The Distinction Between the Righteous and the Wicked
By Charles Spurgeon

Malachi 3.16-18
Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD hearkened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and thought upon his name. "'They will be mine,' says the Lord Almighty, "'in the day when I make up my treasured possession. "'And you will again see the distinction "'between the righteous and the wicked, "'between those who serve God and those who do not.'"

The prophet ministered in an age of spiritual declension, one much like our own when men scoffed at God and divine justice. They said, "'Where is the God of justice?' In their blindness they mistook God's patience for indifference. Yet even then God had a remnant, a few who trembled at His word, who feared His name, and who lived for His glory.

Of these it is written, Then those who feared the Lord spoke often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard. Here we see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, a difference not outward, but inward, not temporal, but eternal.

First, they feared the Lord. This holy fear is not terror, but reverent awe, a gift of the Spirit that bends the heart in worship and obedience. The fear of God set them apart as those who walk by faith, not by sight.

Second, they spoke often one to another. Their fellowship was not frivolous but sacred, rooted in God and sustained by love for Him. Like coals gathered together, their conversation burned brighter in the cold night of unbelief. In these humble assemblies God Himself was present. Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Third, they thought upon His name. While others filled their minds with personal gain and pleasure, these saints delighted in meditating upon God and counting Him as the sweetest subject of their contemplations.

And what was the Lord's response? The scripture says, the Lord hearkened and heard. Every whisper of faith, every sigh of longing, every quiet word of encouragement was written down in his book of remembrance. The righteous were not forgotten. They were recorded, loved, and treasured.

Then comes the glorious promise, they shall be mine in the day when I make up my treasured possession. What comfort is here! The Lord himself claims his chosen and redeemed people as his precious jewels. Though now they may be overlooked, afflicted or despised, yet in that final great day of judgment they will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

For that day will soon arrive, when the Lord will make a just, final, complete and eternal distinction between the righteous and the wicked. No longer will the proud prosper, while the humble suffer. No longer will the mocker question God's justice. The books will be opened, and every secret thing will be brought to light. The faithful shall then be owned by Jesus himself as his treasured possession. The wicked will then experience the full weight of his holy judgment. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.