Would you join me in your Bibles
to the book of Malachi? We're going through the book
of Malachi, and like all of the books of the Bible, we find out
what would we be without grace? Where would we be without grace?
And in this chapter we have seen a number of passages that have
shared with us the difference between saved and lost, elect
and non-elect. Jacob's and Esau's and in this
last verse of this chapter we have a tremendously serious statement
made here by the Prophet Malachi as he was a secretary of the
Holy Spirit to write these things and to God's people there at
that time Malachi chapter 3 and verse 18 Then shall ye return
and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that
serveth God and him that serveth him not. Then ye shall return."
There's a lot of discussion about what that ye is, but I can only
see that that true ye is the Lord God Almighty, Jehovah. Jehovah
Elohim, Lord of hosts, as he's mentioned so often in this passage
of scripture. And it is he alone that can discern
between the righteous and the wicked and between him that serveth
God and him that serveth him not. We know by the word righteous
that those are God's people. Those are the ones that have
been made righteous by the blood of Christ. They are in right
standing. They have the righteousness of
Christ. And the wicked are those who do not. And we have that
comparison going through the end of this chapter in the last
phrase of this verse, between him that serveth God and him
that serveth him not. Way over in the New Testament,
In the book of Hebrews, we have a complementary verse of scripture
that shares with us what we find in this verse of scripture. In
the book of Hebrews chapter 4, would you turn there with me?
Join me in the book of Hebrews chapter 4 and there in verse
13. It says, neither is there any creature that is not manifest
in his sight, in God's sight, but all things are naked and
opened unto thee of him, of the eyes of him with whom we have
to do." Certainly we notice in this passage a scripture or statement
about the power of Almighty God to know all things about all
people and he knows those that are his and he knows those who
are not his and we are as it's declared in this passage of scripture
naked we have nothing to sustain us before Almighty God. We are
undone, we are unclean, we are naked before Him, and He is the
only one that knows us for what we really are. He knows us as
His children, or He knows us not as His children. He knows
us as His sheep, or He knows us as the goats. He knows us
as Jacobs. He knows us as Esau. He knows
us as those who would follow after Noah, or he knows the rest.
He knows the Canes or the Abels. This is just a comparison that
we find through the scriptures. Over in the book of Matthew,
we have a passage of scripture that goes along with our thoughts
for tonight, as brought out there in the book of Malachi chapter
3 and verse 18. That is, then shall ye return,
God return and discern. He's the only one that can discern
between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth
God and him that serveth him not. The book of Matthew chapter
13, Matthew chapter 13, beginning with verse 24, we have one of
the parables that the Lord taught his disciples. Now he tells us
why he taught in disciples. There are some Esau's. They don't
need to know what he has to say. There are some Jacob's that he's
going to reveal the things of the Spirit to them. Those that
appear to have ears but can't hear and eyes that can't see.
And then there are those who realize they are unable to see
unless the Spirit should reveal the things of God to them. In
this parable put forth unto them saying, The kingdom of heaven
is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while
the men slept, his enemy came, and sowed tares among the wheat,
and went his way. But when the blade was sprung
up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir,
didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then
hath it tares? So we know that as the Lord teaches
his disciples in this passage of scripture, the seed is always
good. It's the gospel. It's the good
news. It comes from God. He doesn't
mix air with it. In fact, men mix air with the
gospel. That's our greatest problem that
we face today with ourselves and with others is dealing with
those who have mixed other things with the gospel. And here the
seed has been sown and it's been great seed, but we also find
out in that field that there are what the Lord calls in this
passage of scripture, tears. So he said unto them, an enemy
hath done this. Now, The one that has done this
is truly an enemy of Christ, an enemy of God, an enemy of
the church, and an enemy of the gospel. We can blame many people
or many things, and so often the devil gets blamed for this,
but an enemy is someone that is not someone that holds the
truth of the gospel in their heart and they do this and We
find in several places there were those right in the midst
of the of the children of God that we're doing this They're
enemies of the cross. They're enemies of the gospel
and they have sown these wicked seeds The service said unto him
wilt thou then that we go and gather them up now That tells
us that there are a few there that thought that they knew the
difference between the wheat and the tares, and they were
going to go dig them up, but the Lord says, no, just leave
them alone. They said, nay, lest while you
gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest. Now the gospel is
going to separate. The gospel is going to separate
the wheat from the tares, The gospel will always do that. And
in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye
together first the tares and bind them and bundle to burn
them, but to gather the wheat into my barn. The tares are taken
out as the sheep and the goats are separated and we realize
as we'll read later how they are taken and they will be turned
into everlasting damnation and the wheat will be taken into
the kingdom of God prepared for his people, for his sheep from
the foundation of the world. It is often we find that there's
a day coming when all the religious baloney will be removed. and each will stand without any
human intervention before God. And only those that will be able
to stand are mentioned there in the book of Malachi chapter
3 and verse 18, the righteous. They're not depending upon their
righteousness, upon their works, upon their good deeds, upon what
they've done or how they've done it. And as it's brought out here,
gather his wheat into the garner. That's what he's going to do.
He's put his wheat into his barn. The chaff will be burnt with
unquenchable fire. We remember reading about the
feast, the wedding feast, over in the book of Matthew chapter
22. Matthew chapter 22, and every
time I read passages like this, I'm just so thankful for grace,
the grace of God. the grace of God in salvation,
the grace of God in redemption, the grace of God in bringing
us to the gospel, the grace of God in allowing us to believe
the gospel. It's the grace of God, the unmerited
favor of God. We've raised our hand against
Him in our own religion and then God is gracious to cause us to
put our hands down and worship the true and the living God.
In Matthew chapter 22 verse 10, and while they look steadfastly
So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together
all as many as they found, both bad and good, and the wedding
was furnished with guests. And when the king came in to
see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding
garment. Now the interesting thing about
these wedding garments in the Eastern weddings, in the Eastern
marriage rituals and so forth, was that those wedding garments
were provided. It wasn't like our weddings today where you're
invited to participate in a wedding, but you're expected to bring,
rent your own tuxedo or your own dress or make your own dress
or make anything. These were provided by the man
in charge of the wedding. And he comes to that and he addresses
him. He says unto him, friend, how
camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment, and he was
speechless. When the God of the Bible deals
with people and they are not obeying Him, they are actually
speechless before Him. He's taken away their very excuse. They are all without excuse. So this man that came in without
a wedding garment, easily identified by the Lord, who will spend our
life making mistakes, but he knows exactly who has the wedding
garment on, has the righteousness of Christ and who does not. And
he said to, uh, then said the king to the servants, bind him
hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are called,
but few are chosen. No truer words are written in
the scriptures. Many are called this man, He
was invited to come in, but he wouldn't submit to the righteousness
of Christ and attempted to go on his own righteousness. And
the Lord so quickly can identify that the rest of them were unable
to do that. In the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 4, would you turn there with me? 1 Corinthians chapter
4, as we think about the Lord returning and discerning between
the righteous and the wicked, this is a reality. This is something
he is going to do and no one will be able to deceive this
one that comes. No one will be able to mock him
or make fun of him or say or bargain with him. We've done
the best we can and you ought to accept us." Well, we may think
that and we may say that at times, but it's not going to change
the Lord. Here in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 4, 1 Corinthians
chapter 4 and there in verse 5, Therefore judge nothing before
the time until the Lord come. who both will bring to light
the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels
of the hearts. And then shall every man have
praise of God. The Lord has all of this ability
in Himself. He knows exactly who are His
and who are not His. He knows where His people will
be appointed a day when they will meet Him, when the gospel
will be brought to them. He has appointed a day for that.
We read not too long ago in our study about Daniel. He said there
will be a resurrection, some to everlasting life and some
to shame and everlasting contempt. This is a truth that's found
throughout the scriptures, and the difference between it is
not how good we've been, but the grace of God. The difference
between it is not our works or our righteousness, but the grace
of God. It is the grace of God that makes
the change. It's the division point. It is
the grace of God. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy. I'll have grace to whom I'll
have grace. And that is all the difference in the world. If you'll
turn with me to the book of Matthew again, Matthew chapter 25, Matthew
chapter 25, Matthew chapter 25, and there in verse 46. Matthew chapter 25 and there
in verse 46, the scriptures share this, and these shall go away
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.
The Lord, speaking about this serious subject, that those that
His grace has been evidence to, those who He has known from eternity,
those even while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, those
are the ones that He says will be the righteous and they shall
have eternal life, and all the rest will go away into everlasting
punishment. It is not the work of men that
makes the difference. It is the work of God. It is
the grace of God. Now, I've met people, and you
probably have too, that say they can tell a saved person from
a lost person. Well, no you can't. You just
can't do that. We make surmisings, and it's
usually based on what's done and not who is the Savior. We're
making a judgment. My goodness, if we lived in the
days of Moses, we'd say he's not a saved man. If we lived
in the days of David, he's not a saved man. If we lived in the
days of Rahab, not a saved woman. If we lived in those days, and
all around us, we see people that are doing things that are
contrary to being a good neighbor, and we make a judgment call,
and you know what? God said that he is the one that
will make the judgment call. He's the one that provides the
righteousness. I find this, that the difference
between such who are really and truly righteous and such who
believe in Christ and are not justified by their own righteousness
but are justified by His righteousness, it brings and it appears from
the Scriptures that the righteous find it difficult or nearly impossible
to boast in themselves. They hardly can raise their heads
towards heaven. They know not how to pray as
they ought. They rightly say, I am undone,
I am wretched, woe is me, in comparison to the Savior. They
do not keep track of their service of God. In fact, when it is mentioned,
they say, when did we do that? Do you remember that statement
right here in the book of Matthew chapter 25? It's brought up earlier
in this chapter, verse 31. In Matthew chapter 25 and verse
31, when the Son of Man shall come in glory, and shall all
the holy angels with him, they shall sit upon the throne of
his glory, and he shall gather all nations, and shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, come you blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. The only reason that they are going to enjoy the kingdom
prepared for them from the foundation is grace. God's precious, rich,
grace. For he says, I was hungered,
and you gave me meat. And I was thirsty, and you gave
me drink. And I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and
you clothed me. And I was sick, and you visited
me. And I was a prison, and you came
unto me. Have you ever done that? Have
you ever been brought to that attention, and we say, when in
the world did we do that? Just like we read here, then
shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee
hungered, and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw
we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed
thee? When did we see that? They realize beyond a shadow
of a doubt that the only reason they're in the line of the sheep
is the grace of God. It is not based upon merit. It is not based upon works. It
is not based upon anything. In fact, a true believer, one
that has the righteousness of Christ, One that is righteous
in the eyes of God has a feeling about themselves, O wretched
man that I am. And when we hear the Lord Jesus
say those things to us, as we read here in this chapter of
Matthew, chapter 25, we find, what is God talking about? When
did I do that? Now, on the contrary side of
that, we find that when he starts to speak to the goats, they immediately
jump up and say, we've done many mighty works in thy name. And
that's the way the unrighteous are. That's the way the wicked
are. They're not going by grace. They're going by works. They're
not going by the grace of God. They're going by legalism. They're
going by the law. They've kept the law. Now, the
strange thing about obedience to the law is there's nothing
in it that the Spirit does. There's no regeneration in that.
And the elect, the sheep, they depend upon the mercy of God
to give them the new birth. And this makes all the difference
in the world. Jesus told Nicodemus, you must
be born again. And that is the absolute truth
of God. And it is evidenced throughout
the scriptures that he does something for us that we cannot do ourselves.
And we don't know exactly all that happened, but we do know
this, that God is gracious. and that his mercy endureth forever,
and that he is the one that makes the difference. I will have mercy
upon whom I will have mercy. The sheep have their place, the
goats have their place, and as we look here we find that there
are going to be those that are going to be turned into everlasting
eternal punishment. They will be called the second
death. There will be no remedy for that. They will always be
in that condition. In that chapter of Malachi that
we looked at there, chapter 3 and verse 18, it says, discern between
the righteous and the wicked. God is doing that, and He does
that. Now there is a difference between
everyone that has had their names written down in the Lamb's Book
of Life from eternity. They have a difference about
them. They act, as we find in the book of Galatians, you cannot
tell the difference between a servant and a son. until the time comes. And then there is certainly a
big difference between the Son, the children of God, in God's
eyes than everyone else. We don't know that. We think
we're just, when God saves us, we're the vilest of all. And yet God has revealed to his
people that I have chosen you from eternity. The sheep and
the goats share with us much about this very thing, that it
is God that makes the difference. It is He that has brought us
out of darkness and He has given us light. We have from the very
beginning a strong statement made by God that there is a difference
between the righteous and the wicked, between servants of God
and him that are not. We go through the scriptures
and we find that there's always this righteous and wicked Cain
and Abel. Cain brought his best, and no
doubt he did bring the best fruit that he possibly could, but it
was unacceptable to God. But by faith, Abel offered a
more excellent sacrifice. We go down to Noah. Well, let's
just back up just a little bit and we read about Jacob and Esau.
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. The elder shall serve
the younger. That was what God said about
the matter. And Noah and the rest, we read
about them and there's no difference between Noah and all the other
relatives that he had at the time. except God made the difference. God gave him grace. Many people
think that Noah did something very special, that he would find
grace in the eyes of the Lord. God's grace was given to Noah,
and that's the only thing that drew Noah to God. We read about
Eleazar and Ithamar, and Nadab and Abihu, born in the same family,
four brothers, all ordained to a tabernacle ministry there in
the Old Testament, and out of the blue, Because their heart
was not in it, Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire. They did
not believe the gospel. It was not in their ability to
believe it. And so, anything would do, they
were right in what they had to say. In the New Testament, we
read about Ananias and Sapphira. I was just reading in In a book
I have, Christians in the New Testament, Ananias and Sapphira.
Well, I hate to make a judgment call, but they lied to the Holy
Spirit. And we know the thing there. They had some property and they
decided to sell it and get some praise like everybody else was
getting praise. And they said, we'll just tell
them that we sold it for this much, but we're going to keep
back part. And Peter brings that up. While it was yours, it was
yours. And once you sold it, it was still yours. But then
he lied to the Holy Spirit and came and tried to get some benefit
out of this, tried to get a position out of this, tried to get someone
to pat your back out of this, and they ended up dead at the
feet of the disciples. Over in the book of 2 Corinthians
chapter 10, there's an interesting verse of scripture. 2 Corinthians
chapter 10. At the closing of this chapter,
just like the close of all verses of Scripture that we find in
this Bible about us, the only difference is the grace of God.
The grace of God makes the only difference. It's not by our Wisdom
and it's not by our intelligence and it's not by our birth. It's
not by our will It is by the birth that God gives us in Christ
Jesus in the preaching of the gospel How it is a miraculous
way that God saves his people through the gospel and here in
the book of 2nd Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 12 For we dare not
make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some
that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by
themselves." Isn't that an interesting thing? Measuring themselves by
themselves. I'm going to use myself as the
measuring instrument. Well, there's only one measure.
And we find out that every man, woman, boy, and girl has sinned
and come short of the glory of God. And we start measuring ourselves,
I'm better, I'm at least as good, and I haven't done near the things
that other people have done. And then it goes on to say in
comparing themselves among themselves. measuring themselves by themselves
and comparing themselves among themselves, what does it tell
us there? Are not wise. This is not the
way to do it. Our measure is Christ. Our glory
is Christ. The only reason that we can address
Him with such tender terms is our Father, which is in heaven.
The grace of God God's grace and God's mercy the gospel is
brought to us by the gentleness of God and turns our world upside
down and We are brought to an acquaintance of the Lord Jesus
Christ and it is then that we really know What God saved he
saved a sinner, but he saved us by his grace And so the time
is coming Book of Revelation shares with this, we find other
places in the Bible that shares with this, that God will, in
the end, He will divide the sheep and the goats. He will divide
them because He made a choice of the sheep before the foundation
of the world. They were just the same lump
as the goats, but He made all the difference. And He will divide
them, separate them out. They'll be in one line because
they're told to be there. They'll be the sheep. They will
be brought to the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
in that great day, He'll make a judgment. And there will be
those who say, on the goats, we've done many mighty works
in thy name. And the Lord will say to them,
depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, for I never knew you.
So the grace of God, once again, All these scriptures bring us
back to the very grace of God. It is He that has made a difference.
It is He that has made a difference in our lives. He has brought
us and acquainted us with the person Christ Jesus. We have
no room for boasting. We have no room for writing down
and keeping track of all the works that we do. Because we
don't do any good works. If you've done anything good,
it's because of Christ. And we know that we've done many
evil things, and that's because of ourselves. So as that chapter
concludes there, Malachi chapter 3, and there in verse 18, the
scriptures tell us there that ye, that ye, then shall ye return
and discern between the righteous and the wicked, the state that
we're in, the righteous and the wicked. And then it tells us
those who serve God and those who serve Him not. It's the character
of that group. He's made the difference in our
state. He's made the difference in our character. And there's
nothing that is not manifest in His sight. But all things
are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. May God bless you, and next time
we plan on starting chapter four. Amen.