The blessings that arise from the fear of the Lord (Quality: Good)

[0:00] Chapter 3 and verses 16 and 17. The prophecy of Malachi, chapter 3 and verses 16 and 17.

[0:19] Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name.

[0:38] And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I shall make up my jewels, and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

[0:51] Amen. We just return to what we began to say this morning.

[1:01] This very short prophecy was a mixture really of the Lord's Israel of old, who were in themselves careless and indifferent and unconcerned.

[1:17] They did not that which was right in the eyes of the Lord. We mentioned one or two things which they were spoken to by the Lord through Malachi.

[1:32] They're sacrifices which would and should be sacrifices, which as the scriptures remind us, they are pure sacrifices.

[1:45] Their offerings were not pure. They offered those animals for the sacrifices which were blind, which were lame, which were sick.

[1:56] And that was indeed an offence before Israel's God. It would seem to, as we reminded you, that they seemed to not have love in their hearts to the house of God, but rather treated it in low ways.

[2:16] They would not do things for love's sake. They seemed to want to be rewarded for what they did in the Lord's house. They were in a low state, a sad state as God's national people were.

[2:31] But intermingled were, there were words of truth and blessing for those who feared the Lord. We said that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ was prophesied in the beginning of this third chapter.

[2:48] And indeed he is called the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts, but who may abide the day of his coming.

[3:02] Well, those, such characters as Israel was described here, would be very tried concerning that. But there are others that are mentioned here.

[3:12] And there are those who fear the Lord. And that is what these two verses speak of. And they speak of a people that are separate from those other of Israel who were so lukewarm and so indifferent and so careless, respecting the worship of Israel's God.

[3:35] There were those that feared the Lord. I would suppose, as it always has been, that there was a minority. There is but a remnant. As it is spoken of, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of his church as a little flock.

[3:51] Not many in number, but they fear the Lord. And they have within their hearts the grace of God. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.

[4:02] And we said that it was a sweet word, because such that are of like precious faith, such who fear the Lord, who speak the language, the spiritual language of Zion, they would be in company and in conversation and in union and communion with one another.

[4:24] Not that they would not indeed be, they would be separated indeed from the world and all the things of it. But as they feared the Lord, so they met and communed with and united to others who also feared the Lord.

[4:42] And we said that that holy fear was a principle. And it was a God-given principle. And we mentioned the word in the book of Nehemiah, where we read Nehemiah said to those elders and officers of Israel, that so did not I because of the fear of God.

[5:05] But thinking about these words, and thinking about these dear characters who are only known as those that fear the Lord, my friends, if the fear of the Lord prevents you doing things, because those who fear the Lord will not enter into the things of which the world are satisfied with or seek after.

[5:25] They desire not to have those concerns or burdens. But my friends, I must say this too, the fear of the Lord will enable you to do some things.

[5:37] And I believe this, you know, in everyone who fears the Lord, it will be a guiding principle in their soul and in their pathways too. They will indeed seek to be separate from those things which satisfy the world.

[5:55] But they will do things, and they will be found in pathways of which the fear of the Lord has directed them. Then they that fear the Lord speak often one to another.

[6:07] It is a day, I suppose, or perhaps it always has been, when those who fear the Lord ever seek to do what is right in God's sight.

[6:19] My friends, even in the paths of providence, if you fear the Lord, you cannot move, you cannot do anything, you cannot take up with anything, you cannot move home nor house, chapel or anything else.

[6:33] If you fear the Lord without that he has your, that he has divine direction given you. You know, David said in Psalm 37, commit thy way unto the Lord.

[6:46] Now those that fear the Lord will do that. But those who fear him not, of course, do not need to commit their way. They are able, they consider to do what is right in their own views of things.

[6:59] But those who fear the Lord will ever seek divine direction. I thought of those words, it's just dropped in really. David was in a place called Ziklag and he was in much distress because Ziklag was burnt to the ground.

[7:14] It was a Philistine city that he was hiding in. Now the Lord took away that hiding place from David. But he also brought him into great trouble because all that were near and dear to him and to his people who were taken away captive.

[7:31] Now he didn't know what to do. They knew what, they didn't know what to do. They were so distressed. They were so overcome. My friends, but what did David do? Well, he encouraged himself in the Lord.

[7:43] Now I believe those who fear the Lord will do that. Shall I pursue? He said. Shall I overtake? He sought wisdom from above. He asked the Lord for divine direction.

[7:57] He sought to know what the will of the Lord was in the matter. My friends, and the Lord answered him, thou shalt pursue and overtake and without fail, my friends, that was the word that he was waiting for, and without fail thou shalt recover all.

[8:13] But you can see the fear of the Lord in David's heart. He desires to know what the will of the Lord is in the matter. My friends, that whatever your path and mine may be, it will be our blessing, I fear and feel, my friends, if the Lord in his mercy and goodness so makes us tender, so makes us careful, so makes us concerned, not overburdened, but concerned to know the will of the Lord in a matter.

[8:41] Oh, these that fear the Lord and that spake often one to another, that they would seek direction, they would ask the Lord for guidance. I have to look at my own pathway as well, and I hope I can trace the way.

[8:56] My friends, when the Lord's dear people are led, they are led because of the fear of the Lord. My friends, that is the principle that guides them in their concerns and cares in life's journey, not only for their own soul salvation and the things concerning their redemption, not only concerning their eternal state, my friends, that's ever uppermost in God's dear people, those that fear the Lord seek for those blessings which are eternal, those for time, oh, they need divine direction, those for time, they seek to know the Lord's approbation upon them before they move a step in the way, but eternal mercies and eternal blessings, oh, their soul salvation, my friends, they'll always be found seeking to know and in seeking to be assured and seeking to be comforted by the knowledge that it is well with them, then they that fear the Lord spake often one to another.

[10:03] Well, my friends, as the fear of the Lord guided you, as it brought you to the sanctuary, we trust it has done so. In the cases, really, of the Lord's people, every step of the way is ordered.

[10:17] The same psalm, Psalm 37, has these words, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his ways. My friends, have you traced, you will trace, steps of providence, steps in grace, the step of regeneration, it is ordered by the Lord, it is indeed appointed the day of one's spiritual birth as well as the days of one's natural birth are appointed of God.

[10:45] than they that feared the Lord. And we said this fear of God was not a frightening fear. My friends, there's many things that indeed, do indeed frighten us.

[10:59] We live in an evil day and there's much evil about us and it sometimes makes us fearful. But this isn't a fear that's mentioned here. This is a filial fear.

[11:10] This is the grace of love. This is the grace of faith, my friends, that is bound up with these words. This is grace in the heart which desires to walk in complete agreement to the will and purposes of God.

[11:28] For those that fear the Lord, my friends, would walk carefully in this evil world, would seek to seek the Lord and, my friends, they're praying people that fear the Lord.

[11:41] They are indeed God has provided a place, even the throne of grace, and he's provided a way in and through the name of his son, Jesus Christ, that these that fear the Lord seek the Lord for their pathway, their divine guidance and every blessing indeed and every mercy both in providence and grace.

[12:06] they fear the Lord. They that fear the Lord spake often one to another. And it is very evident, my friends, that those with the fear of God being brought together by the Lord speak of those things of which the Lord indeed has made over to them, appropriated to them.

[12:28] My friends, they will speak of the blessings, they will speak of the pathways, they will speak of the Lord's deliverances, like those that fear the Lord.

[12:39] My friends, they will have many things to speak of and they desire in the speaking of them to honour the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they that fear the Lord spake often one to another.

[12:53] And what a gracious conversation it is. My friends, there's many things which they must recount. They must recount before the Lord.

[13:05] And they must recount indeed before his people. And they speak of the things that they have tasted and handled and felt. I thought really, you know, of the dear apostles in the days that they were sent of the Lord Jesus Christ into the ministry.

[13:21] Well, it would seem, my friends, as if they had a wonderful message to go with. My friends, they were to speak of the things of Christ. My friends, there's no other gospel.

[13:33] They didn't learn it by study. They didn't learn it by colleges. But they learnt it from the lips of Christ himself. And he sent them forth two by two in the days of his flesh.

[13:46] But when he returned to glory, you know, he led them out as far as Bethany and blessed them. And then he sent them forth in his holy name. And they were first to wait at Jerusalem for the influence and blessing of the Holy Ghost.

[14:03] But then they went and preached. And they preached this precious Christ. My friends, not what they had been taught by such that were wiser than them in this world, but what they experienced and known of Christ in his company.

[14:20] I read this afternoon just for my own learning. of that time when they were imprisoned. I believe it's whoever it is, it's the apostles who were in prison.

[14:33] And it was said of these that were in prison that they had been with Jesus. They had been with Jesus. My friends, you could know, you could find no better teacher.

[14:44] Oh, what wonderful blessings that they had learned from the Lord Jesus Christ. What they had received. what they had made and known and had revealed to them by Christ. In that three years of ministry which he walked here below, so he preached his gospel.

[15:01] So he spoke the gospel and spoke of himself as the centre and some of the gospel. And so when they preached, they could preach a full gospel. They could talk, they could preach of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[15:17] They could preach too of his death. They could speak of his precious blood. They could speak of the day of resurrection. My friends, these were the truths that those that feared the Lord that went forth and preached in his holy name were taught.

[15:33] They could preach no more. I believe I remember right the, those who tried to prevent the preaching of the word, the apostles said to them that they could only preach what they had tasted and handled and felt.

[15:49] of the good word of life. Now they feared the Lord. But there's something else too, you know, what the fear of the Lord will do and that will bring obedience. Many a time in the Acts of the Apostles they were threatened with various things because they preached and they were told not to preach.

[16:10] They were beaten because they were preached, because they preached. but my friends, that didn't see, that didn't stop them preaching. I thought of those words, I don't know whether I can find them so readily, but in the days of Gamaliel, that was a very wise man, they, the disciples were brought before those dignitaries of that day and they were charged with preaching and they were told not to preach.

[16:42] Now Gamaliel was a very wise man and having put the apostles out from them for a season, from a distance, they said this to them, or he said this to those that would judge him, refrain from these men and let them alone, for in this counsel, this work, be of men, it will come to naught, but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest happily ye be found even to fight against God.

[17:08] My friends, it was the preaching of the cross that the Jews, the unbelieving Jews, found offensive and how they would have prevented. We read that they agreed to that judgment and said when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go, but you see the fear of the Lord made them obedient, not to their captors, not to those who beat them, not to those who distressed them, not to those who threatened them, my friends, but to the God who sent them.

[17:45] Oh, this is where the fear of God works, you know, in the heart. My friends, it will make a soul obedient. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.

[17:56] And these dear apostles who feared the Lord went about their lawful business of preaching the gospel, whether men would hear or whether they will forbear, whether they were threatened or persecuted if their lives were under great strain, they continued to preach the gospel.

[18:17] My friends, what a blessing, and doesn't it bring liberty to the Lord's people, fear of the Lord. My friends, there is no fear in this fear, you know. It's a holy joy, it's a sweet and precious grace in the soul, this fear of the Lord in the heart.

[18:35] It's a wondrous grace given, my friends, it's the beginning of wisdom, this fear. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. Oh, my friends, what a glorious thing it is, my friends, if we're among those who fear the Lord.

[18:52] What a company of poor sinners we gather with. But if we each fear the Lord, my friends, there is a sacred bond that unites us. There's a glorious union that brings us together, there's a truth that we all agree with and agree in, the truths of Christ Jesus.

[19:10] Well, may you and I have the evidence that we fear the Lord. It will be as an unctuous light to all that's right, a bar to all that's wrong. And if you fear the Lord, you will not do without seeking the Lord for divine direction, even things in providence.

[19:28] And you certainly won't want the things of the world and those concerns and cares. My friends, the fear of the Lord will make you careful. Will make you careful.

[19:41] Oh, it will put a check on you, it will put a restraining hand upon you, my friends, if you fear the Lord. Because if you fear the Lord, as I said before, you'll seek his guidance, you'll seek his direction.

[19:56] It's a God given grace, my friends, it's a living grace within, it comes from above. And they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.

[20:08] And the Lord hearkened and heard it. Well, my friends, he's a silent witness to every conversation. But where the fear of the Lord is, and there's a gracious conversation, I believe this, there is a desire with those that fear the Lord that she be honored and glorified in their conversation.

[20:27] And the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. I said this morning, this text really, it's a most simple text, it's about simple folk.

[20:43] There's nothing profound really, there's nothing deep, there's nothing mysterious about those who fear the Lord. They possess indeed a secret that the world haven't got.

[20:53] but the Lord doesn't write here, the Holy Spirit rather doesn't record here these great men in religion and these great men in understanding. All he calls them and are his people, that they differ from one another because they fear the Lord.

[21:09] Now, in this psalm we read, Psalm 25, I felt really as I read it that there was something there for those who fear the Lord. What man is he that feareth the Lord?

[21:21] Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. Now, that's the way, of course, God chooses. And they shall be under this gracious teacher. You know, it is necessary for God's spiritual family to ever be in the school of Christ.

[21:38] They'll never leave that school, you know. They'll never leave it while they live here below. They shall be taught by the Spirit the things of Jesus Christ. What man is he that feareth the Lord?

[21:50] Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. Now, he'll choose the way in which he will teach his people then. And he'll teach them truths I'll never forget.

[22:01] And he'll teach them principally of themselves. He'll teach them that they are ruined and lost by the Adam fall, they're sinners by birth and practice. But he won't leave them with that knowledge.

[22:12] He'll teach them salvation through the shed blood of Christ. Him shall he teach in the way. You know, sometimes the Lord is pleased to teach, as I've often had to remind you, he teaches by his chastening hand.

[22:30] As many as I love, he said, I rebuke and chasten. No, chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby.

[22:44] My friends, sometimes he'll teach you by chastening. He put his hand on you. He'll touch this and touch that. And he'll bring his people to book and he'll bring his people down.

[22:56] He'll bring his people needy and poor to himself. You know, there's something very solemn, you know, when a child of grace grows proud. Oh, if one that fears the Lord begins to get proud and arrogant and careless, my friends, the Lord will deal with him and humble that man or woman and bring them into contrition and repentance and confession.

[23:20] He'll teach them in the way that he shall choose. He'll bring them into pathways which shall be for their profit. We said about those who were persecuted in the Acts of the Apostles who were in prison, my friends, they learned this, that prisons couldn't hold them.

[23:39] The dignitaries, the offenders, the persecutors, those who tried them and troubled them and distressed them, they were not almighty.

[23:51] My friends, the hand of the Lord was on their side and he brought deliverances for them. But we read something else, the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will show them his covenant.

[24:08] What a blessed word that was. my friends, the secret of the Lord, the secret of his presence, the secret of his grace, the secret of his love, the secret, my friends, of those things which are for their eternal profit and good.

[24:26] They're only a mystery, you know, to those who are not in possession of the fear of the Lord, but they are open blessings and comforts and consolations to the souls who do fear the Lord.

[24:41] Well, that's why I read the 25th Psalm because it speaks of those that fear the Lord. I want to go on because we have another verse yet. They that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name.

[25:03] How simple, my friends, is these descriptions of these people of God. Now we come to that last verse, the 17th verse, the last verse of the text rather, and they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.

[25:25] It would be right to say this and it would not be authoring the scriptures at all, my friends, but they've always been his. They've always been his. When they were born in sin and shape and iniquity, when they feared not the Lord, they were always his.

[25:44] These that fear the Lord, my friends, when they ran the ways of the world, when they sought after worldly things and worldly companions, my friends, these whom the Lord will teach in the way in which he will choose, these that fear the Lord, or will be brought by grace to fear the Lord, they always have been his.

[26:10] He's watched over them in their unregenerate state. He saw them as they walked the broad way to destruction. When they cared not for God nor godliness, when they feared not their own eternal state, they never sought the Lord for providence, yet their own grace, they were still his.

[26:32] I said the other day somewhere, and I can't remember the world I spoke from, but I illustrated really Saul of Tarsus once again, my friends, he was one that feared the Lord because grace was given him on that Damascus road.

[26:48] But you just look back on his pathway. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, was touching the Lord blameless, Pharisees. He was highly religious and an absolute persecutor of the people of God.

[27:04] And wherever he possibly could, he hailed men and women to prison and to death for believing in Jesus Christ. But he was still Christ's. He was still his.

[27:16] My friends, there came a day, there will come a day when all that fear the Lord, though whilst dead in trespasses and sins, there will come a day when the Lord will say, if not audibly, but he will in judgment, thus far and no further.

[27:32] And he'll put his hand on them and stop them. Every child of grace, my friends, is born into this world unregenerate. But that doesn't stop that word being true concerning them, and they shall be mine.

[27:48] And the day will come, my friends, when they'll know they are his. And the day will come when under divine grace, they shall want to be his. But so long as the Lord leaves them in their unregenerate state, he watches over them.

[28:04] And he'll shut doors, and he'll hedge up their ways, and he'll bring them along to the way and to the place, my friends, when he will call them by his grace.

[28:16] They'll have a birthday, you know, and that will be a spiritual birthday. They will be called from above, and that work of divine grace will begin in their heart, and they shall be mine, my friends, and they all, as I've said, I say it again, my friends, being born into this world by divine decree and appointments, they always shall be his.

[28:39] And that case of Saul of Tarsus is the most obvious case. Oh, what great lengths of iniquity he went in. He thought he did God's service, we read. He was very, very self-righteous, and very condemning to the people of God.

[28:57] Oh, how his hands, indeed his conscience, must have been sorely tried respecting what he did against the church of Christ, my friends, the but thou he's. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day.

[29:13] What day? In that day when I make up my jewels, the margin says, special treasure, special treasure. There'll be a day, you know, when, and we must well be hastening to it.

[29:29] My friends, whatever the year is, and whatever the date is, we must be hastening towards it. You just count your birthdays, how many years you've been born into this world, and you're that much nearer to this day that's spoken of here.

[29:44] And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels. Now it is obvious that a jewel is something very precious.

[29:57] And so are these people. So are these people. I was thinking again, I've said it before, and it's worth saying again, I suppose, the Lord Jesus Christ is precious to his people.

[30:10] In many, many ways. He is precious to them. often in the want of him, but also in the possession of him. He's precious for what he did, what he does for them, and what he did for them at Calvary.

[30:23] Christ is indeed precious to his people. But again, I say, my friends, we must reverse that way of speaking and say that the Lord's people are precious to him.

[30:35] How precious are the people of God, these that fear the Lord? How precious are they? My friends, the poet uses the words, and I'm not sure if I can quote it correct, rather than lose them, he shed his heart's blood.

[30:50] Now that's how precious. My friends, they belong to him. They are given to him by God the Father. They are redeemed by him, by his sacrifice for sin.

[31:02] He paid a price for them. He bought them, my friends, and the cost was his own heart's blood, his sufferings at Calvary. He laid his life down for them.

[31:15] And they shall be mine. You know, when we began to speak about those that fear the Lord, we said they had a union, which grace so caused that they are united to the people of God, those that fear the Lord.

[31:29] They speak often one to another. Like those of like precious faith. My friends, but there's another union. And all that sweet hymn in our book speaks of it.

[31:40] It is taken from the first verse of the eighth of the Romans. In union with the Lamb from condemnation free, the saints from everlasting were and shall forever be.

[31:54] And you know, that's a union that will never be broken. When a man takes a wife, there's a union. The marriage union, the marriage blessings. My friends, and it unites two people together.

[32:07] But the day I'll come when that union will be broken. Death will take one from the other. It must be so. But this is a union that can never be broken. Because they are his, and God said they are.

[32:20] And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. They've been purchased. They've been saved by his shed blood. They are part, they are the cause of his sufferings. He offered himself a ransom for many, this people that fear the Lord.

[32:38] And they shall be mine in that day. So they are his treasure. My friends, they are his, indeed, they are precious to him. And every one of them shall be saved with an eternal salvation.

[32:53] They are like jewels, jewels, indeed, jewels are precious. What, indeed, what is that word of the Lord Jesus Christ, the man who found the pearl of great price, he sold all that he had, that he might be in possession of it.

[33:11] The pearl of great price. My friends, the Lord Jesus Christ, for his church, gave his life, that they shall live. Because I live, ye shall live also, he said.

[33:22] And they shall be mine in that day. What a blessed day that will be. What a fearsome day it will be. My friends, people keep speaking of the judgment day.

[33:33] And some turn away from the truth of the judgment day as if it's something that never will happen. It will. And who's the judge? Jesus Christ. He will be the judge.

[33:45] You read in the 17th of the Acts, a very solemn word, my friends, but that's an indication of the judges. God, it is said in the 17th, this is the Apostle Paul, because he, that is God, hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereby he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead.

[34:14] The Lord Jesus Christ is that man who shall be the judge. judge what part, what side of the judgment will you and I stand? My friends, there's always two sides of justice.

[34:25] It's either for us or against us. What side will it be? My friends, is it in your heart and mind? Can we humbly say, oh, may it please the Lord, we all might be brought there that we fear the Lord.

[34:38] We have the grace of God in our heart, given by him, freely given, wonderfully given, sovereignly given, separates us from all that is false and all that is separate.

[34:50] We still carry this old nature about, you know. Don't lose sight of that solemn truth, my friends. But the grace of God is the fear of the Lord. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts.

[35:02] In that day when I make up my jewels, the judgment day will have no fear then. But it will have the fear, my friends, of all those who thought they knew him. In that gospel, in one of the gospels, the Lord, it is said of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have done this and we've done that in thy most holy name.

[35:27] And he said, I never knew you. My friends, there are impostors. There are those who have religion which is counterfeit. But these have a religion that has the fear of the Lord as the evidence, my friends, of a reality in that religion.

[35:45] It's an inward working of the Holy Ghost, the fear of the Lord. It's within, it's not, it is seen. Not seen as it were within, but the fruit of it is seen.

[35:57] The evidence of it is seen. My friends, if you and I are among those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, in sincerity is because we have the fear of the Lord in our hearts. If we desire his ways and desire grace to walk in his ways, it's because we have the fear of the Lord in our heart.

[36:15] My friends, and if we are brought to indeed see him as indeed our redeemer and saviour, brought to know his redeeming love and blood, brought to know that our sins which are many are all forgiven.

[36:30] My friends, oh, what a blessing it is to those who fear the Lord. They are made right and kept right. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. In that day when I make up my jewels, you look at that case of the thief on the cross.

[36:48] My friends, one who feared the Lord, he didn't always. He was a thief. He went about stealing and he got caught. And he suffered the justice of the court.

[36:58] And he was sentenced to death on a cross. My friends, it was only, it's so evidently so that on that cross, as he was crucified, on the side of the Lord, by the side of the Lord Jesus Christ, that wonderful work of grace began.

[37:18] He began to fear the Lord. And it brought him to seek an interest in Jesus Christ and his kingdom. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

[37:30] Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. What has this people got, my friends, that no one else has got? They have redemption. They have atonement made for their sins.

[37:44] Their sins, which may be great, my friends, it's not for us to compare whether we sin more than Saul of Tarsus. My friends, we're sinners by birth and practice. But these that fear the Lord, my friends, their sins are all forgiven and are forgiven in this sacrifice made for sin.

[38:02] They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. In that day when I make up my jewels, their sins will be gone, their iniquities pardoned. They shall be prepared for heaven and brought safely there.

[38:15] And then he said, and I will spare them. I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. I've often felt, you know, that the Lord in his mercy, if he's put grace in our hearts and taught us by his grace, my friends, we shall never know what we've been spared from.

[38:39] Never know. We shall never know what we've been spared from. Oh, how solemn you know to be among those who are left not to fear the Lord, who go their weary journey through this world of sin and woe and to the end and find there is a difference.

[38:59] And they shall be mine, these that fear the Lord. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day. Now the Lord speaks very often in the scriptures about that day.

[39:10] It is coming, my friends, that it is a solemn day. How we are reminded often, my friends, about that day, how it indeed shall come.

[39:24] How solemn it is if you and I are indeed graciously taught in the Spirit and prepared for that day. You know, when we consider, my friends, that so many despise the day of grace and the day of the gospel.

[39:41] But the Lord speaks here of a judgment day. When all this world, all that is called good and great in this world is done away with. And we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

[39:54] And these characters whose sins are put away, who in life's journey by grace and mercy by sovereignty too. My friends, unmerited blessing and mercy.

[40:06] They fear the Lord in life. And when they're found at last at the judgment day, they shall be known as his. And they shall be mine. Because he's bought them.

[40:18] Because he's paid a price for them. Because he's redeemed them by his shed blood. Because they fear the Lord. Because of grace in the soul. They are his. And his forever.

[40:30] They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. In that day when I make up my jewels. It will be a wonderful day, you know. I said once it will be a day of surprises. It will, you know.

[40:42] Some of these poor old fearing saints of God. Some of those who hobble along in the spiritual way and pathway. Those who are not very high in their own estimation.

[40:54] Those who keep begging their way along Zion's ways. Looking unto their God and pleading before their God for mercy and goodness. My friends, what a day it will be to them.

[41:07] Their eyes will close on a world of sin and woe. My friends, it will be open in glory. There shall we see his face. These fearful ones. These doubting ones.

[41:18] These dear ones who, though they have the fear of God, are fearful of their eternal state. But then what about these bold ones? These unconcerned ones?

[41:30] What about these characters who have a religion that they've learned in their head? What about these who've got a religion that they've took up with?

[41:40] My friends, it's not the fear of the Lord. It may have a pious walk and pathway, but it's not the fear of the Lord. My friends, and they'll be found wanting in that great day.

[41:53] Oh, there's some solemn things, my friends, said in religion and done in religion that doesn't come from the fear of God. But may it be your lot and mine. And may we be so blessed.

[42:05] And that when we come to this day that's spoken of here, we shall be amongst the sheep of Christ's fold, not among the goats. There'll be a right hand, you know, to Christ and there'll be a left hand.

[42:17] Those on the left hand will go to perdition and those on the right hand shall go into glory. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts in that day, when I make up my jewels and I will spare them.

[42:32] Oh, what that seems to me, my friends, such a wonderful word to a sinner. Spared. Spared, you know, sometimes we reach a birthday or an occasion in our life and we have to say, the Lord spared us.

[42:45] We go on a journey, we come home and the Lord spared us. And my friends, it may be that we go into hospital and have an operation and the Lord spares us. And has done till now.

[42:57] What a great mercy if he spares us. He spared us to take us to glory. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. And the Lord hearkened and heard it.

[43:10] And a 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.

[43:30] Amen. And we close in hymn 106. Thus saith the Lord to those that stand and wait to hear his great command, I have a sinner to renew and know this charge.

[43:42] Amen. Thus saith the Lord to those that stand and wait to hear his great command, I have a sinner to renew, and know this charge I give to you.

[44:10] Pull his polluted garments off, hear soul his raiment rich enough, clothe thee with righteousness divine, not creatures' righteousness, but mine.

[44:24] One hundred and six. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[44:34] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[44:46] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[44:58] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[45:38] Thank you.

[46:08] Thank you.

[46:38] Thank you. Thank you.

[47:38] Thank you. Thank you.

[48:38] Thank you. Thank you.

[49:10] Thank you.

[49:42] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[49:54] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.