalm, if you remember, is verse 17, where he finally, after all that says, All this was in his heart until I went into the sanctuary of God. Until I got back in God's house, I got before the Lord. He began to think of eternity and eternal things. And he says, then I understood their end. It's not in this life. We think things aren't fair. God's not dealing fairly with me. We want the God of justice to come and to set everything right. And that's going to happen when our Lord Jesus returns for the second time. When He returns for His church, for His people. When He comes as the conquering King. When He comes as Judge. All these things that seem to be unequally together and seems flip-flopped around in the world we live in, it'll all be made right in God's timing. But God is simply being patient, not willing that any should perish, but he's waiting for people to repent and put their faith in his son, Jesus Christ, right? So back to our text of Malachi, the God of justice, he says, oh, he's coming. He's coming and he brings warning. That's our second word here. First one is that God is weary. The second one here is God brings warning. He says, you ask, where is the God of justice? Verse 17. And he says, the God of justice is coming. And now in Amos, the Old Testament prophet, chapter five, verse 18, speaking of people who are asking God to come in judgment to make all things right, the God of justice would come. And Amos 5.18 says, woe to you who desire the day of the Lord. That's the day of God's reckoning. Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord, for what good is the day of the Lord to you? it will be darkness and not light. And that's sort of the message in Malachi is they thought they were so righteous. And at the end of all this, as we look, you'll find that God finally says, return back to me. You're not even close to me. And they thought they were walking hand in hand with the Lord. And he says, no, you're miles away from me. And you don't even know it. You don't even know you've drifted that far from me. So he says, the God of justice is coming in verse 1 of chapter 3. Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Who's that? John the Baptist, right? And this is so intriguing to me. This is 400 and some years before the opening chapters of the Gospel of Luke, when you get these birth narratives in the Gospel of Luke. And 400 and some years earlier, God, through Malachi, specifically says that he is sending the messenger of the covenant. We'll look at that in a minute. That's Jesus Christ. But he says, before I send the messenger of the covenant, I'm going to send my messenger who's to prepare the way before me. The messenger of the covenant is God. And Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity. He is God in flesh. So when you look at Matthew 11, where this Malachi 3.1 is quoted, this is important if you're students of the Bible. In Matthew 11.7, it says, as they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John. Now he's talking to the multitudes about John the Baptist, right? What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft garments are in kings' houses. But what did you go out to see?" See, he's getting the people to think. A prophet. Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you." Jesus quotes Malachi. Now, why is that so significant? One, it tells us that God foretold of all this all the way back in Malachi. Secondly, it tells us that John the Baptist is the one that Malachi is talking about here in chapter 3 verse 1. He's the forerunner. He's the one who came to prepare the way for the messenger of the covenant to come. And what is Jesus saying in saying this? I am the messenger of the covenant. That's who I am. So he's alerting the people that they would think scripturally to come to that conclusion that the one before us is the messenger of the covenant. John's work, John the Baptist's work of preparing the way, some of that is contained in Luke chapter 3 verse 2, where it says, while Hannes and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah. Now we see Isaiah prophesied about this. And he quotes Isaiah, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, every mountain or hill brought low, the crooked places shall be made straight, the rough ways smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. And that's key because when our Lord Jesus, who is the messenger of the covenant, comes suddenly to his temple, he doesn't come as judge. That's his second coming, and we'll deal with that down to verse 6. He comes as Savior. A Savior is born, right, of the Virgin Mary. John identifies Jesus as the messenger of the covenant. Now, he doesn't use that language, but in John 1.27, this is John the Baptist here who says, It is he who coming after me. That's not directly quoting Malachi 3.1, but it's certainly talking about it because it says, behold, my messenger, he'll prepare the way. And then suddenly he'll come to his temple, this messenger of the covenant. So John says, it is he who coming after me is preferred before me. whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to loose." These things were done in Bethabara, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, After me comes a man who's preferred before me, for he was before me. I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore, I came baptizing with water, and John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, This is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. John's the forerunner. He prepares the way. He preaches a message of repentance. He's letting the people know that they're in their sin. They need to repent. And he's baptizing. And then he is the one who identifies that Jesus himself is the Son of God. And in doing so, the people should have put two and two together and said, he's the messenger of the covenant from Malachi chapter 3. And it's interesting to me, back to our Malachi passage, that it says, that the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. And with that thought in mind, think of the early stories in the Gospel of Luke. when Mary and Joseph and the family go to Jerusalem and they lose Jesus. What a story is that? He's just a young boy, right? And they lose him and they look for him for three days. And in Luke chapter 2, 46, it says, Now so it was that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers. And not word for word, if you remember, Mary was pretty upset. How could you do this to us? And Jesus said something along the lines of, didn't you know I'd be in my father's house? In other words, didn't you know I'd suddenly come to my temple? Don't you know who I am, Mary, my mother? In Luke 19.45, it says, then he went into the temple. He began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, it is written, my house is a house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves. And in Mark 14.49, he says, I was daily with you in the temple teaching. Malachi, the messenger of the covenant to come, and he'll be found suddenly in his temple. That's our Lord Jesus Christ. So the messenger of the covenant, in his first coming, Jesus came to suffer and die on that cross for our sins. But he also came to fulfill the Mosaic covenant. Israel had broken covenant. That's the message of Malachi, if you haven't picked up on that. Malachi 2.8, but you have departed from the way. You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 2.10, have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why do you deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers? The Mosaic covenant had been broken. Jesus is born under that covenant and he obeys it perfectly. He is our covenant keeper. Israel needed somebody to come. Adam had fallen. Jesus comes as the last Adam, the Bible says, and he comes under the covenant, born under the law, to die for those who've broken the law. That's Jesus' messianic mission. In Matthew 5.17, do not think, Jesus says, that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill. Jesus is the covenant keeper. And then Jesus does what? He redeems those who've broken that Mosaic covenant by keeping the covenant and then dying for their sin. All who will place their faith in His work, His suffering, His dying, His empty tomb, His resurrection, His lordship. He says he came and he rescued them from breaking that covenant. And that's why even in the Lord's meal that we partake of, Jesus announces what? That this is the new covenant in my blood, right? And now Hebrews picks up on that. So hang in there. This is Hebrews chapter eight, beginning in verse eight. where he begins by saying there's nothing wrong with God's law. God's law is holy and perfect and righteous. The Mosaic covenant, there's nothing wrong with God's side of that relationship and that covenant. The problem is with the people not keeping the covenant. So in Hebrews 8 verse 8 it says, because finding fault with them, It wasn't with the covenant, it was with the people. He says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, none his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." And then Hebrews, the writer Hebrews comments in verse 13. In that he says a new covenant. He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. In Hebrews 9.15 it says, and for this reason, meaning the blood sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on that cross. For this reason, he is the mediator of the new covenant by the means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal Our Lord Jesus came to rescue those who broke covenant with God. Now, you remember the Book of Romans tells us that Jesus came to usher in the new covenant to redeem Israel who had broken covenant with God, and that we as Gentiles, if you're a Gentile, are like wild branches that God now grafts into that root, right? We were the wild branches that by faith in Christ were also branched in to true Israel, our Lord Jesus Christ. So, going back to Malachi now, that's Advent 1, Jesus' first coming. He comes not as judge, but as Savior. Now, in verse 2 of Malachi 3, we begin to see what this looks like when Jesus comes as messenger of the covenant in judgment. Says verse two, but who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap. Now, this might not conjure up in your thinking Revelation chapter 6, but it does to me, so I'm going to read it to you. Listen to what we just read. When this messenger of the covenant comes, they're saying, oh, where's the God of justice? And he says, oh, He's coming. Who can stand when He comes? Who's going to be able to stand before Him? So in Revelation 6.15 it says, And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, and every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. for the great day of his wrath has come. And who is able to stand? You know who's able to stand? Those that are cloaked in the righteousness of Christ. Those who've bowed their knee to him as Lord in this life. They'll be able to stand because he'll cause us to stand. But every evil person who refused to come to Jesus as Savior in this life will now not have Jesus as Savior, but will have Jesus as judge, is what the book is saying. The God of justice is going to purge and purify, verses 3 and 4 of Malachi 3. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years." Not these blemished animals, you know, that kind of thing. It'll be the sacrifice of praise for those of the redeemed. The God of justice will come and judge. Verse 5, and I will come near you in judgment. I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien. That means an outsider, right? Because they do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. And then in verse 6, he says, For I am the LORD. And it's all caps in my Bible. That means God used his covenant name there. I am the LORD. I do not change. Therefore, you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. There's time here for them to repent. That's why God's giving them time to repent. I thought Adam Clark did a good job on that verse. "'I am the Lord, I do not change, therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.'" Adam Clark writes, "'The new dispensation of grace and goodness, which is now about to be introduced, is not the effect of any change in my counsels. It is, on the contrary, the fulfillment of my everlasting purposes, as is also the throwing aside of the mosaic ritual, which was only intended to introduce the great and glorious gospel of my son. And because of this ancient covenant, you Jews are not totally consumed, but you are now and shall be still preserved as a distinct people, monuments both of my justice and my mercy." That's pretty good. So the third word I've got here is waiting. God doesn't bring immediate judgment. He's warning them and God's waiting for them to repent. In verse seven, it says, yet from the days of your fathers, you have gone away from my ordinances. You have not kept them. Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. God, in all of this language of coming judgment, says, you're far from me. He's trying to awaken the people to the fact that they are not near Him. That they're bringing these horrible sacrifices. The priesthood has fallen into shambles. The people aren't worshiping in a way that's honoring to God. And God says, come back to me. Come back to me and I'll come to you." Doesn't that sound like the prodigal son story? Where the prodigal's far off and the father's watching for him, and as soon as he sees that the prodigal's coming back, the father, you know, hoists up his garment so he can run and takes off and meets his son. That's exactly what's going on in this verse. Return to me. The Lord's almost begging, if you will, here. And I'll return to you, says the Lord of hosts. And that's what's going on in our day. You look at the world, you think, what a mess. What a mess things are. You look at politics. You look at what's going on in the world scene with the wars and rumors of wars. And you can just throw up your hands and say, the world's gone nuts. The world's gone topsy-turvy. Where's God? God is patiently waiting for another one to put their faith in Christ. For yet another one to put their faith in Christ. The Bible says as much. 2 Peter 3 verse 9. The Lord's not slacking concerning his promises, as some count slackness. He's long-suffering towards us. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise. The elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be, in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, the elements will melt with fervent heat nevertheless. We, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless, and consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation. So the church is told here to be a spotless bride awaiting her bridegroom to come and return for her. And in the meantime, to be thanking God for His infinite wisdom. Because of His mercy, He's patiently letting the earth have one more day for sinners to put their faith in Jesus Christ. In Romans chapter 10, verse 13, it says, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And that's the message, right? To repent and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to be saved. Psalm 145.18 says, the Lord is near to all who call upon him. To all who call upon him in truth. And one more for you, John chapter one. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. That God brought rebirth, that we might turn in repentance and faith and embrace Christ. Well, I'm going to move on from there and we'll look briefly at the next accusation against the people, which begins in verse 7, the second part of that verse. Because he said to return, so in verse 7 it says, but you said, in what way shall we return? In other words, what do you mean we're far from you? And so he brings just this one accusation to them. Will a man rob God? Yet you've robbed me, but you say, in what way have we robbed you? in tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing, that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground. Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts. And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts. Now, it's important to understand that Malachi, as a prosecuting attorney for God, is saying, you broke covenant with God, the Mosaic covenant. You broke God's law. And God commanded in law, both in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, for the people to bring a tithe. And it was more than just 10%. There were several tithes. As a matter of fact, when you look at verse 10, he says, bring all the tithes into the storehouse. Remember, Israel was a theocracy. I mean, God was their god, and they were a people, and there was a government installed. And there was no secular government program with the Jews. They were to care for the poor and the needy with these tithes that the people were to give at different times. The priesthood was supported. I told you last time, or a time before, the priesthood was supported by the tithe. And they were obviously not bringing in the full tithe as prescribed in the law. They broke covenant. They broke the law of God. They were legally bound to bring in these tithes. We're living in the age of grace. We're freed by Christ from the law. I don't believe there's a legal requirement on you to bring a tithe into God's house. Jesus is the end of the law to those who believe, the Bible says. But we are to be giving to God by grace, in the dispensation of grace. We've received grace. James McGurney Boyce says in his commentary, it is generally the case that in the New Testament, the obligation of the Old Testament legislations are heightened rather than lessened. So while we're not required to give a specific tenth of our income, it is hard to think of a normal Christian, blessed with the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, doing less. I think that's true. But we're to give freely. When nobody's to give under obligation, the New Testament says, to freely give. The Bible actually says being generous as Christians and giving not only to the church, but other ministries and places that you donate and give, that that's to be sort of an ongoing lifestyle of the believer. If you notice, in 1 Corinthians, when Paul told them to take up the offering to give to Jerusalem, because the church was suffering there, he says, well, on the Lord's Day, when you gather, just put aside that money. It's to be a regular giving. It shouldn't be a deep burden upon you. You just give as you can, as the Lord leads you, by grace, and we're going to take that money and bring it to a church that's hurting, that's elsewhere, right? The gospel came to you from them, and now you can go back with some support, Paul said. Giving was always understood in the New Testament to be a work of God's grace in the heart of somebody who once didn't know the Lord. Maybe once was a hoarder and stingy and didn't want to give to anybody. Zacchaeus, you know, and that the Lord's freed us from that. And so you'll see, like, in 2 Corinthians 8, the grace of God was bestowed upon the churches that they gave, even beyond what they could give. God gave this grace to them. It was by the will of God, it says, in 2 Corinthians 8. It says, this grace is in you as well. I'm praying that God works this grace of generosity in your life as well. He says, see that you abound in this grace also, verse 7 of chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians. So it's by the will of God, not according to the will of God, but we're moved by the will of God who makes us willing to be generous and giving with what God's given us. Philippians 2.13 says, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. So it's gracious giving in response to a gracious God. When we give generously and out of just sheer delight to serve God and to give to God's kingdom, it changes our perspective of wealth, things, money, to where we see ourselves as God intends for us to see ourselves as stewards of what God owns that He's entrusted to us. And then we can look at these things and say, well, Lord, this is all yours. I mean, my house is not really my house. It's your house. I mean, you provided it. The vehicles, they're really not my vehicles. They're your vehicles. And the money, Lord, it's the income you provided, ultimately. You're the giver of every good gift. And Lord, I'm a steward of what you've entrusted to me. And when you think even of the sacred tithe, that if God were to put into your heart and say, well, I would like you to tithe, Larry. I'd like you to give a tenth of your income. Because that's what God said to me years ago, not verbally, but in my heart, I knew God was asking us as a family to tithe. And the response was, OK, Lord. And it's almost as if God said, how's this? I'm going to give you an income and provide for you and take care of you and clothe you and feed you. And you get to keep 90% of all of this. And how about if you just get back to the church work, just a little farling, a tenth. And when you look at it that way, it's not that much that God would lay on my heart to give, you know. And God has never had me out give Him, ever in my entire life. God has always taken care of us. And He gets all the glory for it, right? It's not my stuff. It's not my money. And we're at a point now where, you know, figuring out stuff in our will and whatnot. If we have anything at the end of this whole earth life that we have before we go to glory, where are we going to put that? What are we going to do with it? And so of course we're like, Lord, what do you want us to do with anything we have left over at the end of this whole thing? Where would you have us to invest that in the kingdom? What do you want us to do? So I hope you think biblically about what you own and the income that God has provided for you. And one, thank Him for it, because He's the ultimate giver of everything we have. And secondly, that He would free us up not to hoard, not to be greedy, but to be generous. Lord, we have to be wise. People will try to outwit you into giving to things that you really shouldn't be giving to. I mean, I'm not saying that, because that happens to every church in the world. But we should be generous people, right? Because God's been so generous to us. There's one last little warning I'll give you as we wrap up. And this is in the New Testament book of James. And I always thought James almost sounded like an Old Testament prophet when you read him. But in James chapter 5, he says, come now, you who are rich. Come now, you rich. Weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted. Your garments are moth-eaten. Do you see what James in the Spirit is asking us to do? Close your eyes and think of your house 100 years from now. Think of these things that God's entrusted to you 100 years from now. That's what he's saying. Look in the future. Do you see that your riches are just corrupted? Do you see that these beautiful garments he bought you, they're just all moth-eaten? Then he says, your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. And then he says, you have heaped up treasure in the last days. In the last days. What are the last days? It's between Jesus's first coming and his coming in judgment, his second coming. This is the last days, right? We want to be generous people, having an eternal perspective on how we handle the wealth that the Lord allows us to handle. And I think ultimately, when we do that, when we're generous towards God, his kingdom, the church, I think it speaks volumes to a watching world where our true treasure really is. Because remember, our Lord Jesus said that wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And may Christ be our true treasure. And I'll end with that. Our Father and our God, we thank you for your word. Lord, a sharp word in Malachi, Lord. But for those that are hidden in Christ, Lord, we know that the day won't come like a thief in the night, because we'll be ready and watchful and waiting for the return of our Lord. But Lord, while you tarry, help us to be mindful that you own everything. And Lord, that you're being patient with a purpose that more will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. May your people, your church, be diligently handing out the gospel wherever we may go. In Jesus' name, amen. We receive the blessing of the Lord. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Go in the peace of Christ Jesus to a world that desperately needs to hear the gospel. In Jesus' name, amen.