Transcript: Discerning God's Holy Will vs Profane Influences (2)

Music What we see going on in the world today should be quite sobering to all of us as Christians. The Bible speaks of a time in which the world will come to its end. It is also called in other biblical translations, the end of the age. As Jesus was walking with his disciples, they asked him, what would be the sign of his coming back to the earth a second time? Well, let's look in this account in Matthew 24, verse 1, and see what Jesus spoke to them. Jesus departed from the temple area and was going on his way when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the buildings of the temple and point them out to him. Verse 2, But he said to them, Do you see all this? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon the other that will not be thrown down. While he was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place? and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the completion, the consummation of the age. Verse 4. Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you, deceiving you, and leading you into error. For many will come in on the strength of my name, appropriating the name which belongs to me, saying, I am the Christ, the Messiah, and they will lead many astray. Verse 6. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place. But the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in places after place. All this but the beginning, the early birth pains of the intolerable anguish. Then they will hand you over to suffer affliction and tribulation and put you to death. And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many of the offended and repelled will begin to distrust and desert him who they thought to trust and obey and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred. And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error. Verse 12. and the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity. But he who endures to the end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom, the gospel, will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Well, we see that Jesus did not give the direct answer of the question that they had asked of him, what would be the sign of his coming in the end of the age. But he did warn them. And the first thing Jesus warned them of is found in verse 4. Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you, deceiving you and leading you into error. For many will come in on the strength of my name, appropriating the name which belongs to me, saying, I am the Christ, the Messiah, and they will lead many astray. Jesus is foretelling of the false deceivers and false apostles who would be used of Satan the devil to seduce God's elect. And the great pretenders of the faith will come under the influence of Satan as angels of light and deceive people by their false signs and wonders. They would give pretense of divine utterances, of miracles, prophecies, and perverted doctrines. And they would come in the name of Christ, but would be the pseudo-Christ having a twisted and perverted power of saint and the devil and will draw many to themselves. Remember, these times will be like none other in any other age of time. The trouble in the world will be so great, threatening, and awful that people in these times will look for anything or anyone who looks like a possible means of deliverance from their troubles. And Satan will take advantage of them in this time by deceiving them with his pseudo-Christ here and there. Look with me in Matthew 24, verse 15. And Jesus speaking says, So when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation spoken of through prophet Daniel. Let the reader understand. Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains and let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one go into the field back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in the days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. for then there will be great distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. If that time anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or there he is, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. If anyone tells you, there he is out in the desert, do not go out. Or, there he is in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there will be vultures gathered. And immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Well, Jesus warns that this will happen. Satan will set his deceivers into position to look like the Messiah, like Christ, who will deliver them out of their troubles. And these deceivers will give the pretenses of great signs and wonders, but not true miracles. And feign that they are those who have the divine seal and approval from God and Jesus Christ. They'll have a perverted testimony of Jesus. They do not carry the true gospel of grace and truth, but it is a counterfeit. And there will be lying wonders brought about by Satan. but we must understand that God is permitting Satan to do this because the prince of the power of the air will have been released to bring judgment on the whole earth. And at one point in time in the word, in Matthew 24, verse 22, Jesus said, And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would endure and survive but for the sake of the elect. God's chosen ones, those days, will be shortened. Well, this prophecy of Jesus declares that this time will be so horrible that everyone would die unless the time of calamity is shortened. The only reason it will be shortened is for the sake of the elect who will be living at that time. For the true saints of God who live in this horrible time, the word says if it were possible, even the elect God's chosen ones could be deceived. Verse 24. For false Christs and prophets will arise. They will show great signs and wonders as to deceive and lead many astray, if possible even to deceive God's chosen ones. See, I have warned you beforehand. And that was Matthew 24, 24. We do not want to leave our message hanging in the air without seeing the hope and return of our Christ, our Lord and Savior, our King, the second time. So let's pick up in Matthew 24, 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shed its light, and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of heaven will be shaken. and the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and beat their breasts and lament in anguish and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and glory in brilliancy and splendor. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather his elect, his chosen ones, from the four winds even from one end of the universe to the other. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The King of kings in all of His splendor and glory will gather up His precious inheritance and take them home to live forever with His Father and Himself in their eternal and glorious abode where there will be no more sighing and no more crying or grief or toil. And the coming of the King of kings in the clouds will be a spectacular sight. and Revelation 19.11 gives us a good view of what this will look like. After that, I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse appeared, and the one who was riding it is called faithful, trustworthy, loyal, incorruptible, steady, and true. And he passes judgment and wages war in righteousness, in holiness, justice, and uprightness. and his eyes blaze like a flame of fire and on his head are many kingly crowns, diadems and he has the title, the name inscribed which he alone knows or can understand. He is dressed in a robe dyed by dipping in blood and the title by which he is called is the word of God. And the troops of heaven clothed in fine linen dazzling and clean followed him on white horses. Verse 15 From his mouth goes forth a sharp sword with which he can smite and afflict and strike the nations. And he will shepherd and control them with a staff, a scepter, a rod of iron. And he will tread the winepresses of the fierceness of the wrath and indignation of God, the all ruler, the almighty, the omnipotent. And on his garment, his robe, and on his thigh he has a name, title inscribed, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. hallelujah hallelujah can we know dear church that Christ's second coming will be preceded by cosmic signs the sun and the moon will be darkened and there will be stars falling from the sky shaking the other planets and Jesus will descend out of the clouds into this earth and this event will happen quickly and visibly like lightning all across the sky where every living human being at this time will behold his coming. And the word declares that a trumpet call will send his holy angels to gather the saved from the earth. And granted, dear ones, this is not a pleasant subject or yet even a time that anyone would look forward to living in, except the true saints of God who know that God will intervene and save them on wings of eagles. Look with me, please, in Revelation 12.12. Therefore be glad, exalt, O heavens, that you dwell in them. But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in fierce anger and fury because he knows that he only has a short time left. Verse 13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he went in pursuit of the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman, my emphasis, the church, the faithful ones, was surprised with the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly from the presence of the serpent into the desert, the wilderness, to the retreat where she should be kept safe and fed for times and times, and half a time, three and one half years or 1260 days well nevertheless this time is coming just as sure as one season runs forward into another there are many rumblings amongst the brethren from all corners of the earth saying the stage is set in the world's fallen economy and the fullness in the wickedness of man is growing quite evidence in that society calls good evil and evil good. Not able to know the difference or discern the difference because they hate the only righteous and true God in his son Jesus Christ. Little children are now murdering their parents. And young people are heartless and rude and murderous. And the rights of Christians are being stripped away. and teachers cannot mention the name of Jesus in their classrooms. The hatred for God is growing and evident in the way that people live. And even within the church, the love of brethren will grow cold, and the word says that they would betray one another. Proverbs 28, 2 declares, When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. but with honest, sensible leaders there is stability. Jesus even prophesied that during these end times, the time would come that Christians would be so greatly hated by the world. Look with me in Matthew 24, 9, please. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you shall be hated by all nations because of me. and that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other and false prophets will appear and deceive many people because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold but he who stands firm to the end will be saved and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come The gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world and then the end will come. For those who do live in these times, although it will not be pleasant, we must remember and live in the realm of the truth and promises which are yea and amen in Jesus Christ. Jesus promises, I will never leave you nor will I forsake you. That is a promise, dear one. Verse 13 declares, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And the greatest work for the church lies ahead. Verse 14 declares, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Jesus said in Matthew 9, 37, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. We the church have a great work of evangelism to do, which lies just ahead of us. There are many of Christ's precious treasures, which lay hidden in the fields and need to hear the glad tidings of our dear Lord Jesus Christ so that they may arise and live. And they need to know who Jesus is, what he has done for them, and what he has provided and promised and yet to do for them. Well, my real purpose in this message today is not to preach on the end times, but to give a contrast of true Christians, what they will look like and think like and act like. How are we able to define or recognize those who will come like the pseudo-Christ, the deceivers of Satan, to present a lie of error, of perversion and deception? Well, we need to first know what true Christians will be like and act like in their daily conduct before God. And if we know the real and true or holy, then we shall recognize the deceivers or the profane. And let us look in Malachi 3.14 to get a glimpse or a peek in at these kind of people and how God views them. Malachi 3.14. Well, let's start actually Malachi 3.13. Your words have been strong and hard against me, says the Lord. Yet you say, what have we spoken against you? You have said, it is useless to serve God. And what profit is it if we keep his ordinances and walk gloomily as if in mourning apparel before the Lord of hosts? Verse 15. And now we consider the proud and the arrogant to be happy and favored. Evildoers are exalted and prosper. Yes, and when they test God, they escape unpunished. Verse 16. Then those who feared the Lord talked often to one another, and the Lord listened, and he heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on his name. Verse 17 And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare to them to be my jewels, my treasured possession, my peculiar treasure. I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who does not serve him. Well, God was moved by these people's conversation and their deep devotion and respect for him. Verse 16 says, Those that feared the Lord is showing what really touched the heart of God and caused him to take notice and to write their names in the book of remembrance. And this speaks of loyalty, dear church. And loyalty means having unswerving allegiance, being faithful in allegiance to one's law or sovereign government. And these people showed by their conversation the genuine fear of the Lord, or said in another way, they had a deep, pure, reverential love and obedient desire to please God in every way by keeping his laws and precepts. These people, unlike the others whom they lived amongst, they were God's people, who were speaking out against God at that time. In verse 13, we see that they had spoken out treasonable words against the God of all creation. And God said to them, Your words have been strong against me. They spoke against God, just like the rebels in the wilderness had spoken so freely against God by their murmuring and complaining during their 40-year trek. And there was not one ounce of loyalty towards their God here. These people in our account in Malachi, gathered together by their democratic vote and said, We, the people, find fault with you, God. And they opposed his godly way of righteousness. God said, Your words against me are stout. And these words arose out of pride, arrogance, and contempt of God. They were very vocal as they spoke out loudly. And they did not care who heard them. They had no shame. In verse 14, you have said it is useless to serve God. And what profit is it if we keep his ordinances and walk around gloomily as if in mourning a peril before the Lord of hosts. And now we consider the proud and arrogant to be happy and favored. Evildoers are exalted and prosper. Yes, even when they test God, they escape unpunished. You see, they had no shame or regret in the idle and arrogant words that spill forth from their foul hearts. And the fact that they were so vocal shows they had desired to spread and propagate their apostate ideas and contempt to infect the minds of others around them. They had no fear of being called to account here. They spoke proudly with insulting contempt and disdain for God. But our scripture points out that God had noticed and paid attention to those who were loyal and reverent towards him in their conversations, in their conduct, and their love for him. These people feared God. Malachi 3.16 says, Those who feared the Lord. You see, this was not a slavish fear, but it is a fearing, which is fearing his anger directed at them, but a fear that they might offend him. Those who feared the Lord, Their reverent fear of God is showing that they had forsaken sin. And people such as these know that God hates sin. Such righteous fear of God will produce and inspire love, faith, holiness, and will assure obedience in a true believer's life. And again we can say these people were loyal to their God. They love what God loves and hate what God hates. What a wonderful attribute for a true saint. These precious people are representative of those faithful ones, the loyal ones in every generation who dared to be different. Their loyalty to God was proven by their strict allegiance to his righteous commandments or precepts. They were steadfast and faithful. And another thing we see in this word today in Malachi 3, not only were these people loyal to God but the scripture says they spoke often together with one another. This means that they had fellowship with each other often. And this is what links and knits the hearts of brethren together. We share in the joy of our brothers and sisters. What is their joy is our joy. We share in one another's burdens. We actually carry one another's burdens at times. And many times this will be in prayer. But other times it will be actually of assistance when a brother or a sister needs help. And this is truly fulfilling the mandate in Galatians 6.2, which declares, Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. You see, when these dear people spoke often to one another, they did not gossip about one another's shortcomings or their failings, but they talked about the work of the Lord and what he was doing. Dear church, Jesus Christ personally carried our burdens and they were many. He willingly carried them in his own body to the cross and nailed them there. 1 Peter 2.24 declares He personally bore our sins in his own body on a tree as on an altar, offered himself on it that we may die, cease to exist to sin and to live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like so many sheep. But now you have come back to the shepherd and guardian, the bishop of your souls. Now, Jesus makes possible for all true believers to have fellowship with the Father and himself through the Holy Spirit given to each one at the time of salvation. So we see, fellowship is a very important trait or quality that marks a true Christian. Fellowship with God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit and with one another is fulfilling the first and greatest commandment Jesus left with us and that is love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your soul and mind and the second is to love one another as you love yourself. Understanding this fellowship with God means that we will be in agreement and will be consistent in obeying his will. We will be practicing what his word tells us and we will be exchanging his mutual affections with himself and others. In this fellowship with God, we also will be enjoying his presence and conforming to his son's image and likeness. We also will be enjoying his joy and his peace. This cannot help, dear one, but overflow to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We will again, as we talked about, joyfully carry one another's burdens. We will share in their joy and yes, even in their sufferings. We will have mutual interest both in the natural and of course more so spiritually. We have many interest in things in common with our beloved brethren. This fellowship is very important to God. you see the only reason why we dare to have fellowship with God in the sense of sharing things in common with him is because he has raised our position with himself through the death, burial and resurrection of his dear son Jesus Christ and what brethren share in common with God is a relationship as well as God's own holy and righteous character Those who have fellowship with Jesus Christ should enjoy fellowship with one another. This fellowship ought to illustrate the very nature of God himself and is certainly a distinguishing mark of true Christians. 1 John 1, in 1 John 1, verse 1 We are writing about the word of life in him who existed from the beginning, whom we had heard. whom we have seen with our own eyes, whom we have gazed upon for ourselves and touched him with our own hands. And the life and aspect of his being was revealed and made manifest and demonstrated. And we saw as eyewitnesses and are testifying to and declared to you the life, the eternal life in him who already existed with the Father and who actually was made visible was revealed to us, his followers. Verse 3. This is the message, the message of promise, which we have heard from him and now are reporting to you. God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. No, not in any way. So if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are both speaking falsely and do not live and practice the truth which the gospel presents. but if we are really living and walking in the light as he himself is in the light we have true unbroken fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses removes us from all sin and guilt and keeps us cleansed from sin in all of its forms and manifestations you see this fellowship since it stems out of love for God represents his light and this light represents his very nature and character. God is love. We belong to the family of love, dear ones. John 13, 34 declares, I give you a new commandment that you should love one another just as I have loved you, so should you love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another, if you keep on showing love among yourselves. Now, believers should not have fellowship with unbelievers. We can see that we have nothing in common with them in the sense of who our fellowship or communion is joined and yoked to, and that is our Heavenly Father Jesus Christ and His Son through the Holy Spirit 2 Corinthians tells us Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers Do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them inconsistent with your faith. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness? Verse 15, what harmony can there be between Christ and Belial the devil? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement can there be between a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. Even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and walk in and with and among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Verse 17. So come out from among them, the unbelievers and separate, sever yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not any unclean thing, and I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. So not having fellowship with unbelievers means we should not share in the unbelievers' sinful lifestyles. Until one is saved, they cannot know the preciousness of Christ and what he did for them on the cross. Jesus said, do not throw pearls before swine because they will trample all over them. Jesus is the pearl of great price and swine represents the unclean ones. But this does not mean that believers should not have anything to do with unbelievers, because the Bible makes it clear that we are obligated to share the gospel with them. And Jesus spoke this to his disciples in Matthew 28, 19. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all the days, perpetually on every occasion to the very close and consummation of the age. So we see that fear of the Lord and fellowship with God and with one another were two of the marks of those who stood out as true and faithful believers of our Lord and God. And these are discernible traits for those who serve God. The third discernible trait that distinguishes between the righteous and the apostate or the pseudo-Christians or the holy from the profane is that these dear people, according to our text today in Malachi 3.16, says they thought often upon the Lord's name. Those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord thought often upon his name. Malachi 3.16, those who feared the Lord talked often with one another and the Lord listened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought on his name. Well, the name of God was sacred to them and it should be to us today as well. Can you say that for yourself, dear one? the name of God was a fruitful source of profound and awe-inspiring meditation it edifies the soul is God himself in the plentitude of his power his presence justice his goodness and mercy and truth what a source for thinking and contemplating upon the Lord hears the meditations of our hearts dear church what do you meditate upon these days? God knows and hears the pulse of your meditation and the inward thoughts are they pure, wholesome, clean and upright? the Lord thought so highly of these people's inward thoughts of himself that he recorded their names in the book of remembrance and they were carefully registered in heaven this means this third trait or distinguishing mark of true Christians is that we will have a secret and holy affection for Jesus Christ as well. We will think upon his name means that we will not talk like the hypocrites or the pseudo-Christians who put on a big show with all their pomp and vainglory. The word says, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. And if you think upon the name of Jesus, you can't help but share his love with others and live the life which examples his love. Our lives must be in this way. We must have the heart and will and the whole aim in our lives to please God because we must know God definitely looks upon our hearts. Keeping our eyes fixed upon Jesus means that the eyes of our hearts and our affections are continually thinking upon him and producing the fruit that comes by living in this Christian way of life, which is actually living in Christ. We cannot have this kind of genuine God love and keep it only for ourselves to have a spiritual picnic with, dear one. God wants you to share it with others. And Jesus is our focus. We must share Jesus with those around us. Eternal life is a gift, and eternal life is found only in Jesus Christ. And we should have the heart and passion to want others to be called God's special treasures with their names as well recorded in his book of life. This little course through a few scriptures in Malachi give a good indication of what verse 18 of Malachi says. Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked Between him who serves God and him who does not serve him These people had a true fear of the Lord They had fellowship with God and with one another And they also had a secret well within themselves that they drew on That is, they thought upon the Lord's name often remember if these people had not been faithful to God and their allegiance was not totally in God they would have been sitting amongst the rest of those around them who were speaking against God and whom God had considered his enemies but because they were faithful then they would have the understanding or the discernment to discern between the righteous and the wicked or the holy from the profane and that is the purpose of this word today. Remember I had mentioned that I was not teaching on the end times but the purpose of the word was to give a contrast of two Christians, what they would look like, think like and act like and how we are to discern or recognize those who will come like the pseudo-Christ, the deceivers of Satan to present a lie of error and perversion and deception in their doctrines. and the best way to discern is to know the real thing and if you do not know the difference between the holy from the profane you will be deceived it's just like that you will be deceived but dear one you yourself must live your life in Christ in order to know the difference between good and evil and if you do not you will live in suspicion and you will be called an accuser of the brethren and a tool of the great adversary. Remember these times will be like none other in any other age of time. The trouble in the world will be so great and threatening and awful that people in these times I had mentioned will look for anyone or anything that looks like a possible means of delivery from their troubles. And Satan will take advantage of them by deceiving them with his pseudo-Christ and false teachers here and there. But we do not have to wait for these times to come to see these kinds of agents of Satan working already. There are many doctrines being spread around in the church today that have watered down the true gospel message which is evident in church by mammon mentality. Women dress like the world in their low-cut fronts and high slits in their skirts and say, the world doesn't have anything over us Christians because we have it all too. Hello, ladies. The world designs women's clothes and there certainly is a trend to degrade the female gender into anyone's harlot image. Satan is the mastermind behind it all. He influences people with unregenerate minds to do his dirty work. They think and pride themselves as being genius, creative, brainy and sage. Someone once wrote in an article, a leading Christian magazine that I had read years ago, whatever you expose of yourself, that is what you are putting out in the street and selling. A pretty profound statement. but very true. Dressing indecently causes others to sin and God holds you personally accountable. God loves you, dear one. He gives us ladies the mandate in 1 Timothy 2.9 when he declares, Also I desire that women should adorn themselves modestly and appropriately and sensibly in seeming apparel. God changes not He wants both men and women to honor the modesty code since it speaks of His righteousness His values, they are still the same yesterday, today and forever The mammon mentality is called greed in God's book The gospel of glad tidings simply says you can't love both God and money Oh, many do justify this one There was an article in a leading secular magazine telling of a pastor who put ATM machines behind every pew in his church. And he was quoted in the article by saying, I never thought I would be in the banking business. But now here I am showing other pastors how to have success in the giving of tithes and offerings in their own churches. It really works. He was so tickled with his new way of making God a means to his end that he could not see the air and perverseness of his greed. I believe we can all say, Oh, what gross deception. I don't believe these Christians who think this way and ponder upon those meditations in their hearts meditate much upon the beautiful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know the trait or qualities of those who turned the head of God and caused his eyes to look their way and his ears to listen. He heard and he saw in their hearts the profound and deep love and reverence they had for him. Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Luke 6.43 declares that a tree is known by its fruit. For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. but every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns nor do they gather grapes from a branble bush. Verse 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good and an evil man out of the evil treasures of his heart bring forth evil for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Dear one not only does God look our way when we please him but he has written our names in the book of life. And I believe there are going to be many surprised people one day in the time of their judgment day because they lived a life contrary to God's righteous decrees. They will find their name was not recorded in the book of life. Our few simple verses we have covered in Malachi 3.16 shows us that God recognizes those who fear him. And these people, though they may be little known, are highly prized and loved by God. He calls them his special treasures, his prized possession, his jewels. Malachi 3.16 Those who feared the Lord talked often to one another and the Lord listened and heard. And a book of remembrance was written before him of those who reverenced and worshipfully feared the Lord and who thought upon his name. They will be mine, says the Lord, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be my jewels, my special possession, my special treasure. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. It is almost as though we can envision the Lord bending or stooping from his throne, listening to the sounds that reverberate from the earth as he hears and recognizes the voices of his very own dearly beloved people. He is so pleased and touched by their sweet fellowship with each other and the secret communion with himself that is almost like inconceivably swiftness that holy thoughts and words gleam back to heaven and enter into the ear of the Most High Jehovah in heaven. God has recorded their names. God has recorded their conversation. God has taken note of their conduct. God has blotted out their sins dear ones and he only keeps a book of remembrance of the godly virtues that sparkle and glimmer and reflect his dear son Jesus Christ we are those precious jewels that he speaks of as we live our life in his dear son Jesus and we remain faithful to the end we have seen a remarkable distinction of character between the true believers and the pretenders of the faith we do not have to go into the nitty gritty of the wicked ones called the wolves the deceivers or the apostates but knowing the traits and qualities of the righteous tells us that anything contrary to godliness is evil The good book tells us O you who love the Lord, hate evil. Those whose minds were never renewed by the spirit of grace, those who walked according to the dictates of the flesh, walked according to the senses and make decisions and judgments according to their feelings and what seems to be good to them. Versus those who are said to be of the Spirit, to be attentive to the things of the Spirit and to be spiritually minded, to be led by and to walk in the Spirit. The righteous ones have been given a new heart. And this was prophesied by Prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36, 26, when he said, I will give you a new heart, saith the Lord. I'll put a new spirit in you. I'll remove from your heart a stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you and cause you to move and follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Jesus Christ fulfilled this word when he told his disciples that when he went to be with his Father in heaven, that he would send another comforter. we now have the Holy Spirit in these vessels of clay making all things new and he causes our hearts to be pliable to the things of God now. These are those whom God calls his special jewels. They are truly influenced by the Spirit of God in their walk and are washed by the renewing of the Holy Spirit of truth and are used of God to proclaim the gospel of glad tidings to other nations. Ephesians 2.10 declares, For we are God's own handiwork, his workmanship, recreated in Jesus Christ, born anew, that we may do those good works which God predestined, planned beforehand for us, taking paths which he prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life he prearranged and made ready for us to live. Those who do not have this rebirth or renewing of their minds, do not belong to God. And if they profess Christ, but do not do what He commands them to do according to the truth, they are pretenders. They are wolves in the midst of the flock. They are pseudo-Christs and antichrists. Those who have the Spirit of God living within them are united with Jesus Christ in fellowship, are placed in a high and beautiful communion in their relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And they have been adopted into the family of God and recognized as belonging to God by their kingly character. They produce the same kind of fruit as their pattern, Jesus Christ the King. The Holy Spirit has been allowed to destroy the love of sin in their lives and cause a deep desire and longing for purity and righteousness which are the hallmarks of our fountainhead and wellspring of life, Jesus Christ. There is a great work of God for the church which lies just ahead in these next months and few years up the road. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Matthew 9.35 declares Jesus went all about the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news, the gospel of the kingdom curing all kinds of disease and every weakness or infirmity. When he saw the throngs, he was moved with pity and sympathy for them because they were bewildered, harassed, distressed, dejected and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. And then he said to his disciples, The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to force out and thrust laborers out into his harvest. Why are the laborers or workers so few? I believe it is because there are not many who are mature and have taken their Christian walk serious and have allowed the Holy Spirit to mold them into Christ's image by doing his perfecting work within their hearts. This is called renewal. to understand and have the compassion that Jesus has for lost souls, for the oppressed, the sick and the lame. These are few. Apostle Paul called this the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry and to have the heart of the people in Malachi 3.16, a genuine reverent and obedient fear of the Lord to fellowship continually with the Lord in your heart and to have fellowship with one another, that is, speaking of the things of God and not about the world or the next ball game or the latest movie or gossiping. Jesus says the laborers are few and without the right ingredients, believers will lack and be inferior and inadequate in their ministries, whatever it may be. As ministers of the gospel, true believers are taught in the word that conformity to Christ means that our lives will resemble His in a powerful way. He had given us His life in self-sacrifice for the service and salvation of mankind. And He was humble and full of love. His separation from the world in a passion and devotion to the lost and fallen caused those who proclaimed to be believers but were really pretenders of the faith to kill Jesus and nail him to the cross. This was Christ's life and ministry of love, dear church. Humility and love are called the greatest virtues that our Lord demonstrated for us. And these will be the identifiable mark of true Christians or true believers. And they are the two greatest sources of power for the work of ministry. Humility causes us to be willing to serve our Lord No matter what he may ask of us And love gives us the wisdom and shows us how and where to serve Humility and love are qualities of Christ Which are looking outward and not inward They are actually a turning away from self And any rights or claims that self might demand of them We truly need to be praying that the Lord of the harvest will send out the workers, those who have this ministry of humility and love for the perfecting of the saints. In our opening scripture in Matthew 24, 11, Jesus says, Many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error, and the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity. But he who endures to the end will be saved. and this good news of the kingdom, the gospel will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come. There will come a time and it does not seem to be far off that the increase of the false prophets or teachers will rise up and lead many people into error. Personally, each and every believer has the responsibility to be educating themselves in God's word. And the word is truth. And if you do not know the truth you will not be free but you will be open to the deceivers and you will believe their lies because you do not know the truth. The gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come. And for those of you who have not taken your Christian life serious and you have frittered away your time with God, enjoying the things of the world and the fleshly passions, there is an admonishment for you in Hebrews 3.7, which declares, So, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing in the desert where your fathers tested and tried me for 40 years and saw what I did. And this is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways. So I declared an oath in my anger that they shall never enter my rest. Verse 12, See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence that we had at first. Dear Backslider, You risk your eternal life because you have hardened your heart to the things of God. I implore you to not tarry or delay your coming back to God and to bitterly repent and begin to live right before God from this day forth. We are concerned for your soul, precious one. You are dear to the Lord and He loves you. It is your sin that He hates, but He loves you. Come back to Him. Come back to Him. He is waiting for you. And for those of you who have experienced the love and reverent fear of the Lord and are enjoying communion with Him on a daily basis, Apostle Paul says in verse 14 We have come to share in Christ If we hold firmly till the end The confidence we had at first Hold on tight to what you have in your walk With the Spirit of God at this time Do the work of ministry That the Lord has given you with great zeal And He will increase your strength and power To accomplish what He has ordained for you to do for Him Teach others the very concern that Jesus and the apostles had. And that is to beware of the false teachers, the false prophets and the pseudo-Christ, the pretenders of the faith who come to steal the Lord's inheritance. Remember at the beginning of this word today, we saw in the scripture that Jesus did not give the direct answer of the question that the disciples had asked of him. What would be the sign of his coming in the end of the age? But he did warn them by saying, Be careful that no one misleads you, deceiving you and leading you into error. For many will come in on the strength of my name, appropriating the name which belongs to me, saying I am the Christ, the Messiah, and they will lead many astray. Jesus is foretelling of the false deceivers and false apostles who would be used of Satan the devil to seduce God's elect. The great pretenders of the faith will come under the influence of Satan as angels of light to deceive people by their false signs and wonders. And they will give the pretense of divine utterances and miracles, prophecies and perverted doctrines. It will come in the name of Christ, will be the pseudo-Christ having twisted and perverted power of Satan the devil, and will draw many to themselves. These times, as I said, will be like no other time, or no other age of time. And the trouble in the world will be so great and awful that people will look for anything, or anyone who looks like a possible means of deliverance out of their trouble. And Satan will take advantage of them by deceiving them with his false apostles and pseudo-Christ. As we have said There is a great work ahead for the church In her evangelizing She must teach and warn and exhort the brethren To remain true to God and his precepts And to the brotherhood of believers We will not have fear But we'll have the peace of God And his grace and mercy in our midst Dear faithful one And workers of Jesus Christ We may forget about the work that we do for him. And we may forget about the effort and the labor we have taken in coming to him. And the preparation that has been done in our lives and hearts to do the work of ministry. But he doesn't forget. God never forgets. This life in God for true Christians, those who live in Christ, will be consummated in the last great day. And there will be a crown of the highest possible honor for those who conducted their lives according to their professions as they lived in Christ. We will be known and owned as God's children, His friends, His companions forever and eternity. This crown, as was mentioned, will be the highest degree of honor. It will be the most costly and brilliant crown ever because God has set them aside for those who are true, faithful and believing saints and who are known as his jewels. Zechariah 9.16 declares And the Lord their God will save them on that day as a flock of his people. For they shall be the precious jewels of a crown lifted high over and shining glitteringly upon his land. Remain true to God and surely you will be as one of those precious jewels who will be gifted with the divine ability to discern the holy from the profane the good from the evil and judge for yourself not by the sight of what your eyes see nor what your ears hear but you will judge with righteousness and justice because you have taken the time to cultivate your fellowship with God and his dear son Jesus Christ through the help of his Holy Spirit do not have fear of the things of the world, dear one, but have a deep and reverential fear of the living God, who can and will save your soul, who will bring you to his eternal kingdom in heaven, and crown you with his beauty, his splendor, and his honor. Blessed be forever the name of the living God and his Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you.