REMEMBERED

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name.”

“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be My treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

Malachi 3:16-18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In Malachi’s day, there was definitely a segment of the Israelite population who had forgotten who God was, what He could do, and how they related to Him. This was evident through the following wicked actions exposed by God through the words within this book:

The priests offered defiled sacrifices as if they had lost sight of the requirements within God’s law.

The priests stopped listening to God, ignoring His calls for change and warnings of judgment.

The priests were leading the Israelites down the path of destruction through leading them to stumble into sin.

Some of the Israelites were marrying women who worshiped pagan gods and idols.

Many of the Israelites had been unfaithful, not only to God but to their spouses as well.

A portion of the Israelite people even spoke arrogantly against God, accusing Him of injustice, of giving evildoers prosperity while not blessing the righteous.

If only this segment of Israelites had remembered God for who He was, for who He still is today. If only they had recalled that He is a God who:

1. Demands obedience to His word to include the proper practice of sacrifice.

2. Deserves every believer to lend their ears toward hearing His will and then act on that will.

3. Expects His appointed and anointed religious leaders to provide sound and infallible teaching, leading His people away from transgression.

4. Sees marriage as sacred and expects every marriage to function in a way that is obedient to His commands and pleasing in His sight.

5. Mandates faithfulness, faithfulness to Him and faithfulness within the marriage covenant.

6. Executes perfect justice in all that He does.

This is who God was and is today. And although there was an allotment of  Israelites who had forgotten all this, not everyone was short on memory. Look again at these final verses from Malachi 3:

“Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name.”

“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be My treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”  Malachi 3:16-18

Note that while some of the Israelites were complaining and whining to God, there was a group who still remained loyal and true to Him. This group was bound together by one important character trait:

They all revered (code for feared) the Lord.

Indeed, this group still held God in the highest esteem possible and sought to document not only their faithfulness to Him but their commitment as well on a scroll of remembrance. These people had made it clear where they stood, in complete submission and obedience to the Lord Almighty, that they treasured Him as their God.

How did God respond to this display of faithfulness and respect?

We find the answer in His own words:

“On the day when I act, they will be My treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” 

Judgment was coming on the sinful, disobedient Israelites. That was a given because God was not going to stand by and allow their wicked behavior to go unchecked. But not all would suffer His consequences because we see where He would remember those who revered and respected Him, those who He would identify as His treasured possession, and spare them as a “father has compassion and spares his son who serves him”.  

The combination of these two results would send the message God desired, that there is a distinction between those who are obedient and faithful to Him (the righteous), and those who aren’t (the wicked). One would receive His compassion; the other His consternation.

Today, we would be well served to remember that the scriptures promise a sorting still to come, a sorting that will once again separate the righteous from the wicked, this time with eternal implications. Look at these words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’”

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’”

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’”

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’”

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?’”

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”  Matthew 25:31-46

The words of Jesus are clear. There will be a dividing of all people into two groups, not one more, not one less.

Those who have received Jesus in their lives, seeking to live as He lived and dedicating themselves to serving and helping others (the sheep), will be remembered and ushered into eternal life.

Those who choose to live apart from Jesus and live a life based on self centeredness (the goats) will find themselves remembered in a different way, marked for judgment and sent away into eternal punishment.

All this leads to one final question for you today:

How is Jesus going to remember you when He returns, for what you’ve done through Him or what you’ve failed to do without Him?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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