Serving God

Please note: This transcript is provided as close to verbatim record of the sermon.

Serving God

Malachi 3:13–18

Introduction

Good morning, brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for praying for me.

Before we begin, let us pray.

Heavenly gracious Father, we want to thank You for this opportunity to hear Your Word. We pray that the meditations of our hearts may be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord. We ask all this and give You thanks in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This morning, the topic is Serving God, taken from Malachi 3:13–18.

Let us read the passage from the NASB:

“Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord 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.’

Then those who fear the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.
They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.”

Surely the Lord will bless the public reading of His precious Word.

Observations About Serving in Our Assembly

When we think about serving, several observations come to mind. This list is not exhaustive, but we can identify some common patterns.

• There are some who have served God for many years but now feel burned out and are no longer involved.
• There are those who served during their student years, but when they started working, they stopped because the pressures of the workplace and the world crowded into their lives.
• There are those who say they want to take a break from serving, but we never see them return.
• And of course, there are many who are content simply to attend meetings and do nothing.

At the same time, we thank God for the faithful remnant who continue to serve Him faithfully.

Reasons for Not Serving

Some reasons given are:

• No time
• Not ready
• Not trained
• Other commitments
• Afraid of the task ahead
• Feeling unappreciated or used
• Afraid of criticism

Some reasons are legitimate. In our aging population, there are those with medical conditions who may not be able to serve. There are young couples with the arrival of a child, requiring much time and effort.

But for those who can serve and are not serving—why?

The Background in Malachi

In the days of Malachi, God began the book with this declaration:

“I have loved you.”

But the people responded:

“How have You loved us?” (Malachi 1:2)

The prophet showed them that the problem was not on God’s part. The problem was their sinful, selfish, temporal perspective. They needed to see things from God’s eternal perspective and serve Him by faith.

Behind their wrong attitude was the issue raised earlier (Malachi 2:17–3:6):

Why do the wicked prosper and the godly suffer?

They were questioning God’s justice because of the suffering of the righteous and the seeming prosperity of the wicked.

God knows we wrestle with this. So He graciously addresses the subject so that we will maintain His perspective when tempted to think that it is vain to serve Him.

Two Groups in the Passage

This passage can be divided into two parts, reflecting two groups of people.

1. The Group That Does Not Serve the Lord (vv. 13–15)

This is the group we want to avoid.

They grumbled against God. They spoke arrogantly and harshly against Him and asked, “What have we spoken against You?”

They were complaining to one another, not realizing that God was listening. God notices all that we think and say. But these people were not God-oriented. They spoke as if God were deaf or non-existent.

Their complaint was:

“It is vain to serve God. What profit is it that we have kept His charge and walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts?”

They were indicting themselves. Their worship and service were empty because their hearts were wrong. They pretended humility while seeking worldly prosperity as their reward.

They even called the arrogant blessed and said the wicked escape punishment.

Three Characteristics of This Group

1. A Self-Centered Attitude

They asked, “What profit is it?”

In other words:
What is in it for me if I serve God?

The flesh, even in service, inclines toward self-pity and self-focus. The world feeds this mindset: If there is nothing in it for me, why should I do it?

Following Christ brings deep and lasting joy, but the path to joy is daily self-denial and the cross (Luke 9:23–24). That is not pleasant.

Jesus promised that whatever we give up for Him, we will receive many times as much—even in this age—and eternal life in the age to come. But He also said that persecution comes with it.

2 Timothy 3:12 reminds us:

“All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

Self-centered people do not last long in serving God.

2. No Motivation for Holy Living

They asked, “What profit is it that we have walked in mourning?”

They went through outward motions—fasting, humbling themselves—but their hearts lacked love and devotion.

Motivation is everything in serving God.

The church in Ephesus did many good works, persevered, and endured for Christ’s sake. But they had left their first love (Revelation 2:1–4).

When Jesus restored Peter, He asked three times, “Do you love Me?” Only then did He say, “Tend My sheep” (John 21:15–17).

Paul said in Galatians 2:20:

“The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me.”

Love for Christ must be the motive behind everything we do.

3. The Wrong Perspective

They said it was vain to serve God. From their viewpoint, the wicked prospered and the righteous suffered.

When we think this way, we have adopted the world’s temporal perspective instead of God’s eternal one.

Asaph in Psalm 73 struggled with the prosperity of the wicked until he entered the sanctuary of God and considered their end.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says that if we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are most to be pitied. If this life is all there is, then we might as well eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

But Christ is risen.

Therefore, Paul concludes:

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

1. The Group That Serves God (vv. 16–18)

This group is probably in the minority.

God always has a faithful remnant who serve Him despite difficulties.

Serving God does not earn righteousness. Our righteousness is in Christ, imputed to us by grace through faith (Romans 3:21–26). But serving God is the distinguishing mark of the righteous.

Either you live for yourself, or having been justified by faith in Christ, you now live to serve Him.

Three Characteristics of This Group

1. They Fear God and Esteem His Name

Verse 16 emphasizes twice that they feared the Lord and esteemed His name.

To “esteem” means to value, regard, meditate upon. They valued the Lord above majority opinion.

They did not go with the prevailing flow. They feared God above all else.

Today, we rightly emphasize that God is love (1 John 4:8). But we are out of balance if we neglect the fear due to His holy name.

The fear of the Lord causes us to hate evil and turn from it (Proverbs 3:7; 8:13; 16:6).

Too many Christians fear what others think more than what God thinks.

Fearing God gives us courage to confront sin—even if people dislike us.

2. They Encourage One Another

Verse 16 says:

“Those who fear the Lord spoke to one another.”

They gathered and spoke together. Though we are not told what they said, they likely encouraged one another.

Hebrews 10:24–25 urges us to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking assembling together, but encouraging one another.

If we merely attend church and leave without fellowship, we will struggle to maintain a godly perspective in a world full of evil.

3. They Are Especially Noticed and Cared for by God

Verse 16 says the Lord gave attention and heard them. A book of remembrance was written before Him.

The picture is vivid—God pricks up His ears and bends down so as not to miss a word.

Like in Esther 6, where the king read the book of records and remembered Mordecai’s deed, so God remembers the deeds of His people.

Hebrews 6:10 assures us:

“God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name.”

God promises that they will be His treasured possession. He will spare them as a father spares his son who serves him.

The world notices the powerful, rich, and famous.
God notices those who fear Him and serve Him out of love.

One day, the distinction between the righteous and the wicked will be clear.

Conclusion

Let us focus on the three characteristics of those who serve God:

1. Fear God and esteem His name above the opinions of others.
2. Encourage one another in the face of surrounding evil.
3. Be assured that God notices and cares for those who serve Him.

Finally, the love of God and the fear of God should be our motivation for serving Him.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly gracious Father, we thank You for this day that we can come to worship You and listen to Your Word.

We thank You for this assembly where many are serving. As we serve one another, we are serving You and meeting the needs of Your people.

Help us to continue encouraging one another in Your service. Give us a proper fear of You and a deep love for You. May these be the motivations that move each of us to serve You faithfully.

We thank and praise You in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.