Go with me now to the book of
Malachi, chapter 3. Malachi 3, we're going 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 Bible, the word Bible comes
from an old word, it means book. The Book of God. This is God's
Word. This is not the words of men. No scripture was 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 and 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, Proverbs 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. You 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, 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, you know, 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. Alright? Verse 13 and 14. Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter. Fear God. Fear God. That's what it says
in 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, the man who professes himself
to be wise, is a fool. Why? He doesn't fear God. The
God in whose hands his breath is, and all his ways. He hadn't glorified. The creature, the 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 them. They're 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 says, 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. They don't
fear me. Let me go on from this about
those who fear not God. Let's talk about those who do,
okay? But let me say one more thing,
alright? 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 it. 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. Reverence. We're going to talk
about that fear in a moment. But God is mercy. Thank God. He is love, yes, thank God. Gracious,
yes, but in Christ. In Christ. Those who fear Him,
and boy, I'm all the way over to 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, 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? Because 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. Now, 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, is to remind us to fear this
Lord. To preach this God in such a
way that we will first hear Him. Right? So to fear the Lord. They that 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. You
know, 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 an 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 hand,
and bow before Him. Not bowing and scraping, per
se, but nevertheless, bowing before the Lord. Bow, oh Lord,
dower it, my Lord. Reverend, holy, 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. There was something announced
about a judge locally, and it called him the honorable so-and-so. And 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 is 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.
Do you? I don't call my father by his
first name. Right? That's fear. Fear his
name. How does it fear his name? To
fear the Lord means to fear not keeping His commandments. It is. It's fear sinning against
Him. Psalm 19 talks about the Word
of the Lord and says, The fear of the Lord is clean. By the fear of the Lord, men
depart from evil. Alright, 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 for. He said to his disciples, you
call me Lord and Master. You say, well, for 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. Oh, you're so blessed. He's given you that fear. Alright,
look at verse 16. It says, Now they that feared
the Lord spake often one to another. 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 speak 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 following. Hear, 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 them. 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 feared the Lord speak
often. Speak often one to another. Of
what? Him. They speak of redemption. You remember Anna? Anna was there
at the temple 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. The Lord
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. Not telling you anything new,
but just reminding you what God hath said from this book of Remembrance. To think on these things. Behold,
he cometh, Scripture says. 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. Keeps 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,
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 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. Christ didn't die for them. 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, saying,
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? Have 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 the time? 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! But hurry. Today is the day of
salvation. I'll put it off when I get older.
You don't know yet if you'll get older. That's right. That's the fear
of the Lord. It's the fear of missing it.
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
frame. 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 goes on. Doesn't it? Any of you? You all
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 knows. 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. 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, but 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 did you say? Moses left. Oh, I could hear
that one more time, didn't I? 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 we 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. It's the dark ages. 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? Please ask these twelve ones.
Number one, remember now thy Creator in the days of value. 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,
aren't they? 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? 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,
called 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, if 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 this? 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. When 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
problem, 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. 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 mercies. 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, we're keeping 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 is the reason. Don't you forget it. Don't you
forget it. This due 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 us. I am the reason. I am the
sole reason. Keep in the Passover. We've just
come to hear a sermon. We're coming to remember Christ. 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 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 epistles
and the revelations say, He's coming again. You see them? Do 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's hand,
a cloud. 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 in the top of the mulberry tree. Listen. Heaven's declared. Everything. He's coming. He's
coming. Brother Gabe sang a song, wrote
that song, sang it to us. The 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,
ìLord, remember me.î And today I promised him. ìToday.î ìYea, and Amen.î ìShalt
thou be.î Well, the Lord died then. What could the thief fall
back on? He hung there in pain and agony,
still under that 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, To 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's called today. Every day is a new day, is mercy.
Today, if you'll hear His voice, harden not your heart as in the
provocation. Today is the day of salvation.
Yes, today. Dan, it just might be today that
the Lord comes. That's right. And the Lord has
remembered us If you heard that, 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 His 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 law, Tammy, Ron, Deborah, Charles, on the table
of your heart. He said, this is that covenant
I'll 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'm your portion. Remember, remember,
remember. And so a book of remembrance
was written. Old 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 it. Sharing
can't. 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. The
Book of Remembrance. How do you know, preacher? Well,
I can show you any number of verses and remind you. We'll try it again Wednesday.
Okay, Brother Gabe. Let's turn to hymn number 15,
Stand Together.