Test and See His Provision: Malachi 3:6-12 | Experiencing God's Overflowing Grace
Watch This Sermon: “Test and See His Provision”
Are you living as if God's blessings might run out? In "Test and See His Provision," Pastor Mark guides us through Malachi 3:6–12, reminding us that God is faithful even when we're not. This sermon encourages us to examine our hearts, highlighting that true obedience and generosity flow naturally from gratitude for God's overwhelming grace.
In this message, you'll learn that God doesn't leave His people stuck in their mistakes. Instead, He graciously invites them—and us—to return to Him, promising blessings beyond our imagination. These promises are ultimately fulfilled in Christ, who has richly blessed us through His life, death, and resurrection. Our response to this profound generosity should be joyful stewardship of our whole lives.
📖 Scripture: Malachi 3:6–12
✝️ Sermon Points:
📌 God’s character is constant, even when ours is not.
📌 Withholding from God reveals a deeper problem of the heart.
📌 Giving faithfully is trusting in the faithful provision of Almighty God.
📢 “Want to reflect deeper on this message? Read the devotions for this sermon: 5 Devotions on Trusting the God Who Provides
📖 Click to Show the Transcript of this Sermon
Imagine that you've gone out to eat at your favorite restaurant. You've only been sitting there for a few moments and your server approaches with a pitcher in hand, and begins to pour water into your cup. And you watch as the water level rises higher and higher. It's getting full, and he's not stopping. And you start to get a little anxious about what he's doing, and you you kind of glance up suggestively, in hopes that when you glance up, he'll stop.
But your nonverbal hint doesn't work, and the server keeps pouring and pouring. And you get even more anxious as the water reaches the top and begins to flow over the edges of the cup. And he doesn't stop. The water starts to spill onto the table, and it's going down onto the floor. And so you wave your hands, and you signal for him to stop, and and you say, that's enough. But he just keeps pouring, and with a gentle smile says, don't worry. There's plenty more where that came from.
Well, that's a picture for us of what we see when we read from Malachi three. You know, we've seen how God has been chastising the people, how he's been calling them to repentance. But now we see that he is promising them great abundance if they return to him in repentance and faith. And we've seen the many ways in which they have turned from God. They've done so by impure worship, idolatry, and unfaithfulness to their marriage covenants.
And today, this gets expanded upon because we see that they are robbing God by not doing what he commands of them in regards to their tithes and their offerings. And we're gonna see that God calls them to return and keep his commands. And he promises to pour down blessings beyond what they can possibly imagine. So today, as we explore this passage together, we're invited not just to hear these words, but to live them out, to trust God enough to give him our first and our best, and to be confident that He is a God who blesses beyond our imaginations.
So before we get into the details of the passage, I wanna line out our three points for the day really quickly. First, we're gonna see that God's character is constant, even when ours is not. Second, we will see that withholding from God reveals a deeper problem of the heart. And then finally, we will see that giving faithfully is a trust in the faithful provision of Almighty God.
So as we head into this passage and we look at verses six and seven, it's important that we remember that the blessings of God that we're going to see in this passage aren't about our faithfulness. You know, we're familiar with the general story of the Old Testament, how over and over and over, the people of God turn away from God in idolatry and rebellion. But God's promises, they were not anchored in those people's faithfulness. Instead, they were rooted in the steadfast love of God and in the great truth that God does not change, that he made a covenant with his people, and he was faithful to it.
So the words we have for us in verses six and seven here couldn't be more to the point, particularly as this passage starts out. For I, the Lord, do not change. And I want to, once again, call your attention to the word Lord here. It is, again, very significant that in our English translations that we have this word in all capital letters. The God being spoken of here, the Lord of which Malachi is speaking, is not a random deity.
When it is all caps in the Old Testament, we know that this is the proper name of God, Yahweh, the Covenant God of Israel, the one who has revealed Himself to them by name, the one who has spoken to them. The gods of the nations around them are silent. They do not speak. But Yahweh has spoken his name to them, and they know him by name. The nations around them mired in the darkness of idolatry, but the people of Israel, they received the light of revelation from the one true God.
And not only that, but He has put Himself in covenant with them. He's made a promise to them. And that truth is evident in the end of verse six here. Therefore, you, oh children of Jacob, are not consumed. I'm guessing you feel the idea that's being expressed here. The people have been brought back into the land from exile. God has shown His steadfast love and faithfulness to them.
But what do we see here in the book of Malachi? That they've responded to the faithfulness of God in impure worship, idolatry, and adultery. They deserve God's wrath. They should be consumed. But because God is a covenant God, they are not consumed. God isn't going to turn them into a pile of ash and make some other people group the ones who have the blessings of being the people that are of his promise.
God isn't gonna start everything all over. We're not gonna start with a new promise of which people are going to bring about the Messiah. No. God is faithful. And the steadfast nature of God's covenant love is expressed clearly in verse seven. From the days of their fathers, they have turned aside from the statutes of God.
And don't miss here, that he isn't talking about these people specifically and the specific men who raised them, their specific fathers. When it says fathers here, it is calling back through the whole of their history. And that as their God, He hasn't changed. He made a promise, and He was faithful at every turn, even when they didn't deserve it. When their fathers were unfaithful, He was faithful.
And this truth of the undying faithfulness of God is at the root of a call here to return to Him. It's not a call that says, come back to me, or I'll give up on this relationship we have and turn you into a pile of ash. It's a call to return to Him because He is faithful, and He loves them with an undying love. It is a call to return to God because He is faithful.
And they understand that His love continues despite their rebellion against Him. And what it says, and I will return to you, we're not getting the idea here that the covenant is in jeopardy. His need to return to them isn't about that the covenant's been on hold because of them. No. It's about their discipline. Because He loves them, He disciplines them.
This shows us that He is exhibiting love to them. They will not be abandoned by God. He is not pushing them aside. He is instead disciplining them for the rebellion. And throughout Malachi, we've seen kind of a formula that this prophetic book uses. What happens is God makes a statement, and then we see the people respond with a question.
And most of the time, the questions are kind of skeptical. And we see that here once again at the back end of verse seven. God calls them to return after reminding them that He is faithful, but the reply here isn't humble gratitude, saying, oh, thank you God for being patient with us. Instead, they reply with another question. How shall we return?
Well, in these four words in this question reveal the problem. They don't seem to get it. And this shows us our second point for today, that what they are doing is in withholding from God, shows that their issue is a problem of the heart. So as we keep moving and arrive in verses eight and nine, we see God answering their question with a question, Will man rob God?
Well, that's an interesting question. How could you possibly do this? You can't overpower Him. He is sovereign. He is in control. Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and beyond. And everything that we have is ultimately God's, right? Still, we see that they are in fact stealing from Him.
And once again, we see a question that exposes just how oblivious the people are to what they're doing and who they've become. What I've found to be interesting about the book of Malachi is just how objective the complaints of God to the people are. The charges that God makes against the people in Malachi's time aren't something like, You know, you're far from me because you aren't praying quite enough.
God doesn't say, You know, the reason you're far from me is you're not nice. You're being mean to people. No. It's objective. It's not subjective. They are objectively contaminating worship by offering blind and lame animals. They are committing adultery with foreign women and participating in the pagan worship that comes with all of that. And now, they are not offering tithes that were clearly commanded in the law.
There's no vagueness in any of this stuff. This is very clear. The calls to return are connected to definite ways that they can return to God. He's complained that they've been bringing bringing impure worship. Start bringing pure worship. Right? There's a pretty easy solution to this.
There's no vagueness in any of this, But this doesn't mean that our connection to God and our spiritual life is formulaic. This doesn't mean that when we find ourselves doing something objectively wrong, the key is to stop doing that thing. Instead, what we see is that the ways in which we disobey God shows that our hearts were moving away from Him in the first place.
Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew twelve thirty four when Jesus says, Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The people here in Malachi are not far from God because they don't offer the tithes. They don't tithe because they are far from God. The priests aren't offering unacceptable offerings that were damaged, and that causes them to then damage their relationship with God.
No. Their trust and their reliance on Him was long gone, and so they didn't value bringing right offerings. They didn't value doing what God commanded. And as I've mentioned several times as we've been in the book of Malachi, it's really easy for us to shake our heads at these folks. But that isn't a wise way for us to approach the text.
We should be coming to these words, and we should be asking ourselves some tough questions. Are there ways in our lives where we prioritize ourselves over obedience to God? And I'm not talking about tithes and what you put in the offering plate. That's too easy. That's way too easy. Wouldn't our relationship to God be so much easier if it was simple as cutting a check?
Generally speaking, churches are concerned with being seen as just being after people's money. Right? But honestly, wouldn't that be easier? Imagine if there was a simple spreadsheet formula you could plop the details of your paycheck into and it would guarantee you spiritual fulfillment.
As much as people like money, I think we'd probably all sign up in a second. You punch your income into a formula, and it tells you to give this much to the church, that much to give to a missionary in Asia, and another portion to a mercy ministry somewhere in your community. And now you are promised spiritual satisfaction and wholeness.
Like I said, we'd sign up in a second if it was that easy. People would find a way to put that in their budget. I guarantee it. But the issue is not financial. It's not about you being separated from your cash. It's about the subtle ways that we prioritize the self and our desires over obedience to God.
The people in Malachi's day didn't get it. Do we get it? Are we just as unaware that our hearts have drifted from God? The book of Malachi, then, keeps pushing us to return to God, because these heart issues really matter. Drifting away from God. Look at verse nine. Those are strong words there. You are cursed with a curse.
These two verses here, they really grab our attention. Curse is a strong word. This is another word that we don't use too often. And I'm guessing when we hear the word curse, our minds might think of something like a mystical hex from some movie that we've seen about witches or something.
But here, the word curse means a real and substantial loss of the blessings and favor of God because they are in rebellion against him. Essentially, this is saying to the people that if you don't think that you need me, then I'll let you have what you want. And I'll remove my protection. I'll remove my provision from you.
It's serious. And Malachi really helps us to feel the weight of this. And as we consider this, we need to do so remembering that the goal in this is not punishment for the sake of evening out the score. The goal in all discipline is to get people to where they need to be, not just to make them experience hardship.
Kids, your parents don't send you to your room just because they're mad and they wanna make you miserable because they're miserable. They're not evening the score. We discipline because we hope that you'll realize that there are consequences for our actions, and that you'll realize this, and that you'll desire not to be disobedient again.
Discipline is about changing the way that we think about what we're doing. It's not just to send us away for a while. And as you've heard me say many times, change is hard, and repentance is difficult. It's even painful. Yet we see that the benefit is great as we move to our final point for today, and we look at verses 10 through 12.
The first few verses of what we read today in Malachi, they're filled with curses and consequences. And you likely can feel the weight of that. But as we move on to verses 10 through 12, we see that God doesn't leave the people stuck in the mire of their sin and rebellion. They're not destined to be cursed forever.
Instead, He offers an invitation to them and to us to test His faithfulness. And He says that there are blessings so generous that they are gonna be hard for them to believe. God says that when they change their hearts and minds and keep His commands, He will open the windows of heaven, and pour down blessings until there is no more need.
The glass will not just be full, it will overflow overflow. It will pour out onto the table. It will spill onto the floor and it will continue without end. Remember, our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And so there is plenty more where that came from.
And it seems as though the thought is that God won't provide or that there isn't enough for them. That's what's going through the minds of the people in Malachi's time. So in response to this, God offers a challenge. If they put Him to the test by obeying Him, He promises to pour out the blessings until there's no more need.
He promises to rebuke the devourer and protect their fields and their soil. God has allowed these things to take place because the people have been disobedient. It was the means by which he disciplined them. But we see that if they come to a realization of God's mercy and they return to him, He will provide the blessings that they desire.
And they will be so great, these blessings, that even the surrounding pagan nations will know that it is the Lord God who is blessing them. The people will be called blessed, and the land will be a delight. Now I acknowledge that it's easy to read this passage and assume a formulaic idea of how the blessings of God work.
This has been read by many, and they think that their ultimate problem is their lack of giving to the church. And if they start giving the exact number of pennies, then their problems will go away. Like I said before, that is too easy. The false teaching of the prosperity gospel, that's too easy. It's too easy. And that's not how any of this works.
You see, what is being said here in Malachi is to the net is to national Israel under the old covenant. We have to remember that. This is a part of how God related to them as a nation. During this time, I'm guessing there were likely people who were living faithfully to God. They pulled up to the temple with the tithe like they were commanded to, even while their neighbors were not.
The issue here was about something bigger. It was the nation as a whole, the big picture of the nation, not obeying the covenant to God. And this was about something far bigger than just national prosperity or prominence during their time. Remember, Israel was the vessel by which the promise was guarded and delivered.
That promise of the Messiah. Israel was something that pointed to the Messiah and brought us the Lord Jesus Christ. That was the vessel by which salvation was brought to all the nations. That's what this is about here. And we know Him. We know the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Him, we have all the blessings that we need. In the midst of any earthly hardship, whether financial, medical, emotional, anything, We can look to the salvation that we have in him, and we can understand that our cups are flowing over.
The blessing of salvation in Jesus is more than just to the top of the cup. Table and onto the floor and the the room has been filled as those who have been saved by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are swimming in the abundance of his mercy. And that is way better than any financial prosperity that we could hope for.
And so as the people of God who are swimming in the fullness of his grace, overwhelmed by his blessings, how do we respond? That's the question for us on the other side of the coming of our covenant Lord, Jesus. The abundance given to ancient Israel was great, but the abundance that's provided for us in Jesus is far greater.
And so this truth needs to get deep down into us. Remember, this is a heart issue, not an issue of a specific financial transaction or a specific donation of our time and our resources. When we understand that we are overwhelmed by the grace of God, it shapes how we think about giving.
We are called the stewardship of not just our financial resources, but of our whole lives. Like I said earlier, it's not about plugging a number into a calculation formula and expecting results. That's just too easy. What we're called to, as the people of God in Christ Jesus, is to respond joyfully and generously, because Christ joyfully bore the wrath of God for our sins, and He generously poured out salvation to us.
God has blessed us richly in Christ. So Christian giving is about using our time, our talents, and our money as avenues to reflect this grace that we have been shown in Christ. So as we wrap up today, I wanna challenge each of us to take a thorough and thoughtful look at our lives.
The natural inclination of our hearts is to hold on tightly to what we have, whether that be money, time, talents. We're prone to hold on to those things very tightly. And I think we are especially prone to that in our time because of the busyness of life that is pulling us in so many directions.
The fears that we have are legitimate. Fears that there won't be enough money for the next crisis. Fears that we won't be able to spend enough time on what we enjoy, or enough energy to use a talent anywhere other than where we're already using it. With the way our lives are spread thin, these are legitimate feelings that we have.
But when those fears come your way, may the Holy Spirit call to mind for you the words from Malachi, That when we entrust our lives to God, we're not losing anything. Instead, we are participating in the richness of the grace shown to us in Jesus.
So let's get practical with a few questions. In what ways is God calling us to respond joyfully to this grace we have in Him? Who in your life needs your time this week? Is there a ministry here at church that would be blessed by your gifts? Is there a pressing need in your neighborhood or in your family or in your community as a whole that you can bless by being generous?
Whatever comes to mind as I ask those questions, reminder that this isn't about duty or guilt. May the word, with the spirit, fill you with the assurance of salvation. And from that, may you have a heart overflowing with generosity.
May this good work of the word and spirit in you overflow out of your heart, pour out onto the table, spill onto the floor, and flood your life, because you realize the blessings that you have by being united to Christ by faith. So this week and every week, may we live generously as joyful stewards of all that has been entrusted to us, that we might reflect the light of Christ into a world deeply in need of the message of God's overflowing mercy and grace. Amen.
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