Malachi chapter 1, the first
five verses give us a proclamation of God's distinguishing mercy,
love and grace toward and upon his chosen. Here, the Lord God
shows us in language that simply cannot be misunderstood. He states
it in language that cannot be misunderstood, that he loves
Jacob. hates Esau He loves his elect
and he hates the reprobate in our text tonight verse 5 Malachi
1 The Lord assures his chosen That when he is done When he
has fulfilled all his purpose when he's accomplished everything
he predestined from eternity When he's performed all things
according to the counsel of his own will, then our eyes shall
see his glory in all things by which he accomplished our eternal
salvation. Begin reading with me in verse
one of Malachi chapter one. The burden of the word of the
Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet you say, wherein hast thou
loved us? God answers, was not Esau Jacob's
brother, saith the Lord? Yet I love Jacob, and I hated
Esau. But what does that mean? And
laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the
wilderness. I think we read about that dragon
in Revelation chapter 12, didn't we? Let these things waste for
the dragons of hell. Whereas Edom, that is Esau, saith,
we are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate
places. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
they shall build, but I will throw down. And they shall call
them the border of wickedness, and the people against whom the
Lord hath indignation forever. And then he gives this sweet
word of assurance. And your eyes shall see, and
ye shall say, the Lord will be magnified from the border of
Israel. Sons of Jacob, be assured of
this. When Edom is destroyed forever,
your eyes shall see the glory of the triune God in all his
mighty works. And ye shall say, the Lord will
be magnified from the border of Israel. That last phrase could
be translated at least these different ways and should probably
be understood by us in all three ways. He will be magnified in
the border of Israel. He will be magnified in the complete
salvation of his people when we are gathered together as one
in heavenly glory at last. He will be magnified upon the
border of Israel. That is, he will be magnified
throughout the universe because of the complete salvation of
his elect. And he will be magnified from
the border of Israel. He will be magnified from the
hearts of his people as we everlastingly sing his praise. It often appears,
and I know it does, that Edom builds and Esau prevails. It often seems that the gates
of hell prevail against God's church. It often looks like the
beast of hell will, after all, destroy Christ, destroy God's
church, and destroy God's gospel. But those things that commonly
appear to be so are not so. Those things that commonly appear
to be so are not so. Those things that appear to be
so throughout history are not so. Satan does not prevail. Though history seems to indicate
it. Though our present circumstances as a nation and as a people seem
to indicate it. Though your newspaper seems to
indicate it. Satan does not prevail. He never
has. He does it now and he never will. God still rules. God still rules. Lord God, teach us what you taught
Nebuchadnezzar long ago. The heavens do rule. The Lord will be magnified. That's
my subject tonight. I want so much for you and me
to see it. And I know mentally, we do. Theologically, we do. We see
it. But oh, I want grace to see it,
to believe it, to rejoice in it, and to anxiously anticipate
it. Don't you? This is the desire
of God's elect. Always the desire of God's elect. We want the Lord to be magnified.
Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. We really
do. We, uh, we struggle a lot of
times with conflict between our own desires and our earnest desire
for God's glory. We pray for one another, pray
for our friends, pray for circumstances, and we always, whether we say
it or don't, Believing hearts always subject every desire to
this. Lord, honor yourself. Honor yourself. Magnify your own great name.
Sanctify your name. Make your name hallowed in what
all you do or whatever you do. Let me show you some scriptures.
Turn to Psalm 35. And I think in trying to expound
this blessed, blessed proclamation of Malachi 1.5, The best way
for me to do it is rather than me trying to explain it is simply
to show you in the scriptures how it is declared. So we'll
look at a good bit of scripture and come back to our text. Psalm
35, verse 27. Here is a prayer repeated almost
verbally three times, but each time it's repeated, there's something
added to it in the Psalms. Psalm 35, 27. Let them shout
for joy and be glad that favor my righteous calls, yea, let
them say continually, let them who rejoice in your righteous
calls say continually, let the Lord be magnified, the Lord,
which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. Psalm 40, verse
16. Psalm 40, verse 16, let all those
that seek thee These are those who favor His righteous cause. These are those who are born
of His Spirit. Those that seek Thee, rejoice
in Thee. Let those who then rejoice and
be glad in Thee and let such as love Thy salvation say continually
that the Lord be magnified. Psalm 70, Psalm 70 verse 4. Here's this prayer again. Let all those that seek Thee
and rejoice, seek Thee, rejoice and be glad in Thee and let such
as love Thy salvation, say continually, the Lord be magnified. Now what
all is included in this? Turn to Psalm 83. Psalm 83. Hear
this prayer. And God teach me to pray just
this way. Keep not thou silence, O God. Hold not thy peace. Be not still,
O God. Follow thine enemies. Now, we're
not talking about my enemies. They may or may not be the same.
We're not talking about personal vengeance. No, no, no. Personal vengeance is wrong.
Personal vengeance is the evil thing. We're talking about God's
enemies. God's enemies. Lo, thine enemies
make a tumult. They that hate thee have lifted
up their heads. They have taken crafty counsel
against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones. They
have said, come, Let us cut them off from being a nation, that
the name of Israel, the name of God's princes may be no more
in remembrance. For they have consulted together
with one consent. They are confederate against
thee. The nations of the world, the people of the world, all
who refuse God's salvation are confederate against thee. The
tabernacles of Edom and the Ishmaelites of Moab and the Hagarins, Gebel
and Ammon and Amalek, the Philistines were the inhabitants of Tyre.
Asher is joined with them. They have opened the children
of Lot. They've given inspiration to
the children of Lot. They've given inspiration to
the Ammonites and the Moabites who hate you. They've inspired
the hearts of wicked men. do unto them as unto the Midianites,
as to Caesara, as to Jabin at the Brook of Kishon, which perished
at Endor, they became as dung for the earth. Lord, take your enemies and make
them nothing but manure. to fertilize the earth, that
it bring forth fruit to you. Make their nobles like Oreb and
like Zeb, yea, all their princes as Zeba and Zalmanah, who said,
let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession. Oh, my God, make them as a wheel,
like a wheel, as the stubble before the wind, As the fire
burneth the wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on
fire, so persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid
with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name,
O Lord. Let them be confounded and troubled
forever. Yea, let them be put to shame
and perish. And here's the reason for all
this, that men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah,
art the most high over all the earth. Our Father, which art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And your eyes shall see. Ye shall
say the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel Let
me show you a explanation of this given by God the Holy Spirit
in Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians 1 verse 10 This 10th chapter 10th verse
of Ephesians chapter 1 is perhaps one of the richest most profound
single statements in all of Holy Scripture It focuses everything
like multiplied millions of rays of light. All the events of time,
all the circumstances of time, all the experiences of time,
of all people. And it brings them all and focuses
them on just one final thing. And that's the glory of God in
the saving of his people. Look at this. That in the dispensation
of the fullness of time, He might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth,
even in him. What is this thing called the
dispensation of the fullness of times? Turn over to the book
of Galatians, I'm sorry, chapter three of Ephesians, Ephesians
two. A dispensation simply means a stewardship. It refers to the
management of a household, perhaps the oversight of a business,
the administration of a person's property or business. In Ephesians
3 verse 1, Paul says, For this calls I Paul, the prisoner of
Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. If you have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God, which is given me to you would Paul speaks
of the ministry he had as a dispensation of management of the grace of
God. That is the thing that's given
to any man who is called and gifted of God to preach the gospel
and sent forth to do so. He has a dispensation of the
grace of God, a stewardship, a responsibility to proclaim
the gospel of the grace of God. Specifically, in Ephesians 1.10,
which speaks of this dispensation of the fullness of times, it's
talking about the dispensation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember
in you turn to Romans chapter 14 in John 17 our Savior said
thou has given him power Over all flesh that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him Here in Romans
14 verse 9 to this end That is this is the reason why Christ
both died and rose and revived That he might be Lord both of
the dead and of the living God gave him by virtue of his mediatorial
accomplishments. Now, remember, these mediatorial
accomplishments were accomplished in eternity. And this dispensation
was given to him in eternity. It is manifestly given to him
in his resurrection from the dead. But these things were done
in eternity. God's given to his son, the God-man
mediator, the possession and the rule over all things. to dispose of and perform all
the purpose of the triune God in the saving of his people.
If you read the rest of Ephesians chapter one, you'll see that
God made him the head over all things. What wonderful language
to the church. He made Christ the head over
all things to the church, not the head over the church, though
he's that. Not the boss of the church, though he's that. Not
the king of the church, though he's that. Not even the governor
of the church, though he's that. He made him governor of everything! To the church. For his church. For the benefit of his church.
And then he speaks of this as the dispensation of the fullness
of times. Now turn to Galatians 4. Galatians
chapter 4. Here's the only other place in
scripture where we have a similar statement. Galatians chapter four, verse
four. When the fullness of times, the fullness of the time was
come, God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God
has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, father. So the fullness of times began
when the Lord Jesus first came into this world. It began with
the incarnation and birth of the son of God. And it continues
until the Lord Jesus comes again in the consummation or the finishing
of the fullness of times. Turn back to the book of Romans
again, Romans chapter 11. Paul speaks of this here in Romans
11, verses 25 and following. The dispensation of the fullness
of times refers to this whole gospel age that will consummate
in the final salvation of all God's elect. Romans 11 25. For
I would not brethren that you should be ignorant of this mystery.
And when I stand here and tell you that nothing is as it appears. I realize I'm talking to you
about some things that are profound and mysterious. If things are
not as they look like they are, then how are they? How can you interpret things
except by the newspaper? How can you understand things
except by experience? Understand what you read in the
newspaper by this book. Understand what you experience
by this book. Be it painful or pleasant. Don't
interpret the book by your experience. Interpret experience by this
book. All right. I don't want you ignorant of
this mystery. Lest you should be wise in your own conceits.
That blindness, in part, is happened to Israel. God sent blindness
to the children of Israel. Try to witness to a Jew about
the gospel of God's grace. Try to. Try to. You might as
well be talking that wall out there unless you find the exceptional
one who happens to also be a true Israelite whom God calls by his
grace. And we know a few of those. Blindness
has happened to Israel. Those people who once had the
whole light of God. Those people to whom alone God
gave his law. to whom alone God gave the priesthood
and the sacrifices and the ceremonies of the law. Now they're utterly
blind, as blind as if they had no eyes. Until, until the fullness
of the Gentiles be come in. That is until God gathers all
his elect out of the Gentile world as well as the Jewish world.
And so, all Israel shall be saved. All Israel, all the true seed
of Abraham, all the chosen ones of God, as it is written, there
shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob. And this is my covenant, or for
this is my covenant, unto them, when I shall take away their
sins, as concerning the gospel, their enemies for your sakes.
But as touching the election, They're beloved for the father's
sakes. Now look at verse 29, and if you can understand it
in the light of what we just read, you'll understand what
verse 29 means. For the gifts and calling of
God are without repentance. What gifts? What calling? These gifts called the blessings
of grace bestowed on us in Christ before the world began as God's
elect. the calling, naming us the sons
of God, giving us in Christ, 2 Timothy 1, 9, before the world
began. They're without repentance. And
things that we see happening in time. with the nation of Israel
and the nations of the world, the things we saw through the
ages of the Old Testament and the things we see going on now
through the ages of time. All these things come to pass
according to that purpose of God, which cannot fail for the
gifts and callings of God are without repentance. The contemplation
of Christ's dominion. Executing all the will and purpose
of God in Providence. culminating at last in the salvation
of God's elect when God shall be magnified from the borders
of Israel. Thrilled this man. Oh, how it
thrilled him. He was just. Oh, what a wonder. What a wonder. Look at Romans
11, verse 33. Paul began to explain in Romans
chapter nine. purpose. He began, actually began
in chapter 8. Chapter 9 began to deal with
God, show how God dealt with Israel and the nations of the
world. How he calls the Gentiles, cast off the Jews, gathers his
elect out of the Gentile world, and he will call his elect out
of the Jewish world as well. And he says in verse 33, oh the
depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God,
how unsearchable are his judgments. and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, or who hath been his counselor? Who has understood
what God's doing, and who's directed him in what he's doing? For who hath first given to him,
and it shall not be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and
through him, and to him, are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Back in Ephesians 1.10
again. The word that is translated by
these two words, gather together, suggests many things. It might
be translated, gather together again. It might better be translated,
reunite. It might be translated restored.
There was a time when everything in God's creation was in perfect
harmony. In perfect harmony. I was riding
through the countryside with with Sid Buggins, Brother Jim
Goff and their wives, Shelby and I in England a couple of
weeks ago. And we were talking about the
new creation. And God makes all things new.
And someone was asking me, one of them was asking me what my
thoughts were concerning. I said, well, I really don't know. I really
don't know what things will be like. It's just beyond me. But
I suspect, I suspect my best understanding of scripture is
that things are going to be a whole lot like they are right now.
Whole lot like they are right now, just one thing accepted,
no sin. I suspect that we're going to
serve God perpetually, much as we do now. It wouldn't be anything
wrong with hacking dirt in the garden, would it, if you didn't
sweat so much? Wouldn't be anything wrong mowing
grass and racing the mowers if you didn't sweat so much doing
it. Wouldn't be anything wrong with work if it didn't hurt your
back. Wouldn't be anything wrong with
toil if it didn't give you uneasiness. Matter of fact, man's happiest
when he does such things. He's happiest when he does such
things. I suspect we'll serve God much like we do now in perfect
harmony with the whole of creation and with God. Now, that'd be
good. That'd be good. Everything united
again. There was a time when things
were that way. In the original creation, Adam walked with God
and God with Adam. Adam and Eve walked together.
Walked together with all the beasts of the field as their
common house pets. Walked together in perfect harmony.
In harmony with the dirt in the ground. Because that's where
he came from. In harmony God in heaven who
breathed his soul into being in harmony with God and creation
perfectly and then sin entered. Adam and Eve were driven from
the garden and the family scattered. And the scattering continued
until God saw the wickedness of man to be very great in the
earth and he sent a flood and destroyed the whole race of man
except for one man in his family by the name of Noah, that man
who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And then God divided
the races among three peoples, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Those
Hamites, the cursed peoples of the earth, Esau's of the earth,
who must serve God's elect Shem and Japheth. Japheth soon to
inhabit the tents of Shem so that the Jew and Gentile be made
one in Christ Jesus. But then things continued and
division and strife and war and division and strife and war.
Genesis 19, God scattered the nations with confusion, scattered
them with confusion. or Genesis 11 rather, and the
confusion has continued. It's continued throughout the
ages. The division just gets worse. Read your history books. It has never gotten better. It
has never gotten better. The races have never united. Families have never united. The
division, the strife, the war just goes on and on and on, and
this group splits off from this group, and there's more strife
and more division. I was raised in the Civil Rights
Movement, brought up in the South in the turbulent 50s and 60s,
and I've watched things happen. Last 60 years, 60 years, man,
what laws have been passed throughout the world, not just in this country,
but throughout the world to try to unite people, try to unite.
We have international boards of governance passing laws, try
to unite folks. We have international forces
set up in various parts of the world, try to keep folks from
killing each other. International boards, international armies,
international military staff. and we passed the Voting Rights
Act, and we passed laws requiring forced integration. We've passed
laws requiring school busing. We've passed laws requiring affirmative
action. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
of laws have been passed so that folks in this country could be
united so we wouldn't have any more racial strife and division.
Well, the politicians might be shocked by this. But it's worse
now than it was in 1950. It's worse now than it was in
1950. It's not any better. I tell you
what, I'll prove it to you. You think it's better? You think
it's better? You go with me to some places
in Oakland, California where I've been, and as big and ugly
as I am, I'll guarantee you, you'll skedaddle out of there
in a hurry, because your white face won't be welcome. It won't
be welcome. And I can take you places where
a black fellow's face won't be welcome. It's not any better. It's a facade and strife and
tension all over this world, all over this world, all the
time. All human history, all experience verifies the fact
that this world is in turmoil by nature. Our text, however,
speaks and assures us of a reuniting of everything. Oh my God, how anxious I am to
see that. A recapitulation, a summarization. Sometimes when I'm preaching,
I'll summarize a message by going over the main points of the message.
That's the idea, gather together in one. A mathematical sum, the
total of all things. Take it in this sense, when Paul
says the dispensation of the fullness of times, he will gather
together in one all things in Christ. He's saying he's saying
there's a day coming. When the Lord Jesus is going
to add everything up. And it going to put it all. One. And Christ is that one. Everything
gathered together in one in Christ Jesus. All the blessings and
promises of the covenant, all the types and shadows and sacrifices
of the law, all the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament,
all the revelation of God in scripture, all the host of God's
elect. Christ is the sum of all. Reduce all the works of God and
all the blessings of God to one, and that thing to which they're
reduced is Christ Jesus the Lord. What is grace and redemption
and salvation and heaven and the church and the glory of God
and the will of God? What is God but Christ? In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him. How is it
that He gathers all things together in one? Let me summarize a little. The Lord God scattered the races
and scattered the nations, but He scattered them that He might
gather them. This is stated so many times
in so many ways in the scriptures that I'm amazed folks miss it.
I'm amazed we apprehend it so little. I spoke of God scattering
the nations, scattering, scattering, scattering this group and scattering
that group here and there. The anthropologist and the geologist
and archaeologist study it and they don't really have a clue.
They don't really... You try to find out how the first
folks got to this country. How the first people set foot
on this ground here. I guarantee you can find a dozen different
ways if you just spend an hour looking for it. A dozen different
ways men have decided that's how they got to this country,
got to the North American shores. Well, you know, I don't have
a clue how they got here. I just know before Columbus got here,
somebody else was already here. Somebody already here. Because
God scattered men. He scattered the nations, and
he continually does. But he scatters them that he
might gather his elect. He scatters them. He scatters
them with war and strife and division, disruption in the family,
pestilence and earthquake and hurricanes and tornadoes. And
he scatters them, scatters them all over the place so that he
might gather together his elect. from the four corners of the
earth, according to his purpose of grace, for the glory of his
name out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. He sows the
seed. As a matter of fact, I had Matthew
13 in my notes here to read. Brother David read it just a
little bit ago. He sows the seed in the world. He sows them in the world, and
he sends his angels in the time of the harvest. He sends out
his servants, gospel preachers, to gather the tares out of his
kingdom and bind them up for the burning. And then they gather
his wheat into his garter. He calls out his elect one by
one, sometimes three thousand at a time, but he calls them
out and gathers them unto himself. He does it first redemption. The Lord God by an act of sovereign
mercy and grace was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The world of his elect, that
is his elect in all the four corners of the earth. How did
he do that? Not imputing their trespasses
unto them, but rather he gathered in one every chosen sinner, and made
all the sins of all his people to be gathered in one substitute,
in one Redeemer. And justice, justice found us
in one. And justice killed us in one. Justice was satisfied in our
death, in the death of one, even Jesus Christ, the Lord, who would
made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. In effectual calling, in regeneration, he sends out
his word, sends out his gospel to the four corners of the earth.
And oh, how he works to make the gospel reach his own. at
the appointed time of love. He won't mind me telling you
this. Some of you know Brother Bill Honey and his wife, Nita.
Several years ago, been a long time now, Nita got real sick. She developed an allergy condition. She can't go out of the house.
When she goes to see the doctor, they take her in a camper and
a doctor comes out to visit her. She can't breathe anything that's
just strange. She can't breathe. She can't
even cook in her house. She just gets horribly, horribly
ill. And Bill started staying home
with her. Bill is 83, is that right? 83 years old. He called
me the day before yesterday and was in a talking mood. He talked
for a long time. He said, Brother Don, he knew
I was in church all these years. And he attended good churches.
He attended church where men preach the gospel of God's grace.
I knew his pastors, about all of them, about all of them, good
friends of mine. He said, I busied myself my whole
life with taking care of church affairs and taking care of the
affairs of the preacher and seeing to it and had food on the table
and providing for things that I could provide for. And I stayed
busy my whole life. And then God fixed it so I had
stayed home with Nita and started listening. And he said, for the
first time in my life, I started listening. And he said, I knew
all about God. But God fixed it now, so I know
God. What's it take to save God's
elect? Everything. Everything. He brings it all together. He brings it all together. for
the good of one of his own. And he brings it all together
in one, even Christ Jesus the Lord. And then there is a day soon
to come when he will gather out of every nation and kindred and
tribe and tongue all the peoples of the earth who have been gathered
unto Christ and made one in Christ. And in the kingdom of God, they're
really one. They're really one. And this
little congregation here, man, what diversity. What diverse
backgrounds of race, of culture, of education, of upbringing. Some folks here raised and brought
up by faithful folks, raised well. Some folks just kind of
jerked up by the hair of the head, but here we are. And with
all that, isn't it wonderful how God's knit our hearts together
as one, as one. One with his people, literally
around the world. Black and white, male and female,
learned and unlearned, one in Christ, in Christ. That's the
only place you find it, but in Christ. It's not a facade in
Christ, it's real. And soon, Christ is going to come in a
moment and twinkling of an eye. The dead in Christ will rise
first, and he's going to come with 10,000 of his saints. And he's going to gather together
in one. all things in Christ. He's going
to destroy this present earth. He's going to destroy this present
world, this present creation. I know folks are scared to death
that the earth's going to burn up. It's going to. You can bake
on it. It's going to. The sooner the
better. And how he does it's all right with me, but he's going
to destroy this earth with the brightness of his coming. you're
going to make all things new and when the wicked are cast
into hell and Babylon is fallen all the saints of God shall be
raised together in one as one in Christ planted in a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. All the family
will be gathered in one. We will all be of one mind in
all things. You know how careful we are not
to discuss things we don't agree about? We cherish our friendships. We don't talk about things we
don't discuss. Man, if you find out somebody, be careful, don't
say that around David Peterson. He doesn't agree with that. Don't
talk about that around Brother Fortin. He's got a strong opinion
about that. So we're going to be of one mind concerning everything. We will all be presented faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Never depart. Brother Sid Buggins said to me
in that discussion we had, he said, in the new creation, there won't
be any seas. What do you mean, Brother Sid?
Sid's an older fella, been around a while. He said, seize, separate,
folks. Won't be any separation then.
No separation. What is the promise that God
makes here in Malachi 1? Your eyes shall see, and ye shall
say, the Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel. Balaam's prophecy shall be fulfilled
perfectly. Do you remember what Balaam told
Balak? Balaam tried his best to curse
Israel. He tried over and over and over
again to curse Israel. That's what he was going about
doing. And finally he said, I've got to tell you something. God
made me to bless Israel. Only reason I'm here is to bless
Israel. I can't curse them. I can't curse those that God
blessed. I can't reverse it. And he concluded his prophecy
this way. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob. Neither is there any divination
against Israel. According to this time, it shall
be said to Jacob and to Israel, see what wonders God hath done. I sat down this morning and read
again Revelation 12, 13, and 14. Satan, the dragon roaring against
the woman and her child. The beast and the false prophet
rising up with all signs and wonders and powers and the world
following after them. And then you get chapter 14.
I'll tell you what I wrote at the top of
the page. No harm done. No harm done! it will be seen. Your eyes will
see it. And you shall say, the Lord will
be magnified. Amen. Let's turn to