Arrogant Words
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
Tonight we come to the sixth oracle, the sixth oracle in the book of Malachi. And it's a message that places a special emphasis on words, words. Really, we can title this very easily, the story of man's words. So it has to do with our words. You notice the contrast in verse 13, "”Your words have been strong against Me," says Yahweh.” Verse 16, "Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another." Those who are marked by the fear of God, they spoke to one another. The contrast could not be clearer.
Set before us are the wicked and the righteous. And what distinguishes them in this oracle particularly are their words, words. And the distinction found in their words points to the distinction that will belong to their future. The Lord says that in that day it will be manifest who the wicked are and who the righteous are, and the difference will be clear to see between one who serves God and one who does not serve God. This is a contrast found throughout the Scriptures, not just in the book of Malachi. And to put it plainly, there is nothing more revealing when it comes to man's sinfulness than his mouth. The sinfulness of man at its core is always, always a what? A heart matter. Always.
There are sins that we commit in our bodies, there are sins that we commit by our actions, but you can always trace sins in the realm of our deeds to our hearts. And the fountain that reveals what is in man's heart is what? His speech. His words.
Remember Isaiah. Isaiah saw the Lord Yahweh high and lifted up, and he became immediately aware of his great wretchedness, his great sinfulness. And how does he express it? Very familiar with those words, right? "Then I said, Woe is me," Isaiah 6:5, "for I am ruined!” –I'm finished, I'm done. “For I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts." As he became aware of his sinfulness, he's especially acutely aware of the uncleanness, the filthiness of his mouth, speech, words.
And of course we're familiar with Matthew 12:34, where our Lord says, "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they will give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." The Lord will be able to illustrate in that day, He'll be able to illustrate the rightness, the justice of His separation of humanity, the sheep and the goats, as we saw this morning. It will be able to be demonstrated by words. Words.
Matthew 15:18, "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man." Those are the things that defile the man. Or Romans chapter 3, describing humanity in its sinfulness left to ourselves, it says this, the 13th verse: "Their throat is an open tomb." I mean, they open their mouths and death comes out. "With their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of asps is under their lips." And so the sinfulness of man expressed in the speech of man is a theme. You find it throughout Scripture.
What is also a theme found throughout Scripture is the fact that when someone has been saved, this changes—the speech. The speech changes because the heart has been what? Changed. It's always the case. And not only is there an actual change in what comes out of the mouth, there is a new awareness about what comes out of the mouth as well. There's a new desire for what goes on in our hearts and what comes out of our mouths to please God. There's that desire.
When Paul exhorts Timothy to be an example to the church, remember what he says in 1 Timothy 4:12: "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but show yourself as a model” – show yourself as a model, as a pattern – “to those who believe." – How? – "in word." In what comes out of your mouth. In speech. And then he says, "conduct, love, faith, and purity." Amazing, isn't it? He begins by saying, In your word, Timothy, in your word, in your speech, Timothy. Watch your mouth. Be a model in your conduct, but first, he says, in your speech.
And of course, Psalm 19, that was read earlier in your hearing, verse 14. We know this verse: "Let the words of my mouth, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Yahweh, my rock and my Redeemer." There's that new desire. When there's radical transformation, there's new desire—the desire found in the hearts and lives of redeemed people, ransomed people. Lord, I want not only the meditations of my heart, my thoughts, to please You, but I want my words to be acceptable in Your sight.
Colossians 4:6 exhorts the believer in this way: "Let your words always be with grace." Always. Always. Your words—always at church, at home, on the way home, at work, at school, when you're on the phone talking to one of those big telephone carriers or internet carriers—let your words always be seasoned with salt, always with grace, so that you will know how you should answer each person. What a wonderful verse. It's a good verse to put on a little card and take it with you and put it on the fridge, on your computer, on the phone.
Colossians 3:8: "But now you also, lay them all aside: wrath, anger, malice," – and then He says, "slander, and abusive speech from your mouth." So at the point of the mouth, man's sinfulness is made manifest. And when one has been saved, redeemed, ransomed by the blood of Jesus, there's a transformation, and that transformation is seen in a transformation in speech that flows out of the desire to please God and please Christ with what we say. Because now we make it our ambition to what? Please Him. To live for Him. We no longer live for ourselves, unto ourselves. We live for Him, to please Him, to honor Him.
And we see that truth demonstrated here in the life of post-exilic Israel. The outline tonight is very simple. Verses 13–15, we see the words of the wicked, and then verses 16–18, we see the words of the righteous. The words of the wicked, the words of the righteous. The words of the wicked, verses 13–15. Remember what we saw in the previous section. God, do you remember, extended a hand of mercy? What a gracious God we have. He extended a hand of mercy despite their blatant disobedience—the blatant disobedience of the nation, priests, and people.
Despite them already feeling the pain of their disobedience, God is already visiting them with discipline. God has called them to repentance, and He promised to bless them if they return. If they will return, He says, "I'll forgive." If they will return to Yahweh, He will return to them. That's the promise that we saw last Lord's Day, right? It was a promise. "Return to Me, I'll return to you." The question is, what is their mindset in response to such sweet kindness, undeserved kindness?
God says that their heart condition is one of what? Arrogance. Arrogance. Their words reveal their arrogance. The Bible says that their words are strong against God, or hard against God. They're harsh words. Harsh words. The New American Standard translates it "arrogant." The reason why is this strength of words, this hardness of words—you could say stiff words. What He's describing are sinfully bold words regarding God. Words not only of complaint, words of accusation. Words not only of complaint, but words that would say that God is not what He presents Himself to be.
This is the Lord's indictment of His people: You are guilty of arrogant, prideful words. Now, not surprising, they dispute that claim as they've done throughout the book. I mean, they don't get it. Still disputing, they're pushing back. Verse 13: "But you say, 'What have we spoken against You?'" Again, they claim no knowledge of what God is charging them with.
And so what the Lord does in verse 14, He presents proof. He presents evidence. He doesn't have to give them evidence, but He does. Well, here's what you've said. You want evidence? Here are your strong words. Verse 14: "You have said, 'It is worthless to serve God; and what gain is it that we have kept His charge and that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.'" Their arrogance is found in their claims concerning God's character. They're thinking of God in a way, they're speaking of God in a way that is in direct conflict with what God says about Himself.
And I don't want us to miss that, beloved. We need to recognize there is what God says, and then there's what we say. There's what God says, and there's what we say. And what we say with our mouths manifests what we say in our minds and what we say in our hearts. Let me put it to us this way tonight: Where in your heart have you been questioning God's version of reality? Where in your heart have you been questioning God's version of reality? Where has God said, "This is reality. This is reality. This is the way things really are," but in your heart—maybe even with your words—you have called into question God's version of reality?
Or to put it more simply: Where in your heart have you been doubting the words of God?
Commenting on this, Pastor MacArthur writes, “These sinful priests and people had not just questioned God (chapter 2:17), violated God's covenant (chapter 2:11), disobeyed His laws (chapter 2:9), defiled His altar (chapter 1:7 and 12), and despised His name (chapter 1:6), but had openly spoken against Him. In spite of what was promised (verses 10 and 12), the people complained that obedience to God's law brought no reward (verse 14). Only the proud and wicked prospered, they said (verse 15)”.
What are they doing? Well, they're claiming that when God describes Himself as one who upholds righteousness, who rewards obedience, and who punishes evil, God is not telling the truth. God is not telling the truth. This is not who He really is, because in our experience, right, in our experience, people always appear to experience—right, in our experience, they would have said—we are now in a position of recognizing that the arrogant are blessed. Evildoers are not only prospering, but they're putting God to the test, and it's costing them nothing. They escape; in fact, they get away with it.
We can summarize what's going on in their words in two ways. Number one, they claim that humble living is to no profit. They claim that humble living is to no profit. Humble living is to no profit. It's worthless. It's of no use. To humbly serve the Lord, to submit to the Lord, to believe the Lord, to trust the Lord, they say, well, it's worthless. It's vain. It's empty. It is worthless to serve God. That's what they said. There's no gain in it. There's no blessing in it.
Now remember what we saw in the previous section. God has promised to bless them if they will turn from their sins and obey His Word, His law. But they say it's just the opposite. They say to keep God's charge—look at the next statement, verse 14—"what gain is it that we have kept His charge?" To walk in God's law doesn't bring any blessing, they're saying. It doesn't. And they say to humble oneself, to repent as God has called for repentance—look at the text—"we have walked” – and that we have walked– “in mourning before Yahweh of hosts?" is to no gain, they're saying. There's no profit in it.
And in all likelihood, they had counted their superficial mourning to be repentance. Worldly sorrow. Empty tears. They've heard the preaching, preaching like Malachi gave them. And they heard calls for repentance. And they had clothed themselves in a superficial kind of mourning. And then they wondered, why things haven't changed for us? They covered the altar with their tears, and everything remains the same. Why doesn't God regard our repentance? Repentance, right?
Now here they are claiming that to repent as God calls for or to obey God's charges—this really doesn't profit at all. It is worthless. Why are we doing this? It's not working. Calling God's character really here into question.
You want a classic example of this? Here's a classic example of this in our own day. See, this hasn't ceased, has it? Still going on in our minds. Still going on in the minds and the hearts and the mouths of people. Let me give you a classic example of this. Every time someone is presented with the truth—the truth of Scripture, the truth of God, the truth of Christ—and they say something like this: "I've tried that already. I've tried that." Ever heard that? Well, here's what the Bible says you're to do in this situation. Here's what God's Word has to say. This is what God says to you—you are to do in this situation. "Well, I've tried that. I've tried that."
And what they're saying is this: I have taken God at His Word and found it to be of no avail. I tried it. It didn't work. It didn't work. I believe God. I've repented. I've done these things, but nothing changes. Nothing is made better by obedience. There's no profit that comes from listening to God.
Now, as soon as you hear something like that—"I've tried that"—there are a couple of things that you can know for sure. Number one, this person you're talking to lacks a biblical way of estimating fruit. They lack a biblical way of estimating fruit. "I've tried that, and it didn't work. It didn't pay off." However they might say it, whatever words they might use, that's really what they mean: "I've tried that, and it didn't pay off."
And I really want to ask, what do you expect payoff to look like? What do you expect payoff to look like? What is the fruit of obedience? What kind of fruit are you expecting? If today you heed the words of God, if you humble yourself before the Lord, if you take note of what He charges, and you genuinely walk in mourning before Him, humbling yourself before Him, I wonder—what do you think the reward will be? Well, what do you have in mind?
When these people say it's worthless, it's vain, well, what did they expect? What do they consider to be profit? Gain? So when someone talks like this, they reveal that they don't have a biblical way of estimating fruit. They also reveal that they lack a godly motivation that would result in fruit. They lack a godly motivation that would result in fruit.
Where is their genuine fruit? It is when people not only do, quote, the right thing, but they do it for the right reason and with the right motivation, right? True obedience is a matter of the heart. The heart. Not just the body. And so when someone truly obeys, they have the right motivation for obedience. It's obedience from the heart. And now we're enabled. If you're truly a child of God, you have a new heart that God has planted within you, and now there's that obedience that comes from the heart. It's not mechanical, shallow, and pharisaical.
But I want you to note this tonight, beloved, as we talk about this. You cannot pursue God's glory for your gain. You cannot pursue God's glory for your gain. You can only pursue God's glory for God's glory. Mark it down. Never forget it. And there's the genuine motivation for obedience. We live our lives for the glory of God. Period. Paragraph. End of story.
The New Testament tells us, whatever we do, eating, drinking, whatever you want to put on the list, do all for the glory of God. Live to the praise of the glory of God. There is the true obedience in action. And so when someone says, "I've tried that, it didn't pay off," I really want to ask them, what did you consider to be the payoff? Was it the glory of God? Is that what you were aiming at? Is that what you really desired? And is that what you really desire? What you call obedience—does it sound like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He says, "Not My will but Yours"?
James 4:3 reminds us, "You ask and do not receive because you ask"—what?—"with wrong motives." With wrong motives – "so that you may spend it on your pleasures." You see, you're asking God for things to fulfill your own selfish desires. You're asking God for things to fulfill your selfish motivation. And when you ask like that, you're asking wrongly. You're asking with wrong motives.
And so, if you sum it up—if you sum up what they say—they say, number one, to humble oneself before God is to no profit. It's worthless, it's vain, it doesn't benefit me to listen to God's Word or to mourn before the Lord in repentance. But notice that they don't just state their problem with God on that side of the ledger; they also state it on the other side of the ledger.
Verse 15, look at it: "So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape." Humble living, they say, is to no profit. And secondly, arrogant living is to no loss.
Arrogant living is to no loss. No loss. There's no gain in serving the Lord. There's no loss in testing the Lord. The evil prosper. We call them blessed now. That is, they envy the wicked. They look at the temporal benefits of disobedience to God in the lives of some people, and they count that to be prosperity. They regard those who are truly arrogant as blessed in the moment. And then they say something very interesting when they say, they put God to the test and they escape.
Remember what the Lord said to them in the previous section? "Test Me." Remember that? "Test Me. Prove Me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Test Me. Put Me to the test and see if I won't open the windows of heaven and pour out upon you a blessing that meets all of your needs and more." Verse 10. They say, well, Your promise to live up to the testing has already failed, God. No use. There's a group of people testing You in another way, and Your words don't seem to be true. There are people testing You in sin, and they get away with it. They escape. They put You to the test, and what You say will happen doesn't happen.
I don't know about you. I'm reading this and is this not arrogant on the part of a creature? A creature of the dust? The clay? Speaking against the Potter? The Bible says you're speaking strong words when God says you're speaking hard words against Me. Are these not arrogant words? Oozing with pride? Words that ignore the grace present? The very fact that you're in a covenant relationship with God?
God has already shown grace to this people, and they don't recognize it. This ignores that God deals with His people differently than He does with unbelievers. He does. Even if they look around and they say, it seems like to me that people who are challenging God are getting away with it—and we're not. God is visiting us with discipline for our sins, and these guys are getting away with it. Do you know that God deals with His people differently than He does with unbelievers? Their words ignore the difference between what this temporal world reveals and what eternity will reveal.
That's the message of Psalm 73, right? When Asaph has a similar complaint and he goes into the temple of God, the presence of God, and all of a sudden he has a different view. He has God's view. God opens His eyes so that He sees what a slippery position the evil are actually in. These words ignore the difference between what's temporal and what's eternal. These words also ignore the sowing and reaping process that often seems slow to people who don't believe God.
Do we think that just because God exercised long-suffering, patience, and judgment hasn't come today that it's never coming? I mean, I think of my own life. All those years prior to knowing Jesus, all the long-suffering and patience of God. And do we think that just because obedient living seems to suffer in the moment that it will not be ultimately rewarded? That God doesn't see, God doesn't know, God doesn't keep record? This is what faith can see, but these people don't have faith as evidenced by their words.
This claims a knowledge and a wisdom superior to God's. God has said one thing and they're saying something else. Remember Satan in the garden? "Did God really say?" This accuses God of being someone that He isn't. Someone who actually rewards evil. These are wicked, arrogant, proud words. God brings His indictment, they dispute the indictment, God proves His charges. These are the kinds of words they've been speaking, the words of the wicked.
But now, verse 16, there's a sudden shift. A sudden change. "Then those who feared Yahweh"—I love how they're described. God-fearers, God-fearers. "Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another, and Yahweh gave heed and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name." Let us look at the words of the righteous. What is especially interesting about verse 16 is that it begins with an emphatic "Then." You see it?
“Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another”. One commentator, commenting on this, says the word "then," –, "The word “then”, as in Hebrew, is emphatic, indicating that the action described in this verse was a consequence of the preceding confrontation."
And I find that very, very helpful. Very interesting. In other words, if indeed the emphatic "then" points to a repentance at Malachi's message, then we're reminded that truly saved people can be found guilty at times of sinning against God with hard words. But, and blessed be God for this "but," what sets them apart is when they're confronted with their sinful words. When those words are brought to their attention, there is genuine conviction. There's agreement with God. There's a turning from those sins, including the sins of speech. There's a willingness to be renewed in the realm of faith.
“Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another”. Notice what characterizes the speech of the righteous now. First of all, there is fear in their words. "Then those who feared Yahweh” – reverenced Yahweh, “spoke to one another." There's reverence. There's awe. They're gripped by the awesomeness of God, the holiness of God, who God is. They have a high view of God. There's reverence for God in what they say. Respect for His majesty. Respect for His authority. Reverence for His truthfulness. Respect for His promises. Respect for His goodness.
If we were to base God's reputation on what comes out of your mouth and mine regarding God, I wonder if the reputation would be accurate. Think about this. If all we had to go on is how you talk about your life and God's governance over life, over your life, and if we examine not just the words that come out of your mouth but the thoughts that go on in your mind, how you regard the world, how you regard God's governance over your life—if we were to base God's reputation on what goes on in your heart, in your mind, and sometimes out of your mouth—would we have an accurate view of God? Would we?
What characterizes the righteous is their words reflect reverence. They're God-fearers. Not only is there fear in their words, but there's also fellowship in their words. This is all the speech, right? Fear and fellowship. Who are those who fear the Lord speaking to? You see the text?
They're speaking to one another. They're speaking to one another. And “those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another." Those who feared God are speaking with one another, with others. They're speaking with others also who fear Yahweh. God-fearers are speaking to other God-fearers. These are their companions. They love to fellowship with other God-fearers. God-fearing people. Those are they that walk together with. Their fellow believers. Their fellow God-fearers. People who respond with humility and repentance to the words of Yahweh. These are those with whom they have fellowship with. They walk with. They interact with. They practice to one another with.
I wonder if we took your circle of friends by way of application. If we took the people that you have the most in common with, those that you spent the most time with—if we listen to their words, do they honor your God? Do their words reflect reverence? Is there reverential fellowship that exists in your speech with the people who are your closest companions?
Fear in their words. Fellowship in their words. And notice also faithfulness in their words. Verse 16, "and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name." Notice what's being written down has to do with the people involved. And God pays attention to them. He hears them. "a book of remembrance written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name." The people are those He's taking account of. And it's their words that really manifest who they truly are. So that what God is recognizing in their speech is what? Faith. Faith. Faithfulness.
God's obviously relating through Malachi to us in a way that we can understand. And what He's saying is that nothing is lost on Him. We live our lives in His presence, ‘Coram Deo”. And He pays attention to everything going on in our world, including conversations. And everything we do in this world counts. Everything.
Remember what Jesus said earlier in Matthew 12:36, "I tell you," – He said on that day, the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak. God knows, and God cares, and God takes account, even down to our speech, even down to our words. And the opposite is also true. God is not only taking account of careless words, wicked words, unbelieving words, He also takes note of those who speak of Him in ways that reveal reverence and faith. And so, the Lord says, He will remember them.
These are the people who are remembered by God, which is just a way of saying God will own them, God will identify Himself with them—people who talk like this. In the book of Hebrews, turn with me to Hebrews 11.
Listen to how believers are described. We're talking about believers, genuinely saved people. And in verse 13 of Hebrews 11, we read of the faithful, men and women of faith: "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For those who” – what? – “say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one." Now listen: "Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God." He'll remember these people. He will own these people. He will identify Himself with these people. And He goes on to say, "For He prepared a city for them," right?
So, what characterizes people of genuine faith are known by what they see—without receiving the promises, but having seen them. Seen them how? Seen them by faith, the eyes of faith. And in fact, they welcome these things from a distance, from afar. They're known by what they see, and they're known by what they seek after. They're seeking a homeland. And indeed, if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God.
So, they're known for what they seek after, and all of this is reflected how? In what they say—their speech. For people who speak like this were strangers, exiles on earth. People who talk like this make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. They're known by their words. And so the Lord talks about the fact that He paid attention to them, He heard them. And then He says there's a book of remembrance written before Him of those who feared the Lord, esteemed His name. And then He says, in verse 17 of our text, "'And they will be Mine,' says Yahweh of hosts, 'on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession.'"
I love that scripture. What marvelous words of promise. What He's saying is, these are really My people. They're Mine, My people, My sheep, to use the language of John 10. People who talk like this, people who reverence Me, who fear Me in their words, and believe Me in their words—these are My people.
This is about who really knows God, and is known by God, and really belongs to God. They're being revealed by their perspective, and by their words. And so the Lord says He will deliver them, He will take note of them, He will remember them. And then He says, I will deliver them. Look again at verse 17: "'And they will be Mine,' says Yahweh of hosts, 'on the day...'" Now the Lord through Malachi is looking to the end of the ages– "'on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession.'" When the people of God are all gathered together, and the Lord's people are revealed, He says, "'and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him."
If you pay attention to their strong words—the strong, hard, harsh, arrogant words of the wicked—isn't it interesting how this passage, this section, ends? Because God is promising that every strong word they have said against Him will prove to be untrue.
Think about it: serving God is no profit, right? Verse 14: It's worthless to serve God, and what gain is it? What's the profit? Thinking about profit and loss, right? "What gain is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts?" It's the arrogant who are blessed, evildoers who are prospering. Well, will we find out one day serving God has been to no profit?
When the people who have served Him in true faith will themselves be treated as His treasure. Did you notice how the Lord puts it? "on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession." Gain, profit—are you talking about this temporal treasure that goes away? Because there's coming a day when the people who have served Me, God says, I will treat them as treasure—My treasure. They will be My treasured possession. No profit, no gain, worthless? You will be My treasure. No profit? You will be My treasure.
Is it vain, worthless, to serve God? Put emphasis on that word: serve. "It's worthless to serve God," they said. Well, will eternity reveal that it was vain to serve God? When on that day, God promises He will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him?
One day what's going to be revealed is that those who have truly served God have served Him as His children. He's not going to treat them like mere slaves. He's going to treat them as sons and daughters. Was it vain to serve God when you were serving your Father? Was it vain to serve God when your Father is sovereign over all things and will rule over all things? Was it vain, worthless, to serve our Father? Because one day God is going to treat His servants as sons. I'll spare him – “I'll spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."
Is it impossible to distinguish the righteous from the wicked? I mean, this is what they were charging, right? "God, You say that You bless the righteous, You say You punish the wicked, but when I look, it seems to me that the evildoers are prospering. It seems to me they put You to the test and it doesn't cost them anything and they get away with it. They escape. We can't tell the difference looking at the way You treat people. We can't tell the difference between the righteous and the wicked."
Well, is it impossible to distinguish the righteous from the wicked, as these arrogant people have charged? Is it true? God says far from them being indistinguishable, there will come a day when they will not only be distinguished by what comes out of their mouths, they will be distinguished by how God regards them and how He treats them.
Verse 18: "So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him." So you will again “see," He says, you shall see. You will be witness to this. You'll be able to recognize this. It will be unmistakable—the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. On the day of God's wrath, no one will wonder who the righteous are and who the wicked are.
They have spoken strong, hard, arrogant words, and the wicked stand by those words. And by the way, never forget, never forget, you can be full of religion and full of self-pity and be absolutely wicked. But those who truly belong to the Lord reveal that they belong to the Lord because when they hear what they're actually saying and God brings to their attention the wickedness of their words, what do they do? "Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another." They turn from their sinful speech, they repent, they turn from their sinful perspectives, and they exhort each other in the renewal of faith and they serve the Lord from the heart, with a sincere heart.
Well, beloved, final thoughts as we end this section, by way of application, just a few minutes. Number one, the difference between saved and lost people is not superficial. The difference between saved and lost people is not superficial. It is not a superficial difference, is it? It extends to the very hearts of people. It extends to the hearts of people. If the Lord has saved you, then He has changed you. He has changed you. There has been a radical shift. I like to call it a tectonic shift, a radical transformation. He's not only forgiven you and changed your standing before Him in a positional way, He has changed your life experientially.
You have a new heart and as a result, you have a brand new interest in pleasing God and pleasing Christ down to the meditation of your heart and down to the words that you use that come out of your mouth. This is what characterizes saved people. Wicked people have no such concern and the evil of their heart is revealed in the fountain of their speech. The difference is not a superficial one.
Number two, the difference between saved and lost people is perfectly, perfectly known by God, perfectly. God already knows those who are His. We may at times look around this world and wonder, but God doesn't have to wonder, He doesn't wonder. He knows all things, right? And by the way, you don't determine that reality, neither do I. People are not saved by professions of faith. Matthew 7 makes it clear. There are many who say in that day, "Lord, Lord," but they don't know Jesus, as we saw this morning. Professions don't save people, God saves people. The question is, has He saved you? He knows your true spiritual condition.
And number three, the difference between saved and lost people is on display right now. It is on display right now. In words, that's the emphasis of this text. It's on display in more ways than just words, but you can know this: it's on display by words, by words. So one of the wisest things that we will all do is to pay attention to what comes out of our mouths and recognize that all that is coming out of the mouth is a reflection of what is true in our heart.
And if we really are born again, born from above, if we really do know the Savior, the Shepherd, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and we hear things coming out of our mouths that we know the Word of God would condemn, then we obey those New Testament passages that tell us to put that stuff away, lay it aside, get rid of it—slander, obscene talk, and words that don't reverence God, words that aren't gracious and full of salt, words that do not build up and edify, words that do not believe God. Recognize the sinfulness of that speech and treat it as sin and confess it before God as sin and turn from it as sin. And as you do that, you will reveal that God has actually changed your heart, so that now you care about the meditations of your heart and the words of your mouth, and you want those things to be acceptable to God.
The final thought: the difference between saved and lost people will be unmistakable in the future when God reveals what is hidden by hypocrisy right now. The difference between saved and lost people will be unmistakable in the future when God reveals what is hidden by hypocrisy right now. I mean, you can hear a sermon like this and you can make your mind up to be very careful in your speech so that no one around you is really privy to how you really think. And this is what we need to examine. In my mind, in my heart, do I agree with God's presentation of reality?
This is what God says in His Word. What am I saying? This is the truth as God has revealed in His Word. What am I believing? Before the words ever come out of my mouth and what's going on in my self-talk, what's going on? What is going on in my own mind, my own heart? Do I believe God's version of reality or am I actually arrogantly taking issue with God? I know You say this, God, but I think this way is better. The application is far-reaching, right? He's saying that what God has presented about Himself—He's perfectly wise, that He's altogether good, constantly loving His children—so that even those things that seem difficult to us, all things, in fact, are being worked together by God for the good of those that are called according to His purpose.
When we read that in His Word, is He telling the truth? When He says we don't need to worry about what we put on and all the basic necessities of life because He cares for us and He takes care of us, do we believe this? Or are we actually in our hearts saying, I envy the wicked because it sure seems like they get ahead while all that happens with me is I suffer. I suffer, I'm disappointed, shut doors, shut doors, shut doors, pain, disappointment, no answers, no answers, and the wicked is prospering. Somehow God is mistreating me, somehow God is not being just with me.
It is possible, it is possible, beloved, for a saved person to think like that for a season, but if you are an asaph, God doesn't leave you in that condition, praise God. In His presence and with His Word, He reveals to you the sinfulness of your thinking, and then you have that emphatic "then" that kicks in. I love that. Where those who fear God, they wake up. You know what they do? They practice the one another's, right? They encourage each other with the truth that God has revealed about Himself.
That is why when you're going through a dark season, when you're going through a tough time, you don't pull away from the people of God. You need to be surrounded by the people of God so that those who fear Yahweh will speak to one another and encourage you to spur you on and press forward by the grace of God. God knows this, and He hears this, and He remembers this, and He rewards this, which is a way of saying God knows those who are His, and one day eternity will reveal it.
Aren't you grateful for the patience of our God that He has towards us? Don't you feel like Isaiah when he said, "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live amidst a people of unclean lips"? But God is patient. God is long-suffering. So thankful, so thankful.
Let's pray.
Set before us are the wicked and the righteous. And what distinguishes them in this oracle particularly are their words, words. And the distinction found in their words points to the distinction that will belong to their future. The Lord says that in that day it will be manifest who the wicked are and who the righteous are, and the difference will be clear to see between one who serves God and one who does not serve God. This is a contrast found throughout the Scriptures, not just in the book of Malachi. And to put it plainly, there is nothing more revealing when it comes to man's sinfulness than his mouth. The sinfulness of man at its core is always, always a what? A heart matter. Always.
There are sins that we commit in our bodies, there are sins that we commit by our actions, but you can always trace sins in the realm of our deeds to our hearts. And the fountain that reveals what is in man's heart is what? His speech. His words.
Remember Isaiah. Isaiah saw the Lord Yahweh high and lifted up, and he became immediately aware of his great wretchedness, his great sinfulness. And how does he express it? Very familiar with those words, right? "Then I said, Woe is me," Isaiah 6:5, "for I am ruined!” –I'm finished, I'm done. “For I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts." As he became aware of his sinfulness, he's especially acutely aware of the uncleanness, the filthiness of his mouth, speech, words.
And of course we're familiar with Matthew 12:34, where our Lord says, "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they will give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." The Lord will be able to illustrate in that day, He'll be able to illustrate the rightness, the justice of His separation of humanity, the sheep and the goats, as we saw this morning. It will be able to be demonstrated by words. Words.
Matthew 15:18, "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man." Those are the things that defile the man. Or Romans chapter 3, describing humanity in its sinfulness left to ourselves, it says this, the 13th verse: "Their throat is an open tomb." I mean, they open their mouths and death comes out. "With their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of asps is under their lips." And so the sinfulness of man expressed in the speech of man is a theme. You find it throughout Scripture.
What is also a theme found throughout Scripture is the fact that when someone has been saved, this changes—the speech. The speech changes because the heart has been what? Changed. It's always the case. And not only is there an actual change in what comes out of the mouth, there is a new awareness about what comes out of the mouth as well. There's a new desire for what goes on in our hearts and what comes out of our mouths to please God. There's that desire.
When Paul exhorts Timothy to be an example to the church, remember what he says in 1 Timothy 4:12: "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but show yourself as a model” – show yourself as a model, as a pattern – “to those who believe." – How? – "in word." In what comes out of your mouth. In speech. And then he says, "conduct, love, faith, and purity." Amazing, isn't it? He begins by saying, In your word, Timothy, in your word, in your speech, Timothy. Watch your mouth. Be a model in your conduct, but first, he says, in your speech.
And of course, Psalm 19, that was read earlier in your hearing, verse 14. We know this verse: "Let the words of my mouth, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Yahweh, my rock and my Redeemer." There's that new desire. When there's radical transformation, there's new desire—the desire found in the hearts and lives of redeemed people, ransomed people. Lord, I want not only the meditations of my heart, my thoughts, to please You, but I want my words to be acceptable in Your sight.
Colossians 4:6 exhorts the believer in this way: "Let your words always be with grace." Always. Always. Your words—always at church, at home, on the way home, at work, at school, when you're on the phone talking to one of those big telephone carriers or internet carriers—let your words always be seasoned with salt, always with grace, so that you will know how you should answer each person. What a wonderful verse. It's a good verse to put on a little card and take it with you and put it on the fridge, on your computer, on the phone.
Colossians 3:8: "But now you also, lay them all aside: wrath, anger, malice," – and then He says, "slander, and abusive speech from your mouth." So at the point of the mouth, man's sinfulness is made manifest. And when one has been saved, redeemed, ransomed by the blood of Jesus, there's a transformation, and that transformation is seen in a transformation in speech that flows out of the desire to please God and please Christ with what we say. Because now we make it our ambition to what? Please Him. To live for Him. We no longer live for ourselves, unto ourselves. We live for Him, to please Him, to honor Him.
And we see that truth demonstrated here in the life of post-exilic Israel. The outline tonight is very simple. Verses 13–15, we see the words of the wicked, and then verses 16–18, we see the words of the righteous. The words of the wicked, the words of the righteous. The words of the wicked, verses 13–15. Remember what we saw in the previous section. God, do you remember, extended a hand of mercy? What a gracious God we have. He extended a hand of mercy despite their blatant disobedience—the blatant disobedience of the nation, priests, and people.
Despite them already feeling the pain of their disobedience, God is already visiting them with discipline. God has called them to repentance, and He promised to bless them if they return. If they will return, He says, "I'll forgive." If they will return to Yahweh, He will return to them. That's the promise that we saw last Lord's Day, right? It was a promise. "Return to Me, I'll return to you." The question is, what is their mindset in response to such sweet kindness, undeserved kindness?
God says that their heart condition is one of what? Arrogance. Arrogance. Their words reveal their arrogance. The Bible says that their words are strong against God, or hard against God. They're harsh words. Harsh words. The New American Standard translates it "arrogant." The reason why is this strength of words, this hardness of words—you could say stiff words. What He's describing are sinfully bold words regarding God. Words not only of complaint, words of accusation. Words not only of complaint, but words that would say that God is not what He presents Himself to be.
This is the Lord's indictment of His people: You are guilty of arrogant, prideful words. Now, not surprising, they dispute that claim as they've done throughout the book. I mean, they don't get it. Still disputing, they're pushing back. Verse 13: "But you say, 'What have we spoken against You?'" Again, they claim no knowledge of what God is charging them with.
And so what the Lord does in verse 14, He presents proof. He presents evidence. He doesn't have to give them evidence, but He does. Well, here's what you've said. You want evidence? Here are your strong words. Verse 14: "You have said, 'It is worthless to serve God; and what gain is it that we have kept His charge and that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.'" Their arrogance is found in their claims concerning God's character. They're thinking of God in a way, they're speaking of God in a way that is in direct conflict with what God says about Himself.
And I don't want us to miss that, beloved. We need to recognize there is what God says, and then there's what we say. There's what God says, and there's what we say. And what we say with our mouths manifests what we say in our minds and what we say in our hearts. Let me put it to us this way tonight: Where in your heart have you been questioning God's version of reality? Where in your heart have you been questioning God's version of reality? Where has God said, "This is reality. This is reality. This is the way things really are," but in your heart—maybe even with your words—you have called into question God's version of reality?
Or to put it more simply: Where in your heart have you been doubting the words of God?
Commenting on this, Pastor MacArthur writes, “These sinful priests and people had not just questioned God (chapter 2:17), violated God's covenant (chapter 2:11), disobeyed His laws (chapter 2:9), defiled His altar (chapter 1:7 and 12), and despised His name (chapter 1:6), but had openly spoken against Him. In spite of what was promised (verses 10 and 12), the people complained that obedience to God's law brought no reward (verse 14). Only the proud and wicked prospered, they said (verse 15)”.
What are they doing? Well, they're claiming that when God describes Himself as one who upholds righteousness, who rewards obedience, and who punishes evil, God is not telling the truth. God is not telling the truth. This is not who He really is, because in our experience, right, in our experience, people always appear to experience—right, in our experience, they would have said—we are now in a position of recognizing that the arrogant are blessed. Evildoers are not only prospering, but they're putting God to the test, and it's costing them nothing. They escape; in fact, they get away with it.
We can summarize what's going on in their words in two ways. Number one, they claim that humble living is to no profit. They claim that humble living is to no profit. Humble living is to no profit. It's worthless. It's of no use. To humbly serve the Lord, to submit to the Lord, to believe the Lord, to trust the Lord, they say, well, it's worthless. It's vain. It's empty. It is worthless to serve God. That's what they said. There's no gain in it. There's no blessing in it.
Now remember what we saw in the previous section. God has promised to bless them if they will turn from their sins and obey His Word, His law. But they say it's just the opposite. They say to keep God's charge—look at the next statement, verse 14—"what gain is it that we have kept His charge?" To walk in God's law doesn't bring any blessing, they're saying. It doesn't. And they say to humble oneself, to repent as God has called for repentance—look at the text—"we have walked” – and that we have walked– “in mourning before Yahweh of hosts?" is to no gain, they're saying. There's no profit in it.
And in all likelihood, they had counted their superficial mourning to be repentance. Worldly sorrow. Empty tears. They've heard the preaching, preaching like Malachi gave them. And they heard calls for repentance. And they had clothed themselves in a superficial kind of mourning. And then they wondered, why things haven't changed for us? They covered the altar with their tears, and everything remains the same. Why doesn't God regard our repentance? Repentance, right?
Now here they are claiming that to repent as God calls for or to obey God's charges—this really doesn't profit at all. It is worthless. Why are we doing this? It's not working. Calling God's character really here into question.
You want a classic example of this? Here's a classic example of this in our own day. See, this hasn't ceased, has it? Still going on in our minds. Still going on in the minds and the hearts and the mouths of people. Let me give you a classic example of this. Every time someone is presented with the truth—the truth of Scripture, the truth of God, the truth of Christ—and they say something like this: "I've tried that already. I've tried that." Ever heard that? Well, here's what the Bible says you're to do in this situation. Here's what God's Word has to say. This is what God says to you—you are to do in this situation. "Well, I've tried that. I've tried that."
And what they're saying is this: I have taken God at His Word and found it to be of no avail. I tried it. It didn't work. It didn't work. I believe God. I've repented. I've done these things, but nothing changes. Nothing is made better by obedience. There's no profit that comes from listening to God.
Now, as soon as you hear something like that—"I've tried that"—there are a couple of things that you can know for sure. Number one, this person you're talking to lacks a biblical way of estimating fruit. They lack a biblical way of estimating fruit. "I've tried that, and it didn't work. It didn't pay off." However they might say it, whatever words they might use, that's really what they mean: "I've tried that, and it didn't pay off."
And I really want to ask, what do you expect payoff to look like? What do you expect payoff to look like? What is the fruit of obedience? What kind of fruit are you expecting? If today you heed the words of God, if you humble yourself before the Lord, if you take note of what He charges, and you genuinely walk in mourning before Him, humbling yourself before Him, I wonder—what do you think the reward will be? Well, what do you have in mind?
When these people say it's worthless, it's vain, well, what did they expect? What do they consider to be profit? Gain? So when someone talks like this, they reveal that they don't have a biblical way of estimating fruit. They also reveal that they lack a godly motivation that would result in fruit. They lack a godly motivation that would result in fruit.
Where is their genuine fruit? It is when people not only do, quote, the right thing, but they do it for the right reason and with the right motivation, right? True obedience is a matter of the heart. The heart. Not just the body. And so when someone truly obeys, they have the right motivation for obedience. It's obedience from the heart. And now we're enabled. If you're truly a child of God, you have a new heart that God has planted within you, and now there's that obedience that comes from the heart. It's not mechanical, shallow, and pharisaical.
But I want you to note this tonight, beloved, as we talk about this. You cannot pursue God's glory for your gain. You cannot pursue God's glory for your gain. You can only pursue God's glory for God's glory. Mark it down. Never forget it. And there's the genuine motivation for obedience. We live our lives for the glory of God. Period. Paragraph. End of story.
The New Testament tells us, whatever we do, eating, drinking, whatever you want to put on the list, do all for the glory of God. Live to the praise of the glory of God. There is the true obedience in action. And so when someone says, "I've tried that, it didn't pay off," I really want to ask them, what did you consider to be the payoff? Was it the glory of God? Is that what you were aiming at? Is that what you really desired? And is that what you really desire? What you call obedience—does it sound like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He says, "Not My will but Yours"?
James 4:3 reminds us, "You ask and do not receive because you ask"—what?—"with wrong motives." With wrong motives – "so that you may spend it on your pleasures." You see, you're asking God for things to fulfill your own selfish desires. You're asking God for things to fulfill your selfish motivation. And when you ask like that, you're asking wrongly. You're asking with wrong motives.
And so, if you sum it up—if you sum up what they say—they say, number one, to humble oneself before God is to no profit. It's worthless, it's vain, it doesn't benefit me to listen to God's Word or to mourn before the Lord in repentance. But notice that they don't just state their problem with God on that side of the ledger; they also state it on the other side of the ledger.
Verse 15, look at it: "So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape." Humble living, they say, is to no profit. And secondly, arrogant living is to no loss.
Arrogant living is to no loss. No loss. There's no gain in serving the Lord. There's no loss in testing the Lord. The evil prosper. We call them blessed now. That is, they envy the wicked. They look at the temporal benefits of disobedience to God in the lives of some people, and they count that to be prosperity. They regard those who are truly arrogant as blessed in the moment. And then they say something very interesting when they say, they put God to the test and they escape.
Remember what the Lord said to them in the previous section? "Test Me." Remember that? "Test Me. Prove Me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Test Me. Put Me to the test and see if I won't open the windows of heaven and pour out upon you a blessing that meets all of your needs and more." Verse 10. They say, well, Your promise to live up to the testing has already failed, God. No use. There's a group of people testing You in another way, and Your words don't seem to be true. There are people testing You in sin, and they get away with it. They escape. They put You to the test, and what You say will happen doesn't happen.
I don't know about you. I'm reading this and is this not arrogant on the part of a creature? A creature of the dust? The clay? Speaking against the Potter? The Bible says you're speaking strong words when God says you're speaking hard words against Me. Are these not arrogant words? Oozing with pride? Words that ignore the grace present? The very fact that you're in a covenant relationship with God?
God has already shown grace to this people, and they don't recognize it. This ignores that God deals with His people differently than He does with unbelievers. He does. Even if they look around and they say, it seems like to me that people who are challenging God are getting away with it—and we're not. God is visiting us with discipline for our sins, and these guys are getting away with it. Do you know that God deals with His people differently than He does with unbelievers? Their words ignore the difference between what this temporal world reveals and what eternity will reveal.
That's the message of Psalm 73, right? When Asaph has a similar complaint and he goes into the temple of God, the presence of God, and all of a sudden he has a different view. He has God's view. God opens His eyes so that He sees what a slippery position the evil are actually in. These words ignore the difference between what's temporal and what's eternal. These words also ignore the sowing and reaping process that often seems slow to people who don't believe God.
Do we think that just because God exercised long-suffering, patience, and judgment hasn't come today that it's never coming? I mean, I think of my own life. All those years prior to knowing Jesus, all the long-suffering and patience of God. And do we think that just because obedient living seems to suffer in the moment that it will not be ultimately rewarded? That God doesn't see, God doesn't know, God doesn't keep record? This is what faith can see, but these people don't have faith as evidenced by their words.
This claims a knowledge and a wisdom superior to God's. God has said one thing and they're saying something else. Remember Satan in the garden? "Did God really say?" This accuses God of being someone that He isn't. Someone who actually rewards evil. These are wicked, arrogant, proud words. God brings His indictment, they dispute the indictment, God proves His charges. These are the kinds of words they've been speaking, the words of the wicked.
But now, verse 16, there's a sudden shift. A sudden change. "Then those who feared Yahweh"—I love how they're described. God-fearers, God-fearers. "Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another, and Yahweh gave heed and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name." Let us look at the words of the righteous. What is especially interesting about verse 16 is that it begins with an emphatic "Then." You see it?
“Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another”. One commentator, commenting on this, says the word "then," –, "The word “then”, as in Hebrew, is emphatic, indicating that the action described in this verse was a consequence of the preceding confrontation."
And I find that very, very helpful. Very interesting. In other words, if indeed the emphatic "then" points to a repentance at Malachi's message, then we're reminded that truly saved people can be found guilty at times of sinning against God with hard words. But, and blessed be God for this "but," what sets them apart is when they're confronted with their sinful words. When those words are brought to their attention, there is genuine conviction. There's agreement with God. There's a turning from those sins, including the sins of speech. There's a willingness to be renewed in the realm of faith.
“Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another”. Notice what characterizes the speech of the righteous now. First of all, there is fear in their words. "Then those who feared Yahweh” – reverenced Yahweh, “spoke to one another." There's reverence. There's awe. They're gripped by the awesomeness of God, the holiness of God, who God is. They have a high view of God. There's reverence for God in what they say. Respect for His majesty. Respect for His authority. Reverence for His truthfulness. Respect for His promises. Respect for His goodness.
If we were to base God's reputation on what comes out of your mouth and mine regarding God, I wonder if the reputation would be accurate. Think about this. If all we had to go on is how you talk about your life and God's governance over life, over your life, and if we examine not just the words that come out of your mouth but the thoughts that go on in your mind, how you regard the world, how you regard God's governance over your life—if we were to base God's reputation on what goes on in your heart, in your mind, and sometimes out of your mouth—would we have an accurate view of God? Would we?
What characterizes the righteous is their words reflect reverence. They're God-fearers. Not only is there fear in their words, but there's also fellowship in their words. This is all the speech, right? Fear and fellowship. Who are those who fear the Lord speaking to? You see the text?
They're speaking to one another. They're speaking to one another. And “those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another." Those who feared God are speaking with one another, with others. They're speaking with others also who fear Yahweh. God-fearers are speaking to other God-fearers. These are their companions. They love to fellowship with other God-fearers. God-fearing people. Those are they that walk together with. Their fellow believers. Their fellow God-fearers. People who respond with humility and repentance to the words of Yahweh. These are those with whom they have fellowship with. They walk with. They interact with. They practice to one another with.
I wonder if we took your circle of friends by way of application. If we took the people that you have the most in common with, those that you spent the most time with—if we listen to their words, do they honor your God? Do their words reflect reverence? Is there reverential fellowship that exists in your speech with the people who are your closest companions?
Fear in their words. Fellowship in their words. And notice also faithfulness in their words. Verse 16, "and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name." Notice what's being written down has to do with the people involved. And God pays attention to them. He hears them. "a book of remembrance written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name." The people are those He's taking account of. And it's their words that really manifest who they truly are. So that what God is recognizing in their speech is what? Faith. Faith. Faithfulness.
God's obviously relating through Malachi to us in a way that we can understand. And what He's saying is that nothing is lost on Him. We live our lives in His presence, ‘Coram Deo”. And He pays attention to everything going on in our world, including conversations. And everything we do in this world counts. Everything.
Remember what Jesus said earlier in Matthew 12:36, "I tell you," – He said on that day, the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak. God knows, and God cares, and God takes account, even down to our speech, even down to our words. And the opposite is also true. God is not only taking account of careless words, wicked words, unbelieving words, He also takes note of those who speak of Him in ways that reveal reverence and faith. And so, the Lord says, He will remember them.
These are the people who are remembered by God, which is just a way of saying God will own them, God will identify Himself with them—people who talk like this. In the book of Hebrews, turn with me to Hebrews 11.
Listen to how believers are described. We're talking about believers, genuinely saved people. And in verse 13 of Hebrews 11, we read of the faithful, men and women of faith: "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For those who” – what? – “say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one." Now listen: "Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God." He'll remember these people. He will own these people. He will identify Himself with these people. And He goes on to say, "For He prepared a city for them," right?
So, what characterizes people of genuine faith are known by what they see—without receiving the promises, but having seen them. Seen them how? Seen them by faith, the eyes of faith. And in fact, they welcome these things from a distance, from afar. They're known by what they see, and they're known by what they seek after. They're seeking a homeland. And indeed, if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God.
So, they're known for what they seek after, and all of this is reflected how? In what they say—their speech. For people who speak like this were strangers, exiles on earth. People who talk like this make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. They're known by their words. And so the Lord talks about the fact that He paid attention to them, He heard them. And then He says there's a book of remembrance written before Him of those who feared the Lord, esteemed His name. And then He says, in verse 17 of our text, "'And they will be Mine,' says Yahweh of hosts, 'on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession.'"
I love that scripture. What marvelous words of promise. What He's saying is, these are really My people. They're Mine, My people, My sheep, to use the language of John 10. People who talk like this, people who reverence Me, who fear Me in their words, and believe Me in their words—these are My people.
This is about who really knows God, and is known by God, and really belongs to God. They're being revealed by their perspective, and by their words. And so the Lord says He will deliver them, He will take note of them, He will remember them. And then He says, I will deliver them. Look again at verse 17: "'And they will be Mine,' says Yahweh of hosts, 'on the day...'" Now the Lord through Malachi is looking to the end of the ages– "'on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession.'" When the people of God are all gathered together, and the Lord's people are revealed, He says, "'and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him."
If you pay attention to their strong words—the strong, hard, harsh, arrogant words of the wicked—isn't it interesting how this passage, this section, ends? Because God is promising that every strong word they have said against Him will prove to be untrue.
Think about it: serving God is no profit, right? Verse 14: It's worthless to serve God, and what gain is it? What's the profit? Thinking about profit and loss, right? "What gain is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts?" It's the arrogant who are blessed, evildoers who are prospering. Well, will we find out one day serving God has been to no profit?
When the people who have served Him in true faith will themselves be treated as His treasure. Did you notice how the Lord puts it? "on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession." Gain, profit—are you talking about this temporal treasure that goes away? Because there's coming a day when the people who have served Me, God says, I will treat them as treasure—My treasure. They will be My treasured possession. No profit, no gain, worthless? You will be My treasure. No profit? You will be My treasure.
Is it vain, worthless, to serve God? Put emphasis on that word: serve. "It's worthless to serve God," they said. Well, will eternity reveal that it was vain to serve God? When on that day, God promises He will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him?
One day what's going to be revealed is that those who have truly served God have served Him as His children. He's not going to treat them like mere slaves. He's going to treat them as sons and daughters. Was it vain to serve God when you were serving your Father? Was it vain to serve God when your Father is sovereign over all things and will rule over all things? Was it vain, worthless, to serve our Father? Because one day God is going to treat His servants as sons. I'll spare him – “I'll spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."
Is it impossible to distinguish the righteous from the wicked? I mean, this is what they were charging, right? "God, You say that You bless the righteous, You say You punish the wicked, but when I look, it seems to me that the evildoers are prospering. It seems to me they put You to the test and it doesn't cost them anything and they get away with it. They escape. We can't tell the difference looking at the way You treat people. We can't tell the difference between the righteous and the wicked."
Well, is it impossible to distinguish the righteous from the wicked, as these arrogant people have charged? Is it true? God says far from them being indistinguishable, there will come a day when they will not only be distinguished by what comes out of their mouths, they will be distinguished by how God regards them and how He treats them.
Verse 18: "So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him." So you will again “see," He says, you shall see. You will be witness to this. You'll be able to recognize this. It will be unmistakable—the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. On the day of God's wrath, no one will wonder who the righteous are and who the wicked are.
They have spoken strong, hard, arrogant words, and the wicked stand by those words. And by the way, never forget, never forget, you can be full of religion and full of self-pity and be absolutely wicked. But those who truly belong to the Lord reveal that they belong to the Lord because when they hear what they're actually saying and God brings to their attention the wickedness of their words, what do they do? "Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another." They turn from their sinful speech, they repent, they turn from their sinful perspectives, and they exhort each other in the renewal of faith and they serve the Lord from the heart, with a sincere heart.
Well, beloved, final thoughts as we end this section, by way of application, just a few minutes. Number one, the difference between saved and lost people is not superficial. The difference between saved and lost people is not superficial. It is not a superficial difference, is it? It extends to the very hearts of people. It extends to the hearts of people. If the Lord has saved you, then He has changed you. He has changed you. There has been a radical shift. I like to call it a tectonic shift, a radical transformation. He's not only forgiven you and changed your standing before Him in a positional way, He has changed your life experientially.
You have a new heart and as a result, you have a brand new interest in pleasing God and pleasing Christ down to the meditation of your heart and down to the words that you use that come out of your mouth. This is what characterizes saved people. Wicked people have no such concern and the evil of their heart is revealed in the fountain of their speech. The difference is not a superficial one.
Number two, the difference between saved and lost people is perfectly, perfectly known by God, perfectly. God already knows those who are His. We may at times look around this world and wonder, but God doesn't have to wonder, He doesn't wonder. He knows all things, right? And by the way, you don't determine that reality, neither do I. People are not saved by professions of faith. Matthew 7 makes it clear. There are many who say in that day, "Lord, Lord," but they don't know Jesus, as we saw this morning. Professions don't save people, God saves people. The question is, has He saved you? He knows your true spiritual condition.
And number three, the difference between saved and lost people is on display right now. It is on display right now. In words, that's the emphasis of this text. It's on display in more ways than just words, but you can know this: it's on display by words, by words. So one of the wisest things that we will all do is to pay attention to what comes out of our mouths and recognize that all that is coming out of the mouth is a reflection of what is true in our heart.
And if we really are born again, born from above, if we really do know the Savior, the Shepherd, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and we hear things coming out of our mouths that we know the Word of God would condemn, then we obey those New Testament passages that tell us to put that stuff away, lay it aside, get rid of it—slander, obscene talk, and words that don't reverence God, words that aren't gracious and full of salt, words that do not build up and edify, words that do not believe God. Recognize the sinfulness of that speech and treat it as sin and confess it before God as sin and turn from it as sin. And as you do that, you will reveal that God has actually changed your heart, so that now you care about the meditations of your heart and the words of your mouth, and you want those things to be acceptable to God.
The final thought: the difference between saved and lost people will be unmistakable in the future when God reveals what is hidden by hypocrisy right now. The difference between saved and lost people will be unmistakable in the future when God reveals what is hidden by hypocrisy right now. I mean, you can hear a sermon like this and you can make your mind up to be very careful in your speech so that no one around you is really privy to how you really think. And this is what we need to examine. In my mind, in my heart, do I agree with God's presentation of reality?
This is what God says in His Word. What am I saying? This is the truth as God has revealed in His Word. What am I believing? Before the words ever come out of my mouth and what's going on in my self-talk, what's going on? What is going on in my own mind, my own heart? Do I believe God's version of reality or am I actually arrogantly taking issue with God? I know You say this, God, but I think this way is better. The application is far-reaching, right? He's saying that what God has presented about Himself—He's perfectly wise, that He's altogether good, constantly loving His children—so that even those things that seem difficult to us, all things, in fact, are being worked together by God for the good of those that are called according to His purpose.
When we read that in His Word, is He telling the truth? When He says we don't need to worry about what we put on and all the basic necessities of life because He cares for us and He takes care of us, do we believe this? Or are we actually in our hearts saying, I envy the wicked because it sure seems like they get ahead while all that happens with me is I suffer. I suffer, I'm disappointed, shut doors, shut doors, shut doors, pain, disappointment, no answers, no answers, and the wicked is prospering. Somehow God is mistreating me, somehow God is not being just with me.
It is possible, it is possible, beloved, for a saved person to think like that for a season, but if you are an asaph, God doesn't leave you in that condition, praise God. In His presence and with His Word, He reveals to you the sinfulness of your thinking, and then you have that emphatic "then" that kicks in. I love that. Where those who fear God, they wake up. You know what they do? They practice the one another's, right? They encourage each other with the truth that God has revealed about Himself.
That is why when you're going through a dark season, when you're going through a tough time, you don't pull away from the people of God. You need to be surrounded by the people of God so that those who fear Yahweh will speak to one another and encourage you to spur you on and press forward by the grace of God. God knows this, and He hears this, and He remembers this, and He rewards this, which is a way of saying God knows those who are His, and one day eternity will reveal it.
Aren't you grateful for the patience of our God that He has towards us? Don't you feel like Isaiah when he said, "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live amidst a people of unclean lips"? But God is patient. God is long-suffering. So thankful, so thankful.
Let's pray.
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