Just as that day hung on a tree
Next to Christ, the surety Oh Lord, remember us Oh Lord, remember
us And that spirit was being stoned And God stood up They
rise strong Oh Lord, remember us Oh Lord, remember us Some will stand before the throne
But some will stand in Christ alone So, O Lord, remember us. O Lord, remember us. And you said, and we believe,
all who ask they shall receive. So, O Lord, remember us. Oh, Lord, remember us. Some will stand before the throne,
but some will stand in Christ alone. Oh, Lord, remember us. Oh, Lord, remember us. When you come back with trumpets
sound And all the saints rise from the ground Oh Lord, remember
us Oh Lord, remember us The sun will stand before the
throne The tongue will stand and cry for more Oh Lord, remember
us Oh Lord, remember us Oh Lord, remember us Thank you, Gabe. That was a blessing. Go with me now to the book of
Malachi chapter 3. Malachi 3. We want to look at
one verse. Verse 16. There are some memorable verses that are in chapters 3 and verse
16. John 3.16, 1 Timothy 3.16, and on and on it
goes. Memorable. Look at this verse
16 with me. Malachi 3. Then they that feared
the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written
before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon
his name." A book of remembrance. The word Bible comes from an
old word that means book. Look, the book of God. This is
God's Word. This is not the words of men. No scripture is of any private
interpretation. That is, no man wrote what he
wrote of his own accord, but holy men, Peter wrote, or God
told him to write, spake as they were moved by the Spirit of God. Men like Malachi. Malachi, this
was the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. The Lord gave Malachi this word. The psalm says, The Lord gave
the word, and great was the company of them that published it. This
book has over 40 writers, narrators. one writer, God's Word. This
book is without doubt the Word of God. Without a doubt. I'm not going
to try to prove that. The Lord doesn't prove himself
to man. The Lord reveals himself. But to his people he does. To them that fear Him. Now look
at this. This is all about this book of remembrance. What you
have in your lap here is this book of remembrance that the
Lord said that He wrote. That's what you have there. It's
a book of remembrance. Who is this for? Them that feared
the Lord. Those that feared the Lord and
thought upon His name, the Scripture said. You know, those of you who read
this book, you know how often it speaks of the fear of the
Lord, don't you? The fear of the Lord, the Lord
told the wise man, he gave Solomon more wisdom than any man, than
any man. He said, you write these proverbs,
and in Ecclesiastes, which is the preacher, Solomon was a preacher,
O-N-King. But he's told him to write Proverbs,
and over 800 Proverbs we have. He wrote more than that, over
3,000. The first proverb. What was the first proverb he
wrote? The first thing the Lord said.
You write this down. Proverb 1-7. The fear of the
Lord is the beginning. The beginning of wisdom. There
are too many scriptures. I do want you to turn to Ecclesiastes
though. Turn to Ecclesiastes 8. There
are too many scriptures for us to look at all of them. All of them wonderful scriptures
that speak of the fear of the Lord. But Ecclesiastes 8. These
few scriptures will suffice. Ecclesiastes 8. Look at verses
12 and 13. We have it young and old. I hope
even our young people are looking, especially our young people. Verse 12 and 13, Though a sinner
do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged. Meaning that men do what they
do and it seems like There is no God, no judge, no
punishment of the real. Yet surely, I know, it shall
be well with them that fear God, which fear before Him. But it
shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his
days, which are as a shadow, because he feareth not God. This is the conclusion of the
matter. Ecclesiastes 12. He ends this
book. This is the preacher. Ecclesiastes
12. He ends this book. After all
he's said, here's the way it ends. All right? Verse 13 and
14. Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter. Fear God. That's what it says, isn't it? And yet, this book says about
man, there is no fear before his eye. Amazing, isn't it? It says, God's Word says, the
fool, man who professes himself to
be wise, He's a fool. Why? He doesn't fear God. The
God in whose hands his breath is and all his ways, he hasn't
glorified. He's a fearing creature. A creature doesn't fear the Creator.
His breath is in his hands. That's a fool. How foolish can
you get? How foolish can you get when
the heavens declare his glory? The firmament showeth his handiwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech. Night unto night uttereth wisdom,
declaring, God is, God is. The wrath of God revealed from
heaven, clearly revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men that hold the truth. How dumb can
you get? How foolish can you get? No fear. Day unto day. Speaks of our great God and Creator. Even the birds. The birds sing. We read that, didn't we? In 1 Chronicles. The birds are
singing. What are they singing? Anybody
know what they're singing? They're singing unto Him. Praise
unto the Creator who made the trees. When the wind blows through
the trees and the tree leaves are rustling, what are they doing? Nancy says, the trees are clapping
their hands. Who? Who are they clapping? Who are
they applauding? The one that made them. But he said, my people,
they don't know me. Ox knows his owner. Ass knows
his master crib. But the ones I've made, the creatures
I've made, they don't know me. They don't fear me. Don't fear
me. Let me go on from this about
those who fear not God. Let's talk about those who do.
But let me say one more thing. Why do men not fear God? Why do men not fear God? Because they don't think on God. Something you're afraid of, you
don't think about. You're trying to dismiss it,
don't you? Let's not think about that. Scripture says God is not
in all their thoughts. They do not like to think on
that. They don't read His Word. You know what this Word puts
within us? Fear. Fear of the Lord. They're preachers.
These hirelings that they hire. Like Jeremiah said, they think
to steal my words from the people that they may forget me. Don't tell us about God. And
you know, when you read this book, when you really read this
book, this book clearly speaks of a
holy God. Doesn't it? This book clearly
speaks of a sovereign God. Dan, this book doesn't speak
of some God in men's hands. This book clearly, if you read
it, speaks of God. We're in His hands. The God who
worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. That
He alone has free will to do as He will with whom He will
simply because He will. He's called in this book the
terrible God, the dreadful God, fearful. You can't read this book with
your eyes open and not see God as he is, can you? What does that cause? The fear
of the Lord. We're going to talk about that
fear in a moment. But God is mercy. Oh, thank God. He is love. Yes, thank God. Gracious,
yes. But in Christ. In Christ. Those who fear Him. And boy,
I'm over my last page of notes now. But those who fear Him, He tells
them where to go that they need not fear. But here's the thing. One more
thing. The creature. The creature is full of pride. Creature pride. And the Creator
is determined to destroy all pride. Creature pride. Why? What do we have that we have
not received? And he said that, Brother Henry,
in Isaiah 23.9, he said, God purposed it to stain the pride
of all glory and to bring into contempt all the honorable of
the earth, anything and everyone that doth not give honor and
glory to whom it is due. Who's that? God. And this is part of what it means
to fear the Lord, okay? It says, they that feared the
Lord. What does that mean? And you
know, it's my job. Yes, it's my vocation. It's to remind us to fear this
Lord. To preach this God in such a
way that we will first hear Him. Right? So it's to fear the Lord. David feared the Lord. What does
this mean? Number one, it means to be in complete awe. And I hate to use
that word, really, because men talk about, he's awesome. I hate
that. I really hate that. But to be
in awe means to fear. To be in awe of one who is so
infinitely higher above you. To be in awe of one who is absolutely
sovereign. You know, our generation doesn't
know what sovereignty is. It's been so long since there's
been a king, a despot, a man who's absolutely ruled sovereignly,
that people don't know what that means. And when you say God is
sovereign, God reigneth, it doesn't really mean anything to anybody,
does it? But what that means is, and I've
already quoted it, He does as He will. Not subject to anything
or anyone else. Not subject to anybody or anything.
Not dependent upon. Not answerable to anybody. Sovereign. You know, we'll only worship
before a sovereign Lord, right? We'll only worship before a God
we fear. We'll only think about and call
upon a God we fear. To fear the Lord means to reverence
and respect, and that translates into everything you do. Worship. We talk about bowing before the
Lord. Bowing before the Lord. bowing
before the Lord. That means like a humble servant,
you know, before a much superior one. One who is far above Him,
who can do with Him as He pleases, who holds His life in His hands
and bow before Him. Not bowing and scraping per se,
but nevertheless, bowing before the Lord. Bow, O Lord. Doubt
my Lord. This is why we don't use these
titles, reverend so-and-so. Psalm 119 is holy and reverend
is his name. Call no man your father. One
is your father. Call no man master. We've got
one master. Call no man Lord. He's the Lord of Lord. His majesty. Your honor. Honor and glory and strength
and all that give unto the Lord and the Lord alone. Isn't it
a wonder that the Lord... A man was in the paper and there
was something announced about a judge locally, and it called
him the honorable so-and-so. I know that man. He's my neighbor. He's no more honorable than I
am. I render honor to whom honor is due. That's why we call him
your honor. Father, Holy One, Holy Father,
the right reverend, Holy Father, King, Lord Jesus. He's the one
who bears that title rightly. Then to fear his name. Look at
chapter 4 here of Malachi, verse 2. Unto you that fear my name. This is one, a clear Clear evidence. It should be to all of us very
clear that we are indeed in the last of the last days. The days
immediately preceding the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why?
Because there's no fear of God before their eyes and God's name
is on everybody's lips, even little children. Right, Elizabeth? You hear it all over school,
don't you? I do, too. We hear it everywhere. Adults
and children alike, young people. That's what Paul wrote to young
Timothy, or the Lord wrote. He said, In the last days, men
shall be blasphemers. Fear His name. Those who fear
God fear to use His name in any way but in respect and reverence. Right? Don't use it lightly. Much less than you would use
your spouse or your father or mother, right? You don't toss
their name around. You love them. You respect them.
I don't call my Father by His first name. Right? That's fear. Fear His
name. Those that fear His name. To
fear the Lord means to fear not keeping His commandment. It is. Fear sinning against Him. Verse 19 talks about the word
of the Lord. It says, The fear of the Lord
is clean. By the fear of the Lord, men
depart from evil. Who is this Lord that we fear? Who is this Lord that we fear?
It's Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth. He is Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord,
to be feared. He said to his disciples, you
call me Lord and Master. You say, well, but so I am. All those who fear the Lord,
they first fear, yes, they fear the Lord Jesus Christ. And they
refer to him in reverent terms. They worship him as God. They
honor him as God. Those that honor God must honor
the Son the same as they honor the Father. He's equal. You know
that, don't you? You fear him. You're so blessed. He's given you that fear. I look
at verse 16. It says, Now they that feared
the Lord spake often one to another. So what did they speak of? The Lord. Go to Deuteronomy 6 with me.
Deuteronomy chapter 6. Go over there. They spake often
one to another. Of what? The very things I'm
speaking of this morning. These things. Things above the
Lord, where Christ sits. They spake often. You know, the
more you speak of something, the more you think on it, the
more you think on it, the more you speak of it? Think on these things,
Deuteronomy 6, verses 4, and follow. Here, O Israel, the Lord
our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, with all
thy might. And these words which I command
thee this day shall be in thine heart. Thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them. when
thou walkest by the way." Talk of him. Didn't it say that
over in 1 Chronicles and Psalm 105? Talk ye. Talk ye of his
wondrous works. Speak of him. Those who fear the Lord speak
often. Speak often one to another. acquit
him. They speak of redemption. Remember
Anna? Anna was there at the temple
like Simeon and always wanted to be
there. That's where she was. She loved
the Lord. She loved to talk about it. And
it says, whoever came there, she spoke of redemption. She
spoke to them. Whoever came. Hey, did you hear?
Did you hear? The Lord is merciful. The Lord
is gracious. The Lord will pardon. To speak
often of these things is to speak of redemption. To speak of glory.
To speak of glory. Scripture says, hastening his
coming. Hasten, looking for, waiting on the Lord. The more
you think of something, the more you talk of something, the more
you think on it, and the nearer it becomes. What we're doing
right here, what I'm doing is reminding you. We're thinking
on these things. I'm not telling you anything
new, but just reminding you what God has said from this book of
remembrance. To think on these things. Behold,
he cometh, Scripture said. We are God's people. Believers
are supposed to be virgins who are waiting on their Lord. And
when the shout comes, behold, the Bridegroom cometh. Those who have oil, that's the
Spirit, what does He do? Remind you. Keep reminding you. He's coming. He's coming. Those
who have it, those who wait on the Lord, He won't take them
by surprise. They're not sleeping as others
do. Sleep of death. But the Bridegroom
cometh and they're ready and they're waiting and they say, Now, we speak often one to another
of these things, it says, to remind one another. We all need
reminding, don't we? That's what Hebrews 10 says.
So much more, as you see the day approaching, you need to
exhort one another. Not forsaking the assembling
of yourselves together as a matter of some is. And if they sin willfully,
these some who do, sin willfully, that is willfully. Men don't
just miss Christ, they reject Him. They sell Him. They go after
other things. They don't just miss Him like
a train or a bus. They sell Him. That's to sin
willfully. There remaineth no more sin.
Christ didn't die for that. But so much more, as you see
the day approaching, we're exhorting one another. That's what we're
doing right here. That's what I'm doing. You do
to me when you come here. Exhorting one another. Say, hey,
it's close. He's close. He's even at the
door. Can you hear the sound of the goings in the top of the
mulberry tree? You ever read that? That's what
it says. When you hear the sound of the goings in the top of the
mulberry tree, get ready. Do you hear the leaves rustling?
Do you see the wrath of God? Do you see the perilous time?
Do you see the signs of His coming? It's everywhere, day unto day,
night unto night, others speak. He's at the door. And yet this door is open, like
Noah's ark. Seven days, it's open. Come on! Today is a day of salvation.
I'll put it off when I get older. You don't know if you'll get
older. That's right. That's the fear
of the Lord. It's the fear of missing. Let
him that thinketh be standing. I'm the one in here standing
before you. I need to fear the Lord too,
don't I? Take heed. Take heed to what? A book of remembrance. God wrote
a book of remembrance. We forget. We easily forget. You know, the Lord knows our
praying. Some of us were together recently, and you know, when
you get together, just like children, the more of them you get together,
the more foolishness. It goes on. Doesn't any of you talk foolishness? Talk about the world? Childish
things? Anybody? Well, the merciful Father knows
our frame. He knows our frame like a father
pitieth his children. He knows our frame. He hears
us, what all is going on. He knows we easily forget. So
the Lord, it says, he hearkened, he heard, he hearkened, he heard
it, and a book of remembrance was written. The Lord said, I'm
going to write a book so they won't forget it. You forget things
you hear, don't you? That's why the written word is
so important. The hearing is the live voice
of the Lord. You never do away with the reading
because you remember more what you read than what you hear. If you don't write something
down, you'll forget it, won't you? The Lord has written a book of
remembrance. The Lord hearkened, it says.
He hearkened and heard. Could it be that somebody said,
Oh, I'd like to hear that again. Moses, what'd you say? Moses left. Oh, I could hear
that one more time. Isn't it? Or the apostles. Can you think of how often the
apostles thought, oh, I just remember what he said. That sermon
on the mount. The Lord said, Matthew, sit down. This was written before him.
The Lord said, Matthew, write this down. These things were
written for our learning. Us, for our children. Write this
down. Moses, write it all down. So they can read it and re-read
it and re-read it. Isaiah, write this down. David,
write this down. Solomon, write this down. Paul,
Peter, James, John, write it down. Holy men spake as were
moved before Him. The Lord oversaw this work. The
Lord gave the Word and great was the company of them that
published it. Martin Luther, make a printing
press. There's a dark age that says,
no, the people don't have the Word. It's dark and they're in
bondage. They need light. And the entrance
of my Word giveth light. Make a printing press, monk,
and publish it abroad. The truth will set them free. A book of remembrance. Write
it down. What do we remember? What does
the Lord remind us of? Ephesians 12, verse 1, remember
now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. We're teaching our
young people, our children, from a child, what? Fear the Lord. Right, Teresa? That God made
us, not we ourselves. that he made us, and he's to
be feared. That's the beginning of it. And
this teaching them who God is, creator. Our schools aren't teaching
them that. They're doing everything they
can, Bonnie, to erase that out of the minds of our children
right there. Because if there's no creator, there's no owner.
No judge. But Blair, God made all things. He owns it. He can do with it
as He will. Cannot I do with my own what
I will? He said. Thy Creator. We remember our
Creator. We remember, to those that fear
Him, those that think on His name, remember that we were bondmen
in Egypt. Remember, Moses said, remember
what you are, where you were, when I found you. Remember, it's
of the Lord's mercies. Remember where I found you. Remember.
Call to remember. It's the pit from which you were
digged. Remember who came to where we
were. Who revealed Himself to us. Who
saved us. Who found us. Who chose us. Who
bought us. Remember. You know, if we forget what we
were, if a man forgets what he was, where he came from, he had
lowly beginnings, he'll get what? Proud. The Lord hates that. And he's able to abase. Oh, my. If we forget where we
were, we'll go right back. Can God's people do that? Can
the Lord show great mercy to a man And yet he'd go back and
do the same thing. What a fool. He's forgotten mercy. But he was begging for mercy.
And the Lord, great mercy, shows mercy, and for him to forget
and go right back. Remember mercy. Remember. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not concerned. Right? Old people. Let me talk to you
old people. Are you better now than you were when you were young? You might not have the same problems
you did when you were young. That's the Lord's mercies. It really is, Brother Henry.
It's of the Lord's mercy. Restraining grace is what it
is. You don't have the same particular
prop, to a degree, but not to the same degree. That's of the
Lord's mercy. David, when he was 70 years old,
it says the Lord gave him rest from all his enemies. Until he was 70, he had nothing
but fight. The battle, this battle of sin,
when he got 70 years old, it says the Lord gave him rest.
Who gave him rest? Was he a better man? The Lord said, I'm not going
to let you struggle anymore. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. Remember mercy. Don't ever forget
that. It's of the Lord's mercy. Don't
ever forget that. And our Lord said this in closing.
Our Lord said this. This do in remembrance of me. You know what we're doing right
now? We are remembering mercy. We're keeping the Passover. John
Davis, we're keeping the Passover. Whenever we get together to hear
this Gospel, Sheep in the Passover. We're saying we were bondmen.
We were in the pit of corruption because we deserved to be there.
Why was Israel where they were? Because they got themselves in
that mess. And they got back in it. But
the Lord brought them out of it. Kept bringing them in and
out. He says, remember, I'm the one who reached down and picked
you out, and here's why. Behold the Lamb of God. Here's
why I brought you out. Look on that doorpost in Atlanta.
Right there's a reason. Don't you forget it. Don't you
forget it. This do and remembrance of me,
I brought you out, Christ said. I bought you. I sought you. I redeemed you. I saved you. The Lord spared me. God spared
not His Son that He might spare another. I'm the reason. I'm
the sole reason. Keep in the Passover. We've just
come to hear a sermon. We're coming to remember Christ. We're coming to remember what
He did. And He's coming again. As we say,
we've come to remember that He's coming again. There in chapter
4, verse 2, it says, The Son of Righteousness shall arise
with healing in His wing. The Old Testament says someone's
coming. God wrote this book of remembrance
to remind them someone's coming. He's coming. He's coming. Did He? I took that page out
between the Old Testament and the New. Between Matthew and
Malachi, that was added by the the translators. Take it out. It's one Bible. Because right
after he says, someone's coming, Matthew 1 says, right here he
is. Right here he is. Take that out
so you'll know. There's no division here. God
didn't speak for 400 years after Malachi. Someone's coming. the
very first words out of his mouth, the book of the generation of
Jesus Christ. He's here. He's here. The one I kept reminding you
of is coming. And though the Gospels say he's
here, he's here. Listen to what he said. Listen
to what he said. And they wrote books before the
Lord to remind us what he said. Heaven and earth will pass away,
but not one word that he said will pass away. We need to remember.
We need to remember. Bless God we have the Gospel.
Well, he left. Went back to glory. He said,
now, Paul, Peter, James, keep writing. Keep writing. Remind them. What? I'm coming
again. Just real soon. I'm at the door. Remind them. And the epistle
and the revelation say, He's coming again. You see them? Clouds. You see the clouds? When
you go out there, if there's a cloud in the sky, even if there's
one little cloud in the sky the size of a man's hand. In the
distance, say it's going to rain. Say that. The size of a man's hand. That's
what Elijah said. I see the size of a man had clouded. What's that? The dust of his
feet. He's coming. I hear the sound
of abundant rain. Listen to the tree. I hear the
going on top of the mulberry tree. Heaven's declaring everything. He's coming. Brother Gage wrote
that song, sang it to us. Lord, remember us. How does he
remember us? We're left here on earth. You
know, the Lord died before that thief on the cross, didn't He? The thief on the cross said,
Lord, remember me. And today, I promised Him. today. Yea, and amen, shalt thou
do. Well, the Lord died then. What
could the thief fall back on? He hung there in pain and agony. He hung there in shame and worry. You think worry didn't enter
his mind? Huh? You don't think he started worrying?
He did. What do you think he's thinking
of? Remembering what he said. He said, today. Nancy, He said, today. Nancy, it's today. Yes, He said
that all His people, those that fear Him, those that think on
His name, that speak often one to another, He said, today. That's what it's called today. Every day is a new day of mercy.
Today, if you'll hear his voice, harden not your heart as in the
provocation. Today is the day of salvation.
Yes, today. And it just might be today that
the Lord comes. That's right. And the Lord has
remembered us. If you heard this, if you hear
this word, If you're reminded of past mercy, if you're reminded
of who He is, if you remember and don't forget and like to
think on things above, if you love to gather with the elect,
if you love to hear this again and again and again, He hasn't
forgot you. David said, has thou forgotten
to show mercy? No, David. Listen. I want to
tell you again. All his mercies are clean gone,
David said. No! Write it down, David. Thirty-six times is mercy endureth
forever. A book of remembrance. Is this
precious or what? What will you take for this? If you need mercy, what will
you take for this message? What's it worth? The Lord says,
buy the truth and sell it not. Because what you'll find is you've
traded life for death. What you'll find is you've traded
pearl for dung. But if the Lord remembers you,
He remembers you this way. That's how. He brings this to
remember. He won't let you forget. He's
written this mob, Tammy, Ron, Deborah, Charles, on the table
of your heart. He said, this is that covenant
I make with my people. I'll write my word on the table
of their heart. I'll give them a new heart. And
they'll not depart from me. If they think about it, I'll
remind them. You're not your own. You're mine.
I'll remind them when they go after other things, no sir, you
belong to me. I'll remind them when they start
thinking of this world, this is not your home. You have another
home which you look for. And so I'll take things away
that they're clinging to. I'll take them away to remind
them, this is not your portion. I am your portion. Remember,
remember, remember. And so a book of remembrance
was written. Brother Barnard used to say that
in hell, that worm that dieth not is a memory. You have things that gnaw at
you, past and so forth. Well, you
know everyone in glory is going to have perfect memory. They'll
know as they've been known. Perfect memory. They're going
to remember. the pit from which they were
dug. They're going to remember that we were bondmen and thou
hast bought us out. They're going to remember who
it was. And so they're going to be singing unto Him. But so
will those people outside. They will remember. Son, he said
to the rich man, remember, thou and thy lifetime. That's a good
thing. Remember the gospel you rejected.
Remember. Remember. Remember. And just
gnaw at them. No remorse. There won't be any
remorse. Try to get rid of the sharing
camps. So this is the mercy of God. When a man stands up and
keeps calling you a sinner and a dog, don't get mad at him. Be glad. Don't be glad. Dogs go to heaven. All dogs go
to heaven. Sinners get mercy. Sinners get mercy, Catherine.
All sinners who need mercy, get it, and it endures forever. Book of Remembrance. That's how
you know, preacher. Well, I can show you any number of verses
today and remind you. We'll try it again Wednesday.