Malachi 3:13-18

Malachi 3, verses 13 to 18 tonight, Your words have been stout against me, said the Lord. Yet ye say, what have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said it is vain to serve God, and what prophet is it that we have kept his ordinance, that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Host? 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 hearken and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. They shall be mine, said the Lord of Holest, and that day when I make up my jewels, I will spare them as a man, spareeth 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. May God bless to us, he is sacred and holy word this evening. Prior to his crucifixion, our Lord had his triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem from the area of Damascus, and the crowds were all crying out, Hosanna, to the son of David. He was given the royal treatment, and there was an enthusiastic mass of people. People spoke well of him, proclaimed him the righteous, or rightful heir to the throne of King David. David. They were looking for a king that would come and overthrow the Romans and set up an earthly kingdom. However, Jesus had taught that his kingdom was not of this world, not like the carnal kingdoms that preceded it. And he startled many with his preaching of man’s sinfulness and the need of divine grace. Soon, these people who were crying out Hosanna to the son of David were screaming, crucify him, crucify him. They shortchanged their tune. It seems when Jesus didn’t fulfill all their expectations. The same kind of mentality existed in Malachi’s day as we see from our text. The Jews had hoped that God would do great things for them. After all, he had brought them back from the Babylonian captivity. They were able to reenter into the land, their native land, and they were expecting wonderful things to happen, but presently we find that things were not as the people expected. They were still under Persian rule. Their enemies, were still dominant and ruled over them. And so some of them were complaining against God, as our text indicates, speaking harsh things about Jehovah. He had let them down. He didn’t meet their expectations. All too frequently, people act as if God has failed them. When things don’t go as they expected, they blame. God begin charging God with all kinds of things. Our text really deals with two kinds of talk. We have those people who engage in foolish talk, verses 13 to 15, those who engage in honorable talk, and verses 16 through 18. What you say reveal much about your relationship to God. Let me begin by saying this. You should avoid the foolish talk of the wicked. Versus 13 to 15. You must not boldly speak against God. Your words have been stout against me, Seth the Lord, yet you say, what have we spoken so much against thee? Once again, the skeptics among Mel. Alachi’s audience have offended God with their words. Repeatedly throughout the book, there’s all these things that they are saying, and God is taking the task for what they’re saying. Their words were stout. They were strong. They were harsh against the Lord. And we see here that the worst of all is that they spoke against God himself. God has just recently said, well, why don’t you put me to the test? See if I won’t reward you. See if I won’t bless you if you bring your tithe to me into the temple and so forth. And the wicked, they say, have already tested and prove God to be wrong in this. The wicked sin and God does nothing about it. God is like a paper tiger. His roar is all grow and no bite. You know, he’s roaring, but he doesn’t do anything. He threatens, but he’s unwilling or unable to fulfill his threats. So we pronounce all the wicked most blessed and happy is verse 15. indicates. The audacity of these people is quite scary when you think about it. Sometimes the way God deals with you is difficult to understand. It can be baffling. It can be mysterious at times. Yet whatever God’s providence brings, even if it’s difficult or it’s very hard to deal with, You must reserve judgment on why God has done this. We must not condemn God. We must not impugn his motives when he does something. Only he knows the end from the beginning. He’s God and you and I are mere human beings. He is all wise, and we really have very little knowledge of the true and living God. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So there is a danger of jumping into conclusions about God and his way of speaking against him. How dare God allow this trouble in my life? It isn’t right. It isn’t fair. This isn’t the best thing for me or something of that nature. So you can arrogantly point the finger at God and charge him with all kinds of things. However, this is foolish talk. It’s a lot. It’s It’s blasphemous. Certainly is something that would call down God’s judgment. You remember Job 122, we read this. In all of this, in all his losses and all his sufferings that he endured, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. but here these people are charging God foolishly. So you must not boldly speak against God. You must not say it’s vain to be a Christian. Notice verse 14. You have said it’s vain to serve God. What profit is it that we have kept his ordinance? That we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts. There’s no profit in serving God. Think about that. In other words, any effort I put out to render service to the Lord is useless. It’s worthless. It’s valueless. We won’t profit materially. We won’t even profit morally if we serve the Lord God. God does not reward the faithful to Him. That’s their basic argument here. You remember that Judas and what we learned from him from the Gospels is they have a covetous nature. He is the one that was the treasurer of the disciples and he kept the money bag and we know he was dipping into the till, so to speak, taking out money for himself. You get the impression that he was following Christ out of a mistaken notion that maybe somehow or other he was going to be granted some high place in Christ’s kingdom. That he was going to get ahead somehow. Perhaps he became disillusioned. when he heard Christ talking about his kingdom not being of this world. And he was upset. Remember, when Mary poured out the precious ointment on our Lord and complained that it should have been sold and it should have been given to disciples and he could have used it to take care of the poor out of the money bag that he was holding. But the Bible says he only did that because he was a thief. And he wanted to money so he had access to it., ultimately, he betrays Christ to the religious leaders of the Jews for what? For money, for 30 pieces of silver. And that was his bottom line, profit. If I can’t get anything out of the Lord, if I’m not going to benefit materially, then, you know, I’ll betray them. I’ll get the money that way. So it’s interesting that the kingdom of God was always about financial advancement, gaining wealth. When he didn’t think he was going to get it by serving the Lord in a faithful manner, he decides he’s going to get it some other way. It’s dangerous for us to talk about God not rewarding service to him. To think in the manner of Judas that, well, you know, I expect to get something. If I don’t get it the way I want it, then, well, too bad. I won’t serve the Lord anymore. We who serve the Lord are never cheated. He always remembers us and cares for us. There’s no profit in serving God, they’re saying. Notice this. There’s no profit on observing the commands of God. His commandments, his ordinances, doesn’t do you any good. So they allege here that even if you have faithfully observed all the ten commandments and the laws of God, it wouldn’t benefit you. There’s no pay, no money. increase no visible return in any type of material prosperity or political influence. The Hebrew word for profit here was a technical term. It was used with regard to weavers when they would cut off a piece of cloth from the loom. It’s used in Malachi has a negative idea of people expecting their cut or their interest. You know, we think about the racketeers. They want a cut of all the businesses they supposedly are protecting. They want their cut. You recall that the brothers of Joseph said when they had them in the pit, you know, what profit is it to us if we slay our brother, come let us sell them to the Ishmaelites and make some money off them? They wanted a cut. They wanted some kind of. of compensation. So this charge is a very denial of what we read in the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 26, we read showing mercy, showing his love and his blessing and his goodness under thousands that love me, the Lord, and keep my commandments. Isn’t that what the Scripture says? Don’t I bless those who keep my commandments? So this is the of ungodly people. Do you remember the very first Psalm? We read this in the first Psalm. Blessed is the man that walketh not on the council of the ungodly, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water and bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he do us shall prosper. There’s no profit in observing God’s commandments. That’s a lie. That’s foolish talk. Third thing is there’s no profit in mourning your sins. The word mourning here is usually connected with the Hebrew verb, meaning to be dark. We have the idea of being clothed maybe with dark clothing. Even blackening of the face with maybe ashes or something of its nature. To put on sackcloth and ashes to be sorry for sin, the more in the plight of the the nation. Why should we be grieved with our sins? What goodwill do, they say, when God blesses the wicked anyways. We’d be better off sinning because God seems to help the wicked while those who mourn their sins get left out. As you read this, you automatically think, I think of Asaph in Psalm 73, and what he said at one point. He verily, I’ve cleansed my hands of sin in vain, he said. in verse 13. Living in a mere very materialistic cultures, Asaph looks around him at his neighbors. He’s saying, here I am wrestling with my sins, mourning my wickedness, while the ungodly have it made. They’re the ones with a prosperous lifestyle. They’re the one with the Cadillac lifestyle, if you would. They’re the one with the mansions and all the possessions. Here I am trying to serve the Lord, and I’m suffering. They sin openly and God blesses them. Well, I am chastened daily. However, again, this is foolish talk. Christ himself promised, blessed are they that mourn regard of their sins, for they shall be what? Comforted. God will grant them peace. Peace with the Lord. Isn’t that a reward? Isn’t that a blessing? I remind you of the story of the rich man in Lazarus in Luke 18. and after they died, we read, and Abraham said, son, speaking to the rich man, remember that thou in thy lifetime, before you’ve died, before your death, receivest thy good things, material prosperity and riches, and likewise Lazarus evil things. He was poor. He was suffering. He was bad health. But now, in the state of death, in the intermediate state that we’re talking about, he is comfort. He’s in heaven. And thou are tormented because you open your eyes up in hell. There is a reward for a prophet for mourning your sins and having your heart right with the Lord. Is there not? So you must not say it’s vain to be a Christian. It’s a vain to serve God. It’s vain to keep its commandments. It’s vain to mourn your sins. These are lies. You’re deceiving yourself. Lastly, you must not say God has changed his dealings with people. Verse 15. And now, now we call the proud happy. Yea, they that work wickedness are set up. Yay, they that tempt God are even delivered. And now that begins verse 15 is a direct contrast, I think, to what God has said earlier in this chapter. chapter in verse 6, I am the Lord, I change not. And they’re saying, well, it used to be like this, but now it’s like this. These skeptics are going to reverse the promises of God from verse 10. The evildoers are prosperous and blessed, and they escape judgment. When God promised to bless Abraham, as he obeyed him, and followed his commandments, and was willing to to sacrifice his own son, remember, on Mount Moriah. That used to be the way it is, but now it doesn’t matter anymore. It doesn’t matter if you follow in the footsteps of Abraham. They claim here that the proud are set up. They’re established in prosperity. God exalts them in the land. he favors them. In other words, they are saying that God has changed his ways. previously blessed Abraham for obedience, but obedience is not blessed now. Jacob and Daniel and Moses. We can’t use them as examples for us anymore. Things have changed. Do you ever think about that? Have you ever made those kind of claims? That God’s dealings recorded in his scripture are not the way he now deals with his people. That’s a denial that God is always the same. It’s evil talk. It aligns the character of God himself. As if we’re not blessed like faithful Abraham was blessed. So you must avoid the foolish talk of the wicked. Secondly, you must engage in the honorable talk of the righteous. Versus 16 and 18. You should participate in the fellowship of the people of God. God’s people fear him. Verse 16. says, then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearken and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his name. Twice we’re told here that these believers feared the Lord. So it must be an insignificant point that he’s making here. The fear of the Lord is a virtual synonym for. a holy life that grows out of such reverence for the Lord God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the root of all true faith. Your reverence toward the Lord God means that you submit to his authority. You obey His commandments. You have a dread of offending God. You’re careful about what you think and what you say. and you certainly aren’t going to speak stout words against the Lord God. There’s an attitude of love and trust and obedience to the Lord, so God’s people fear him. God’s people think upon his name, as we see also here in verse 16. This implies some type of meditation. Or focusing your mind on God’s character, his person. Their thoughts were not always on the temporal things of this world, but they thought about eternal God. They thought about his truth. The Hebrew word has the idea of counting, taking inventory. Some act as if there’s no God. God is not in their thoughts. They don’t take inventory of God. But the righteous count God as their greatest factor in all their calculations in life. When they make plans, they say with the Lord will, I will do this or I will do that. You may think as you look through life that the wicked have all the wealth and so forth, but the Lord is your wealth. He is your treasure. He is the blessing. And he is the greatest asset that you have that is with you. Because you know you live and you move and you move and you have your being in this God. This is the one distinction between the person who knows the Lord and the world line. People think upon his name. God’s people do. God’s people often speak one to another. Verse 16, the second phrase here. Meet others and you say, boy, that person seems to fear of the Lord. That’s someone I want to talk to. I want to have conversation with this person. Not about the cost of living. Not about the cost of living. the Super Bowl or the World Series about the weather, but you want to share together things you know about the Lord God and the promises of God and so forth. God’s children don’t just listen to God’s word together in church on Sundays. They talk with one another. They communicate with one another. What is the conversation about after the service? Now, certainly it would be unnatural. We didn’t talk about some every day. things that are taking place in the lives of God’s people. But the things of God should be included in that conversation. This is what God had impressed upon the people of God from the very beginning. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, you remember what he says. In these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shall talk of them when thou sitest down in thine house and when thou walk us by the way and when thy liest down and when thou lieest down and when thou thou risest up. You’re going to speak about the things of the Lord in all aspects of life. God’s name is honored whenever we speak about Him in truth. When we speak about the Lord to others, it should stir people up in their own dated life to continue to pursue a knowledge of the Lord God. At the time of Christ’s birth, you remember there was a group of people who we read in Luke 238 look for redemption in Jerusalem. These are a group of people that were thinking about when’s the Messiah going to come? When are we going to have redemption? Anna of the Prophets, and Old Simeon were two of the people we know that are mentioned in that as part of that group. Their faith was a lot. and spiritual conversation was part of the going on. at that point. They seem to be a group of people who shared among themselves the truths of God and their hopes for the future and so forth. So you should participate in the fellowship of the people of God. Also, you should recognize that God delights in the conversation of those who fear him. God promises to reward you. Notice verse 16. It says here, a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord Lord. And then verse 18, then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveeth God and then that serveeth Him not. God listened. God heard the request of these believers. Their names and their actions were written in his book of remembrance. The scroll of your remembrance, if you would. Now, this is not the Lamb’s Book of Life that we’re talking about here. It’s something similar to that Persian custom of entering into a book all the acts that should be rewarded and remembered in the future. Remember that Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, her stepfather, spared King Ahazara’s life by turning into two traitors that was on the king’s staff. And it was recorded in the book. and the record book. And later he gets rewarded on the basis of that, you recall. The psalmist knew of this kind of book. Psalm 56, verse 8, Thou tellest my wanderings, put my tears into thy bottle, are they not in thy book? As if God is recording all that the prophet, or David here is suffering. So God has had not forgotten what these men and women endured. He remembers. He’s not unmindful that he is the object and the subject of their conversation with other believers. And when the day of judgment comes, the believing remnant will be remembered and cared for by God. Men will observe for themselves that there is indeed a difference between the righteous and the wicked according to verse 18. Those who assault heaven and with foolish talk will return. They’re going to have to change their minds about God rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked which they have denied. So God’s promises to reward you. Notice also God will treat you as a treasure possession, verse 17. They shall be mine, said the Lord of Host. In that day when I make up my jewels, I will spare them as a man. Ant spareth his own son that serveeth him. What is this? But an off-repeated promise that God will adopt the believing remnant as his own intimate people, his close people. They are God’s crown jewels, the pride of his treasury, if you would. They are his beloved sons, his special people. people, as Titus 214 says, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, a special people, zealous of good works. It will be God’s people who are spared when the righteous judge comes, when his anger wax hot, the inner circle of the righteous, and instead of the wicked. complainers who profess faith will be spared when Napoleon invaded Russia. And he got all the way to Moscow and captured the capital. He thought the Russians would surrender, but they didn’t. The Tsar didn’t surrender. And so the winner was getting, coming on, and he had to retreat. He was so far away from France, he was afraid of staying too long away from his homeland. So a great part of his army as they retreated, perished, and the cold and the snow on the return journey. And when night came, a company of troops would kind of a large fire as best as they could, and lots would be cast for those who would occupy the front row, if you would, around the fire. The cold was so intense that those in the outermost rows of this group of people would often be frozen to death, frozen solid in the morning when the others got up. Now, among the people of God, those who are near the Lord, who converse about the Lord, are his special people. They are the close circle. around the Lord, and they gather closely to the person of Christ. They are his elect people. They have obtained like precious faith from the Lord Jesus Christ. These enjoy the warmth of Christ’s spiritual presence. They’re the ones that are preserved. While the false professors who content themselves with living at a distance from Christ and complain against the Lord are chilled. and frozen in the worldliness which surrounds them. So you should engage in the honorable talk of the righteous. Finally, let me close with this thought. Your speech really gives away the kind of person you are. We have two kinds of speech here. The foolish talk and the honorable talk. What is the distinction between the righteous and the wicked? Well, it’s not about their material possessions, is it? Nor is it about having an easier and comfortable life and having a troublous life. But the distinction is, when you compare the speech of both of these, one is honorable to the Lord, and one speaks as the ungodly speak. Those who talk honorably of God, take practical steps with regard to their faith, they live righteously. Those who talk harshly of God and speak of how vain it is to serve the Lord while they go on living wickedly. Remember how Jesus said that by your words you will be known, whether you are a good tree or an evil tree. Whether you are righteous or by your wicked, your words will either. condemn you or they will aid in your acquittal, so to speak. Notice how many who profess to be the people of God are really the enemies of the Lord God. These proud complainers who find fault with God, so you need to consider your talk. What you say to yourself, to your mate, to your fellow believers, your friends about God, and his dealings with you. Or you like the Jews of Christ’s day, who at one point were saying, Hosanna to the son of David, but ended up crying out, crucify, crucify him. Or are you like those mentioned in our text who feared the Lord, thought often about God and his church, and they were focused. upon speaking conversing about the Lord God. One antidote for harsh thoughts about God is to think about the future. Consider what God has saved you from and what He has saved you to. One minister put it this way years ago, I desire to have both heaven and hell ever in my eye, while I stand on this israel, of life between these two boundless oceans. And I verily think the daily consideration of both highly, becomes all men of reason and religion. I thought you ought to be thinking about heaven and hell. That should be guiding as you go through life. Is your talk foolish, or is your talk honorable? That’s what we find in our text tonight. Let’s go.