Malachi

[0:00] Speaking of the Lord's help, I direct your attention this evening to the prophecy of Malachi chapter 3 and verse 17. Prophecy of Malachi chapter 3 and verse 17.

[0:16] 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 spared his own son that serveth him.

[0:30] 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.

[0:50] There is recorded here this book of remembrance. Written for those that fear the name of the Lord.

[1:03] Those that in this earth have communed together very beautifully, spoken often one with the other. They have communed of the things that God has done for their soul.

[1:23] Precious realities of the revelation divine that has been given to them. They are those who are marked thanks, having a work of grace in their hearts.

[1:36] They fear the Lord. And they commune together of him whom they have known and loved, and who has spoken to them from time to time, and revealed himself in their hearts.

[1:55] The Lord has viewed them in that communion, in that love and union one with the other.

[2:08] He has in glory, as he reveals here, the book of remembrance. In other words, they're marked.

[2:23] The Lord has watched over them. And their names are in that Lamb's book of life, written there.

[2:34] And of these, and of these only, and of none others whatsoever, does this word speak.

[2:48] And what a word it is. Comprehensive. A word of a divine utterance of God himself. Possession in his hand.

[3:03] Sacred possession. Purchased with a price. Sacrifice of his dear son.

[3:18] And of them only, he says, they shall be mine. And he says here, that they will be manifest as his, in that day, when he makes up his jewels.

[3:33] The original of this, reads, they shall be, to me for a flock.

[3:46] And the translators, came to translate this. They worked on the assumption that what was precious in the east, would not be considered precious in the west.

[4:00] And when they came to translate this verse, they did not translate word for word what was in the original Hebrew tongue.

[4:13] And the margin reads, a special treasure. They, the truth that is spoken of here, as the translators saw it, was that these people were the special treasure of their God, eternally loved in Christ.

[4:40] But there is more light, I believe, here, in the use of the original language, a flock. It is the words that Christ so often used, that his people were his sheep, my sheep, hear my voice.

[5:01] And this is what lies at the root of this. They were his purchased possession. They shall be to me for a flock.

[5:18] The sheep lost on the mountainside, which the shepherd went out to recover. The flock which he would gather in other sheep I have, which are not of this flock, them also I must bring, and they shall be one.

[5:38] And so, this is the truth that is contained here. The day we are brought to consider when he makes up his flock, gathers every one of his sheep that are glory.

[6:01] His special treasure, that number which no man can number of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, who he prayed for in Gethsemane's garden.

[6:20] And prayed in that blessed wine that they all may be one even as we are one. All mine are thine and thine are mine and I am glorified in them.

[6:33] or how we see there the in the person of his dear son and the great gathering together that there will be in that day when he makes up his flock.

[7:00] And when there is that gathering of everyone for whom Christ died as jewels in his crown.

[7:15] And then the prophet goes on to speak of the flock of Christ, I will spare them. For my dear friend, there is such truth lying here that he intends to spare them and to gather them from the four corners of the earth and we may well ask this, spare them from what?

[7:51] spare them from that ultimate destruction of the wicked which is spoken of in this prophecy because this verse is followed by that solemn word in the opening of the fourth chapter the day cometh that shall burn as an oven and all the pray and all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day cometh that shall burn them up saith the Lord of hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch but this is how the Lord is going to spare them unto you that fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings and you shall of the storm and you shall tread down the wicked for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this saith the Lord so we see that in this blessed possession they shall be mine there is a glorious salvation that they're going to be spared from eternal destruction and the son of righteousness is going to rise with healing in his wings in their heart now you would desire to look at this word as the Lord may help us and they shall be mine saith the

[9:32] Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewels they are bought with a price they are the purchased possession of Jesus Christ they're his as purchased in the shedding of his precious blood ye are bought ye are not your own says the scripture ye are bought with a price they are redeemed that is the great doctrine of this purchase they're purchased out of nature's darkness and brought into God's marvelous life and the

[10:34] Lord has done it himself and as a result of that sacred transaction they're his in the song of Solomon we read that lovely word my beloved is mine and I am his you know this transaction is known experimentally in the hearts of his dear church they are led into the fact that they have been bought with a price well do the scriptures reveal this Job said I know that my redeemer liveth my redeemer he who has redeemed me there is a knowledge of this redemption in the heart and God's dear church is brought to know it she is brought to know this precious truth that she's here that he has loved her with an everlasting love love and therefore with loving kindness has he drawn love of

[11:59] Christ to sinners is revealed to them they know that the Lord has loved them with an everlasting love he pours that love into their heart they know that they are the purchased possession of Christ because he applies his atoning blood to their hearts and grants them to know the pardon of their sins all he does this sweet precious gift of the atonement is known in their heart Christ is revealed to them as the hope of glory and you know he enables them to say my beloved is mine and I am he they are brought as top lady says in that lovely hymn loved of my God to him again with love intense

[13:12] I burn chosen of thee ere time began I choose thee in return and John the divine says of this truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ it is indeed they know him whom to know his life eternal he has revealed himself in their heart and it's on that basis that they can commune one with the other truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ and we have fellowship one with the other says John and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin they have fellowship and this is how it is revealed to them in the application of his precious blood Job speaks of the root of the matter being in him and you know the root of the matter in

[14:23] God's dear servant Job was this the revelation of the eternal son of God to him as his redeemer the ability given to him to say I know that my redeemer lives the sweet revelation of Jesus Christ as his redeemer was the root of the matter Christ here we read of those solemnly who have neither root nor branch but when the Lord brings the knowledge of his dear son into our heart by revelation then we are brought into this word which the Lord speaks with almighty power regarding his church they shall be mine and if his no man can pluck them out of his hand if bought with that price and it is revealed to them they can never be snatched out of his hand no man shall pluck them out of my hand they're his by purchased possession eternally their salvation depends upon his unchangeability their salvation depends upon his conquest over satan hell and the grave once in him in him forever thus the eternal covenant stands none shall pluck them from the

[16:28] God of Israel's hand they are his forever and the truth is this that the Lord reveals seals signs settles these divine matters in their soul by revelation yeah I have loved thee with an everlasting love and therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee all to have a knowledge by revelation of that everlasting love of Jesus Christ in our heart there will come many a cloud over the hope of God the dear people many a solemn trial of their faith many a solemn testing ground to which he will call them to go through many a withholding of his presence much darkness much solemn distance much barrenness and deadness much inability to pray much freshly contracted guilt but the foundation of God stand is sure the Lord knoweth them that are here it doesn't their salvation does not rest on what they feel or where they are it rest in him it rest in his divine decrees in heaven above they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my joy they will there be manifested as my living family great will be the wonder in their heart if ever they are safely gathered in the glory great will be the surprise of many of his dear family if they are found securely and safely landed in that great day numbered among that flock

[18:48] Christ's sheep at the right hand of the throne of God but you know the sole reason that will lie behind their salvation will be this they shall be mine their names written in the Lamb's book of life what the Lord calls here a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name what characters they were the book was written and they were marked by these two blessed marks feared the Lord and thought upon his name they knew him as their saviour they knew him as their redeemer they knew him as

[20:23] Gideon knew him Jehovah Shalom God of peace they knew him as Abraham knew him Jehovah Jara they knew him in all his sacred titles in their pathway their God their redeemer their advocate their intercessor their great high priest before the throne of God or do we know him in this way fear the Lord obey the voice of his sermon God what a mark it is blessing man they were a lonely people a separate people cut off from others of the professing world they walked a lonely solemn pathway persecuted despised mocked but they had these two great marks they feared the Lord and it manifested itself in their lives they were separated from this world book and they thought upon his name that name which had been revealed to them it wasn't intellectual meditation it was a recollection of the times and the spots and the places that he had made himself precious to them sweet hours in prayer blessings in the house of

[22:44] God under the ministry of his holy word precious promises given with almighty power never to be taken away they thought upon his name where can you tonight come into the compass these words that delineate the character that is spoken of here in the simplicity of it fear the Lord they are characters who have been brought to bow before their God to recognize his almighty power over them his divine sovereignty and yet to know him as that God of mercy and love who is approachable and who is touched with the feeling of their infirmity brought to hear his voice brought to know his commandments brought to eventually follow him this lovely list of all characteristics these characters who feared the Lord and thought upon his name they spake off from one to another

[24:05] I like this word these are the ones of whom it is said they shall be mine well they spake off from one to another communion of saints here in this earth is a very sweet subject one of the great solemn marks of the declension in the churches has been the silence spiritual silence the lack of this communion one with the other the death the deadly silence it doesn't necessarily mean there is nothing to say I speak rightly of spiritual things but there is a fear to say anything all the work of the spirit in the soul it says here they spoke often one to the other look in your life at those times when you have spoken of what the lord has done for you when you have found a godly companion with whom you have been able to commune

[25:40] I speak not of religious conversation I speak of sweet communion one with another they spoke often one to the other and it said that the lord heard not not the tittle tattle but the spiritual profitable blessed conversation one with another where has that conversation been in your pathway where in mine where today are the mothers in Israel that draw forth that language out of the hearts of the young and ask those searching questions I look back in my student days to a godly mother in

[26:47] Israel at Leicester who drew forth from my heart and my dear friend John Rayner who was with me at the time that dear godly woman Miss Elizabeth Mary Parker she drew forth from us that work which God was beginning and had begun in our heart she marked it when I came to Trobe here Mrs.

[27:24] Gurney at the half chapel oh the sweet conversation I had with her over a number of years before the Lord took her home to glory precious conversation this is the conversation that is spoken of here community of saints one with the other regarding the things that are precious in their heart and what the Lord has done for them in their soul it's not a cross examination it's a sharing one with the other and it's those who fear the Lord who are able to speak a little of what the Lord has done for them I preached in this county now for nearly 25 years and I look back many who have gone to glory dear ones in this place many times

[28:36] I look at the pews where they sat now empty but I think of the sweet conversation they they shall be mine they've communed together in this world of what the Lord has done for them it's not necessarily our nearest and dearest we can commune with it's very remarkable that J.C.

[29:04] Philpott never communed with his wife they never spoke of the things of God in her writings after his death she said that it was rather like a wife whose husband was a doctor she went to another doctor but you know I speak of the reality of this communion and the blessedness of it and the character that he's spoken of in the opening word of our text tonight glory those who have communed one with the other and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ and ye have fellowship one with another it lays it down so blessedly in the epistle of John fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus

[30:08] Christ his son cleanses us from all the sins do we know this fellowship one with another this blessed union and they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewel let us consider these words now for a moment as we said beginning truth that lies under this translation make up my jewels is gather my flock together and you know how precious is the flock of Christ to him very difficult for us to grasp that we feeding ourselves to be what we are solemnly so that we are able to comprehend that we should be precious to the

[31:26] Lord feeding ourselves to be such solemn character such ruined sinners how can we possibly be precious in his sight well I ask you here has he ever revealed his love to you in the outpourings of it in your heart that you have known a little of the sweetness of this truth that you are precious to him when the Lord's love is revealed in our soul when he shows us in our lives in particular places and circumstances that he has loved us with an everlasting love when he reveals that love in our soul when he shows us that he died for us when he gives us a glimpse of what he suffered for us then we come into a little understanding a little precious hope that we're precious to him but it's only a glimpse we catch on the Lord speaks here with such a sacred absolute certainty of his people that they're here and that they're precious to him they shall be mine saith the

[33:13] Lord of hosts in that day when I gather my flower so precious to him and as this translation attempts to bring out the fundamental truth that lies in these words when I make up my joy extraordinary expression that the dying thief should be a joy in Christ's craft his joy his special treasure well you see what lies at the root of this is that lovely hymn love with an everlasting love to grace and glory he ordained all the words of Robert Mary McChain chosen not for good in me call it out from wrath to flame unaccountable inexplicable why the

[34:27] Lord should gather such poor wretches and regard them as his special treasure his jewel but this is the truth of these words and the Lord goes on to open it up so bless it and I'll spare them from what they deserve from their just deserve I'll spare them I'll spare them from the fruit of what they've sown their own condemnation I'll spare them they've sown to the flesh but I'll spare them and that is the case of every one of his dear children if they reach glory they'll be brands plucked from the burning they'll be spared spared from the full wrath justice and indignation of God because the sword fell upon their redeemer and of them it'll be true thou shalt not fall by the sword but thy life will I give for a prey unto me spared spared and spared on the grounds solely alone of sovereign grace neither reason have you ever been blessed in your soul with the hope of heaven and at the same time been brought to say why me brought to have such a realization in your soul that it's absolutely unmerited and undeserved and yet the Lord has given you a sweet hope that one day you'll reach glory but it's been totally unmerited and you've known it nothing breaks the heart of one of God's dear children more than a sight and a blessed receiving of that mercy in the substantial nature of it realizing at the same time it is totally unmerited and totally undeserved and a broken hearted child of

[37:45] God under good hope of grace will say why me why was I made to hear his voice when the Lord pours his love into their hearts the Lord does it true religion is a feeling religion an entrance into the mercy and love and blood of Jesus Christ true religion concerns a broken heart true religion concerns sweet communion and union one with the other true religion concerns a love to Christ and a love to his people and sometimes that love is hidden in the soul not expressed in words at all and yet there is a deep deep union it exist

[38:54] God's dear people feel it one to the other and to his servants they feel that blessed unbreakable bond and time they know the sweet power of it and it transcends the grave tie is not broken in death it exists into all eternity the church militant and the church triumphant are one in Christ and it is a bond that can never and will never be broken this number spoken of here have communed in this earth and will worship together in heaven and the subject of their communion in glory was the subject of their fellowship on earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood this was the subject of their communion here and it says the subject of their worship here after and they sing on earth in glory

[40:16] Lord may I be found when e'er the archangel's trump shall sing to see thy smiling face then loudest of the crowd I'll sing while heaven's resounding mansions ring with shame of sovereign grace they shall be mine bound in the eternal and everlasting covenant they shall be mine said the Lord of hosts in that day when I gather my flock together when I make up my jewels and I will spare them I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that servant him what a lovely figure mercy it's the subject of it's the sacred bond between

[41:27] Christ and his church and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord God almighty and he will spare them spare them without in any way touching the honour and glory of his father which is holy and fully maintained inviolable yet he will spare them spare them through his death sacrifice resurrection intercession in glory spare them through his glorious ability as their redeemer and he'll gather them safe to glory what clothed in his righteousness presented before his father's throne as a man spared his own son that served him his by possession and as happened in

[42:42] Egypt in the coming out not a who shall be left behind amen from never have the heart can we can