In his parables and in his other
instructions in the New Testament, our Lord Jesus tells us plainly
that wherever sheep are gathered, you're sure to find goats. Wherever
you find wheat growing in the field, you're certain to find
tares. And he tells us always to let
the tares grow together with the wheat. The reason is clear. You can't tell the difference. We can't tell the difference.
We all somehow get the foolish notion that's contrary to that
and imagine that we can tell who really is saved and who really
is lost. Our Lord said, let the tares
and the wheat grow together. If you start to jerk up the tares,
you'll pull up wheat every time and you'll keep the tares. The
separation between that which is precious and that which is
vile is his work. He says in the end of the age,
That is, referring specifically to this present gospel age, he
says that he will send his angels, gospel preachers, and they will
gather the tares and bind them up for the burning. That is,
they will gather them out of his kingdom by the preaching
of the gospel and by the preaching of the gospel while they're still
in the field with the wheat, bound up by the word preached
for the burning. But you can't tell the difference
until that day comes. We must never try to separate
true believers from those who merely profess to be believers.
We must never try to distinguish between those who serve the Lord
and those who merely profess to serve him. That's not our
business, and we don't have the ability to do it. But if we look
at Malachi chapter 3, You will see that the Lord himself makes
a very clear discernment. And he assures us that when he
has finished, that is, when time shall be no more, when all things
are finished as God had intended, when the earth was first made
by him, when he first created all things out of nothing, as
he purposed from eternity, When all things have finally accomplished
God's purpose, as he intends, then you shall discern between
the righteous and the wicked. Not to them. Malachi chapter
3, verse 13. The Lord God speaks and says,
your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, what have we spoken
so much against thee? Ye have said, it is vain to serve
God. And what profit is it that we
have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully
before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy. Yea, they that work wickedness
are set up Yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard
it. The Lord paid attention and heard
it. And the book of remembrance was
written before him for them that feared the Lord. and that thought
upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith
the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels. And
I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the
wicked. between him that serveth God
and him that serveth him not. Turn, if you will, to Job chapter
21. The first thing we see here in Malachi's prophecy, verses
13, 14, and 15, is God's charge against the wicked. Now these
wicked men and women who are described here are not merely
profane, base, godless people who live without any professed
religion at all. Not just infidels and atheists. No, no. These are people who
continually dwell in God's house and profess to be God's people
and profess to worship Him. They say, we've walked mournfully
before you all our days. They were his people by profession
and by name, but were not his people at all. The Lord gives
this charge against him. He says, your words have been
stout against me. Stoutly opposed to God's revelation. Stoutly opposed to God's character. Religious as all get out, but
opposed to God. opposed to God's gospel, His
ordinances, His worship, opposed to everything that gives honor
to God and none to man. They pretend that they've not
done so. They say, what have we spoken
so much against thee? In fact, few would ever use such
speech. Few would ever say, I hold this book in contempt
and still claim to believe it. A few would ever say I despise
God and still claim to worship him. A few, I don't know of any
who would ever make such statements openly and outwardly. But the
Lord God shows us plainly that there are many, there are many
who speak stoutly against him in their hearts. You've said
it's vain to serve God. You've said, what profit is it
that we have kept his ordinance? That betrays a lot, doesn't it?
What profit is it? What good is it for me? How have
I benefited by serving God and keeping his ordinance? You said,
what benefit is there been to me that I have walked mournfully
all my days? I have behaved in such a way
and humbled myself and done without so that I could be recognized
as a follower of God. And now we call the proud happy. Hey, they that work wickedness
are set up, they're exalted and elevated. God honors the wicked,
not the righteous. God elevates those who are vile
in their conduct, not us good righteous people. Those that
tempt God are even delivered. Here in Job chapter 21, listen
to what Job says in his reply to Zophar. This man, one of Job's
good friends. I've had a few friends like this
in my life, haven't you? They, Zophar was among those
who presumed that since Job had lost his family, since God had
visited him with such heavy, heavy chastisement, then surely
Job must be an evil man and God must be against him. Job responds
to Zophar, look at Job 21 verse 6. Even when I remember, I am
afraid and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. Wherefore do the
wicked live? Become old, yea, and are mighty
in power. Why is that? Why do ungodly,
reprobate men live, get old, acquire wealth, and become mighty
in power? Why? Their seed is established
in their sight with them, and their offspring before their
eyes. They see their sons and daughters educated and married
and see their grandsons and granddaughters educated and married and see
them well off like they are. Their houses are safe from fear. Neither is the rod of God upon
them. Their bull gendereth and faileth
not, their cow calveth and casteth not her calf. They send forth
their little ones like a flock and their children dance. They
take the timbrel and harp and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth
and in a moment, they go down to the grave. They don't spend
a long time dying. Everything goes well for them.
Who would want it better on this earth? They live the old man. They live in health. Their families
prosper, and when it's time for them to die as old men, they
just drop dead with a heart attack. Therefore, they say unto God,
the wicked, depart from us. For we desire not the knowledge
of thy ways. What is the Almighty that we
should serve him? And what profit should we have
if we pray to him? Why should I serve God? Look
how I do it. Why should I worship God? Look how well things are
with me. That's the language of the wicked. Don't need him. The Lord set the world in their
hearts. So they couldn't find out God.
The moral sad fact is sometimes we talk like that. True believers behave just as
violently as the wicked. You and me. We are just as blasphemous
in our thoughts of God, just as stout in our rebellion toward
God as any wicked man who ever lived. Let me show you. Psalm
73. Psalm 73. Here's God's servant,
David. You remember David's woes, don't
you? He had a house full of rebels. He had one son who raped his
sister, another son who raped his father's wives before all
Israel, stole the hearts of Israel, divided the kingdom, and tried
to murder his own father. He had a house full of rebels.
He had a house full of wives who despised him, and David One
day looking out, I can picture him standing on the palace walls,
an old man, and he looks across the field and he pictures his
neighbor in his mind's eye and everything going well for him.
The old man's old, and his bank account's full, his fields are
full of sheep and cattle, and his sons and his daughters are
married, and they've got their own estates, and their grandchildren
are married. They've got their own estates,
and they're all gathered together for Thanksgiving dinner. And
David looks at him and says, why should I serve God? Let's see. Psalm 73. Truly, God is good to Israel. even to such as are of a clean
heart. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone. My steps were well nigh slipped,
had well nigh slipped, for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked. There are no bans in their death.
Their strength is firm. They're not in trouble. Verse
six, pride compasses them about as a chain. Violence covereth
them as a garment. Still their eyes stand out with
fatness. They have more than heart could
wish. They're corrupt and speak wickedly. Concerning oppression,
they speak loftily. They set their mouth against
the heavens. They speak stoutly against God.
And their tongue, their tongue's vile. walketh through the earth. Therefore, his people return
hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to him. What
a strange way to talk, David. Therefore, because of all this
evil, therefore, the waters of a full cup are wrung out to him. And they say, how doth God know? Is there knowledge with the Most
High? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world and
increase in riches. Now, listen to what David said.
Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain. I've washed my hands
in innocency. He said, I've been walking in
this world in the worship of God since I was a boy, and it's
profited me nothing. All the day long, I've been plagued
and chastened every morning. And then in verse 15, David began
to think about what he was thinking. It's always good to think before
you speak, especially when you're talking about God. If I say,
I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation
of thy children. If I should speak out loud what
I'm thinking in my mind, I'd offend God's children. I'd cause
God's people to stumble. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me until I went into the sanctuary of
God. Then understood I their end. Surely thou did set them
in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. How were they brought into desolation
as in a moment. They're utterly consumed with
terrors. As a dream when one waketh, O
Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. And
then David says, thus my heart was grieved. I was pricked in
my reins. So foolish was I. So ignorant,
I was as a beast before thee. Lord, God, forgive me. I was
acting like you'd expect a man to act. A brute beast, thinking
of nothing but time and passion and things of the flesh. I was
as a beast before thee. But bless God, he doesn't deal
with us according to our sins. Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right
hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven
but thee? There is none upon earth that
I desire beside thee. Look at Psalm 93, or 92 rather.
Psalm 92. Why do the wicked prosper? Why is it that a man or woman
seek to honor God, really seek to honor God, seek to serve God
with their lives, with their substance? Their houses are always
in turmoil. They have a tough time putting
bread on the table. They struggle. And the fellow
over here who has no interest in God, no interest in anything
except getting what he can and canning what he can get. Everything
he touches turns to gold, never has any trouble. Never has to
go to the doctor, never goes to the hospital, never has any
pain, never has any trouble with his family. Why is that? Look
at verse 7, Psalm 92. When the wicked spring as the
grass, when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that
they might be destroyed, that they shall be destroyed forever. Envy the wicked? Because they've
got tons of money, large estates, comfortable families, good health. That's all they've got, Bob.
Why envy them? Let them have it. If you could
go down to one of the farms where there are some stalled caves
and You were one of the calves standing outside in the cold,
trying to get what nourishment you could out of that dry hay
that's being fed to you. And that calf in the barn is
in there. He gets some hay, but man, that
farmer goes in every morning and dumps grain after grain after
grain by the bucket load in his trough. And he's eating that
good grain. Now, if calves thought And I
was one of them, I'd say, I sure would like to be in there with
him. I wish I could be in there where he is. But you see, the
calves don't have any better sense than we do. That fella
in the stall is being fattened for the slaughter. Let him have
his corn. Give me the straw. Let him have
it. Why envy the wicked? God fattens
them for the slaughter. Nothing else. That's why they
grow old and prosper and see their children with pleasure
and nothing seems to trouble them. And they go down quick
to the grave. Now, look back in our text in
Malachi 3 and see the contrast. The contrast that Malachi by
divine inspiration draws a glaring contrast between the righteous
and the wicked. Things are not so with us. Verse 16. Then they that feared
the Lord spake often one to another. And the Lord hearken, that is
the Lord paid attention. And he heard what they said.
And the book of remembrance was written before him. He wrote
a record book for them. for them that feared the Lord
and that thought on his name. And they shall be mine, saith
the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewels and
I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Though we often think like the
wicked. Though we often behave as the
unbelieving. God is faithful yet, and he will
not cast off his people. Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another. What do you reckon they spoke
about? What were they thinking about? They who fear the Lord
think upon his name. First, we're told that they fear
the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The
fear of the Lord is put not for a kind of dread and slavish fear. Not at all. Not at all. I hope
these children, well Jacob's conked out on me. I hope he respects
me. But I don't want him to be afraid
of me. I don't want him to be afraid of me. Of grandchildren?
Man, I want him to pay attention to me. I'm going to see to it.
that they obey me when I speak to them. But I don't want to
be afraid of man. Oh, no, not. I don't be afraid
of me. I want them to love me. And love
me with such respect and esteem that they want to honor me and
please me. That's what it's talking about
here. The fear of the Lord takes in the whole of what we call
vital godliness. It's faith. and love and hope. It's consecration of our being
to him. They that fear the Lord, fearing
him. This godly fear includes conviction
and repentance. It includes faith and worship. It includes love and devotion.
The effects of it are clearly identified. Those
who fear the Lord, they thought upon his name. Their minds, their
hearts were full of Him. His name speaks of what He is. His name refers to His person,
particularly in reference to redemption. His name is that
by which He reveals Himself and all His character. His name here
speaks of Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, who makes Himself known. And
as the Lord Jesus makes Himself known, those who fear the Lord
think on His name. That is, they carry His name
in their minds and in their hearts. They live continually thinking
about Him, meditating on Him, wondering
how best to honor Him. How best to speak to him? How best to speak of him? Is
that not true? Does not the Lord Jesus fill
your mind, child of God? I don't know that there is a
waking moment with all the things that run through my mind with
all the things that come, things that disturb and things that
are late, things that concern me and things that delight me.
I don't know that there is a waking moment in my life, whether I'm
sitting with Shelby at my side or I'm a thousand miles from
her, whether I just got off the phone speaking to her or I just
kissed her on the cheek to say good morning or I haven't spoken
to her all day long. I don't know there's a waking
moment which is not constantly on my mind. Constantly in my
thoughts. You understand what I'm saying?
So it is with they who fear the Lord. Christ is constantly filling
their thoughts. Oh, Spirit of God, make it more
so continually. Thinking on his name, his name. The Lord Jesus reveals himself
in the Old Testament by, I've looked up a number of times.
Every time I look it up, I find another one. I think 14 or 15 different
names where Jehovah is used in the Old Testament scriptures
with another name corresponding with Jehovah. That is God, our
savior, the triune God who comes to save in the person of his
son. Let me call your attention to three that I think about a
great deal. Four. In Genesis 22. The Lord Jesus is revealed to
Abraham in the sacrifice of his son as Isaac is raised up off
the altar. And that ram caught in the thicket,
sacrificed in his place. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh. The name means the Lord will
provide. But it means much more than that.
It means the Lord will see. Do you understand God sees your
need? The need of your soul, particularly
for a Redeemer, but all your need. And he who sees will provide. And he will be seen in that which
he provides. His name is Jehovah Jireh, and
that's Christ Jesus, our Redeemer. Our Lord Jesus came and revealed
himself to the children of Israel as that one who is the Lord that
healeth thee. The Lord who is our healer, who
heals all our soul's diseases, who is the restorer of life and
the refresher of our souls. He reveals himself as Jehovah
Sidkenu, that is the Lord, our righteousness. And then our Ezekiel,
I believe it's in Ezekiel 48. He describes that city four square
to which we are going. The place called heaven, the
new Jerusalem, paradise, the garden of God, the city of God.
And he says the name of that place is Jehovah Shema. The Lord is there. The Lord is
there. They who fear the Lord speak
of Him and think on His name. What do they speak of? Oh, they
speak of Him. His great glorious person. His
wondrous works. His works for us. His obedience,
His righteousness, His death, His atonement, His intercession,
His providence, His marvelous prevenient grace, all His works
for us. Ron, these are our title to heaven. His works for us as our substitute
give us title to heaven. And His works in us, the new
creation, the new birth, being made partaker of the divine nature,
giving us faith in himself, working in us to will and do of his good
pleasure, his work in us fits us for heavenly glory. The prophet
tells us that those that the Lord our God hears thus speaking
of him, those that he sees thus thinking of him, God and tears. I've been thinking
about this all day. Word to God, when we come into
this place, particularly, whether outside this place or in this
place, let us do so. But especially when we come into
this place, when we're gathered here to worship our God, think
on his name and speak one to another of him for the mutual
edification of your souls. And the prophet says, the Lord
hearkened. The Lord paid attention. He heard
Larry and Larry talking about redemption. He heard Bobby and
Alan talking about providence. He heard Ron and Joe talking
about God's election. He said, he hearkened. And he
heard it. He paid attention. He heard it.
And he said, I like that. I like that. You mean the Lord? likes to hear his people speak
of him. That's what he said. That's what
he said. Don't you? Don't you like to
hear people speak well of you and what you've done? Particularly
those who know you best and love you dearest? Oh, yeah. Our Father and hears. And the prophet says
he wrote a book of remembrance for them. You mean, Brother Don,
God has to be reminded of things? No, no. You mean God needs information? He listens to us so as to be
informed by us? No, no. But he does graciously
condescend to speak to us in just that kind of language to
make us understand. his tenderness, his pity, his
compassion for us. He said he wrote a book of remembrance. He won't forget. He won't forget. He said, if you offer a cup of
cold water in the name of a disciple, you'll not lose your reward.
I won't forget it. I won't forget it. Him that honoreth
me, I will honor. I won't forget it. They speak
often of him. of whom they felt constantly,
and he delights in it." Oh, imagine that. And then he draws an eye
to all who delight in him in mercy, in love, and in grace. He manifests himself to them
in such a way as those who are outside just can't get it. You can talk about it all you
want to, they just can't get it. Read Luke 24, the Lord is walking
with two disciples on the road to Emmaus and he walks along
and talks to them and hides himself. They're talking to him about
himself and they don't even know who they're talking to. They
were talking to him, talking to him about things that genuinely
concerned them. But they had no idea that it's
he who's in their company until he made himself known. And they
said, did not our hearts burn with us as you spoke to us by
the way? Lord, make yourself known to
us as you do not make yourself known to the world. The Lord
is nigh unto all them that call upon Him. To all that call upon
Him in truth, He will fulfill the desire of them that fear
Him. He also will hear their cry and will save them. All right
now, look back at our text again, verses 17 and 18. And hear God's promises to these
people for whom He's written a book of remembrance. They shall be mine. Said the Lord of Hosts. Bob,
we've always been his. Always. We were his eternally
by the gift of his grace and election, giving us to Christ. We're his by by the blood atonement
of his son. He purchased us. We're his by
the demonstration of his grace in us, giving us life everlasting
and faith in Christ in the new birth. But he's talking now about
another day. He's talking about that day when
the Lord Jesus comes and the world is on fire. And everything
here is destroyed. He says they shall be manifestly
mine. In that day, when I make up my
jewels, I'm going to destroy everything
and everybody but I will spare them as a man spareth his own
son that serveth him as a as a man will grab his treasures
out of his house that's burning and grab his son and deliver
him out of the house that's falling in flames so the Lord God says
I will spare them. They shall be mine in that day
when I make up my jewels. Then shall you return and discern
between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth
God and him that serveth him not. Turn to Ephesians chapter
2 and I'll wrap this up. Ephesians chapter 2. In verse 4, but God, who is rich
in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace,
you're saved. and hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. When he gets done, And he puts
the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. And he is about to finally cast everything
into hell. Everything except his jewels. The jewels of his glory. Those
things by which God almighty honors himself. He will say to
Satan and to the demons of hell and to wandering worlds, wait
just a minute. Look here at my bride, this chaste
virgin. You see her garments, you see
her righteousness, you see her beauty, her spotlessness, her
purity. That's what grace has done. And then, you shall discern and
know who serves the Lord and who serves him not. Who's righteous
and who's wicked. Paul appealed to that day for
his own comfort. Those Folks at Corinth accused
him of being a false prophet, a deceiver, a self-serving wicked
man who used the name of God for his own purposes. And he
said, it's a small thing with me that I'd be judged of you.
Small thing. I don't care what you think.
Your opinion's irrelevant or a man's judgment. He said, in
fact, I don't judge myself. But there's a day coming. when
God's going to make manifest who's His and who's not. And
I'm prepared to wait for that day. God's going to make manifest
who's righteous and who's wicked. I'm anxious for that day. God's
going to make manifest who serves Him and who serves Him not. And you will discern it plainly
and forever. Amen.