Malachi's third chapter was written to the church leaders, not the members. Preachers today with their prosperity gospel and promises have hurt the church. They leave out the rights of the widows and the poor spoken of by Moses, while they bring in most of their money to the sum of millions a year and mostly get it from the weak.

Prosperity Now or Later


Dear readers, we who are saved are supposed to be the Lord’s body here on earth and willingly yield our bodies a living sacrifice which is our reasonable service.

Beloved, as the body of Christ on earth, we are to use our hands and our feet to reach out to the needy. We are to reach out to the hurting and the culture around us with the good news that we serve a risen savior.

Saints, there is a trend passing through our land today that disturbs my spirit and makes me wonder what rock these people were under.

Beloved, we see them on TV every day preaching that one needs to sow a seed into the Kingdom of God as a seed offering for God to do something needful in someone’s life.

Dear readers, they ask the people to send them their debts and they are going to have a special event where they will burn these pieces of paper consisting of bills, etc. as if they are burning the devils of poverty which caused the debts.

Beloved, I will tell you from experience that we bring a lot of these hardships on ourselves by not consulting God’s word in the situation before we make our decision to do something that will affect our finances.

Dear Saints, we find that God instructs us in his word to not be a surety for someone else’s debts, I have been guilty of this more times than I care to remember and it has always left me holding the bag.

Beloved, my daddy always told me that if you want to make a friend your enemy just loan them some money. (Is this sinking in)

Dear Saints, I had a bishop friend tell me a story about one of his close friends who could preach heaven down in a service approaching him about undertaking a job of building a privacy fence for him.

Beloved, this minister was coming up for ordination in the ministry the Bishop had founded, and to keep down trouble, the Bishop informed him that he did not care to have him perform the task because he was such a close friend.

Saints, the minister insisted that he would do the work to the Bishop’s satisfaction and persisted in getting started as soon as possible.

Beloved, the bishop knew that his friend was well skilled in the job task but the bishop continued to put him off, however after several days of pestering him about the job, the bishop regretfully allowed the minister to do the work except there would be one requirement that he would not budge on.

Saints, he informed the minister that he did not care when he would begin work on the fence except that he would not tolerate him leaving the job unfinished to begin or finish work started somewhere else.

Dear readers, the minister agreed to this rule and because the man needed the money, he was paid the full amount to do the fence up front which was almost two thousand dollars.

Beloved, about a week went by and the minister showed up with the material to build the fence, however after several weeks when he had the fence near completion, the Bishop noticed that the friend had not shown up to work on his fence in several days, which caused the bishop to have some people contact him as to the reason he had not shown up to complete the privacy fence.

Dear readers, the bishop was told that his friend had received several job offers and had signed contracts to do other jobs.

Beloved, this report angered the man of God and he enquired where the minister's next speaking engagement was and politely drove to hear him speak.

Saints, the Bishop was to be one of the ministers who would be signing his ordination certificate and wanted to understand the character of the man that he would be signing his name to on his ordination.

Beloved, the bishop and the new minister had a little discussion after the service about why he pulled away from the job to start work on other projects.

Saints, the minister was like David when confronted by the prophet Nathan concerning his sin with Bathsheba.

Dear readers, the man apologized and began to weep as he realized the promise he had made to which the bishop politely forgave him and yes, they had a nice ordination ceremony for the minister in one of their Churches.

Beloved, the mistake the bishop made was paying the man the full amount for the work up front, and because the man did not have to wait on his money, greed set in when the other job offers started coming in.

Saints, I said all of that to make the point that we are all human and have real needs in our lives, but sometimes we let our hearts get in our way and the word tells us that the heart of man is deceitful and wicked for out of it proceed the issues of life.

Dear readers, we know better than to use our credit cards as a means of maintaining our lifestyle, and did you not know that card companies are making a fortune by enticing us to make purchases that we do not need?

Beloved, the loan institutions know that we are living in a fast-paced world where there are luxuries on every corner, and they know that if they can
entice us into buying an automobile on our good credit giving us several years to pay for it, we will be drawn into their trap placing us into a contract making them rich.

Dear readers, if we go more than four years on the loan, we will discover later that when it is paid off we have invested far more into it than it is worth, and can I be safe in saying that we are the ones not using good judgment in our finances?

Beloved Saints, instead of owning up to our bad miscalculations, we just have to blame it on the devil and send a list of our debts to these TV evangelists who are going to have a special event on live TV and let us watch them pray over these debts and burn them in a specially arranged bonfire which is supposed to burn the devil of debt or poverty which has these poor people enslaved.

Dear readers, I know some of these famous ministers that do this and I have heard them preach against what they are doing on TV today.

Beloved, I have watched some of these famous ministers expand as God would add to them and they did not have to fleece the people of God to do it.

Beloved reader, I am sure that these ministers believe that they are acting on God’s promises but my question is this, "Are they portraying an atmosphere of false hope to these poor people who swallow their propaganda and send them their debts believing that God is going to get them out of the situation that they got themself into?"

Saints, these ministers through an outward show have convinced the people that they have rebuked and burned the spirits of poverty off their lives however, this is not going to stop the harassing phone calls from the creditors who want their money with interest.

Beloved, I have one question for these mighty men of God who are making themselves rich by robbing the poor, and my question is, "Who then has robbed even the whole nation of God’s intent of tithes and offerings?

(Malachi 3:5) "And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and false swearers and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts."

(Isaiah 61:8)" For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them."

Beloved readers, does not the Word of the Lord say that my sheep hear my voice, and when we read the verses above, do we not find that God hates robbery for burnt offerings?

Dear Saints, if we are compelled in a special service to give into a ministry and compelled to do it with God’s portion then my question would be, "Who is speaking to us?"

Beloved, just imagine with me for a moment, here we are in a special service and up to our neck in bills, We do not have money to put gas in our car and we pledge to give these ministers an offering that amounts to over a week of work thus placing ourselves and our family in bondage and we have the mindset that God is going to bless and deliver us, however in the back of our mind we are thinking, what have I done and what if God does not come thru on this pledge?

Dear readers, come on now, don’t get to save on me because you know I am right, but first, let me say that God does emphasize in his word that whatever we give to his work shall return unto us but does it say that it is promised to us when we need it?

Dear Saints, this is where the ministers are failing in that they are making false promises to the people and creating an atmosphere that God is going to bring their children out of drugs or some other miracle and fail to realize that God has a plan, Yes, a plan for their life before the foundation of the world, before anything was made.

Beloved, the fruit of the seed will come back to us if we give with a pure heart and motive to advance his Kingdom but it does not say it will come back to us personally or even our lifetime.

Saints, God may decide to have the blessing come back to our children or our children’s children, and this is the danger of the prosperity doctrine being preached in our pulpits today!

Beloved readers, don't you know that there is a record being kept on high concerning our stewardship and these false preachers who fleece God's flock to sustain their lavish lifestyles will find themselves on the outside looking in for How can I believe that they have enough faith to get the power of God on my situation action when they do not have enough faith to believe that God's work done his way shall never lack for resources.

Dear Saints, the word of God declares that almighty God hates robbery for burnt offerings, therefore if you are compelled to give into a ministry and you are compelled to do it with God’s portion which is the tithe, you should do so understanding that the word declares it to be Holy unto the Lord.

Beloved, the Word of God declares that we are to take this to our Local assembly to Celebrate God’s goodness to us so that the ministry and the meek of our community will have food to eat, clothes to wear, and places to live.

Dear Saints, please remember that the tithe of the tithe belongs directly to the minister who is to oversee the ministry to the poor and to keep up our Father’s house, therefore only a small portion of one tithe should be given to other ministries.

Beloved, if God really told you to give to another ministry and you are behind on your bills then it would have to come out of the tithe because God says he hates “robbery for a burnt offering”

Dear readers, the tithe is the Lord’s and He does not want you to rob Him by paying your bills with it.

Beloved, in the old covenant, the Lord says if you were to borrow it then you were to pay it back with twenty percent interest (not too many ministers would tell you that!)

Saints, do not Rob God of His goodness to you from helping the “meek” of our communities, and God also does not want you to rob other people or businesses you have an agreement with to give God an offering.

Beloved, God is just, and with justice comes righteous judgment, therefore, since God loves judgment, and we know that the word teaches, with the right judgment comes great wealth, therefore beloved, “Who Is Robbing God?”

Dear readers, do you not see in today’s church evidence that we have been devastated as a whole, Therefore dear readers let’s face it there are many voices, and the only one that can bring judgment to these voices is you.

(John 10:10) "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly."

Dear readers, what do you think Satan wants to steal most if your soul is in the hands of Christ, that’s right your wealth or God’s goodness in your life, and he will use your numbness to sound judgment to devastate you; thus rendering you with less power in your life living in the cellars of depression and captivated in poverty!

Dear Saints, we need to pray and ask forgiveness in the areas we have been weak in and ask our heavenly Father to undergird us with his mercy and ask that he mark our path with sound judgment when it comes to His Holy Word!

Beloved readers, we need to realize that our God does not work on a merit (favor) system as we are so used to in this earthly realm, but know that we are already accepted in his eyes because we are his children.

Dear Saints, we need to know that the wrath of God was satisfied when his Son Jesus Christ willingly gave his life and shed his life’s blood on an old rugged cross over two thousand years ago to pay the sinful debt of mankind so that we may become the sons and daughters of the most high God.


My Conclusion


Dear readers, does not the Word say that we are Kings and Priests of our God, therefore Beloved, if we are Kings and Priests of our God, what good is a King without sound judgment?

SPECIAL NOTE: We find in our studies of scripture that there is a “right” for the laborer or hireling and their wages that extends to the needy the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger] and the ministry.

Saints, we have made preachers millionaires in today’s church and missed the Lord’s intent concerning the culture around us which is to become the Lord’s body on earth and willingly yield our bodies a living sacrifice which is our reasonable service.

Beloved, God wants to use our hands and our feet to reach out to the needy, the hurting, and the culture around us with the good news that we serve a risen savior who desires to save sinners.


My Closing Prayer


Father God, we come to you asking you to give us the Grace of good judgment to keep on making good judgments for we realize that it is a Kingdom principle.
Dear Lord help us to be all we can be for the upbuilding of thy kingdom that you may leave your signature through us to touch future generations. Father, we thank you for hearing our humble prayer for we ask these favors in Christ's name, Amen