Okay, I'd like you, if you would, to turn with me to the book of Haggai, which is in the Minor Prophets, which if you're not familiar, if you go to Matthew and start working backwards, okay, and you'll come to the prophecy of Haggai. And while you're turning there, just to give you the background to what I'm going to speak on today, this trip to Malaysia, normally, the Malaysian saints are very well organized. In fact, I joke that there are so many administrators, gifted administrators there that I pretty much know when I'm supposed to breathe in and breathe out. They have my schedule down to such intricate detail. But this time there were three new assemblies that were included in my itinerary and one of them for some reason forgot to tell me that I was scheduled to speak on a Sunday morning on the topic of am I among God's remnant today am I among God's remnant today so thankfully I found that out a week beforehand which meant that I could hustle and do something about it but this happens all the time in India but not in Malaysia usually so anyway that topic is what I want to think about this morning because in the process of studying it to speak on it It really did impact my thinking and I want to share some thoughts with you on that topic of am I among God's remnant today. So a couple of readings first of all from Haggai 1 and verse 12 just so we see how the word is used in scripture. So Haggai 1 verse 12 it says, Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Josedek the high priest with all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him and the people did fear before the Lord. Verse 14 The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Josedek, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God. And then chapter 2 verse 2, Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedek the high priest, and to the residue," same word, residue, remnant of the people, saying. We'll just stop there. Now please, Malachi. You want to turn with me to Malachi, which is the last book of the Old Testament. In chapter 3, Malachi 3, and just two verses, verse 16 and 17, to complete our readings this morning. Malachi 3.16, Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son. that serveth him. And again we believe God will bless the reading of his precious word to us this morning. So I suppose it would help if we understood what the word remnant actually means and it's one that we use I suppose in common language. It's a small remaining quantity of something, a small remaining quantity of something. So in the context of Haggai, interestingly enough when the nation of Israel entered into the land in the days of Joshua, there was 2 to 3 million people that entered into the land at the beginning. When they were taken into captivity, I'm assuming that there were probably more than that. But when they returned from captivity after 70 years in Babylon, there were 50,000 people. Okay? So 50,000 as opposed to at least minimum 3 million by contrast to the larger whole the remnant is a small part and so as the prophet is addressing the high priest and the governor and the remnant in that case he's speaking of all those that returned the 50,000 and it's sad really to think that the offer of returning to their homeland was really available to all of them. It was a decree made by King Cyrus that any Jew that wanted to return could return. And only 50,000 could be found. Why was that? Well, for one, they were returning to a land that had been devastated by war. the Babylonians that destroyed the temple, you read the book of Nehemiah, the place is like a bombsite, right? So it's not a nice place to go to because it's a land that has experienced the ravage of war and defeat and has been left basically for 70 years just to kind of... and you know what it is, if you go away for a few weeks and don't mow your yard, what is it like when you come back, right? Well, imagine 70 years of neglect. So the land they're coming back to is not an easy land and even though they weren't really free in captivity, they were comfortable in captivity. And so the vast majority preferred their comfort in captivity rather than the hardship of being faithful to the Lord. That's an interesting challenge, isn't it? Because, you see, many of us The Bible says sin shall not have dominion over you. Right? It's not supposed to rule over us. But some of us are actually comfortable in our sin. It's easier just to kind of live with it than to deal with it. Right? And we actually, many of us just actually enjoy living in captivity rather than enjoying the absolute freedom that the Lord Jesus intended for us. Because you can be very comfortable in captivity and they were so 50,000 went so that was the remnant at least in that case. Theologically it means a small number of people who will remain faithful when all around there's unsafefulness and failure a remnant biblically means a small number in the in the light of the whole, who will remain faithful." We're going to develop our definition as we go, but just a couple of quotes from one of my favorite authors, C. H. McIntosh, if you've never read Mr. McIntosh, you need to read him. You'll be blessed by reading his writings. And he says, the fact that there's a remnant proves the failure of the ostensible witness of the professing body, whether Jewish or Christian. So the very fact that a remnant exists is proof that the vast majority failed. And that's a tragedy really in a sense and I think of Christendom as we know it today and there's huge failure on every side, right? And it is, there's no question about it. And the question is, are we, that's the question I was asked, are we part of God's remnant? Another thing McIntosh says, the remnant at any time will be found to consist of those who feel and own the common failure and ruin and count on God and cleave to His word. So somebody who is part of the remnant, they recognize the failure and they feel it. It bothers them. The state of Christianity as it is today, if you're part of God's remnant, it would bother you. it will really kind of eat away at you, the way things are. And in the midst of such failure, including in our own hearts, I'm not saying just our failure too, we cling on to God's word and we count on God, depend on God in the midst of failure. So I want to do a brief biblical history of the remnant idea going all the way through the Bible. So it's going to be a quick tour and there's some references you can turn to if you choose. Genesis 4 would be a beginning point. I want you just to see that it wasn't long in the history of humanity when there was a remnant where the vast majority had failed and there were a few that remained faithful. And in Genesis 4, a very, very interesting statement in verse 25 and 26. It says, Adam knew his wife again And she bare a son, and called his name Seth. For God said, She hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son. And he called his name Enos. I want you to notice this last phrase. Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. What is the implication? Implication is that until the birth of Enos, men had stopped calling on the name of the Lord. Why was that? Well, Cain's civilization, they didn't want anything to do with the Lord, right? Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and he tried to build a life where he could be happy without God. And his whole generation were trying to, just like our society, we have increasingly a society today that are trying to find fulfillment and happiness without God. But there's a remnant. And the remnant are seen in this way, they are people that call on the name of the Lord. And so, again, very very important to see that. And again, sadly, this could describe still much of contemporary Christianity, including ourselves. I did three camps in Malaysia. Each of them were very well ordered and scheduled. We had, usually I had about 8 to 12 preaching sessions over 3 days, something like that, 4 days. and meals were scheduled, activities were scheduled. The one thing that was missing in all three camps was a scheduled time of prayer. It wasn't there and I'm not telling you anything that I didn't tell them. I said to them, what are you thinking? I was emailing back and forward with my wife and the third camp I was so shocked that there's no prayer time scheduled. I said to my wife, she wrote back, she said, they're trying to drive a car without gas. That's a very astute statement, right? Trying to move forward for God without dependence on God is futile. And so, again, it's possible for us to not be part of the remnant if we're not calling on the name of the Lord, right? In other words, Part of the evidence of remnant living is this absolute dependence on God, that you're constantly calling on His name, that you don't sense that you're sufficient of yourself, that you recognize you need Him. Genesis 5, another example, in the pre-flood days, before God pours out His judgment on humanity, things are bleak in these days, but yet there was a remnant. Sometimes that remnant's very small. Verse 24, Enoch walked with God. He was not, for God took him. So we've got a man called Enoch, who in the midst of a generation that are increasingly wicked, here's one man that stands out in a sense like a salt bomb. He is walking with God, even if nobody else is. Right? That's the remnant idea. I'm gonna do what's right, even if I'm the only one that does it. It doesn't matter. I want to please the Lord, not man. And that's the attitude of this man. And praise the Lord for Enoch. I think Enoch was the hero of the Apostle Paul. And he ought to be our hero. A man that walked with God when nobody else was. Chapter 6 of Genesis 5-11. And I just want to read this because you get a sense from this passage of the isolation and difficulty of Noah and his family. Because you've got kind of like a sandwich here. Verse 5, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth. And it grieved him at his heart. Imagine living in a world where every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart is evil continually. Well, it's not hard to imagine anymore, is it? That's the day we're living in, to a certain degree. And the Lord said, I will destroy man, verse 7, whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah, in contrast, the word but is a contrast word, in contrast to this world that is all, every thought is evil, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations, Noah walked with God, Noah begat three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth then notice verse 11 back to the corruption again verse 11 the earth was corrupt before God the earth was filled with violence God looked upon the earth and behold it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth and God said to Noah the end of all flesh is come and so in the midst of this description that that kind of surrounds this Noah and his family on either side there's a description under corruption of the world And in the middle, there's this tiny remnant. Just eight souls. What we've got to learn is this. Numbers is no guarantee of the blessing of God. Right? Because if that was the case, we're in the wrong religion. We need to be Muslims. Right? I said that in Malaysia, 70% of the population are Muslim. Right next door to them is Indonesia, the biggest Muslim country in the world. More Muslims there than the whole of Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula. Right? I mean, if it's numbers, we should be Catholic. Right? Or we should be... Right? It's nothing to do with numbers. It's everything to do with faithfulness to God's revealed truth in the Bible. That's what it's about. That's what determines whether we're remnant or not, is our loyalty to God in a day of departure. And certainly in the days of Noah, there was wickedness on every side, and yet here's Noah and his sons. Wow, can you imagine trying to raise a family in that world? And yet his family took him seriously. Praise the Lord for that. Noah's a great example. And then, further on, we get to the book of Numbers. Now we're talking about even amongst God's people. And that's what I want to suggest. You see, it's okay to say, in the days of Noah, well, most of them were following Cain, and they'd long forgotten God, and all the rest of it. But in the book of Numbers, we're talking about the people of God. People who had seen God do great things. They'd been redeemed out of Egypt, right? They'd seen Pharaoh's armies destroyed at the Red Sea. And they'd seen God do amazing things. And now they come to this place called Kadesh Barnea. And notice chapter 14 of Numbers verse 6, Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes, and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we pass through to search it is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not you against the Lord, neither fear you the people of the land for they are bred for us their defenses departed from them and the Lord is with us fear them not but all the congregation they stoned them with stones and the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel so even amongst God's people you talk about a remnant the only two that believe God Joshua and Caleb we forget who the names of the other 10 were right there were 12 spies we can't remember their names but the amazing thing they wanted to stone though the two people that actually took God seriously you talk about remnants And you think of what Alston think of these men that they spent the next 40 years attending funerals of people that failed to believe God and spent their lives going around in circles. What a tragedy! And yet there's a remnant that believe God in the midst of unbelief that take God faithfully at his word and believe what he says. Look at 1st Kings now and I know we're just looking at a lot of scripture We're going to settle down in Malachi eventually. But I want to just show you this scriptural concept of this remnant. And again, as I said, we're going to develop our definition as we go. But chapter 19 of 1 Kings verse 14. And this is Elijah the prophet. And you're familiar with this. He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altar, slain thy prophets with the sword, and I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life to take it away." And things are so bad in Israel that at this point, Elijah is convinced he's the only one. You talk about remnant, that's bleak, isn't it? Just one. Of course, God knows things that Elijah doesn't know. and it's always good to know isn't it that there are people that are faithful even though maybe we don't know them verse 18 yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal and every mouth which has not kissed him so again even in those days There was a remnant. And again, considering that the majority of people in the nation had gone after Baal, here were 7,001 that were loyal to the Lord. When we get to the New Testament, we find exactly the same idea, don't we? When the Lord Jesus came, were the crowds ready to welcome Him? No, they weren't, were they? There was a remnant. How many people were looking for the Messiah. He was promised in their scriptures and revealed again and again in prophecy after prophecy in the Old Testament. But when we come to the time of the birth of the Lord Jesus, there's a woman called Anna. There's an old man called Simeon. There's couples like Joseph and Mary and Elizabeth and Zachariah. But overall, the vast majority are just busy living. But there's a remnant there. It's small. Let me get to Matthew 7. I want you just to see something here. It's a very important truth in the Word of God. Matthew 7. Lord Jesus preaching and he says, Because straight or narrow is the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life. Then notice the next few words. And few there be that find it. Isn't that interesting? Few. Find it. Most people, therefore, are on the broad road that leads to destruction. Those on the narrow road that follow the narrow way that leads to life are few. They're in the minority. Now, it's not that God doesn't want these people to be in His heaven, or that He doesn't care about them, because there's nothing further from the truth. God loves the world. The Bible is clear on that. And He cares for souls. And 1 Timothy 2, I just want you to see a couple of verses in 1 Timothy 2 that expresses the heart of God. He says, Who will have all men to be saved? 1 Timothy 2 verse 4. And to come to the knowledge of the truth. There's the express will of God stated in the Bible. who will have all men to be saved. Now don't misinterpret that or try and argue it away. Some people say it means all kinds of men. What kind of thinking is that? It doesn't say that. It doesn't say it in Greek or English or any other language. Who will have all men to be saved. and come to knowledge of the truth. Verse 6, who gave himself, speaking of the Lord Jesus, a ransom for all to be testified in due time. There's this universal meritorious work of the Savior that is available to all men. And he died for all men and he wants all men to be saved but sadly Few there be that find it. That's the reality of it. It's available for everyone, but not everyone avails of the opportunity of being saved. And as you go through church history, you have that same idea of a remnant. God never leaves himself without a witness. Even in the dark ages, there were groups like the Waldensians, the Albigenses, John Wycliffe, the Morning Star of the Reformation, Bernard of Clairvaux, there were many that were faithful. A remnant that God had in those days, even in the darkest days in the history of the Church, many of these things are recorded for us in Pilgrim Church by Broadbent. Well, now let's go to Malachi. This is where I want us to end up today because this is where my heart has been most blessed. Malachi is the last prophet of the Old Testament and last book of the Old Testament. and although maybe I'll correct that statement in a minute but just let's say this first of all as we think if we really find this this word remnant and and maybe clarify a little bit sometimes you see we think the word remnant means something that's not very valuable. For instance if you get carpets laid and that which is left over is not really valuable to you right you might use it in your car in the wintertime or whatever to stop it getting, or whatever. It might have some other purpose, but it's not really what you look at as valuable. It's the leftovers. It's the scrap, as we would put it. My mother was a wonderful baker of apple pies. She really made wonderful apple pies. Of course, when you roll out the dough and you put it on and then you go around and scrape it, there's a remnant left over. Right? It's not as valuable as the pie, right? The pie is what we're interested in. Right? But there's this bit left over. So there's this idea that a remnant is something that is of not real value. But that's not the thought in terms of biblical remnant. It's not the biblical idea. Because the biblical idea is this. That the larger group has failed and a smaller group has kept God's original intention for that dispensation. Right? They've held on to the truth that has been revealed at the beginning of the dispensation. They've not deviated from it. They've not departed from it. Even though the majority have, they've stayed faithful. And so, in God's eyes, the remnant is valuable. It's precious to Him. In fact, we're going to see it when we look at verse 16 and 17. So it implies this larger group that's failed and a smaller group that's kept the original intention of what God had in mind for the dispensation. Malachi writes 100 years after the remnant has returned. That's the remnant that came, the 50,000, so we've gone past the days of Ezra, days of Nehemiah, all those days are gone and now we come to this man. And truly He ministered in the last days of the Old Testament. Right? This is the last days. In fact, after him, God is not going to say anything for 400 years. Right? The heavens are going to be brass for four centuries. God has nothing else to say after this man for 400 years. And so, really these people are living right in the last days of the Old Testament era and he, in a sense, I said that he's the last prophet of the Old Testament, he's really the second to last prophet of the Old Testament because he actually mentions one who's gonna come, chapter 3 verse 1, Behold I'll send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in behold he'll come saith the Lord of hosts so he's going to send a messenger and preparing the way before him and that of course is John the baptizer and let me just read don't have to turn there Matthew 11 13 would tell us that actually strictly speaking John was the last of the Old Testament prophets Matthew 11 verse 13 the last and by the way the greatest. It says for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. In other words that prophecy era of the Old Testament lasted up until John. So I suppose we could say Malachi is the penultimate prophet of the Old Testament. But the relevance for us is, He preached at the end of the, what we would say, that old dispensation. As we know it, the end of the last days of the Old Testament. And it would be true, especially as we consider what we thought about in our remembrance meeting this morning, we're living in the last days of this dispensation. Right? The Lord is coming. And these days are not easy days. Paul would say, 2 Timothy 3.1, that these days, the last days, perilous times shall come. And we're living in those kind of days, aren't we? Perilous times. The word perilous, it means it's hard to deal with. Some of us are struggling, right? I mean, if we're honest about that, like we came back to the US in 1998. The decline from 98 in this country, morally, spiritually, economically, in every way, has just been staggering since 1998. It's hard to believe, isn't it? We heard David Jeremiah was on the radio a while back and this message he gave, I never thought I'd see the day. That was the title of it. I never thought I'd see the day. Well, we're seeing it, right? The day is here. Perilous times are here. This is the day we're living in. And it's difficult. So the question is, which group will we belong to as we draw close to the end of the age? The larger group that has departed from God's original intent of the smaller group which has kept the original intent of God for the dispensation. In Malachi's days, formalism had set in all around. There were lots of activity, but the Lord was outside of it all. They were still in the temple as it were, in fact they're offering sacrifices and they're doing all kinds of things, but their hearts are not there. They're physically there but their hearts are not there. They're going through the motions but their hearts are far away. And that's an easy thing to happen. There's this spirit of indifference and carelessness that prevailed over the nation at the time that this man Malachi ministers. And the amazing thing is that when Malachi speaks to them on behalf of God and tries to convict them of their sin and their departure, you know what they do? They talk right back and argue with God. Isn't that amazing? We're going to see it. I'm going to point it out as we go. Seven times God speaks to them and seven times they talk back and say, We didn't do that. What are you talking about? Right? In other words, they weren't willing to own anything. They weren't willing to admit to, as we would say, fess up, confess, right? They just simply just argued with God and said, that's not really us. I don't know who you're talking about. Right? I mean, I don't know what's going on. It's not that bad. So they argued with God, tried to justify their sinful ways and over and over Jehovah charges them and with their hearts being in departure and they contradict the charge and ask for proof. One mark of backsliding is blindness. When somebody is backslidden, they can't see it. Maybe others can see it, but they can't see it, right? There is this kind of backslidden state and we don't even realize it. And these people were blinded to their true condition. Another tendency of a backsliding heart is to question everything, even the most elementary of spiritual truths and duties. Always questioning God. Why did God do this? Why did He allow this? Right? Right? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? That's a backsliding heart. There's no simple trust in God that all things are working together for good for those that love Him. Right? There's no simple trust in God. It's kind of, God, why are you doing this? Why are you doing that? It's always questioning God. And that's what these people were doing. They weren't involved in the same idolatry that they were involved in Babylon. That had been long cured. They'd seen enough of that. But they were involved in a kind of dead works righteousness. See, this book kind of prepares the way for the coming of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Right? Going through the motions. And that's exactly what we've got here in this book. Well, let's look at some of these seven occurrences. So, for instance, the first one is in, you don't have to look very far, chapter 1 verse 2. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet you say, wherein have you loved us? So they doubt that God loves them. Even though God says, I've loved you, where have you loved us? Right? That's a heart that doesn't really treat God at face value. God loves us, right? I mean, we can't say, God, you can't love me. When we think of Calvary, none of us could ever say God doesn't love us, right? And yet, where have you loved us? Verse 6. A son honors his father. A servant is master. If I be a father, where is my honor? If I be a master, where is my fear? Sayeth the Lord of hosts, Unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And you say, Wherein have we despised your name? God says, You despise my name. Where did we do that? That's amazing, isn't it? They're constantly asking. Verse 7, You offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And you say, Wherein have we polluted you? chapter 2 verse 17 you have wearied the Lord with your words yet you say wherein have we wearied him? see they were praying long prayers but there was no heart in it like again it was just kind of religious outward show and it wearied the Lord and they said wherein have we wearied you? chapter 3 verse 7 even from the day of your fathers you are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them return to me And I will return to you, saith the Lord of hosts. But you said, wherein shall we return? What they're saying is, we haven't gone anywhere. We haven't left you. What are you saying, return to me? Why are you asking that? We've not gone anywhere. Chapter 3 verse 8, Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, wherein have we robbed thee? Of course, in tithes and in offerings. They weren't giving to the work of the Lord like they should have done. In chapter 3 verse 13, the last one, your words have been stout or bold against me, says the Lord, yet you say, what have we spoken so much against you? So if you wanted to kind of outline this book, you'd say from chapter 1, first 5 verses, they doubted his love. Chapter 1 verse 6 through 14, they despised his name. Doubted his love, despised his name, chapter 2 verses 1-17 they defiled this covenant and particularly the covenant of marriage by the way they despised that and they were very involved in divorce and the priests were divorcing their wives and marrying unsaved women that was what was going on and the priests were doing it and they disobeyed God's word chapter 3 to the end of the chapter of the book. So definitely there is departure and failure. And basically the opening accusations of the book tell us where they were at. They treated God worse than a boss or an employer. And again it's a challenge isn't it to think about this because What they say is, in verse 6 of chapter 1, A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is my honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you. And it's a tragic thing when sometimes God's people are more loyal to their human boss more faithful to their human employment than they are to God in heaven. In other words, what in their minds, now we recognize, right? Part of the testimony of being a Christian is that we're to be a good employee, right? When we need to do that and recognize it, but the problem is that often our work life is so dominating that we have very little for God. And he says, this is where you're at. You're treating me, God is saying, worse than any boss or employer. In other words, their attitude is, any old thing will do for God. I'll give my best for work, but any old thing will do for God. That's the attitude. So in the midst of that background. And I wanted to give the background and paint the background because in the midst of it there's something very beautiful. And that's where I want us to kind of focus in the time we've got left in verse 16. And I want you to notice how it begins. The word then. Chapter 3 verse 16, then. In the midst of this wholesale failure, when it was difficult, When the vast majority have no heart for God, that they're going through religious rituals, but their heart is far away, then, at that time, there's this group. And so, the point being that there's times when it's really difficult, right? When it's easy, in a sense, to be a gung-ho Christian when everybody is. It's much more difficult when you stick out like a soft arm. And God notices the timing. That's why He emphasizes, then. He takes note of the days we're living in. While Judah was complaining and speaking against God, at that time, there's a group that stand out. A group with conviction, with resolution, with determination. It says, then. Then it says, then they. This remnant. This small group. in the midst of the vast majority that have failed there is they this small group this remnant and what was it about this remnant that stood out? then they that feared the Lord here's the key what makes the difference between being part of God's remnant and not being part of God's remnant? the fear of the Lord That's the key. And this book actually, just to quickly point it out, it's really about the fear of the Lord. Chapter 1 verse 6, he says, where is my fear? Why are you not showing proper reverence to me? You're showing it to your boss. You're showing it in the workplace. Where is my fear, God is saying? Why are you not giving me the proper reverence and respect that I deserve? Chapter 2 verse 5, my covenant was with him of life and peace and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me and was afraid before my name. Speaking of the days in the past when God made his covenant with Israel and he said in those days at the beginning they had a fear with which they feared me and was afraid before my name. And so it reminds them of that where they were at one time. Chapter 3 verse 5 He speaks at the end of that verse, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. Again, there's this lack of fear for God. And then he tells us in chapter 3 verse 16, them that feared the Lord. Chapter 4 verse 2, but unto you that fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings. So it seems like a theme all the way through the book. And so the difference is that there are those, and God is asking them, where is my fear? I'm not getting it. You're not reverencing me. You're not giving me the proper respect that I deserve because of who I am. You're treating me worse than you would your boss. Why are you doing this? And yet, there's this other group at that time. Then, they that feared the Lord. And they spoke often one to another. It's wonderful, right? They're a small group, but they're a group that want to meet together, and they want to speak together, and they want to encourage one another in a day of failure. And they just enjoy being together, and they enjoy communicating with one another. And the amazing thing is that God pays attention. Notice it says, "...and the Lord hearkened." The word hearkened means paying close attention to. Of course God is party to every conversation. He hears everything. But if I could use this respectfully, when there's a group of saints in a day of failure that meet together and love to speak about the name of the Lord, God's ears prick up. If I could just put it that way. Suddenly his attention is grasped Wow! Here is somebody in a day of departure that loves me and likes to speak about me when everybody else is speaking evil of me. Because their stout words were against them. And yet here is a group that are really paying attention. So the Lord hearkened. And not only did He listen and recognize what they were doing, but He also records it. It says, The Lord hearkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them. and of course this idea is that in the ancient world kings would have a recorder And this recorder would record acts of loyalty that were done for him by his citizens. And so if you remember back in the book of Esther, in chapter 6, when the king can't sleep one night, he says, bring the records. And so they're reading to him from the records and they read about this fellow Mordecai that had heard about a plot to assassinate the king. And so this loyal man, what was done to reward him? He was loyal to me. When people were disloyal, what has been done? So that's the picture here. that God, in a day of departure, is taking a record of those that are loyal to Him, in a day of failure. And keeping records, isn't that amazing? He's writing it down. Not that God needs to write, I need to write things down. When I was in Malaysia one night, I had another message dropped on me, and I was praying about what to speak on, and this one night, 2 o'clock in the morning, I woke up with an outline. So now I realize if I don't get out of bed and write it down, tomorrow morning the outline will be gone. So I got out of bed, wrote down the outline, went back to bed thinking, oh, that's good, I can go to sleep now. Well, then I got the main points. So I had to get out again and write it again. And then I got the illustrations. I had to get out a third time. Three o'clock in the morning, I am absolutely exhausted, but I'm happy. My message is done. I'm ready to preach. And I went back to sleep. But see, we need to recall things because if we don't, We forget. My problem is, I write down passwords from my various credit cards and all these, and then I forget where I put the right, you know, I put the note. Where did I write that down? Getting old is no fun, is it? I mean, yeah, anyway. But the Lord doesn't have to record it because He has a problem remembering. No, He doesn't do that. But He does it because there's a day coming, the books are coming out. Right? The books are going to come out. And God keeps perfect records. in every group that have met together in simple reverence for God out of love for him that have spoken one to another the Lord listens hears it in a book of remembrance was written before him I often think of that that the Lord's Supper as we meet to remember him he remembers us that we were remembering him isn't that amazing what a beautiful thought he does remember before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name." What was it that they were talking about that he was listening to? Well, they were thinking about his name. Another great theme in the book is the name of the Lord. And I won't take time to go through all of the references but you can read it yourself. It's a small book and you can see that the name of the Lord is a very dominant idea. And so, these believers have a relationship with one another and when they meet together, out of fear of God, they love to talk about his name and that implies everything to do with this character. A good question to ask ourselves, are we part of the remnant? What do you talk about? What do you talk about when you're with other Christians? See these people, their topic of conversation was they thought upon his name. That was the conversation, wasn't it? It was spiritual things. You see, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. What really is thrilling to us is what we talk about. Right? Because if our heart is in love with him, then it will be easy to talk about him. On the other hand, if it isn't, then it will be actually hard to speak about him. Because what's on our heart will come out and we'll talk about all kinds of other trivial things but he won't come into the conversation. Years ago we had a couple, a very gracious couple that actually allowed us to live in their house and moved in with their in-laws. You talk about sacrifice, that was a big sacrifice because we were back on a little furlough. And they would come around every week, probably to check that we, with small kids, we haven't wrecked the house, I don't know, but they would come every Tuesday and we'd have a really nice visit except that Every time they would come, the topic of conversation was, well, this guy was into, in those days, stereos. Now, some of you don't even know what those things are, right? But it's, you know, these expensive Bang & Olsen systems and all this kind of... Anyway, that's what they were into. So he would talk about technology as it was in those days. I mean, to you guys, it probably looks like kind of museum pieces anyway. But in those days, it was status, you know, kind of state-of-the-art stuff. And he would love to... I can do that for a while. After a while, I just get bored to tears. I'm sorry, I'm not really interested in this stuff. So one day I said, I'm ready. I can't handle this. If this is going to be like this, the whole furlough every Tuesday, we're going to go through this, this is going to be a long time. So anyway, I got Bibles out, and when they came in, I said, we're going to do something different tonight. Pick any topic in the Bible that you want to talk about, and we'll talk about it. Anywhere, Genesis to Revelation. Not that I can answer it, but we've got commentaries, we can find it out. So anyway, they were interested in tongues and we got involved in talking about that whole issue of speaking in tongues. They said, this is an amazing night. This is the best night we've had for years. Can we come and do this next week? And so from then on, and that guy and his wife, praise the Lord, are in the work of the Lord now. They're working in one of the roughest housing estates in Liverpool, and the Lord is blessing their labors there. And all I'm saying is that when we get together, what do we talk about? I suppose another way to phrase the question is this. Where is your heart? That's the real question, isn't it? Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will speak. So are you part of God's remnant? That's the question. Well, your conversation will give the game away. By the way, there's a reward. It's a beautiful reward. It says, and they, and then, and they, verse 17, shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make of my jewels. And I'll spare them as a man spares his own son that serves him. A lot we could say about this verse, but all I want to just do is kind of put it in a way that we can grasp. His name was precious to them. And God says, You people are precious to me. In fact, you're gems. We could paraphrase it. You're just gems. You're jewels, as far as I'm concerned, in a world that is indifferent. Here's a tiny remnant that love to think upon my name. And you're a bunch of gems. Wow, what an amazing thing. A couple quickies before I finish. I'm definitely on borrowed time now. I took my time and I'm borrowed, but it's okay. In the days prior to the Methodist revival, England was in a bleak state. But there was a group of students at Oxford University who met together to challenge themselves to holy living. They were called the Holy Club. It included Charles Wesley. We sang one of his hymns this morning. and John Wesley and Benjamin Ingram and George Whitfield and they were just a few and they met together. They challenged each other to read through the Greek New Testament every year. They went out and did good works. They did all kinds of things but they prayed as well together and they talked about the Lord together when it wasn't fashionable at Oxford University to talk about those things. That's where the nickname Methodist came from. because these guys were so methodological in their work and anyway these were the men that God would use to bring revival to the British Isles. I've just been reading while I was in Malaysia the biography of Andrew Murray of South Africa some may have read some of his books but he was a son of a Scottish preacher who had gone to South Africa as a missionary and he himself felt the call of God to labor in South Africa and so he went to Scotland for his education and then he went to seminary in Holland because South Africa was a bilingual nation. The Afrikaners were Dutch speaking and it was a British colony so he had two languages so he felt if he went to seminary in Holland he would perfect his Dutch language and be able to minister to both groups of people. sadly that seminary was so infected by liberal teaching from Germany that it was he said that it was just withering to his soul to be in seminary was like a cold chill but he said there was a group of young men and they would meet together just a small group And they'd encourage each other in the Lord. And they'd witness together. And they'd go out and do open air preaching. And he said this small group kept his sanity and his faith in four years of seminary. It's a simple idea, isn't it, of Malachi 3.16. A small group, the remnant, the whole has departed. But there's a group. They're only small. but they love the Lord, they fear His name, they reverence His name, and they meet together. And the Lord hears it, and He pays attention. One final verse, just to finish. Malachi 2. The Lord is speaking to the priests. He says, And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. And if you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name saith the Lord of hosts I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings yeah I have cursed them already because you do not lay it to heart thought that really stood out to me when I was reading those verses if you will not lay it to heart see that's part of the problem isn't it? we hear a lot of scripture over the years And the question is, do we lay it to heart? Because that's going to make all the difference, isn't it? God wants to affect not just our intellect, but our emotions and our will, the complete man. And it's the heart really, we said, where is your heart? Right? That's the question, how the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Give me your heart, for out of it are the issues of life. Right? The heart is everything. And so, these people heard God's word, they were privileged to hear God's word, but they did not lay it to heart. And that's why, in a sense, a curse is upon that nation because they didn't lay it to heart. But, there was a remnant. Maybe that remnant existed because they listened to Malachi's preaching. maybe they were the direct result of his preaching ministry but somehow a few laid it to heart and they love to meet together they love to meet together and they love to think upon his name it was a delight to them to do that they enjoyed conversing about him and a book of remembrance was written for them that feared the Lord and those that thought upon his name may we honestly answer the question am I among God's remnant today and not to feel bad if it's a small number because remnant usually implies that not to be intimidated by numbers but to be convicted by scripture and lay it to heart. That's what we need to do. Let's pray. Father we give thanks for thy precious word and we're thankful that you're a God who does pay attention. That our conversations are all audited by you. Lord I ask that even this week as we meet with other Christians that we'll talk about Christ. Lord there's so many other things that we can end up speaking about that are really very little eternal eternal value and are just trivia. We pray Father that we'd be those that would think upon your name because your name is so worthy of our best and highest thoughts. So help us with these thoughts we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.