It is New Testament teaching that our faithful administration of earthly possessions has a bearing on the future.  Remember what Jesus Christ said, ’That when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations.’  Remember what His Apostle says, ’Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.’  Let no fear of imperilling the great truth of salvation by faith lead us to forget that the faith which saves manifests its vitality and genuineness, by its effects upon our lives, and that no small part of our lives is concerned with the right acquisition and right use of these perishable outward gifts.  And let us take care that we do not, in our dread of damaging the free grace of God, forget that although we do not earn blessedness, here or hereafter, by gifts whilst we are living or legacies when we are dead, the administration of money has an important part to play in shaping Christian character, and the Christian character which we acquire here settles our hereafter.

Brethren! we all need to revise our scale of giving, especially in regard to missionary operations.  And if we will do that at the foot of the Cross, then we shall join the chorus, ’Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive riches,’ and we shall come to Him ’bringing our silver and our gold with us,’ rejoicing that He gives us the possibility of sharing His blessedness, ’according to the word of the Lord Jesus which He spake, It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

A DIALOGUE WITH GOD

’The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this ... out of the tents of Jacob, ... 14.  Yet ye say, Wherefore?  Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth.’—­MALACHI ii. 12, 14 (R.V.).

It is obvious from the whole context that divorce and foreign inter-marriage were becoming increasingly prevalent in Malachi’s time.  The conditions in these respects were nearly similar to that prevailing in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah.  It is these sins which the Prophet is here vehemently condemning, and for which he threatens to cut off the transgressors out of the tents of Jacob, and to regard no more their offerings and simulated worship.  They might cover ’the altar of the Lord with tears,’ but the sacrifice which they laid upon it was polluted by the sins of their daily domestic life, and therefore was not ’regarded by Him any more.’  Malachi is true to the prophetic spirit when he denounces a religion which has the form of godliness without its power over the practical life.  But his sharp accusations have their edge turned by the question, ‘Wherefore?’ which again calls out from the Prophet’s lips a more sharply-pointed accusation, and a solemner warning that none should ‘deal treacherously against the wife of his youth,’ ‘for I hate putting away, saith the Lord.’  We may dismiss any further reference to the circumstances of the text, and regard it as but one instance of man’s way of treating the voice of God when it warns of the consequences of the sin of man.  Looked at from such a point of view the words of our text bring before us God’s merciful threatenings and man’s incredulous rejection of them.