This sermon emphasizes the concept of believers being treasured by God, likened to jewels in His sight. It explores the idea of God valuing His children so much that He considers them His treasure, as seen in Ephesians 1 and Malachi 3. The message highlights the importance of fearing God with reverential awe, engaging in conversations about Him, and understanding the depth of His love and grace towards us through Jesus Christ. It concludes with an invitation to surrender to God and become part of His glorious treasure.

Let's turn now in our Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 1. Our scripture reading today will begin with verse 3 and we will read to verse 18. Ephesians 1 3 to 18. I'll read the odd-numbered verses and we ask you to join together as you read the even-numbered verses. Let's stand as we read the Word of God. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will, in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love unto all the saints, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Let's pray. Father, we do pray that you will help us to know just how much value you place upon us. The riches that you look upon us as possessing as we surrender our lives to you. And so, Father, open our hearts. Let us realize, Lord, that we are your treasure and how much you do love and treasure us, your children. Bless us now, Lord, as we study your word. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. Well, we finished the Old Testament this week. The book of Malachi, we close it off, and next week we start the New Testament, Matthew's Gospel. We'll look at the first four chapters of Matthew's Gospel next Sunday. So, been quite a journey through the Old Testament and now coming back into the New Testament. It's going to be exciting as we take up the study of Matthew's Gospel, chapters one through four, next Sunday. This morning, we'd like to draw your attention to Malachi chapter three, verse 16. Malachi 3.16. Here the prophet said, Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son that serves him. God looks upon you and sees you as a special treasure. Our text tells us that they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another, and the Lord hearkened, he heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him of those that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels. Paul prayed for the church of Ephesus there in chapter one, verse eight, that God would open their minds to understand just what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Or he prayed, just God help you to understand just how valuable you are to him, how he looks upon you as his riches, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints are just how much God treasures you. Jesus spoke of a man who was going through the field and he discovered a treasure. And who for the joy of that treasure went out and sold everything he had so he could buy the field so that he could obtain the treasure. As he tells us and explains the parable, he said, now the field is the world. So the question would arise, who gave everything to purchase this world? And the answer would be, it was Jesus who gave himself to redeem the world from the powers of darkness. Then what is the treasure that was in the field that he purchased the field that he might have the treasure? Watch out, you are the treasure. He treasures you so highly, he redeemed the whole world that he might take you out of it. And you are that special treasure of his. Oh God help us to understand just how great a value he places on your life. What a treasure you are to him. In the Old Testament, we have that interesting story of Boaz and Ruth and how that Boaz redeemed the property in order that he might take Ruth as his bride. And thus a beautiful picture of Christ redeeming the world that he might take his bride out of that world, the church. So God treasures you and wants to deliver you from the slavery to sin and the inevitable consequences of sin, which is death. Paul wrote to the Romans, if God spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not then freely give us all things? Malachi tells us, and they that feared the Lord, spoke often one to another about the Lord, and the Lord listened and heard it. Do you ever get in a conversation with your friends about the Lord? You know, whenever you do, the Lord starts eavesdropping on you. He loves to hear you talk about him. And they that feared the Lord are talking about the Lord. But you see, there are different kinds of fear. There is a fear that is sort of a cringing terror. That is not the kind of fear that is talking about here. That kind of fear can be very innervating. It is not the kind of fear that a child of God should have for God. If you're a Christian, then your fear of him is just a reverential awe of him. If you're not a Christian, well, you should have a kind of a innervating, horrible fear. The Bible says it's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of a living God. And thus, if you're not a child of God, then you should fear him. But once you become a child of God, it's no longer just that kind of craven fear, but it is now a reverential awe of God. That kind of feeling that you have when you're out in the desert and you look up and you see the beautiful desert sky, you see the Milky Way. Now, probably many of you have never seen the Milky Way. We have so much light pollution nowadays that it's a rarity to be able to be in a place where you can actually see the Milky Way. But it is there. And it is absolutely beautiful. And when you look at it, realizing that it's made up of billions of stars in what we call the Milky Way galaxy, you just stand there in awe of God, thinking of his creation. Think of his spreading out that galaxy of stars out there in the universe. And it's just a reverential awe that just comes over you in the consciousness of the greatness of the God that we love and that we serve. The Bible teaches us that to fear God is to hate evil. When we hear of the atrocities that are committed by man, and we wonder how can man be so insensitive? How can man be so cruel as to do some of the things that we read that they do to their fellow men? The heartlessness, the unfeelingness of men who can do these kinds of things to others. Reading of how the Muslims sometimes behead their enemies or those who they believe are opposed to their God. And you wonder what kind of feelings do you have when you're cutting off a man's head? It just, you know, it just makes you wonder. David, the psalmist, wrote in Psalm 36, the transgression of the wicked tells me that there is no fear of God before their eyes. When you see the wicked doing these things, you can just put it down. They just don't have the fear of God before their eyes. They don't respect or have that reverential awe of God. Paul wrote concerning the wicked in Romans 3 13. Their throat is an open sepulcher. They speak deceitfully. The poison of asp is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to sweat to shed innocent blood. Destruction and misery are the byproducts of their lives. And they do not know the way of peace. And there is no fear of God before their eyes. If they only had a proper fear of God, they could not do the things that they are often doing. And so when you see a person doing evil things, just know that they lack the fear of God. Those who have the proper fear of God speak often one to another and how beautiful it is to converse with others about the greatness of our God. Years ago, I was driving my granddaughter who was 10 years old at the time. I was driving her up to summer camp. And as we were driving along in the car, she turned to me and she said, Grandpa, let's talk about God. She said, I love to talk about God. And so as we continued our journey, talking about God, I had that wonderful feeling. You know, God is here with us listening to our conversation because they that love the Lord speak often one to another about him. And God hearkened unto them and took an account of what they were saying. And so as you talk about God, he's listening in. He's eavesdropping on you. And I'm thrilled to say that my granddaughter, who was 10 at the time, is now a grown lady, has her own family, three beautiful children, and she still loves to talk about God. So we get together and we talk about God still. And what a joy and what a blessing it is, knowing that when we do, God listens in and we are counted as his jewels, as we treasure him and talk about what a treasure he is to us. Sometimes when people talk about God, they talk about him in a very disparaging way. Sometimes people even express how angry they are with God and they make foolish charges against God. I would be afraid to make the charges against God that I've heard some people make. I think of, you know, one day they're going to have to stand before God, the books will be open, and they're going to have to give an account for every idle word, for those things that they said about God. They're going to have to explain to him why they said those disparaging things against him. And I wonder what kind of excuses they'll seek to offer to God as they try to give him an explanation for some of their remarks. Some of the most pleasant experiences in life are when I'm with a group of friends and we just talk about God. These are treasured experiences indeed. What God declares of them is they are mine. What a wonderful thing to know that God claims us as his. That's my son, that's my child. And when God claims you as his, how comforting it is to know that he has recorded my name in his book of life and that Jesus my Lord will love me forever. From him no power of evil can suffer. He gave his life to ransom my soul and now I belong to him. Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me, not for the years of time alone but for eternity. Once I was lost in sin's degradation, Jesus came down to bring me salvation, lifted me up from my sorrow and shame, and now I belong to him. Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me, not for the years of time alone but for eternity. Jesus said they are mine. But think of the alternative to that. What if God should save you? You are not mine. Jesus speaks of the day of judgment that is coming and he says that many will say to him in that day, Lord have we not prophesied in your name and in your name we've cast out devils and in your name we've done many wonderful works. And then he said I will profess unto them I never knew you. Depart from me you that work iniquity. But think of him saying to you I never knew you. Depart from me you're a worker of iniquity. You're not mine. The chief goal and the purpose of life is to know God and to serve him. If you know God then you're fulfilling the very basic purpose of your existence. If you don't know him then your life is a waste and you're living a life in vain. All of the good works that you have done, all of your accomplishments, will be as wood and stubble and they will all be consumed in the fires of God's judgment. You have only one life. It will soon be past and only what you do for Jesus Christ is going to have any lasting value. God said of those that revered him that they often talked to one another about him and they thought on his name. And they were his and they will be his jewels in that day. Again if you only knew how much God treasures you. If you only knew what are the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. The exceeding riches of his grace and kindness. Not the riches that we have received but just the riches of his grace and his kindness toward us. He also declares concerning them that he will spare them in that day. Malachi 3 17. They shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts and in that day when I make up my jewels I will spare them as a man spares his own son that serves him. Spare them what? Spare them from the wrath of God that is going to consume the ungodly and the unrighteous. For Paul said in Romans 1 18. The wrath of God will be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness. Your ultimate destiny is to spend eternity in one of two places. Either in heaven or in hell. I do believe that the Bible teaches that there will be degrees of glory in heaven and that there will be degrees of punishment in hell. As the Bible speaks of one man that will be beaten with many stripes another who did things that were worthy of many stripes because he did not know will be beaten with few. So there will be degrees of punishment but he does declare he will spare us the pain of being eternally separated from him for the wicked will be turned into hell and all of the nations that forget God. But we will spend eternity with him in his glorious kingdom. And so if you only knew the riches that we have, yes that's glorious, that's wonderful. But if you only knew the riches that God esteems that he possesses when you surrender your life to serve and to follow him and you become his glorious treasure that he values so highly he gladly gave his son in order to redeem the world that he might have his treasure you out of the world that he might bestow upon you the riches of his grace and mercy toward you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Father we thank you that you have treasured us so highly that you look upon us as a treasure and that you value us so much that you were willing to redeem us by giving your son for our sins and Lord we pray that you'll help us to just come to a realization today of just how much you do love us and how much you do treasure us as your children. May we walk Lord in fellowship with you knowing the riches of your presence in our lives and knowing Lord the grace that you've bestowed. May we just Lord revel in your goodness in your love and in this relationship that you've made possible through Jesus Christ. Father today there are some that are here that really don't know what a treasure it is and what a joy it is to walk in fellowship with you and Lord you can't look upon them as a treasure because they haven't really surrendered to you but we pray Lord that you will draw them to yourself that you will forgive them their sins and cause them to realize Lord what a glorious treasure they have become to you because they have surrendered their lives to serve and to follow you. Blessed Father in Jesus name we pray amen. Shall we stand? The pastors are down here at the front to minister to you today and if you want to draw close to the Lord if you want to just really become a part of the family of God become a part of his glorious treasure if you want him to just really look upon you as a treasure rather than looking and saying oh my you know what a shame you know but have him just to look with pleasure and all saying you know that's my son. You know there were times as my boys were growing up playing ball and all and when they would you know make some great catch on the field or whatever I would stand up in the stands and I'd yell that's my son. There were other times when they would goof and I would not want to acknowledge that they were even related to me but I was wondering if God made me that way sometimes you know as as we really do something that's really worthwhile for the kingdom and he says that's my boy and yet other times he says oh you know who does he belong to but God's treasure. I look upon you today and I think wow he looks upon you as his treasure how much he values you and the value he places upon you as his treasure so go and enjoy the fact that I'm his treasure. He values me. He places great pleasure in possessing my life. May he possess your life also. The Lord be with you. The Lord bless you. Keep you in his love. Cause you to abound in all things in Christ Jesus our Lord for his glory. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.