Malachi 3: 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me!"

It is evident that man would withhold his heart from God or in other words rob him of his affections the very thing which he principally desires.

And is this a small offense?

Should a person rob you of the affection and esteem of the partner of your bosom or of your children or your friends? Would you not think it a great injury?

Would it not in many instances be worse than robbing you of your property?

And is it then a trivial offense for intelligent creatures to rob their creator father and benefactor of that supreme place in their affections in which he has a most perfect right in which he prized above everything they possessed?

The world is in some form or other, the great Diana, the grand idol of all its inhabitants so long as they continue in their natural sinful state. They bow down to it, they worship it, and they spend and are spent for it. They educate their children in its service. Their hearts, their minds, their memories, and their imaginations are full of it. Their tongues speak of it, their hands grasp it, and their feet pursue it. In a word, it is all in all to them, while they give scarcely a word or look or a thought to him who made and preserves them who it is really all in all. Thus, men rob God of their bodies and spirits which are his, and practically say “We are our own, who is Lord over us “.

From the manner in which we have actually treated the Bible, we may learn what our feelings and dispositions toward God are. For as we treat the word of God, so should we treat God himself where he to come and reside among us in a human form as he once dwelt on earth in the form of his son. The contents of scripture are a perfect transcript of the divine mind. If then God should come to dwell among us, he would teach the same thing that the scripture teaches and pronounce upon us the same sentence which they pronounce. We should therefore feel towards him as we now feel towards them.