Opening the Windows of Heaven

1:17 Let's begin reading here in Malachi chapter 3. And I begin reading in verse 7. And even from the days of your fathers, ye 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 she said, Wherein shall we return? And then God asked this question, Will a man rob God? But ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? God answers, in tithes and offerings. And then God says, you're cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. And then God makes a commandment and a promise.

2:12 Listen to it. Here's the commandment. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me herewith, prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, and here's the promise, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, and neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time and the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all the nations, or all nations, shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. God says, if you will do thus and such, I will open to you the very windows of heaven.

3:10 the floodgates of glory will be opened and the blessings of God will be poured out upon his people. My dear friend, how would you like to have heaven's windows opened over your head? How would you like for the God of glory to open the windows of heaven and began to pour upon your life his blessings? I want to talk to you today about opening the windows of heaven, opening the windows of heaven. And the way to do that is to get right with God in our finances. And may I tell you this morning that when I'm talking about finances, I know that there are at least three that are interested. God is interested. God is very, very much interested in your finances, not because God wants your money. God doesn't need your money. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. God said, if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. Don't get the idea now that somehow that God is broke or God is in financial difficulty. God is very solvent and yet God is interested in your finances. Over and over again God speaks to us about our possessions. So God is interested. Are you interested in opening the windows of heaven? May I give you four steps right here out of the Word of God. Step number one, and this is a painful step, but recognize your failure. Now, you're not going to get right until you recognize where you are wrong. Now, not everybody here is a failure, but many are. And we must recognize that.

4:51 God says here that some people are cursed with a curse. Do you see that in verse 9? You are cursed with a curse. And we're going to find out what that curse is. It is financial bondage. Well, you say, Pastor Rogers, I'm not worried about any of those things. I'm just doing fine. I've got more money than I know what to do with. Well, you still might be in financial bondage. Did you know that you can have a lot of money and be in financial bondage? A rich person is in financial bondage when he tries to find satisfaction in his riches and can't find it. The Bible says, he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver. You can be in financial bondage when you spend your time worrying over your wealth. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 6, in the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the revenue of the wicked is trouble. Step number one, listen, if you want the windows of heaven open, just recognize your failure. Just go ahead and admit it. Admit it before God. Say, God, I am not what I ought to be in the financial realm, and I don't believe I am what you want me to be. All right, now I'm not trying to say that if you're poor and can't pay your bills, you're not right with God. But I am saying, listen to me very carefully, listen to me very carefully. There may be some principles that you're transgressing and God wants to teach you these principles so He can bless you.

6:18 Point number one, recognize your failure. Point number two, renew your fellowship. Now look at here in verse 7. Even from the days of your fathers, ye are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them. Return unto me. Return unto me and I will return unto you. Now, if you want financial freedom and if you want the windows of heaven open, first of all, you just return to God. And I want to remind you that it is not your money that God wants. Please hear me say that. It is you that God wants. God needs nothing. It is not what you have that God wants. God wants you. God says return unto me and I will return unto you. What you don't freely give and what you don't gladly give and lovingly give God neither needs nor wants. Now God says, return unto me and renew your fellowship. And the people said, well, how shall we return? And look in verse 7, but she said, wherein shall we return? God answers, look in verse 8, will a man rob God?

7:36 Yet you have robbed me. But she say, wherein have we robbed thee? And God's answer is in tithes and offerings. Now my dear friend, the point of return is the point of departure. More people than we dare think get away from God in the financial realm. And if you're going to come back to God, if you're going to renew your fellowship, you're going to have to begin with the tithe. Now, if you don't tithe, you're stealing from God. That's pretty blunt, isn't it? Well, you say, Pastor, I don't agree with that. Well, that's all right. Don't argue with me about it because I'm not the one who said it. Will a man robbed God, yet ye have robbed me. Wherein have you robbed me in tithes and offerings? Listen, friend, think about it. I mean, when you fail to return the tithe, you do rob God. You do rob the church. You do rob missions.

8:31 You do rob the needy. But have you ever thought about the fact that you've robbed yourself? I mean, you are cursed with a curse. Now, you know, the Bible says we're to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. And we're to render unto God the things that are God's. April the 15th, you're going to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, aren't you? I mean, boy, you're going to get down there and you're going to pay that income tax. You would not think of not rendering to Caesar on April the 15th. Question, do you fear Caesar more than you fear God? Do you love Caesar more than you love God? Well, you say, now wait a minute, Pastor, what is the tithe anyway? I mean, I'm new at this thing. I don't even know what the tithe is. Well, the tithe is the first tenth of all of your income. Let me give you some scripture here.

9:25 Leviticus chapter 27 and verse 30, And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, it is the Lord's, it is holy unto the Lord. all of the tithe. And the word tithe simply means a tenth. Jacob said in Genesis chapter 28 and verse 22, Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. And so, here it is. Listen, folks. First of all, recognize your failure. Secondly, you need to renew your fellowship. Just say, God, I'm coming back to you. And wherein will I return? I'm going to return to you Lord with my tithes and with my offerings. That is the starting place. You cannot plow around it. You cannot say well I'll get right in every other area but this area. Get right in this area or you will not be right with God. Tithing is God's way to bless you. It's always a blessing when you give it. It's always a curse when you steal it. Number three. Now watch it.

10:35 Well, recognize your failure, renew your fellowship, and then here it is, release your finances. Just release them. Look in verse 10. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat, food, that means, in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, there shall not be room enough to receive it. All right, how are we going to do this when we release our finances to the Lord? What do we do? Well, God tells us exactly what steps to take. If we want the windows of heaven, the floodgates of glory to be opened on us. First of all, there is a definite proportion that we're to bring. Look at it again, bring ye all the tithe. I've told you that the word tithe means tenth.

11:30 One-tenth of all of our increase is to be set aside for God's use. And the other nine-tenths belong to God and we're stewards of it. But one-tenth is to be set aside and consecrated for God's use. Again, Genesis chapter 28 and verse 22, Jacob said, Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Now, I know how the minds of many folks are working today. You're saying, well, now wait a minute, Pastor. that tithing business, that's all legalistic. And you know, we're under grace. We're not under the law. Well, friend, when Jacob said, of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee, that was before the Mosaic law was ever even thought of. As a matter of fact, Abraham, who was the brightest star in the Hebrew heaven, 400 years before Moses and the Mosaic law gave tithes to Melchizedek. And Melchizedek was a picture and a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham tithed before the law.

12:35 Jacob tithed before the law. And then after the law in the New Testament, Jesus Christ talked about tithing. In Matthew chapter 23 and verse 23, He said to the scribes and the Pharisees, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done, that is to pay tithe, and not to leave the other undone. Tithing is not a substitute for justice, mercy, and faith. But we ought to tithe. Jesus Christ said so. And if you really want to read something interesting, you just get your Bibles and read Hebrews chapter 5 and Hebrews chapter 7. And you're going to find out that when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, it's a picture of the church paying tithes to the Lord Jesus Christ. May I say this about the tithe?

13:38 Listen to me, friend. Abraham commenced it. Jacob continued it. Moses commanded it. Jesus commended it. Who am I to cancel it? May I say that again? Abraham commenced it. Jacob continued it. Moses commanded it. Jesus commended it. Who am I to cancel it? Somebody says, oh, oh, I'm not under the law. I've heard that so much. I'm not under the law. I'm under grace. Well, so am I under grace? Any Christian who would let a Jew do more under law than he will do under grace is a disgrace to grace. And say that again. Any Jew or any Christian who would let a Jew in the Old Testament do more under the law than he himself would do under grace is a disgrace to grace.

14:34 Jesus never revised the law. Downward, listen to Romans 3 verse 31. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid we establish the law. You see, my dear friend, tithing is not just a part of the Old Testament ceremonial law. It was here before the Old Testament ceremonial law ever got here. But even though the truth of the Old Testament ceremonial law is established in the tithe through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, here it is. If you'd release your finances, number one, there is a definite proportion that is a starting place. Number two, there is a designated place. Look at it. He says here, look at it in verse 10, bring you all the tithes into the storehouse. Now in the Old Testament they had a temple. And in that temple there was a storehouse. And so they brought all the tithe into the storehouse. In the temple they would bring their tithe and it was put in the storehouse.

15:36 You say, Pastor, there is no temple today. Well friend, you're wrong. There is a temple today. The Bible says of the church, ye are the temple of God. First Corinthians 3 and first Corinthians chapter 6, the Bible teaches that the church is the temple of God. And so the Apostle Paul said in first Corinthians chapter 16 verse 2, upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him. And the word in store is translated in the Septuagint, Septuagint in the Old Testament, storehouse. It's the same word. Storehouse in the Old Testament, in store in the New Testament. What's he saying? We just bring to the storehouse, to God's temple on God's day, God's tithe, that God's work will be done in God's way. There's a definite proportion. Bring all the tithe. And my dear friend, there is a designated place you bring it to the storehouse. Your tithe is not to be used for other good things, not to be used to help your relatives who need help, not to be used for a Loveworth finding or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association or something else.

16:49 Thank God for these things. We ought to give to them, but we give over and above our tithe. My dear friend, God's tithe is to be brought to God's house on God's day that God's work will be done in God's way. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him. Bring you all the tithe into the storehouse. That is what God's Word says and I believe it, my dear friend. Now, there's not only a definite proportion and a designated place, but my dear friend, there is a determined purpose. And what is the determined purpose? That there may be meat in mine house. That is that God's work is going to have all that it will need to get done. There are other good projects, but My dear friend, if God's people today, and in all of our churches, in all of our churches would just do what the Bible says, they would be blessed and the work of God would prosper.

17:43 We would be able to reach the teeming millions without Christ as God has commanded us to do. Now, you can not only rob God in your tithe, but you can rob God with your offerings. You haven't finished when you tithe. As a matter of fact, when you tithe, you really are just paying the tithe. You're returning the tithe. The tithe is the Lord's. Now, here's the fourth thing, and I want you to see the good part now. Here's the good part. And here are the steps God says. First of all, you recognize your failure, you're cursed with a curse. Secondly, you renew your fellowship. God says, just return to me. Just come back to me. But remember, you can't plow around your stewardship in order to get to your fellowship. There you recognize your failure, you renew your fellowship, and then my dear friend, you release your finances. You bring all the tithe to the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house and prove me. Now herewith saith the Lord of hosts. And here's the last thing and here's the wonderful thing. And what a blessing it is, my dear friend. At that time you restore your fruitfulness. That's the fourth thing. You just restore your fruitfulness. God says, I am going to open up heaven on you. I am going to pour you out a blessing, there will not be room enough to receive it. Now here, friend, here is a recipe for blessing that will restore your fruitfulness. It is tried and proven. Look at it here.

19:09 Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, verse 10, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts. I want to start right there. The very first thing He will do, listen, is He will renew your faith. Prove me. Prove me. God is giving you a challenge, my dear friend. God is saying, put me to the test. Many people say, I just can't grow in my Christian life. I wonder why I'm not growing. I wonder why I don't have more faith. Why is it when I pray the heavens are like brass? Why is it I don't understand the Bible? Well, get right with God in your finances. Luke chapter 16 and verse 10, Jesus said, He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is much. And he that is unjust in the least is also unjust in the much.

20:03 The least is the material things. The much is the spiritual things. If you go back and read Luke chapter 16. And then Jesus said in Luke 16 verse 11, And if you've not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? May I explain that to you? Friend, if you can't trust God with your finances, how is God going to trust you with true spiritual riches? Prove me, God says. Prove me. Put me to the test. God will renew our faith. And I'll tell you something else He'll do. He'll rebuke our foes. Look in verse 11. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground. Neither shall your vine cast their fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

20:56 These were farmers. Maybe you're not a farmer, but you still have foes, hospital bills, car repairs, your loss of job, recession, depression. All of these things, God says, I will come to your side. I'll rebuke these things that have been devouring your income. Luke chapter 6, verse 38, Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosoms. For with the same measure that ye meet, it shall be measured to you again. Dear friend, you hold the key in your own hand. Oh, I wish I could tell you this. I wish I could get this in your heart. Dear friend, God wants to bless you. God wants to open the windows of heaven upon you.

21:52 Here it is. Listen, recognize your failure. Restore your fellowship. Release your finances. Receive your fruitfulness.