Bruce Collins, Evangelist

The personal website of Bruce Collins

Remembering
 
Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name. “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels.  And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him. (Malachi 3:16-18)
 
The Lord’s Request
When the Lord ate the Passover with His disciples on that last night before His betrayal and crucifixion, He left His disciples with a request.  After the Passover meal He passed a loaf of bread and a cup of wine to his disciples and He said, “This do in remembrance of me.”   The bread was to be a memorial of His body and the wine was to be a memorial of His blood.  He asked the disciples to remember Him often and many of us have made it a priority to remember Him on every Lord’s Day which is the day of the resurrection.  The Jews remembered their deliverance from Egypt with the Passover.  That lasted until the Lord became the Passover lamb.  Now we remember the Lord of whom the Passover supper speaks.  The Lord’s Supper will last until the Lord comes again.  The Lord said that in taking the bread and the cup, we should remember Him until He comes.  Since He didn’t come while the disciples were living, that request applies to those of us who are waiting for His coming.
 
The Lord’s Promise
It is a privilege to participate with others who really believe in the Lord in this remembrance feast.  But while we remember the Lord, He is remembering the remnant of truly righteous Jews who have been faithful to Him in a day when Israel has turned away from the Lord.  In Malachi, the people who are being criticized for their lack of devotion to the Lord by the Lord act like the “know it all child” that refuses to accept the fact that his behavior is wrong.  As the Lord makes His charges against the Jews, they act as though everything that He is saying is unjustified.  However, the Lord is once again giving us a lesson in division.  He divides the righteous from the wicked.  We do not seem to know how to do that but the Lord does.  And while this passage deals primarily with the Jews, it certainly applies to those of us who claim to be Christians today.  The Lord is able to divide the believer from the pretend believer.  He is able to separate the sheep from the goats.  He is able to separate wheat from tares.  Those who are real are precious to the Lord.  They are written in His Lamb’s book of life.  They are part of His bride.  He remembers them.
 
Closing out the Year
As we come to the end of another year, it is always wise to take inventory and to see what we have accomplished and where we have failed.  But the real inventory is being taken by the Lord.  We may be satisfied with our relationship with Him, but is He?  Are we making excuses for our failures or are we willing to admit that the Lord knows faithfulness when He sees it?  We really need to start with the great division between believers and unbelievers.  John 3:18 reminds us, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Those arguing with God in this minor prophet are not believers in the right sense.  They believe in the existence of God and in the power of God but they have never come to the place where they let God tell them how He wants to be worshiped.  Instead they want Him to accept the worship that they want to give Him which included defective sacrifices.  They were unfaithful to their wives. They were serving pagan gods.  Yet, they couldn’t understand why the Lord was unhappy with them.  Are we like that today?
 
Question
In the great division that God makes, will we be written with righteous or with the wicked?
 
Bruce Collins
 
Meditation for the week of January 2, 2022
Revisiting December 31, 2017

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