Transcript

Grab your Bibles this morning and let’s go to Malachi chapter three. We’re still in the old part of the book and what an amazingly rich study this has been for your pastor. I actually thought this morning if I could get you to joy in and treasure these truths as much as I have learned to going through this book, I’ll be satisfied. I want you to know it speaks to me first. What beautiful applications for the New Testament church are in this old part of the book.

Remember the text in Romans 15:4 “whatever was written in earlier times”, that’s the old prophets, the Old Testament, “was written for our instruction”. It’s for us. We have the completion of what was unfolding through the Old Testament. Jesus comes, the church is established, and everything comes in full bloom. Then we know the purpose of God. You see, God has always ordained, I mean from eternity past, that he would have a people. Not just that he would save individuals, that was ordained too, but that they would come together as a people. We see that prefigured in Israel, even more prefigured in the remnant within the nation of Israel of true and genuine righteous ones.

And that’s what we’re talking about today. And then we come to the New Testament and we see the same parallel. We see the completion, the perfection, the maturation of what God was unfolding through the old is now explained, cast forth, made clear in the New Testament. You see, the New Testament is in the Old Testament contained, and the Old Testament is by the New Testament explained. Let’s look at it together. Malachi chapter four, this is the condition of Israel after they’ve returned from exile, they’ve reestablished themselves back in Israel, and they are backslidden.

In verses 13, 14, and 15, we saw this unrighteous, ranting, reviling nation, the great majority of them are in this crowd, they’re bitter, they’re blaming God and basically they are saying, we’re good and righteous and God is unrighteous, he’s failing us, disputing God.

Then things turn radically when you get to our text and you find this little group This group that was considered the off-scourings of the nation, no telling how they were scorned and demeaned and scandalized by the great host of Israel, as they probably heard things like, you think you’re the only ones? You think you’re the only righteous ones? You think you’re the true Israel? And the truth was, that’s exactly what God says they were. That’s exactly what they were.

Let’s read it together. Malachi 3:16, “then” compared to that in contradistinction to that group in the earlier three verses, “then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another”. They got together as a people, a remnant, and encouraged each other. “And the Lord gave attention and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and those who esteem his name”. Oh, how precious these verses are, church.

Verse 17, “they will be mine, says the Lord of hosts. On the day that I prepare my own possession or my special treasure, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him”. That means when the judgment comes, the great cataclysmic global judgment, I’m going to take care of mine. Verse 18, “so you will again distinguish”, there’ll be an unveiling, a revealing, you will again “distinguish between the righteous and the wicked and the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him”.

You see, that great host of Israel who are badly backslidden, ranting rebels, if you will, they claim to be God’s servants, but they were not. They were counterfeits. They had a veneer of true Israel. They still did some of the basic ordinances, the outward religious hoop jumps, if you will, but they didn’t love God from the heart.

The folks who were his true servants and loved him from the heart are those referred to up in verse 16, “those who feared the Lord, and got together”. Now, we’ve already talked about the fact that this is the group that is the righteous remnant, and that’s what we’ve been calling this, and we talked about the designation of the righteous remnant. That is, they are those who fear the Lord. They are those who esteem his name. In other words, they love, and they know I should say, and love God for who he’s revealed himself to be. They haven’t made God into something they would like for him to be, like the earlier crowd did. Again, the crowd revealed in verses 13, 14, and 15.

So the designation of them, and then we go a little further. We talked about the description of them. They’re described as those who got together and spoke to one another. It means they met together and they were very intentional about encouraging, strengthening, holding one another to their commitments. And don’t slip away, don’t be pulled away by the great crowd out there who claims to be God’s people and they’re not. This little group got together and helped one another.

And we brought out from the balance of biblical truth that no doubt this included they sang together when they got together. The Bible’s ordained Old and New Testament. The people of God sing together to admonish and encourage and strengthen one another. That’s why it’s so important that we sing doctrinally rich, biblically sound music.

Also, they taught one another. That’s very clear in the Old and New Testaments, teaching one another. Then without question, I don’t know who it might have been, but they had someone preaching to them. I know that has to be the case in the balance of biblical text. Someone who brought the authoritative Word of God to them and challenged them to stay the course.

“They got together and they spoke”. And remember, it’s a metaphorical figure of speech here. Spoke didn’t mean just spoke, it meant all that’s involved in their godly fellowship together. And for us today, that would mean everything we do, small groups, the worship service, the ladies event, we get together and we spoke, we speak to one another to stay faithful.

Now we come to God’s devotion to his righteous remnant. This is the most precious, precious text. God’s devotion. If you think about that, why would God be devoted to anyone when we’re all sinners? Well, God marked this group out. They are his elect, righteous remnant, and he has a godly, God-sized devotion to them. That ought to humble you, church, because that’s exactly what God has for us in Christ Jesus, and that’s exactly what this is pointing to. His devotion. Look at verse 16. “And those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord gave attention”. Don’t just run past that. The Lord gave attention. It does not mean God merely noticed them, but it means he’s intentionally leaning forward with keen interest into what they’re doing as they get together.

I’ve got seven grandchildren and one just about to pop out of the oven. And I’m telling you, just like you and your family, I love all of them individually, but I love it when we’re all together. I now know what my grandparents meant when they would just want us all together. God is the same. Matter of fact, that’s why you’re that way because God is that way. He loves his true righteous elect remnant to get together, and when they do, it just thrills his heart. And he comes in, and right now, God’s leaning in toward Grace Life Church because he’s really interested in us. Devotion. He’s devoted to us. little bit tongue-in-cheek. He might be leaning in this morning and saying, where are the Smiths? They’ve gone again this Sunday. Well, there’s Joe over there. Yeah, what he’s thinking about this week is the football game last week. He’s really interested, and even though I say those things, I believe they’re true, but that’s not the main thrust of the text. The main thrust of the text is these are my precious redeemed elect remnant people, and I’m deeply interested in them.

Now, he’s deeply interested in you individually. The text makes it so clear he’s especially interested when we are together. Isn’t that what the text says? Those, plural, who fear the Lord got together. You cannot know, please, or serve God as a lone ranger or all to be a part of other brothers and sisters. So God is leaning forward, deeply interested. The text says not only did he give attention, it says, and he heard. Means he’s hearing with understanding. He’s hearing what we’re doing this morning with care, with concern, and certainly with favor toward us. So every Sunday, God comes to church, deeply interested, leaning in, concerned, valuing us.

After all, do you know what his elect righteous remnant is? His elect righteous remnant is the product of the work of the preeminent one, Jesus Christ, his Son. The Son of God, God the Son, did the work, performed the task, perfectly created the remnant of God. And God says, I love the work of my Son. And that’s what we are. We’re the work of the Son. All of us together in a very, very, very special way.

So God’s intimately involved in our fellowship. He has great pleasure in our local church fellowship. He has a holy commitment to our local church fellowship. He values deeply our local church fellowship. And he remembers faithfully what we do together as his local church fellowship. That’s what the next phrase said, a book of remembrance was written before him about all of us. That’s a metaphorical, an anthropomorphic metaphorical phrase. It doesn’t mean God needs anything written down, but it means that God wants you to know I know everything about when my children get together and I never forget it. His devotion to us as his elect righteous remnant. And you cannot love a God, and you cannot revere God, and you cannot stay in God’s favor if you purposefully neglect the fellowship of his local church.

Let’s remind ourselves again of why it is that some people can treat the local church so lightly. And can I charge you this morning in love? The church is not made to fit you. Hear this stuff, well, that’s just not my type of church, or that’s just not what kind of music I like, et cetera, et cetera. Do you realize that most of our church partners and most of our church plants, they don’t have a Tom Clay, they don’t have a choir and orchestra, they don’t have a million dollar sound system. Matter of fact, I’ve met with some of them in garages when they first started, but that was just as much worship as what we’ve enjoyed this morning.

Worship’s not about what you get. Are they my brand? Do I like it? Worship is, is it about Christ? Are my brothers and sisters there? And I wanna bring to the church my worship of what I’ve experienced in trying to be faithful to Christ all week. And it’s gonna be encouraging to get out of that old world out there and get with other people crazy like me, crazy over Jesus.

Well, it’s all about Him. Verse John 2:19 reminds us though, “they went out from us because they were not really of us”. Or had they been of us? “They would have remained with us, but they went out so that it would be shown that not all are really of us”. I’m sure there was a mixture of this great mass of Israel who were the rebellious revilers disputing with God all the time, blaming God. I’m sure there’s a mixture of those folks probably popped in and popped out of this remnant group, but they didn’t last long. T-I-M-E tells the tale.

The church, a true church, a sound church is the great clarifier. Eventually, it unfolds, it reveals what your true heart is. Not that you’re imperfect or perfect, but whether or not there is that abiding seed of genuine treasuring and purposing to honor and know Christ.

So, there are two distinct fellowships here. There’s that great host again, verses 13 through 15, and then there’s that righteous redeemed elect remnant in verses 17 and 18. And, of course, in parallel, we have the same thing today. There is that great host. You could call it the host of Christendom, even go outside of that and say the whole host of the world. That’s one great fellowship.

And then there’s that smaller remnant fellowship called the ekklesia. That’s the Greek word. We translate it church in the New Testament, the ekklesia. It means called out ones. It means out of that great mass. That great mass of people, I’m calling out from them, and I’m calling them to another fellowship, the fellowship of a local church striving to be true and honoring of God. Because once they’re saved, they’re no longer of that great big group. They now belong to the righteous remnant. Christ chose us out of that group called the children of the devil. Christ chose us out of that group called the dominion of darkness. Christ chose us, called us out of that group that is Satan’s kingdom. Christ called us out of that group that’s called those who are perishing. Christ called us out of that group who are just of the first Adam because we are now of the second Adam, Jesus. He’s building a new humanity, if you will, a new people. So which are you in? Sir, which are you in? Are you doing the same old Baptist 7 and 9 that’s been going on for generations which contributed to far more unregenerate, unsaved people in church membership than truly saved people? And that’s not an exaggeration. Every Baptist leader I know says that.

The Baptists say that about themselves. I’m not picking on the Baptists. I am one in doctrine and in heart, at least if you want to go by the early Baptists. I don’t know about some of the latter ones. Are you a part of a cultural Christianity or do you know that you know that you know Christ and he’s called you out to be a part of his righteous remnant? Oh, that’s an important question this morning.

Well, God’s leaning in. God’s very attentive. His great devotion is to this group. And notice how it’s worded in the middle of verse 16. “And a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem his name”. This is probably taken from the Persian kings of this day. It was known in this day that the great kingdom of Persia, their kings would have scribes to write down the names and the deeds of those subjects who did something very special for the king or for the kingdom. These Persian kings wanted that recorded so later on they could do a special blessing for those folks, a special reward for those people. I think that’s probably where this is pulled from. that God is writing down what we do together in the local church to strengthen, encourage, build up one another, build up the church, that we might be strong for him. Might not fall away.

It reminded me of Daniel 12 one, this book of remembrance. Everyone who is found written in the book will be rescued, Daniel 12 one says. There is something about books being written and names being recorded in the scriptures. You certainly want your name in the right book.

Revelation 13:8, “all who dwell on the earth will worship him”. That’s the Antichrist. that great mob, that great host of all the world and all the, that great mob of what you might call Christendom, the Roman Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, the Protestants, all of them together, the great host of them will follow the Antichrist. “Everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the lamb who has been slain”. But God had written down some before the foundation of the world that would not fall away headlong into following the Antichrist and the false harlot church of the end times.

See, all of this is one basic biblical principle, Old Testament, New Testament, and into the end of the age when the Antichrist comes. Which group are you in? Which group do you belong with? the righteous remnant of the great riotous rebellious mob who call themselves the servants of God, who call themselves Christians.

Well, again, it was this book, the text says, was written before him. I believe that’s just an anthropomorphic phrase. It didn’t need to be written because God’s omniscient, he doesn’t forget anything. But it’s written for our sake to know that God makes sure that we know He’s devoted to us, and listen to me, he’s so devoted to us, not one of us will ever, listen, not one of us will ever slip through the crack. “Pastor, you don’t know about me, I’m pretty slippery. I struggle, and I’m weak, and I fail”. Yeah, but you’re not greater than your Savior. who’s purposed in holy divine devotion to keep you as a part of his righteous remnant. What a glorious God we serve. What a precious, precious truth.

Number four, you could really put this under number three, but I like to separate these two aspects. God’s delight in his righteous remnant. Oh, that I had the heart, the mind, and the vocabulary to express the glory, the preciousness of this text. God’s delight, notice how he says this down in verse 17, “they will be mine”. In contradistinction to the great host of Israel who are not his, “they will be mine”. Goodness gracious. God saved you and he marked you. And he said before hell and the devil and every force of evil, that one is mine. And as a great Pawpaw, I like it when all of mine get together to be better children of mine. Isn’t that precious? He didn’t make you his so he could dangle you before hell and threaten you. He made you his to let you know, my son took your hell already and you’re mine. You’re mine. You are mine. God’s jealous for his own possession.

These are the precious children of God, and everything the triune Almighty God can possibly do for these children, he will do. 1 Corinthians 2:9 sort of reminds us of this, “just as it is written, things which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and which has not entered in the heart of man”, you can take in all the data you possibly can through your eyes, take in all the data you possibly can through your ears, take in all the enthralling, wondrous, precious hopes and thoughts you can possibly muster up in your heart, and you’re not close to the delight God has in you. “All that God has prepared for those who love him”.

He says, I go to prepare a place for you because you’re my delight. I delight in you. “And on that day”, verse 17, that’s the phrase in the text, and “on that day that I prepare my own precious possession”. On that day refers to that day of unveiling, which includes awesome judgment. On that day when I prepare my own precious possession, the Hebrew could say, on that day when I prepare my own special treasure, you are God’s treasure. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You are God’s special treasure.

Why? Because you are the product of the work of his son. He saved you, he’s justified you through the word and through the Spirit. He is now sanctifying you and one day he’s gonna glorify you. In God’s eternal mind it’s already done and you are the special treasure of God. You are and in a special way we are when we’re together.

“On the day when I prepare” means when I finally bring it to fruition. when it’s finally made clear what I planned to do when I sent my son to save us a people. I’m out past the speaker now. What an amazing thing. Say, I wanna drill this down into your bone marrow. When you go home, when you go to bed tonight, you can only weep and say, oh God, how glorious. that I am your delight. He delights in you, church, based on the work of his precious son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is about the preeminent one, Jesus, and everything is about the preeminent work of Jesus, which is the church. He did a lot of other things, but that’s his preeminent work. That’s the core work. The scripture makes us believe that.

You’re my own possession. You’re my special treasure. You remember the phrase, I think it’s listed four times in the Old Testament, the apple of his eye, the apple of his eye. In one context, I believe it’s in Zechariah chapter two, he talks about how the nations of the world try to destroy and crush Israel and demean Israel and disdain Israel. And then God responds back and says, yes, but they’re the apple of my eye.

You know, whatever happens to you, something kind of threatens you. I was in the doctor’s office the other day and they asked me to ever wake up quick in the night. I don’t know why they asked me that question, but that’s what the doctor asked me. Do you ever wake up quick in the night? I said, yeah, I’m catching a ball. That’s the way I grew up, catching a football. It’s about to hit me in the head and I wake up. But you know what you do when something’s coming at you like that? You protect your eyes. First, you always protect your eyes. Because that’s the most delicate, precious, important organ of your outer being. And God says, that’s the way you are to me. Whatever happens, I want you to know I delight in you and I’m protecting you first. You can not possibly ever be lost again. The power of the Godhead is totally committed to your well-being. as the precious, wondrous work of his Son, Jesus.

You’re my precious possession. Titus 2:14, the New Testament completion, if you will, amplification of this truth, “who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed and to purify for himself a person”, no, a people. He wants a people “for his own possession”. The phrase there, the great scholar says for his own possession means unusual, out of the ordinary. I’m doing an unusual and extraordinary thing in getting me together a people.

You see, all that is belongs to Him but His precious children, those who go out into the world and they have to hear the mockery, they have to hear the slander, the sneering of the world like you would hear from that crowd up in verses 13, 14, and 15 of our text. And they go out, these precious children go out in the world and they endure that and they’re grieved by this. And then they wake up on Sunday morning and they come into the fellowship of what is trying to be a true church of God. And with that remnant, a yearning rises in their hearts that says, tell me the story of Jesus. Ride home my heart every word. Tell me that story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard. Do you have that in your heart? Is there at least the germ, the seed of that in your heart that you can’t get over?

We go out in the world and we just take so much of it. Yeah, our flesh likes it some. Amen. Our flesh likes it some. Probably too much, but there’s something in us that says, this ain’t my people and this ain’t my crowd. I need to get back to the meeting of the righteous remnant, those who are striving to say true to God in this ungodly world.

Number five, he ventures on not only his great devotion to his own people, not his great delight in his righteous remnant, but number five, God’s utmost protection of his righteous remnant. We hit on this, but we’re gonna hit on it just a little bit more. He says in verse 17, referring to that day of clarification, realignment, and judgment that’s coming, they will be mine, says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I prepare my own position, my special treasure, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. That means spare them the judgment. I don’t know how to say this to you, but we are woefully deficient on the justice of God. A holy God would cease to be God if he does not judge all sin and unrighteousness.

It is the most absolute certain thing. It’s more certain than this desk I’m standing at. A holy and just God will have to bring holy just retribution against all sin and all unrighteousness. It’s coming. We need more of the old time preaching, a little more hell and damnation and fire because that’s coming. Why? Because it’s righteously required that unrighteousness be punished. Theologians call it punitive righteousness. Thank God we are the objects of redemptive righteousness through Christ. But there is a punitive righteousness that’s coming against everything. Listen to me, everything. It’s going to be so thorough that the present heaven and earth will fly away and be destroyed. But he says, through the Old Testament prophet Malachi, as absolutely certain as holy justice and final judgment is, as thorough as holy judgment and holy justice is going to be, I want my righteous remnant to know you’re precious to me, I’m devoted to you, I delight in you, and I will spare you like a faithful and good father would spare his son from wrong or hurt, if he possibly could. And there’s no possibility to God, he can. He’s gonna spare us when that judgment comes. You’re like me, you think, yeah, but I deserve judgment. But the father said, yes, you do. But my son took it for you, and you’re free.

Well, number six. and we’re done here. Can you believe it? We’re about to get through with these three verses. No, no, no, no. No, no, no. You gotta make sure these three verses are through with you. We in a sense might get through with them, but don’t let them get through with you. Don’t you ever doubt God’s delight in you. Don’t you ever doubt God’s devotion to you. Don’t you ever doubt God’s utmost protection of you, especially when the final judgment, nothing worse than God coming in final judgment. His protection will be there for you on that day. Don’t you ever doubt that meeting faithfully and serving faithfully in a righteous meeting of the remnant is not worth it. Don’t let these verses get through with you.

God’s final unveiling of the righteous remnant. That’s our last point. That’s very important to God. It’s almost like God is sitting in heaven and he’s out here on the edge of his seat thinking, I can’t wait till I do this. Y’all ain’t seen nothing yet. I’m about to bust open through the skies and I’m gonna unveil the work of my son in its final perfected form and it’s gonna be something. Are you listening to me? Everything, everything that has ever happened in time and space history, everything that is happening in time and space history, everything that is going to happen in time and space history is about Jesus and his church. Everything. Yeah, these theologians and these pastors, Dr. Seale, that said, well, God did this and God did that and God did this and then God did Jesus. Jesus and the church are the center of all of it. All of it. That’s good biblical theology. Biblical theology says, what’s the whole purpose of God beyond all things? I’ll tell you what it is. It’s the preeminent one, Jesus. It’s his preeminent work, the church. That’s the center of all of it.

He makes these promises about nothing else. He makes these promises about no other collectivity on earth. The church is so wondrous and perfect, we don’t even need to be husband, wife, and families when we get in the glorified state with the church. Even as important as families are, that’s not the center of it. Tell that to your Mormon friends. They have a family idolatry. Some Baptists can get family idolatry. At the end of it all, we won’t even be families. We’ll be ushered into this higher glory of oneness with all the children of God. In the church, the glorified church, that’s coming.

Well, I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let me get back to my text. So verse 18 says, “so you will”, when that day of judgment comes, I’m going to realign everything so it’s back right the way it ought to be. I’m going to clarify, I’m going to unveil all things. “So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked”.

Romans 8:19 reminds us, “for the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God”. Woo! Every leaf that trembles and every grain of sand as you and I sit here this morning is yearning for the day when you will be unveiled as the true servants of God. Oh my goodness, what a thought! This is gonna hit you at three o’clock in the morning. And you’re gonna say, oh my goodness, what a thought. I thought Brother Jeff was just yelling at us again. No, there’s truth in here. Entire creation. Listen, listen to me, listen to me. The entire creation yearns not to be perfected and have the sin curse lifted off of it, which is true. It’s sin cursed right now. All the created order is sin cursed. They yearn more for seeing the supreme preeminent work of the Son, Jesus, the church. They’re longing to see the church in all of its glory, and I’m going to be there. I’m not just going to be there, I’m going to get glorified. That’s hard to believe sometimes, but I am.

Are y’all getting this? Do I need to start over? Make sure you got it. You can’t, folks, you can’t forget this. You can’t get over this. Don’t get over this. Marvel over it. Marvel over it.

So all creation yearns for that great realignment day when everything will be made clear, everything be aligned right with the Holy God. And on this day of days, this final statement, this final state, I should say, after the judgment, the unveiled Christ, that’s what the word revelation means, unveiling, Christ will come back, not veiled in his glory, dignity, power, and deity, but unveiled, and men who don’t know him will go to the rocks and the bluffs and say, “fall on us, we can’t face the wrath of the Lamb of God”. And that’s not for us. The unveiled Christ. And then there’ll be the unveiled church. Gotta say, here’s what they look like when I make them righteous. Here’s what they look like when my son washes them in his blood. Here’s what they look like when my son imputes his righteousness into them. Look at this church. That’s a center of my son’s work and the preeminent work of the son of God.

Oh, what a day. It will all be crystal clear in that day, the text is telling us. So many like those in verses 13, 14, and 15, who claim to be righteous were but imposters, but there’s a day coming when it’s going to be clear who the true Israel is, which is a type of who the true church is, and the true members of the church.

Now he words it a little different on into verse 18, look at it again. between the one, last phrase, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him. “All that great host of Israel said, we’re all servants of God”. Who’s this little band of the scum of the earth down here, this little, they call themselves the righteous men. Who do they think they are? We’re all servants of God. The prophet of God says, not so. The day’s coming when you’ll know. who the true servants of God is and who were playing games, who were just acting through religion, but didn’t have a changed heart by the new birth and didn’t love God from the heart.

Wholesale wickedness had got into the professing church. So many were calling themselves the servants of God and the righteous one. But when he comes again, he will set the record straight once and for all. It’s interesting that he has the phrase in verse 18, he said, you will again distinguish. In other words, there were days in ancient Israel when they had renewal and revival and a spiritual awakening, when maybe a majority of the great host of Israel could tell you who were servants of God and could tell you who were not. He could tell you who’s truly righteous and truly who was not.

But not in Malachi’s day, they’d backslidden way far behind those days of awakening. Made me think of the entire Methodist church denomination has become an apostate counterfeit profession of service to God, promoting the most ungodly wickedness. And we need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are part of Methodist churches who have broken off the denomination to try to be true to God. I’ve told you this before, I’ve had people stop me literally in the street and say, Brother Jeff, you don’t know me, but I’ve heard you on the radio, whatever it is, would you pray for my church? We’re having to split off. They wanna put gay and lesbians in our pulpits and homosexual marriage is ordinary and normal.

And then down in Texas, James Talarico, this blasphemous fool, I mean that in a biblical sense. He’s a blasphemous fool who’s running for Senate and opens a Bible, claims to be a Christian, and promotes the most ungodly wicked things, abortion, homosexual marriage, and on down the list, claiming God approves of these things, the trans movement. Here’s what I want to say to James. Sir, it’s a free nation. You can say what you want to say, but you keep my Bible out of your filth. I’m telling you it’s wickedness. God says a day is coming when I’ll make it crystal clear who truly were my servants and who were not, though they claim to be.

And certainly the people in the Bible belt sweeps through Texas no better than to support such wickedness. I don’t know, brothers and sisters, if we’ve ever seen a day when people would stand up and claim to be followers of Christ and promote such wickedness. Used to, they would demean us. Used to, they would say we hate the Bible. Used to, they would discredit us. Now they want to say it is the Bible. That’s just wicked beyond compare.

So this kind of stuff never ends. So he said, you’re going to know soon those who truly are my servants and those who truly are not. But this serves him, has the idea of community again. It has the idea of people. It centers in the group to which you belong. Listen to me, don’t miss this. The true servant of God is known by the fellowship to which he belongs. Who was drawn to the group in verse 16 in contradistinction to the group in verses 13, 14, and 15? Which group do they belong? A true servant of God can’t stay long in a false compromising congregation, just like they couldn’t here.

Regardless, the false professor, the false servant, and the true professor in Christ and the true servant will be irrefutably made clear on the day of unveiling. What group are you in? To which fellowship do you belong? A religious system, the veneer of religion, the cosmetic of Christianity, or from the heart, do you treasure him?

I’ll close with this. Do you know what it took to make you a part of this righteous remnant? Do you know what it took to make you a part of the righteous remnant? It’s not your goodness. It’s not your virtue or wisdom. It’s not clearer than Isaiah’s prophecy about Christ. And Isaiah said this about our Christ and what he did for us. In Isaiah 53:3-10, “he was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we did not esteem him, but surely our griefs he himself bore. Our sorrows he carried, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” We looked at Jesus on the cross and said, well, he deserves that stuff. He got himself in that mess. That’s what it’s saying. “but he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, and the chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourgings we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray and each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused”, God took the initiative on our behalf. “The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that is silenced before its shearers. So he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due”.

We were due all of this. And he came and took it for us. “His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth, in perfect royal divine holiness”. In that state, verse 10, “but the Lord was pleased to crush him”. The Lord was pleased to crush him, “putting him to grief. If he would render himself as a guilt offering”.

Here it is. Not he might. “He will see his offspring”. That’s his church. That’s his righteous remnant. There’s not one single soul assigned to the elect remnant that he will not see, preciously treasure as his own that he delights in and that he’s devoted to. Jesus just cannot fail. Bill Stafford used to say, I’m so saved it’s pitiful. And we are. “He will see his offspring. He will prolong his days”. They did all of this to him, but behind it all was God the Father crushing the son that they might secure for themselves a righteous remnant, a church, a people that will be with him forever. And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hands. It’s God’s good pleasure to save you. It’s God’s good pleasure to keep you. It’s God’s good pleasure to justify you. It’s God’s good pleasure to be sanctifying you, and it’s God’s good pleasure to one day glorify you that you will be the trophy of the work of Jesus.

You know, I’ve got a sermon called Trophies of Grace, and I say in that sermon, you know what a trophy does? You know what a trophy does? Nothing. It just sits there. You get a little man, you know. And he just sits there. The trophy shows off the merits and the performance of another. That’s why you’re saved. So one day for all eternity, Jesus can say, look at that bunch right there. They’re righteous, perfected, and they have my glory and righteousness in them. I’m wonderful, ain’t I? Look what I did with that bunch. Are you a part? of the elect, righteous remnant of God.