The Day of the Lord Malachi 4:1-3
Is it worth it to follow Jesus Christ?
Malachi 3:14 14 “You have said: “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the Lord of Hosts?”
Malachi 3:18 18 So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.
When will we see the difference?
Malachi 4:1-3 1 “For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Hosts, “not leaving them root or branches. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out
and playfully jump like calves from the stall. You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the Lord of Hosts.
Big Idea: It is worth it for me to follow Jesus Christ in view of the coming day of judgement.
Description of the Day: Two Categories of People 1. Those who do not fear God.
Malachi 4:1 1 “For indeed, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Hosts, “not leaving them root or branches.
Revelation 20:11-15 11 Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the
books. Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Righteous Judgement Wrath Eternal Destruction
Hell is an eternal conscious torment for the punishment of sin.
How do we try to reduce the severity of hell? • By removing the feasibility of a person going to hell. • By removing the eternality of the punishment
Matthew 25:46 46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Revelation 14:10-11 10 He will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name.
Daniel 2:2 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to shame and eternal contempt.
What is at stake if the doctrine of hell is changed? • The justice of God • An urgency for communicating the Gospel • An appreciation for our salvation
Description of the Day: Two Categories of People 1. Those who do not fear God. 2. Those who fear God.
Malachi 4:2-3 2 But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the Lord of Hosts.
Malachi 3:17 17 “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, “a special possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.”
The result of their choice is eternal life.
Five Descriptions of Jesus’ Coming Kingdom
Malachi 4:2 2 But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings,
Five Descriptions of Jesus’ Coming Kingdom 1. A rising sun.
Our Benefit: Light casts out darkness
John 8:12 12 Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
1 John 1:15 15 Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.
Five Descriptions of Jesus’ Coming Kingdom 1. A rising sun. 2. Sun of righteousness
Five Descriptions of Jesus’ Coming Kingdom 1. A rising sun. 2. Sun of righteousness 3. Wings of healing
Revelation 21:4 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.
Five Descriptions of Jesus’ Coming Kingdom 1. A rising sun. 2. Sun of righteousness 3. Wings of healing 4. Breaking out of stalls leaping like calves
Malachi 4:2 2 But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings,
John 8:30-31 30 As He was saying these things, many believed in Him. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Five Descriptions of Jesus’ Coming Kingdom 1. A rising sun. 2. Sun of righteousness 3. Wings of healing 4. Breaking out of stalls leaping like calves 5. Trampling the wicked
Malachi 4:3 3 You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the Lord of Hosts.
Revelation 6:9-10 9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the people slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had. They cried out with a loud voice: “Lord, the One who is holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?”
The truth is as believers through Christ we are given hope, the expectancy for something greater to come.
Application: 1. Settle your case with God now.
Matthew 5:25-26 25 Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you’re on the way with him, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I assure you: You will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny!
Application: 1. Settle your case with God now. 2. Live your life in light of eternity.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
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