WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.480 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:18.079 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProquay.org. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:22.879 The last book in the Old Testament. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:30.640 Malachi is a book in the Old Testament that records authentic, gut-wrenching dialogue between God and his people. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:36.799 Throughout the book, we hear different questions rising from the people, which serve to remind us that we aren't the first ones to work. 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:39.600 Asking a question is the easy part. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:42.159 It's living with the answer that shapes us from one. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:48.240 Some of the questions that rise from the text include: how has God loved us? 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:50.799 What did we do wrong that got us in this place? 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:52.640 Has God given up on us? 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:55.679 If God really loves us, then why are we suffering? 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:59.119 And what do we do now when we don't know what we did in the first place? 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:06.959 From these questions, we will think about topics like love, divorce, money, worship, disobedience, and forgiveness. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:13.359 Malachi teaches us to appreciate and understand the love of God and the wonder contained therein. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:22.480 He also points out the uniqueness of God's name and the respect it deserves, the sanctity of the marriage coming, and the culture of God with all our hearts. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:30.560 Religious rituals void of any meaning, and simply a check-up of box won't meet the relational requirements of divine love. 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:36.879 In the end, when Jesus returns, the righteous and the wicked will be clearly distinguished from one another. 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:43.519 But in the meantime, God is working to turn our hearts back towards one another, both horizontally and vertically. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:55.040 Amen. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:56.879 Let's give ourselves to that process. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:57.680 Let's pray together. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.200 Father, we just uh uh get our hearts ready. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:09.360 Uh speak to our head uh and our heart, what we think and what we feel, uh, so that the gospel gets lived out in our hands. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:14.319 Uh Lord, it's easy to look around and feel kind of like, hey, what what's going on? 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:16.319 Just like people on Malachi's day did. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:19.039 And so we we look to you, we look to your word. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:22.879 Uh let it equip us uh and let it inspire us today. 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.199 Holy Spirit, aid us in that process. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:27.520 We give ourselves to it now in Jesus' name. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:29.280 And everyone's uh Amen. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:29.680 Amen. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:32.560 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Malachi chapter 3. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.479 Malachi's last book of the Old Testament. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:36.080 I'll start reading verse 13. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:38.479 And this is our last uh sermon from the book of Malachi. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:39.919 We finished Malachi today. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.319 We'll observe communion next Sunday, and then we'll start uh Advent the Sunday after that. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:45.039 Amen? 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:45.919 Amen. 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:48.159 It's 40 degrees outside this morning. 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:55.919 Enjoy, uh, you've made it through the five months of summer living in Houston, and now you get to enjoy, you know, the next six and a half months of spring. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.919 Uh anyway, uh I want to talk to you this morning about final words. 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:05.759 Final words, because in the last section of Malachi, uh, what you get is a man who's looking around in a culture. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:16.000 Stop me if this sounds familiar, these people live in a culture where wrong seems right, right seems wrong, worship feels powerless, and progress feels minimal at best. 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:20.159 And they kind of look around and they think, hey, is this is this worth doing? 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.080 Because we're not getting the return on the investment that we thought we would be getting. 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.960 And so why don't we just pitch in with the evildoers? 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:29.759 And because it just doesn't matter if you do the right thing. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:34.879 This is the peach people that Malachi is writing to, and these are his final words to them. 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:38.240 Now, there's four things he tells them here in this last section. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:42.800 These four things he tells them, hey, you've got to remember these things and understand these things. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:48.319 Otherwise, you are going to lose your mind, and you're just gonna give in, you're gonna say, what does it matter? 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:50.719 And that's the first step towards spiritual apathy. 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:54.240 When you begin to question, does it matter what I'm doing? 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.120 Uh and so the Bible speaks very clearly to that. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:03.680 Now, before I read, let me just ask you this: have this conversation before you go to bed uh tonight with your significant other. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:09.199 If today was the last conversation you could have with your spouse, what would you say to them? 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:16.240 Because the nature of last conversations, final conversations, is that you say what you want people to remember. 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:20.079 And this is what Malachi does, starting in chapter 3, verse 13. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:24.480 He says, it starts off, God says, Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:27.040 But you say, How have we spoken against you? 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:29.279 You have said, It is vain to serve God. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:34.800 What is the prophet of our keeping his charge, our walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:36.959 And now we call the arrogant blessed. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:41.360 Evildoers not only prosper, but they put God to the test and they escape. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:43.920 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:50.720 The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. 00:04:50.879 --> 00:04:52.959 They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:58.879 In the day when I make up my treasured possession, I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:07.439 Then once more shall you you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:13.600 For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:19.920 The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that will leave them neither root nor branch. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:25.199 But for you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:35.040 You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall, and you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:40.879 Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Oreb for all of Israel. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:54.879 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the Lamb with a decree of utter destruction. 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:57.040 Now, uh you say, What do you mean? 00:05:57.120 --> 00:05:59.439 Uh there's four things that he says in these final words. 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:01.040 Let me just point them out here in the text. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:06.480 First of all, the first thing Malachi says as part of his final words to these people is that our motives matter. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:08.000 Our motives matter. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:09.279 Look at verse 13. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:14.560 He says, after he says, Your words have been harsh against me, and the people say, How we spoke it against you. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:16.240 Here, listen to verse 14. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:18.720 You have said, It is vain to serve God. 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:19.920 What is the profit? 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:24.399 In other words, what are we getting out of this of keeping his charge or of walking? 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:28.720 Hear these two words, as in mourning before the Lord of hosts. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:30.160 Now, are you in mourning? 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:32.639 Are you just pretending to get what you want? 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:34.720 Like, uh, let me give you a visual again. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:35.439 Are you mourning? 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:38.560 We're walking as in mourning, like, oh God, we're really sad, we're really sad. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:39.519 Oh, this isn't working? 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:40.319 Never mind. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:47.439 Uh, when we our first daughter was born, we found a babysitter that we liked and trusted, and she was our only babysitter. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:52.639 And so she would be about three years old, and we would leave, and literally we'd have to pry Madison off of us. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:56.720 She'd be and the babysitter's like, I promise she's fine, I promise she's fine. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:57.920 I'm like, she doesn't look fine. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:02.240 And my wife would be like, we'd pry her off, go get in the truck and leave. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:06.959 And then as soon as the door would close, Madison, I was just kidding. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:08.079 You want to play? 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:14.079 And I'm like, she would tell us we get back, she says, by the way, as soon as y'all walked out, the door closed, she went from that to the okay. 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:15.439 What game do you want to play? 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:16.959 And I'm just like, what? 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:18.800 And she goes, she does it every time. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:21.519 She's not manipulating, she just thinks this is what I'm supposed to do. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:22.240 My parents are leaving. 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:23.040 I'm really sad. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:24.480 This is what the people of God did. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:26.639 They were like, God, we're just so sad. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:28.319 Oh, we're just in mourning. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:29.519 Wait, this isn't working? 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:30.480 Never mind. 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:32.399 You know, our motives matter. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:36.000 You could do the right thing with the wrong motive and miss the point every time. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:37.360 And this is what happens here. 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:41.199 You should ask yourself, because this is what the people of God did. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:44.160 And so you should ask yourself, how do I view Christianity? 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:46.079 How do I really view Christianity? 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:49.360 Is it a socially acceptable form of prospering? 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:52.959 Is it is it a way I make a profit, or is it the truth? 00:07:53.199 --> 00:08:02.240 And if it's the truth, is that enough for me that it's the truth when the things that are not the truth seem to be prospering and getting ahead in this culture? 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:12.560 I would say this: you should consider the claims of Christianity not because it'll make you feel better, not for your mental health or your emotional well-being, not because it'll manage your kids' behavior or fix your marriage. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:15.360 I believe the gospel speaks to all those different areas. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:21.040 But you and I should consider the truth claims of Christianity for one simple reason: it is the truth. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:22.560 With a capital T. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:29.600 That's the reason if you're here in this room and you're like, I don't believe any of this, you should consider the claims of Christianity because it is the truth. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:30.560 I love what C.S. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:31.199 Lewis said. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:34.639 He said, I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:39.759 Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:41.360 Hear that last part again. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:52.720 I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, there's ontological, verifiable proof of its existence, but by it I see everything else. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:56.480 It be Christianity becomes the lens through which I see everything. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:58.720 And this is the way God intended it to be. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:05.440 And so I just say first and foremost, our motives matter because for these people, God was a means to an end. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:07.279 He wasn't the end in itself. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:10.799 And when God is a means to the end, that never works. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:12.159 And so our motives matter. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:15.279 Secondly, Malachi reminds us that judgment takes many forms. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:16.799 Judgment takes many forms. 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:17.759 Listen very carefully. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:27.919 When you think of judgment, most people think of some people from some narrow-minded, mean fundamentalist church in the Midwest with a bullhorn and signs out in front of somewhere screaming at people. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:30.559 That is the most comical form of judgment. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.519 What we see here is the most strictest form of judgment. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:34.639 It's verse 15. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:36.799 And now we call the arrogant blessed. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:41.840 Evildoers not only prosper, but they put God to the test and they escape. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:44.559 Now I would just ask this question: how do you escape? 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:48.799 How do you get away with anything when you have a God who remembers everything? 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:54.720 What you will see in the text and what you hopefully you see in the Bible is you don't get away with anything. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:10:02.320 However, listen carefully, you are given over to the thing you think you're getting away with as a form of judgment. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:03.759 Let me say that again. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:05.279 You are given over. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:10.000 Some of you in this room may be living in persistent and consistent sin and just think, ain't no big deal. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:10.960 Ain't no big deal. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:12.480 Nothing bad happened to me yet. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:15.039 No, no, that is the most severe form of judgment. 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:15.600 Why? 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:21.120 Because you're given over to the thing you think you're getting away with as an expression of God's judgment. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:23.519 You see this most vividly in Romans chapter 1. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:36.960 You don't have to turn there, but the Bible says this in Romans chapter 1 that the people uh exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served creation instead of the creator who is forever praised, which by the way, it's very popular nowadays. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:38.480 We've done the exact same thing. 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:43.519 But there's this progressive uh expression of judgment that you see in Romans chapter 1. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:45.200 Let me just tick them off here for you. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:48.799 First of all, the first expression of judgment is sexual impurity. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:54.559 Sexual impurity, verse 24 of Romans 1, he says, Therefore God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:57.200 God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:02.000 A couple Wednesday nights ago, I spoke to your students from James chapter 1 about the desires in their heart. 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:16.080 And I told your 15, 16, 17, 18-year-olds, your 14-year-olds, I said, Hey, listen, every one of you inside of you have desires that are so big and so powerful, they will drag you away and make you do things you didn't plan on doing. 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:20.559 And they looked at me like, oh, that sounds intense. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:21.840 Let me ask you this question. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:28.399 Have you ever in your life woken up one morning and your first thought was, What was I thinking? 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:29.440 Say amen. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:31.360 I couldn't hear you. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:33.519 See, you understand what I'm talking about. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:41.840 See, the Bible says in Romans chapter 1, that therefore, God, as a form of judgment, therefore, in other words, what I'm fixing to do is predicate on what I just said. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:53.360 Therefore, because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served creation, climate change, instead of the creator who is forever praised, God says, I'll tell you what, I'll just give you up to the lust of your hearts to impurity. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:58.240 That didn't turn the hearts back to God so it goes from sexual impurity to unnatural affections. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:02.240 Verse 26 of Romans 1 says, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:05.120 Just think the LGBTQ community. 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:06.639 It's unnatural. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:08.080 Unnatural affections. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:08.960 Doesn't stop there. 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:10.159 That didn't turn their heart back. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:16.480 And so then finally, and this is the this is the ultimate form, and this is uh just the Bible calls it a debased mind. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:20.799 Verse 28, it says, and God gave them up to a debased mind. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.840 Now, debased is not a word that you hear a lot these days. 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:26.320 So let me just give you uh some background for that. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:30.399 It's a mind that cannot even recognize right and wrong, much less respond to it. 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:36.159 The literal word picture is to fail the standard and therefore to reduce the intrinsic value. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:41.120 To fail the standard and therefore reduce the intrinsic, the built-in value. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:47.120 The picture is of a coin that doesn't have it's supposed to be like have so much uh of a precious metal in it. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:50.320 It's supposed to be 99.9% pure silver. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:53.039 And no, that they've added zinc and copper and some other things. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:57.759 And when they test it, they realize, oh, it's only about 60% silver. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:00.960 The rest is these other metals, and so it decreases the value. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:05.200 The Bible says that a debased mind is a mind that has been decreased in value. 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:11.440 It's like a car that's been in a wreck, it's not as worth as much as a vehicle that's never been in an accident. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:13.759 That's why you get the Carfax report, amen. 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:16.559 Uh, and so the Bible says a debased mind. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:18.480 Now, listen very carefully. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:19.919 I want you to hear what I'm saying. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:22.000 I don't want you to hear what I'm not saying. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:26.960 Public education in America today is hardwired to produce a debased mind. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:32.720 Now I say that as a man whose kids went to public school. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:37.360 Yeah, my kids went to elementary school right there, the middle school right there, the high school right there. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.799 Our oldest came home from middle school and we're like, hey, sitting down at the dinner table. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:41.440 How was it that? 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:44.080 Well, so-and-so mooned the whole class in algebra today. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:46.159 What did what what? 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:50.320 So we made a little phone call to the assistant principal and said, Hey, is this too much to ask? 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:51.679 He said, You know what, it's not. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.399 I didn't believe it when you said it, but uh now I understand. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:55.679 Yeah, that's exactly what happened. 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:57.120 I'm like, who is in charge down there? 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:00.480 If you need somebody to be in charge, I can come down there and be in charge. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:02.240 I will be a substitute teacher. 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:04.320 Take about two periods to get this sorted. 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:04.960 Oh, Mr. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.720 Clinton, I'm rest assured, we're on top of it. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:08.960 If you're on top of it, why does this keep happening? 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.759 Now, by the way, I don't think all teachers in public school are bad. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:12.879 So don't send me emails. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:14.240 Oh, you hate on all teachers. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:14.720 No. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:17.519 I just this became obvious during COVID. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:20.480 It's not about education, it's about indoctrination. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:25.679 They had these cameras in the classroom and said, Well, we don't want cameras in there because we don't want parents to see what we're doing. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:27.759 We got to do our LGBTQ work. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:28.720 No, you don't. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:31.759 Teach education, not indoctrination. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.799 Because again, and I say it unapologetically, okay? 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:39.200 The public education system, not teachers, I'm not picking on teachers. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:41.039 If you're a teacher, you're a missionary. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:42.159 Act like it. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:49.759 The public education system is hardwired and it's programmed with all different theories that they teach to produce a debased mind. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:50.480 What do you mean? 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:56.639 To kid to graduate and have this way, this mind that's been devalued. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:03.679 It cannot even acknowledge that truth exists, and therefore it's just kind of like, oh, you go out there into the world with a sense of uncertainty. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:07.279 Then you go to college, whoo! It gets even better there. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:09.919 Now, why don't I tell y'all that? 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:13.759 If you look around our country today and you wonder what's happened, it's right here in the Bible. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:19.919 We're being judged by a holy God, and we're so foolishly arrogant to think that we're breaking new ground in sexual ethics. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:20.320 No. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:21.279 What if this? 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:23.840 What if you're just being given over as a form of judgment? 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.240 Because that's what the Bible bears out. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.600 Thirdly, Malachi says you need positive spiritual friendships. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.679 You need positive spiritual friendships. 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:35.200 The news is not all bad, kids. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:35.919 Here's some good news. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:36.879 Look at verse 16. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:39.919 He says, And those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:46.639 See, the direction of your life will be more affected by the people you speak with when things are hard than anything you do. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:50.720 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:59.360 The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:03.759 Now, know those two things that when it gets really bad, those who fear the Lord spoke with one another. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:11.120 You need people that you can call to have coffee or lunch with just to say, hey, okay, just kind of remind me that we're not crazy. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:19.360 Remind me that I'm not crazy because I'm having conversations with my kids and my neighbors, and it's just like, oh my gosh, what in the world's going on? 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:23.759 Like I have a friend that contacted me on Wednesday and said, Well, what did you think about last night? 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:30.159 And I said, Oh, I don't really, because there was an election, I don't know if you know, there was an election, midterm elections took place on Tuesday. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:32.320 And I said, Oh, I don't put my stock in that at all. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:38.080 I said, I go to a church and we sing songs like, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:42.720 I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:52.639 And he said, Well, what it doesn't look like there's gonna be a red wave, but I said, and mark this, when where the Republicans are ahead, they're gonna keep finding uh votes that they gotta count. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:55.120 They're gonna count until they get the right person in there. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:57.919 I said, I think the whole thing, he said, are you an election denier? 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:00.639 No, I think the whole thing's corrupt because it's run by people. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:02.559 It's worse than that. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:05.599 I'm not an election denier, I don't trust any of them. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:09.359 And he's like, So what are you saying? 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:10.240 I don't trust any of them. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:11.200 What else can that mean? 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:14.319 I don't care what side of the aisle you're on, don't send me emails. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:16.079 I do not trust people. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:20.480 Washington's run by billionaires who want to run the country. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:24.000 Those people hadn't worked for a living in their whole life, most of them. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:25.680 Are you kidding me? 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.079 And so you can walk, don't walk away from TV. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:31.039 Don't look up Wednesday and go, oh my gosh, what's happening? 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:34.880 No, wake up and say, hey, who do I need to spend time with that kind of reminds me? 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:38.079 Because you need positive spiritual principles in your life. 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:40.799 Second thing I want you to notice is that God takes notice. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:42.640 Look right there in the Bible. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:44.559 The Lord paid attention and heard them. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:46.559 You think God pays attention to you? 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:48.319 You think he hears you? 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:52.480 And then he says this a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:58.240 Now, why would a book of remembrance be written for a God who never forgets? 00:17:58.640 --> 00:17:59.359 Look at me. 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:02.720 It's not for God, it's for you and me. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:09.519 Because we get short-sighted and we forget, and we if you're not careful pretty soon, you act like it all depends on you. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:11.279 He said, God takes notice. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:12.480 He said, What do you mean? 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:13.759 Look down there in verse 17. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:26.079 He says, not only does he take notice, he has a book of remembrance, it says this in verse 17, there shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:30.160 If you've got a pen, underlying those two words in your Bible, treasured possession. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:32.000 Treasured possession. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:36.480 I'm sure this is exists, but I've never experienced it personally. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:37.440 I have a friend who has. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:38.880 There's three things you can do at a bank. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:43.200 I mean, there's a lot of things you can do at a bank, uh, but there's three things, um, services they provide. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:50.319 You have a checking account, you have a savings account, uh, uh, and then you can get a safety deposit box, okay? 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.440 Uh, if you know what a safety deposit box is, say amen. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:19:06.319 Safety deposit box, because you don't know there's a room at the bank, and you could go in there and you get a special key, and the banker has a key, lets you in, and you pull out this metal box, and in that safety deposit box, people keep their most prized, precious possessions. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:14.640 Like, I have a friend that has$350,000 of various commodities of wealth in there, along with his passport and some other stuff. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:17.680 Like he has some little gold bars, and I'm like, what? 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:21.680 He's got$50,000 in cash, he's got some gold, some silver, and some pewter. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:22.799 I'm like, what is pewter? 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:23.920 Are you making silverware? 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:24.720 What are you doing here? 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:27.680 And he's like, Well, in a cashless society, I'm like, oh, great. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:28.480 Thank you, Mr. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:29.440 Conspiracy. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:36.720 But he goes down there, pulls it out, sets it on the table, checks it all, puts it back on a consistent basis. 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.759 Now, by the way, have you ever seen$50,000 stacked up in cash? 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:40.880 It's pretty. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:44.720 And that gold is real shiny. 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:50.319 And if you're not careful, you should be like, he's got gold coins in a plastic tube. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:51.359 And I'm just like, what? 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:53.680 Well, my my my my gold dealer gives it. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:56.720 And I was just like, we live in a different neighborhood, man, okay? 00:19:56.880 --> 00:19:57.599 I bless that. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:59.920 But I just think that's like James Bond stuff. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.279 I got this key and I pull out this metal box and it's full of precious metals. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:04.160 Incredible. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:07.519 Now, if you're wondering why I'm telling you this, say amen. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:17.279 Because when the Bible says right here, hey, that you are mine, then they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.119 The word picture behind treasured possession is personal treasure. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:24.319 God doesn't have you in his checking account or his savings account. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:28.000 He's got you in the safety deposit box over here under lock and key. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:29.759 You're his treasured possession. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:32.480 He is going to protect and provide for you and yours. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:33.839 You realize that, right? 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:45.519 And so the thing I want you to understand is that the God of the universe looks at you as his private keepsake, as the item he values highly and protects next to his heart. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.480 It's not in some account where drafts are being made on it on a daily basis. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:56.960 The last thing the Bible tells us, Malachi says, hey, listen, you got to remember these realities. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:58.160 It's chapter four. 00:20:58.240 --> 00:21:00.400 There's three realities he tells us to remember. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.960 The first one is the day of the Lord, the second one is the word of God, the third one is the mercy of God. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:06.720 The day of the Lord, what do you mean? 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:07.440 It's verse one. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:12.960 For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant evildoers will be stubble. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:19.279 The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:27.279 Now, unless you believe in the day of the Lord, you're gonna be so harsh and judgmental, you're gonna want to put people in the oven and judge them prematurely. 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:31.200 Like my friend that's all into politics, he's like, What do you think about? 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:35.519 I mean, if the if the Republicans get the house and they can prosecute Hunter Biden and blah, blah, blah. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:36.559 What do you think about that? 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:39.839 I don't keep up with the go-ings of Hunter Biden. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:41.519 What do you think about Hunter Biden? 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:45.359 I think he's the man that Jesus loves and died for, and I hope he comes to faith. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.119 That was about as popular with him as it is with some of you. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:56.559 Somebody out in the crowd went, really? 00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:57.200 Yeah. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:59.279 If God doesn't love Hunter Biden. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.160 Rap scallion that he is, on what basis does he love you? 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:09.279 You think he loves you because you don't smoke crack and hook up with anything that walks? 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:15.680 Some of y'all thinking right now? 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:17.359 I can't believe he said that. 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:24.160 I can't believe that you do you think you deserve mercy more than Hunter Biden does. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:30.000 We're going to Second Baptist next week. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:33.359 Ed Young would never say that. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:34.880 Look at me. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:37.279 All I'm saying, and I'm at the top of the list. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:43.920 If I lose sight of the day of the Lord, that there's going to come a day, that's why he says in Romans 12, leave room for the wrath of God. 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:45.759 I will repay, says the Lord. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:53.039 If I forget that, that a day is coming when God is going to meet out justice on everybody that looks like they've gotten away with it. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:56.400 I'm going to be throwing people in the oven on a daily basis. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.440 I know that's just me, and you would never do that. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.599 But remember these realities, the day of the Lord. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:05.279 Now, for the wicked, this will be terrible. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:06.720 For the righteous, it'll be incredible. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:07.279 What do you mean? 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:08.079 Look at verse 2. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.519 He says, the Son of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:16.319 Now, now, the Bible is it's not a bunch of one-off disconnected stories. 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:20.319 Let me just kind of remind you how interconnected it is with healing. 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:25.440 The Son of Righteousness, this is a reference, this is a figurative reference to Jesus. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:29.039 That when he comes, his coming, he's gonna have healing in his wings. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:34.960 That's why for God's people, they believe that the hem of the garment of a righteous person had power to heal. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:46.079 Which is why in Mark chapter 5, there's a woman who's been hemorrhaging with had a blood hemorrhage for 12 years, and she sees Jesus in the crowd, and she thought, if I just touch the hem of his garment, I'll be healed. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:52.160 Now, what she was saying, Jesus had a robe, probably had tassels on it, and she probably grabbed one of those tassels. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:54.559 And what she was saying was not, I want to be healed. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:00.960 What she was saying by grabbing his tassel was, hey, I believe that you're the son of righteousness that Malachi 4 talked about. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:03.039 Translation, I believe that you're God. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:07.680 And so she grabs a hold of the hem of God's garment and she is healed. 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:10.960 Now, why do you tell us that? 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:15.599 I tell you that because when he comes, he's gonna heal everything that is wrong. 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:22.160 Now, our overrealized eschatology has us wanting it to all be fixed right now, but it's never gonna be fixed in this life. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:30.079 I told my friend on Wednesday, oh, listen, this thing is broken and it's gonna always be broken until Jesus comes back and fixes it. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:40.960 Now, when you lose sight of this reality, we're tempted to take matters into our own hands, or get as far as we can away from the uh the undesired outcome. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:42.480 Let me say that again. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:52.319 When you lose sight of the day of the Lord, then you're tempted to take matters into your own hands, or get as far away as we can from the undesired outcome. 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:55.599 As if we can't live in a world where we don't get our way. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:03.039 And beloved, I just say to you, as a man that loves you, a lot of living in this world is gonna be not getting our way. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:08.319 The righteous have always been and will always be as a stump in the land. 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:09.920 They will. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:16.799 Man in the first service brought his son up here and just said, Man, public education, my son's being told to apologize for this and write papers about this. 00:25:16.960 --> 00:25:20.799