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And the rest of us can turn to
the last book of the Old Testament and the last chapter, well, nearly
the last chapter of the last book, maybe the last page in
your Bible in the Old Testament, but Malachi chapter three and
verses 13 down through verse 18. Well, it's officially the
Christmas season. I guess I don't know what makes that. official
or not. It seems like shops are jumping
the gun early and earlier. You know, pretty soon it's going
to be like July, then it's going to be March, then it's going
to be maybe year-round Christmas. But, you know, now as you go
out, you've got the communities and the shops turning on the
Christmas lights, and it looks lovely, you know, to see those
lights at night. The houses are being decorated.
Christmas trees are up in the windows. We know this last week
as we're driving the kids home after church, they're looking
for those Christmas lights. You know, they're up there in
those windows and things. We enjoyed that. Christmas music
is on the radio, and it's been on the radio again in the shops
for quite a while, trying to get you in bed. A generous spirit
of buying things, I guess. And the Christmas market's open.
I don't know if you've been down there at all. I don't know if
Glasgow has one, but Edinburgh has the German market. It's not
what it has been in the past, but it's still lovely to get
down there and see the shops and the atmosphere and whatnot that
is down there. I noticed across the street from
our house that yesterday they had a Christmas market. And sadly,
they have the sign up and it says, X-mas market. You know, they're advertising
it that way. And I wanted to print a little, you know, Christ
and put it out there and put it on that just to keep the Christ
in Christmas. You know, the X, let me say this
about the X. The X comes from the Greek letter,
which is the first letter of the Greek word Christos, which
became Christ in English. And I've heard that, and I get
that, but at the same time, I think a lot of people that would say
X-mas or put X-mas out is because they don't want to offend somebody
that doesn't want the Christ in Christmas, and maybe them
themselves don't really want the Christ in Christmas. If you
were to talk to them about that, I think they'd probably say,
you know, I'm not really against religion. I'm not really against
God. You get that a lot from people that they would express
it that way. But in reality, the truth is this, that they
are against God. And that if, especially if they're
an unbeliever, they are absolutely against God. Though they might
say, you know, I'm not against God. And we get that in our evangelism.
A lot of times it'll be somebody that we speak to that they would,
they would categorize themselves as somebody that thinks the Bible's
okay, thinks religion's okay. They would really not feel like
they're against it, but in reality, there is this reality that they
are against God. In Malachi 3, verses 13 through
18, what we're looking at is the people that are against God,
but don't feel like they're against God. But Malachi is gonna prove
to them through the truth that he, expounds here in these verses
that they are in actuality against God. And so verse 13 says, God
says to them, you've been stout against me. That word stout means
to be to make strong or to be obstinate. A stout branch, we know is a
good pry bar. I mean, it's a good solid piece
of wood that you could use. It's stout. And so they were
strong, but they were strong against God. You know, obviously
it's not a good thing today to be somebody that's obstinate
against God. I mean, that would be a bad thing for us if that's
our heart, that that would be something that is not a good
thing at all. They were God's people. They
had practiced his religion, but they were strongly opposed to
God. Again, it's possible to be that
person and not really realize that you're that person. Saul
was very much that way. You know, Saul thought he was
strongly for God. I mean, he was zealous for God,
he thought. And in his zealousness, he was persecuting Christians,
putting Christians to death. The Lord had to confront him
on that road to Damascus and say, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? And Saul says, who art thou,
Lord? He says, I'm Jesus, whom thou
persecutest. It's hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. The sharp pointed goads that
they would use to drive the oxen, that would be obstinate. They
would poke them with that goad. That was Saul. Saul was obstinate
against God. He was stout against God, but
praise God, his life would change and he would become stoutly for
God. And so what I want us to consider
this morning is do not be stout against God. but be somebody
that is stout for God. All right, be somebody that really
stands for God. Are you truly standing for God? Or in actuality,
is there in your heart that which would be against him, against
him? So let's pray. Ask the Spirit
of God to help us to become to the Word of God. Father, we're
grateful again for the grace that you give. Thank you that
it's warm enough in here this morning. And Father, I praise
you that we can meet together today. And Father, for the privilege
that we have of congregating, thank you, Lord, for a place
to congregate. Thank you for permission from the government
to congregate, that we have religious liberty in Britain and in Scotland. And Father, as we come to the
Word of God, this morning we ask that this would be a profitable
time in the Word of God. Father, we thank you for the
Word of God. Thank you that it is the very Word of God. And
Father, I pray that we would receive it as such today. It's
our desire that we meet with you, Father, more than anybody
that we want to meet with today as we come to church. It's our
desire. We want to fellowship together. We want to encourage
one another in the Lord, but Father, more than any person we long
to meet in this time, in this place, at this hour, it's God.
And so Father, we pray for that. And Father, we pray for that
transparency between man and God, that clarity between man
and God, that ability of the word of God to very easily work
in our hearts and our minds. And Father, I pray today, if
somebody in their heart, they're against God, maybe they wouldn't
say they are. They don't feel like they are. They would think
the opposite. But Father, I pray, would you
use the word of God to show them their position if they are indeed
against you? Father, those that are for you,
I pray they'd be encouraged to stand even more strongly for
God in a day where the majority of people are standing in a position
that is against God. And Father, I pray for grace
that we could hear. Bless the kids' class today.
I pray, Spirit of God, bless Mrs. Shores, you guys, the kids' class.
Give them grace to have a good class. and be encouraged. Father, I pray that you speak
there as well. Father, as I speak in this place, in this hour,
at this time, I pray that you'd give me liberty. I pray that
you'd guide my lips. I pray that you'd guide my heart,
my mind, help us as we come to the text and as we go through
this text. I pray that you'd help me to
express the truth that the Spirit of God has impressed on my heart
as I've studied. Thank you, God, for your grace.
It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. So do not be stout against
God, but be stout for God. Those are the two main points
that we're going to look at. So we're going to start with,
do not be stout against God. So the person in our text that
is stoutly against God is a religious person. We'll see that in the
way that the text speaks to them about their position. They observed
religious practices, but it was external and not internal. It was a religion, but not a
relationship. Romans 10 verse 13 speaks about,
or verse three speaks about that. It says, for they, being ignorant
of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
of God. The truth is this this morning,
somebody has to have the righteousness of God to go to heaven. But there
are many people today that are seeking to go about obtaining
righteousness, but not God's way. And in that they're not
submitted to God. They haven't yielded to salvation by grace
through faith in Christ alone and received God's gift of righteousness. And in that they're obstinately
against God. They would think I'm a religious person, but their
religion is a false religion because it does not submit to
God's way. God's righteousness to man is
God's gift to man. Ephesians two, verse eight and
nine says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. All right, so it's a gift. God gives it freely. It's not
earned or anything like that. But this person refuses to submit
to what God's word says about the gospel, what God's word says,
what righteousness is. For instance, they would not
accept that they are a wicked sinner. They would look at themselves,
they view themselves as a good person. They think that their
goodness is worthy of going to heaven. Yet the Bible says in
Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. This person wouldn't recognize that principle of sin in their
life. They wouldn't see themselves as somebody that is separated
from God because of that sin against God, because of their
sin. They wouldn't accept that their
sin is worthy of death in hell. Romans 6.23 says, for the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. But the wages of sin is death. And we know that
the Bible is speaking about the second death where it says, whosoever
was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire. Like the rich man that died,
and the Bible says, and in hell, he lifted up his eyes being in
torment. This person would refuse to accept that idea that they
would be a sinner worthy of damnation and a lake of fire for all eternity. They would be somebody that would
not accept that nothing they can do can change the condition
of their soul. They think by their works, they think by their
religion, by their goodness, by the things that they do, that
they can somehow merit favor with God, that God should look
at them and accept them into heaven. And yet the Bible says
that there's nothing we can do to change the condition of our
heart before a holy God of ourselves, Jeremiah 2.22. It says, for though
thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet thine
iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God. It doesn't
matter what somebody does, they could come to a church, a good church,
any church, whatever religion that is, and be faithful in that
religion, and be committed to all the rites of that church,
whether baptism, or christening, or the sacraments, or whatever
that may be, and yet in doing those things, there's no righteousness
of God that is imputed to them through that. That it's a vain
attempt by man to try to cleanse themselves, but they would not
accept that. They do not accept that Jesus alone is the Savior. who can deliver them from their
sins, from the stain of their sin and the forgiveness and cleansing
that they need, as well as from the wrath of God against their
sin. As the Bible says in John 3,
16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son that whosoever believeth in him trusts in Jesus should
not perish, but have everlasting life." Okay, so this person,
rather than that, attempts by religion, rather than accepting
the gospel, attempts by religion to try to merit favor with God. And so how can they perhaps today
recognize that they stand in that position? How can they understand
that I stand as somebody that has not submitted to the righteousness
of God, and I'm somebody that thinks that I could somehow earn
my salvation by what I do? Well, their condition is discoverable
by examining what they say and what they think. Those two things,
what they say and what they think when it comes to even religion. And so we see this in our text,
this person that is stout against God ought to examine what they
say, okay? Again, they don't think they're
against God, but they reveal by their words that they are against
God. And so I would ask, if I was
preaching to the audience that Malachi was writing to, this
would be a good question to ask them. Do you say that serving
God is pointless? Somebody that just looks at it
and says, serving God is vain, it's empty. Verse 14, these people,
God said to them, ye have said, it is vain to serve God. It didn't satisfy. It seemed
to them just pointless. It was an endured ritual. And so in their heart, they looked
at it and saying, why do I bother to do this? Because this is in
vain. We know this morning that the
word of God refutes that idea that the true religion is a vain
religion. You get what I'm saying? There's
a difference here. They're professing a religion and yet they look
at that religion and think this religion is empty. 1 Corinthians
15 verse 58 says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much
as he know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Someone
that's truly saved in Christianity as God intends in that right
relationship with God, it's not in vain. It's wonderfully not
in vain. It's satisfying. There's a fulfillment in it and
a recognition that, hey, what I'm doing is of value, but this
person in their religion, looks at the religion and just says
it's empty, it's vain to be in this religion. 2 Corinthians
15 verse 7 says, Again, as a true believer, we understand that
there is profitability in this. because it's real. I said to
an atheist that I was witnessing to, and he was an antagonistic
atheist as we were speaking, but I said to him, I said, look,
people have died for this. Because he's saying, what's the
idea, what's the point? I was trying to show him that
there is a reality to this that is deeper than just kind of a
head knowledge about God. And I say, look, people have
died for this. In the Solway Firth, there over by Dumfries,
in that area, Dumfries and Galloway, they staked out the two Margaret's,
the Covenanters, the young one's 16 years old, the older one's
something like 64 years old. The older one was staked further
out. And as the tide came in to the Solway Firth, the older
Margaret drowned. The younger Margaret, as the
water began to lap around her head, they pulled her up and
said, would you recant of your position? She would not and she
died for the faith. You go to St. Andrews and you
got the GW in the ground there out in front of St. Andrews Castle.
It's George Wishart's initials. A man that said to John Knox,
as John Knox wanted to go with him before the tribunal, that
he was going to stand before. He said, one sacrifice is enough,
right? And he died for the faith. And
so many, as you go down into Edinburgh and you see at Greyfriars
Church, the monument to the 18,000 that died, you look at their
life and you say, what? You know what? They weren't living
for a vain religion. To them, it wasn't just a religion.
There was something deeper to that. And we understand that
as true believers today, that there's something wonderfully
satisfying about a true relationship with God. But these people did
not see that. They looked at it and say, it's vain. It's empty
to serve God. So do you say that serving God
is pointless? That's evidence of somebody that's stoutly against
God. Secondly, do you say that keeping rules is profitless? Do you say that keeping rules
is profitless? It says, again, in our text,
verse 14, in what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances? Can you kind of see their hearts
there a little bit? It's kind of like, oh, it's just a bunch of rules.
They looked at that religion and that relationship with God,
it's just like, we got to tick this off, tick this off, tick
this off. And again, it's that vain, profitless religion. And
I'm just doing all these things, trying to, as it were, please
God as a self-righteous person, trying to merit favor with God. The Pharisees were like this
in Jesus' day. Jesus said to them, Matthew 23,
23, Judgment, mercy, and faith. "'These ought ye to have done
"'and not to leave the other undone.'" The Lord was not saying
tithing is bad. They would tithe off of their
herbal garden. I mean, they would take each
one and they would measure it out and they give a 10th to the
Lord. And the Lord says less, he doesn't say that's bad. He
said that you ought to have done, but you left out the big things,
the things about a true relationship with God that you know nothing
as it were about. They knew nothing about judgment.
Judgment is the judicial forgiveness of God, whereby God can justly
look at man and say, I forgive you in our case because of the
shed blood of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, that died for our
sins. They didn't know anything about the judgment of God that
would impute righteousness to them by faith in God, the coming
Messiah, and the work that the Messiah would do as we look back
at the Messiah who came. They didn't know that. They knew
nothing of tasting God's mercy. He left out the law, omitted
the weightier matters of the law, judgment and mercy. They didn't know what it was
to be forgiven by God truly in their hearts to have that right
relationship with God. They hadn't established that
by faith in God. And that's the last thing that
they knew nothing of that true faith in God whereby they would
receive imputed righteousness. You know, Martin Luther was in
a religion like that. How did he fare? You know, how
did he enjoy that Catholic religion that said, do all these things,
do all these things. And if you do all these things, God will
accept you. And he afflicted his body and he chastened his
body and he tried to keep all those rules. And he came to the
point of like, this is pointless. To what purpose have I kept all
these ordinances? You see the connection, that
idea of being trapped in a religion with no relationship with God.
that that person is actually against God. They don't realize
they're against God, but they're against God. They're stoutly
against God because they think that they can establish their
own righteousness. So do you say that keeping the
rules is profitless? By the way, if it's true religion
and you keep the rules, is it profitless? I mean, the Bible
speaks very clearly in Joshua 1.8, it says, this book of the
law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate
therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according
to all that is written therein. What is that, keeping the rules?
For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou
shalt have good success. I mean, if somebody desires to
prosper, prosperity is found in keeping the rules. Daniel
just preached a message two weeks ago, I think, on a Sunday night,
and he preached about Psalm 1. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of the
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. What is that?
Keeping the rules. But his delight is in the law
of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night, and
he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season. Is that profitless? There's great
profit. The problem is this, somebody
cannot, that doesn't have a right relationship with God, they don't
have the grace of God, the spirit of God, and the forgiveness and
the mercy of God to be able to keep the rules. They don't have
what's necessary to have imputed righteousness that raises them
up to the standard that God has given, the forgiveness and the
mercy of God, so that they could be righteous before God and daily
go to God and say, God, I need your mercy. I need your forgiveness.
I need your grace. And by the grace of God, obey God and please
God. But this person just looks at
it and says, man, all Christianity is keeping the rules. It could
be a young person that grows up in a good church and never really
comes to a relationship with God and thinks about church.
All it is, is us keeping the rules. That's not true. But do
you see their heart in the text? They're stoutly against God.
The person that's stoutly against God, they begin to look at it
and go, this is vain, it's empty. All it is, is a bunch of rules
that we have to keep. And the third thing, Do you say
that it is sad to be a Christian? They said, what's the point they
are saying? And then it says that we have
walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts. You know, to them,
their religion was, you know, sad faces and dark clothing,
I guess. I mean, they just saw it as, what is the point that
we have humbled ourselves? And to them, religion was just
kind of very cold and calloused and calculated and not happy
at all. I say praise God today that I grew up in an independent
Baptist church of born again believers that knew God, and
that our church was a vibrant church that loved the Lord, that
our fellowship was a sweet fellowship, that it was a joy and delight
to go to church. And even so, that's the way it
should be in our church, that we get together and it's refreshing,
and it's encouraging, and we meet with God, and we know that
it's not just a place, and I understand there's times for soberness,
there's time for seriousness, and we get to that in preaching
at times, sometimes we laugh, sometimes we don't, but it's
not just about sad faces. And if I look at church and I
think all church is, is going to church and being sad and being
grumpy or something like that, I'm just entering into the same
idea that these people had. They looked at it and said, what's
the point? And I would say this, if I was at a Catholic church,
I could understand that. I've been to a Catholic funeral.
When I was in New York City, a deacon in our church, his wife
passed away and she didn't come to our church. And so we went
to the funeral and she was Catholic. And I mean, as they did the funeral,
you got the priest waving the incense and the darkness of it
and the hopelessness of it. It was definitely not what Paul
spoke about, that we sorrow not as others which have no hope.
It was the sorrow of those that have no hope. Praise God, that's
not us. That's not us. If we had a funeral
of somebody that is born again in our church, that would be
a, yes, there's a sorrow of having lost that person, but even in
that time of mourning, there's a joy. There's a peace. so that we don't look at it and
say, all it is is about being sad and having these sad faces
and things. And so today, whether somebody
is in a good church or they're in a false church, they can tell
if they're against God, if they examine their heart and what
they say, do they say serving God is pointless? Do they say
keeping rules is profitless? Do they say it's sad to be a
Christian? Do you understand? I mean, those are some things
that you can look at and say, if that's in my heart, at the very least,
I'm stepping over to the position, even if I'm saved, I'm in a position
of somebody that is against God. We ought to look at Christianity
and say, it's a joy to serve God. It is profitable to serve
God. It's a blessing to be in the
house of God. And so, as they look at their
heart and examine if they're stout against God, the first
thing is examine what I say. What do I say? Do I say these
things? But then secondly, examine what you think. Examine what
you think. Do you believe that men of pride
are happy? Okay, so we're gonna get into
the text about what the people are thinking. Do you think that
men of pride are happy? It says in verse 15, and now
we call the proud Okay, this person's looking with envy at
those that are proud people, are proudly against God, stout
against God. And, you know, they look at them
and think, you know, here I am, I'm a religious person, but I
look at that person, I'm envious of them. They look so happy in
their position against God. You know, the Bible says about
God that God hates pride because pride is rebellion against God.
Pride is what says, I don't need God. I can do kind of my own
thing. And it's interesting that the greatest rebellion in our
day against God is called the movement that is defined by pride. And in pride, they say to God,
God, you can't say anything to us about reproduction, about
gender identity, about the family, about marriage. And God, I cast
that off. That is what pride does. Pride
says to God, God, you have no right over that. God lists six
things that he hates in Proverbs 6, 16, and 17. And the first
is pride. It says, these six things that
the Lord hate, yea, seven, are an abomination unto him. And
the first one is a proud look. And God hates that pride. Pride
took Satan out of heaven, the great angel. You know, we always
only ever think of Lucifer or Satan as somebody that is bad,
but you know, he wasn't bad when he was created. He wasn't bad
in his origin and what God did there. He was a glorious angel.
And yet Isaiah 14 says, I will ascend into heaven. I
will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit upon
the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like
the most high, yet thou shall be brought down to hell to the
sides of the pit. Satan said, I will, I will, I
will, I will. And God said, no, you won't.
And God dealt with his pride. but pride is absolutely against
God. But this person is so contorted in their religion that they look
at those that are against God and they're envious and think
that they're happy in that position against God. Look, nobody can
truly be happy in that position against God. The Bible says in
1 Peter 5, verse 5, likewise ye younger, submit yourselves
unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility for God resisted the
proud. but he giveth grace unto the
humble." How could somebody today, and just understand from a rational
perspective, how can somebody today be happy in their pride
when God's against them? But this person, again, it could
be a young person that grows up in a church and I mean, they
hear it and they're in that religion and they hear that truth, but
they look out and they go, man, they look so happy in their pride,
but they're absolutely against God. And we know that in that
position, they cannot truly be happy because God is against
them. Do you believe that men of pride
are happy? And then do you think that wickedness has a foundation?
Has a foundation? This person looks at him and
they say this, yea, they that work wickedness are set up. You know, they're doing that
sin against God, but look how established they are, look how
strong they are, is what this person is thinking as they view
that person. You know, our area here is being
very built up. We're getting 400 new houses
over by our house, not far from here. We've got the houses that
are going here and in Bilston. And as you see them putting the
houses up, and I said, Pentland View is about to block our view
of the Pentlands, you know, from the road over there. But as they're
putting those houses up, they're laying foundations, every single
one. It's a solid concrete foundation. Why? Because as the foundation
is, so the house stands, right? The house either stands or falls
based on whether or not it has a good foundation. You know,
how good a foundation does a wicked person have? Matthew 7, verse
24. Says, therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat upon that
house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon the rock. Jesus
got done preaching. He said, if you listen to this
message, if you obey these precepts, guess what? Your house is rock
solid. And so the truth is this, if we were to add truth to this
text, a righteous person or a good stout person for God would look
at a righteous person and say, that person is set up. That person
is set up. Because that's true. But the
Bible goes on to say, And everyone that heareth these sayings of
mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man
which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended
and the floods came and the wind blew and beat upon that house
and it fell and great was the fall of it. So the truth is this,
this morning, the wicked are not set up. You know, we can look at them
and think, oh, they're established, they're doing so well, it's so
strong. But the reality is, the reality is, that their house
is going to fall. That it's not something that
we should look at and say, well, I envy that. No, I don't envy that because
that's going to be destroyed. That life even is going to be
cast into a lake of fire for all eternity. They are absolutely
not somebody that is established. So someone who's stout against
God, though, looks at that and thinks, man, the wicked have
a good foundation. And then lastly, do you think
that men can tempt God and get away with it? Do you think that
they're actually getting away with their sin? It says, yea,
they that tempt God are even delivered. They see somebody
shaking their fist at God and they look at them and say, it's
okay. They got away with it. God's
not going to do anything about that. You know, in our day, again,
this is the religious person that agrees with churches that
okay sodomy and who will okay abortion. This is somebody that
says that's good, that agrees with that or agrees with those
that deny the authority of God's word and say there is no such
thing as absolute authority and they agree with that and stand
with that or somebody that thinks it's right to deny a literal
creation. that God created in six days.
They agree with that and agree against God who mock miracles
that can't be explained rationally. We would call this maybe liberalism
or something like that. But this person looks at that
and says, you can take that position against God and that's just fine. That's just fine. You know, are those people who
have done those deeds really safe from God's wrath? 1 Thessalonians
5 verse 1 says, And the reality is this today,
if people understood that are outside these walls, that take
these positions against God, that agree with those that take
positions against God, if they understood what was coming, they
would literally scream in terror because the wrath of God is coming.
And so we understand the wicked have not gotten away with that,
but this person looks at that and they say people contempt
God, say whatever they want against God and they will be fine. You know, our text here is prophetically
speaking about the day of the coming of the wrath of God. And
it says that they will not be fine. Chapter 4, verse 1, it
says, That's the reality. But it goes
on to say this, So God says, I'm going to take care of it.
But this person looks at it and says they got away with it. They blaspheme God, it's okay.
They tempt God, it's okay. And they're deceived by that.
Again, it's somebody that is stout against God, has to examine
these things and say, well, you know, is my heart thinking that
men of pride are happy, that wickedness lays a good foundation,
that men contempt God and escape? Or they're saying things like,
you know, serving God is pointless. Christianity is just keeping
rules and it's just sad faces, all right? So you get the idea
of somebody that is stout against God. Now, I hope as we consider
that, that that's not our heart this morning. that we're not
somebody that is against God, but we have true religion and
that we are stoutly for God. And so do not be stoutly against
God, but be stoutly for God. My mom said probably what some
famous person said at some point, but she would say this, your
greatest liability can be your greatest asset. And that's stuck
with me in my mind. Who knows what famous person
said it, but your greatest liability can be your greatest asset. The
thing that was your obstinance, maybe even against God could
be your obstinance for God. We certainly see that in the
life of Saul. He was strongly against God, but then when he
got saved, he was strongly somebody that was for God. And so turn
your strong opinion and position to the side of God, be stoutly
for God. And as we consider that, be somebody
that knows God's people, knows God's people. And our prophecy
here is referring to a day that is in the end times and we're
very much living in the end times in our day, it was a day of declension.
But even as there are people that were stoutly against God,
There were people that were stoutly for God. And so assemble with
them. Know God's people. Assemble with
those that fear God. It says in verse 16, spake often one to another. So
there's a lot of people with these opinions that we've just
talked about. They were thinking this way, saying these things,
and yet there were some people that were just faithful and getting
together and worshiping with God's people, encouraging each
other in the Lord. It's evident that they joined
together often for fellowship. often speaks of frequency. I
don't often go fishing. I wish I did. I don't often go
to the grocery store, and I'm glad about that, but often speaks
about how the frequency of that time together. The Bible says
in Hebrews 10 verse 25, it says, You know, the approaching day
is the same as what we see in our text, that in these last
days there were people that would often get together, God-fearers
that would congregate, and encourage each other in the
Lord. We understand today that we need
to be a church that often gets together. I've said to our church
at different times, a church that ceases to congregate is
a church that ceases to exist. We're called out assembly. I
mean, the reality is that if we stop assembling, that we stop
existing. And so that we need that as a
church. And so much more, as the day approaches, we need to
be those people that get together and say, I'm committed to getting
together with the body of Christ and to joining together in seeking
God. And so a believer who is stoutly
for God is a believer who fears the Lord and often congregates
with God's people. But then secondly, assemble with
those whom God hears. It says in verse 16, and the
Lord hearkened and heard it. Okay, God was present in that
place and he was listening. Our technology in our day is
amazing. You know, when you can pick up your Facebook or FaceTime
or whatever it's called, and be able to immediately talk to
somebody that's in a different nation or something like that.
This week on, I think it was maybe Wednesday, I was studying
and then I realized that the Supreme Court justices were hearing
an argument that could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade. So I turned
on the oral arguments, I began to listen to that, and I listened
to the Mississippi Solicitor General as he presented the case
for the 15-week from conception abortion ban that Mississippi
has put into place that Supreme Court is weighing whether that
is to be upheld or not. I listened to the Chief Justices.
and the justices as they ask questions. I listened to the
Planned Parenthood or whatever it was person attorney stand
up and argue their case for why they think women should have
the right to an abortion. It was like I was there as I
was listening. I could hear every argument as
it took place. You know as I've been preaching
this morning and as we've had Sunday School out in the cafe
this morning because of the coldness of this room. You know, God's
been listening. And it's pretty awesome to hear
that God is hearing the preaching and the teaching. He's hearing
the encouragement that we give to one another as we fellowship
with one another and strengthen each other in the Lord. He knows
that we're present here this morning at this time. Just like
in our text, he heard as the God-fearers got together and
as they worshiped. So assemble with those whom God
cares. Then assemble with those who have a record in God's remembrance
book. It says in verse 16, and a book
of remembrance was written before him. God didn't just listen,
but God wants us to know that God wrote it down, that God had
somebody there that was taking notes. and observing and saying,
you know what, that person is present, that person is there,
that person is saying this, that person is standing for this.
It's a book of remembrance. It's like what the kings used
to keep. We read about it in the story of Esther, as Mordecai
was there in the gate of the king's palace, and he heard about
those two men that were gonna assassinate the king, and he
told the king about it, and the king's life was spared. The king
had a record of that, a book of chronicles. He called for
that to be read before him. And it was found that Mordecai
had told of Bithynia and Tyresh, two of the king's chamberlains,
the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king
of Hasuerus. And the king said, what honor and dignity have been
done to Mordecai for this. Then said the king's servants
that ministered unto him, there is nothing done for him. And
what does he want to do? He wants to do something great.
And it's an awesome story, as you know, as Haman becomes the
one that runs before Mordecai and heralds the great man that's
behind him. It's an awesome story. But the
point is the king wanted to do something. Why? Because he had
a book of remembrance. And it ought to encourage our
hearts this morning that we look at our day and say it's a day
of declension. There's so many people that take the positions
that we looked at at the beginning of this. They're stoutly against
God. Yet, if we abide faithful that God is aware of that and
God is taking note of that position for him. Assemble with those
who consider the Lord. Verse 16 says, for them that
feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. Okay, if somebody
fears the Lord, they think upon his name, then they act accordingly,
right? A young person could be tempted
to do something and they're out there with their friends and
they say, hey, let's do this, whatever this may be. But the
young person thinks to themselves and think, mom and dad really
wouldn't like that. And if I do that and mom and dad find out,
there's going to be punishment for that. And so they look at
that and they think, I don't want to disappoint mom and dad,
and I don't want to suffer from their punishment. And so because
I'm thinking about them, I'm not going to do that. And that's
what I was speaking about in our text, is somebody that's
a God fearer that says, what does God think about that? How
will God respond to that? And because I fear God and I
don't want to disappoint God, I'm going to obey God, I'm going
to please God. I'm not going to go to that place. I'm not
going to do that activity. I'm going to do what pleases
God. 1 John 2, verse 6, in our Bible reading this past week,
we read this. It says, he that saith, he abideth in him, ought
himself also so to walk, even as he walked. If I'm to walk,
even as he walked, I've got to stop and think about it like
this. What would Jesus do, right? Would Jesus listen to that? Would
Jesus go to that place? Would Jesus have those friends?
Would Jesus put that into his life? Would that be in his life? Those that abide in him, say
they abide in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. And that is somebody that stops,
they think upon his name and say, no, I fear God. And God
says, I know who that person is. That's somebody that's stoutly
for God. They know those that stand for
God, those who assemble to speak for God, those whom God hears,
those recorded in God's book of remembrance, those who consider
the Lord. And then secondly, as we consider
the stout for God, not just know God's people, but know God, know
God. Be somebody that's possessed
by him. Verse 17 says, and they shall be mine, saith the Lord
of Hosts. God looked at those people, he
said, they're mine. They assemble for me, they fear
me, they stand for me. He takes those people that obey
him, be possessed by him, they shall be mine, saith the Lord
of Hosts. George W. Robinson, who actually
went to Trinity College in Dublin, and is from Dublin, He wrote
the hymn, I am his and he is mine. It says, loved with everlasting
love, led by grace that love to know. Gracious spirit from
above thou has taught me it is so. Oh, this full and perfect
peace. Oh, this transport all divine
in a love which cannot cease. I am his and he is mine. It repeats
in a love which cannot cease. I am his and he is mine. At different
times, we've had a lot of children in our church, up to 20, I think,
children at different times, but of those 20 children, only
six were mine. Today, of those however many,
only five are mine. Those are my kids, that means
this, I possess them, and they possess me. Yet today, it's a
great thing to be somebody that God possesses, right? They say,
I possess God, God possesses me. I am a part of the family
of God. John 1.12, but as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name. Ought to be somebody that knows
God, somebody that's possessed by God, somebody that, secondly,
is precious to him, precious to him. It says in verse 17,
in the day when I make up my jewels, All right, there's a
future day that the Lord's looking forward to of claiming his own,
taking his own to himself. And it speaks to the preciousness
of that by describing it as jewels. You know, I like rocks. I think
everybody knows I like rocks. And we love to find agates. And
we go out and we look, and they're semi-precious stones. And as
we're looking for them, and if I find one, it's precious to
me. I take it, I put it in my cabinet. I put it in a precious
place in my house. God says that his people are
precious to him. Again, praise God as we gather
together this morning, we may not be the biggest church in
the area or something like that, but God would look at us and
say, you know what? That's precious to me. They're part of those that are
gonna make up my diadem and make it sparkle even that much more
in glory because they are my jewels in that day when I make
up my jewels. Be precious to him. And then
lastly, be preserved by him. Be preserved by him. Verse 17.
It says, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son
that serveth him. The day of wrath is coming, the
day of the judgment of God, but those people are spared. Those
people are not gonna suffer when the judgment comes. Just like
we see so many times in the word of God that God spares his own.
God spared Noah and his family when the flood came. God took
and he covered the righteous. God spared Lot when he judged
Sodom. In his mercy, he took Lot out
of Sodom. God spared Israel when he judged Egypt. God's gonna
spare the church of the tribulation. When the tribulation comes, the
rapture's gonna take place before the tribulation, and God in his
mercy is gonna spare his people his wrath, and God will not cast
his children into hell, because God is gonna spare them. You
know, as that day comes, are you part of those that are, again,
protected by God? We pray that for every person
in our church, that every single one would know that they are
saved. Are you among those that will
be spared? Saul was stoutly against God before he got saved. After he got saved, he was stoutly
for God. Some of that stoutly against
God, these things that we've considered this morning, they
could be speaking against God. They could say things like it's
vain to serve him. It's empty. They could look at it and say,
it's just a bunch of rules. And certainly there's been a lot
of young people that have grown up in what we would call fundamentalism
in the United States. And I would say this reflects their heart.
They look at it and say, it's vain to serve God. It's pointless
to keep all these rules. It's just a bunch of sad faces.
And I don't look at the problem as being, oh, the standards were
too high and the problem was the standards. I look at it and
say, you know what? That young person never got a heart for God. They never
had a relationship with God. To them, all it was was rules.
They didn't know anything of judgment and mercy and faith
and that walk with God that's vital and real and alive and
the fellowship of those that are in a position of obedience
to God. They looked at the ungodly, those that were in pride and
those that were in wickedness and say they're happy and they're
set up and they've got it. They blaspheme God and it's fine
and they've gotten away with rebelling against God. And the
fact is, no, they haven't. But this person that's stout
against God, they think, oh, I don't like this and that looks good.
But somebody that's stoutly for God just continues to congregate
and says, I'm just gonna stay with those that obey God. And
God sees it. And God records it. And God says,
that's mine, that's precious, I'm gonna keep that. I mean,
the text I think is wonderful for explaining that it is everything,
it is so worth standing for God. It's so worth understanding that
it's not about a religion. A religion damns. Self-righteousness
damns. That idea that I could be good
and that I could please God by doing all these things. And somebody
that maybe hadn't recognized in their heart that I'm actually
against God because I'm a religious person might look at it and say,
but I am against God because I don't, that's the way I see
it. I see it as a bunch of rules,
difficult, and I wish I had that. But when somebody gets saved,
received Jesus Christ by faith, it becomes a joyous relationship
where you're with the family of God and it's great. And it's
refreshing and it's encouraging. And so I just ask this point,
where are you? Where are you? Because I could be stoutly against
God and not even realize it. That's the condition in this
text. That was definitely the condition of Saul. But if I recognize
it, I could step away from that and say, you know what, I reject
that. I'm gonna stand strongly for God. I'm gonna get together
with God's people. I'm gonna stand with God's people
because I am his and he is mine, right? And so may God help us
to get that idea from this text this morning and help us to be
those that are obstinately, obstinately for God. Let's pray. Father, I just pray that the
Spirit of God speak to hearts There are some wonderful litmus
tests in this text. And Father, I pray that there
could be somebody that's stoutly against God. They don't really
realize it. They're religious, Lord. They think, you know, they're
a religious person. But if they would be honest,
they'd have to look at it and say, you know, I just look at it as a bunch of rules.
I'm fretting against it. I kind of wish I could be with
the wicked. I think that they're good, they're okay. But Father,
that's somebody that is against God. And Father, I pray against
that. But Father, help us to be those
that will assemble, that will say, you know, I'm just gonna
stand with God. I'm just gonna obey God. I'm gonna please God.
Because it's not profitless. It's not vain. There's great
reward. And Father, we know the joy of
a relationship, a relationship with God. And so we pray for
that. God bless your word to our hearts
this morning. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Amen. Let's stand, please. We'll sing
a hymn of invitation here. Nearer, still nearer, 382.
Stand Stout for God
| Sermon ID | 125211318495539 |
| Duration | 50:57 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Malachi 3:13-18 |
| Language | English |