End Times (7a): The Beautiful Judgment of God

July 19, 2023 End Times: The Beautiful Judgment of God

Wednesday

Are we living in the end times?

The time JUST BEFORE God is going to wrap-up humanity and this creation in a re- boot?

We have read this a few times: 2 Timothy 3:1–5 (LSB) But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, without gentleness, without love for good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Keep away from such men as these.

The argument could be made that this world has ALWAYS been this way — but, it seems to me we continue to reach new depths of fulfilment in these days.

Difficult ( perilous-KJV; terrible-NIV; violent-GW; dangerious, fierce-NET; very hard-CEDV )- Only two occurrences are found in the New Testament. [One is found in] (Matthew 8:28) [where] Matthew, who was an eyewitness, described the two demoniacs in the area of the Gergesenes as “exceeding fierce” .

Paul the apostle foretold that before the coming of the Lord “perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1).

In both cases the situations are so bleak no one will want to experience them (cf. Matthew 8:28). Times will become so difficult and dangerous that people will simply hide, hoping things will get better on their own, since they are powerless to change the situations themselves. Fortunately the believer has the sustaining presence of God with him constantly.

Case in point:

Last week I urged support for AL Senator Tuberville:

Let me read excerpts from an article written yesterday by FRC’s: Joshua Arnold

Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby on Monday called paying for abortions a “foundational, sacred obligation of military leaders,” throwing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and paying for gender reassignment surgeries in the same category.

In March, the DOD adopted a new policy providing abortions for all servicemembers in all cases (it was previously allowed only in cases of rape, incest, or if the mother’s life was at risk). The agency changed this policy without congressional authorization and in spite of federal law that prohibits the use of DOD funds or facilities for abortions with limited exceptions. After several warnings not to implement the illegal policy went unheeded, Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) began holding up military promotions for high-ranking officers, and he has maintained his courageous stand against heavy pressure to back down from the media, Democrats, and even some Republicans. The DOD claimed that this new abortion policy was critical to military readiness, but it has never offered a compelling rationale to support that claim.

Kirby said: “And our policies, whether they are diversity, inclusion, and equity, or whether they’re about transgender individuals who qualify, physically and mentally (can transgender individuals be considered mentally qualified to serve?), to service, to be able to do it with dignity, or whether it is about female service members — one in five — or female family members being able to count on the kinds of healthcare, and reproductive care specifically, that they need to serve, that is a foundational, sacred obligation of military leaders across the river.

Despite Kirby’s clever misdirection, the core of his argument is not the uncontroversial contention that the military should care for its own, but the novel claim that the military has a “foundational, sacred obligation” to fund abortions for servicemembers and their families. Attached to each word is a claim as false as it should be offensive.

For starters, Kirby claims the military has an “obligation” to provide abortions. That not only violates federal law and flouts congressional authorization, but it was simply invented out of thin air only months ago. More than that, it’s downright offensive to say that the U.S. military has an “obligation” to kill unborn babies, the children of its servicemembers, in order to make the military ready for combat.

[Next,] Kirby also claims that providing abortions-on-demand to servicemembers is a “foundational” obligation of the military. As a matter of historical fact, this is indefensible.

Most concerning, Kirby claimed the military had a “sacred” obligation to provide abortion. “Sacred” is a word to describe things that have to do with religion. To date, the Satanic Temple is the only self-identified “religion” that has claimed a religious right to abortion.

… in tracing the ideology to which abortion is “sacred,” we also discover a full-fledged religion to which abortion proponents adhere. It might go by different names and adapt itself to different sensibilities — indeed, its consumer-driven adaptability is its primary strength in the modern world — but it is a real religion nonetheless.

It has a god (self),

an ethic (live your [subjective] truth),

a metaphysical worldview (nihilism),

a church (the education system),

evangelists (abortion activists),

a holiness movement (wokeness),

an end-times vision (total equality and uninhibited rights),

and even excommunication (cancel culture).

From the sexual revolution to the transgender movement, this mash-up religion has gained cultural purchase under the guise of supposedly neutral secularism, but it has all the marks and functions of an actual religion — a religion that has established itself in our governmental institutions.

Viewing the Pentagon’s abortion policy as the outworking of a religion does help to explain the Biden administration’s stubborn recalcitrance on the subject. Said Biden last Thursday, “I’d be willing to talk to him [Tuberville] if I thought there was any possibility he would change his ridiculous position on this. He’s jeopardizing U.S. security with what he’s doing.” But Tuberville has made it clear he will end his hold on flag officer promotions as soon as the Pentagon ends its illegal abortion policy. To the extent that U.S. security has been jeopardized over the kerfuffle, it is because the DOD was given a choice between illegally funding abortion and promoting flag officers, and it chose abortion.

Yesterday, I restarted a discussion amongst the ministers that came from a question I asked the pastor of Coosa Methodist last week concerning the UMC split.

Last week I was told that the Global Methodists are aiming for a more grassroots, local congregation model than the UMC has.

I just assumed that what I believed was fact: that the UMC is a top-down organization.

So, this week I asked, “Do you believe that the UMC’s departure from Biblical truth occured because of it’s top-down model of leadership?

Coosa’s pastor, Bill Burch said it happened because unelected people wielded too much power and took the denomination the wrong way.

It is a cautionary tale that the AG and every other denomination needs to hear and install protections to keep it from happening to them.

In the same way, the people who want to destroy this country have sought after unelected positions of power and then make illegal, unconstitutional changes that take this country down the path of ruin.

What can we do?

We make sure we are informed, we pray, we keep our elected officials accountable, we vote.

And we keep hope in the FACT (as Brother Barry emphasized Sunday!) that Jesus is coming back.

Open: What Biblical images of Jesus do you see that are related to His second coming?

e.g. King of kings and Lord of lords Revelation 19:16 (LSB) And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Do you see Him as Judge?

James 5:7–9 (LSB) Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the soil, being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not groan, brothers, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.

2 Timothy 4:1–2 (LSB) I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and teaching.

Do you see judgment God’s judgment as beautiful? How?

Chris Davis, writing in his book Bright Hope for Tomorrow says:

If we think of judgment as shining a light, unveiling the reality of things, then anticipating the coming of the Judge can be a welcome hope rather than the stuff of nightmares. And indeed, Jesus’ return as Judge is all about shining the light.

… when the New Testament pictures Jesus as Judge, the emphasis is not only on what He will look like but also on what we will look like in His presence.

Paul expresses this with the Greek verb phaneroō (think “epiphany”), which means “to reveal, publicly expose, disclose, make known.” It is used throughout the New Testament to describe Jesus’ return, most often translated “when he appears” (phanerōthē).

The Lord’s coming “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose [phanerōsei] the purposes of the heart” (1 Cor. 4:5).

1 Corinthians 4:5 (LSB) Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of hearts. And then each one’s praise will come to him from God.

So one word describes three aspects of the same event:

the appearing of Jesus,

the physical appearance of Jesus [His brightness],

and our appearing before him, exposed by His brilliance. When Jesus is fully revealed, what we really are will be fully revealed as well.

What will [we] look like on that day? What will be exposed? How do you feel about what will be seen? Do you want to hide from the prospect of not being able to hide, run away from the inescapable?

If so, [seeing Jesus as the Judge] is an invitation to have our lives transformed by Jesus’ return.

It is an invitation not to look away from the inevitability of being revealed but to be shaped by it.

When the apostle Paul anticipated the appearing of “the Lord, the righteous judge,” he counted himself among those who “loved his appearing” and expected not to be condemned but to be awarded “the crown of righteousness” (2 Tim. 4:8). Rather than debilitating Paul, the coming reality of revelation motivated him.

2 Timothy 4:8 (LSB) In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

How can we LOVE the appearing of the Judge?

First, if we are truly in Christ, then judgment is nothing to fear.

Before Paul wrote to the Corinthians about what Jesus would judge at his return, he instilled in them a confidence that Jesus himself would “sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:8).

1 Corinthians 1:7–8 (LSB) so that you are not lacking in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, beyond reproach in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He did not teach them about coming assessments to cause them to doubt their salvation or to suggest that they had better work harder if they wanted to pass the test. Their hope of salvation lay in Christ from beginning to end. Paul’s confidence was not in the Corinthians’ effort but in God’s power:

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9).

If you trust in Christ alone to save you, then you have nothing to fear.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

Second, focusing on Jesus as Judge could actually set you free.

If you are anything like me, you already allow yourself, sometimes unconsciously, to live under the judgment of others every day.

Whether you are a young mother scrolling through the Instagram feed of picture-perfect moms, a pastor looking at the growing ministry of others, or a homeowner who can’t stop noticing how much nicer your neighbors’ landscaping is than yours, we all allow ourselves to be judged through constant comparison.

Let’s be honest, we have nightmares about hearing the ridicule of our peers, not standing before the judgment throne of God.

Purpose: To discover how the future judgment of God brings meaning to the present through repentance, faith and hope.

Judgment. Hardly what most people look forward to, whether from a parent, a church leader, an employer or a court of law.

Hardly anyone, if given the opportunity, would choose to face the judgment of God at the end of time.

But contrary to our normal way of envisioning the future, many Old Testament saints longed for the judgment of God because they lived in a society in which justice was often denied to the ordinary person.

Malachi, a relatively unknown prophet, was convicted that God would hold his covenant people accountable for what they knew and how they lived.

Malachi’s perspective makes an important contribution to understanding how to live in the end times.

He paints a picture of a judgment that also offers hope.

The Great Tribulation

We will use this lesson to lead into a much deeper/difficult lesson that will include the Tribulation or, if you prefer, the GREAT Tribulation.

In preparation for that lesson please read Daniel 9 (the whole chapter for context).

Take some extra time to re-read and study verses 24-27 (just 4 verses , but they are l-o-o-n-g verses that contain complex information.

To tie into what Daniel writes, please look at what Jesus said in Matthew 24:15-28

What Is Going On?

Read Malachi 2:17–3:5.

1. The response the prophet make to those who say things like “God appears to favor the wicked” and “life is not fair”?

2. Have you said or thought this?

3. The identity of the “messenger of the covenant” (3:2–3)?

There are a lot of people interested in the End Times — but they are not ready for them.

While the people of Malachi’s day claimed to be “seeking the Lord” (3:1), they would find the day of the Lord less comforting than they expected (see Amos 5:18).

Amos 5:18–20 (LSB) Woe, you who are longing for the day of Yahweh, For what purpose will the day of Yahweh be to you? It will be darkness and not light; 19 As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him; Or he goes home, leans his hand against the wall, And a snake bites him. 20 Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness instead of light, Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?

Those persisting in sin, as we shall soon see, will get their due, but even the righteous will be purified.

Images of Judgment

4. Find the images Malachi uses to describe the judgment of God (3:2–3). From these images what do we learn about the Lord’s purpose in judging his own covenant people?

Image …

of a smelter

of fuller’s soap (bleach?)

of a Father not honored.

Question 4. The concept of covenant (God’s unconditional agreement to belong to his people) is fundamental to Malachi’s teaching.

Because of the covenant God views himself as Israel’s Father (1:6; 2:10)

Malachi 1:6 “‘A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?’ says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’”

Mal 2:10 “Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?”

and wants to bless his children (3:10–12).

Mal 3:10-12 “10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says Yahweh of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and empty out for you a blessing until it is beyond enough. 11 “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not corrupt the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field fail to bear,” says Yahweh of hosts. 12 “So all the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says Yahweh of hosts.”

Thus the essence of Israel’s sin was a breach of relationship with God.

Both priests and people failed to love God (1:6, 13; 3:8)

Demonstrated in: Despised Him, defective sacrifices (stolen, etc.), cheating God

Words are cheap (I love You, Lord!)

Obedience is the true test of our love of God.

and as a consequence promoted broken relationships in society, including divorce (2:14, 16).

Mal 2:14 “14 “But you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because Yahweh has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”

Mal 2:16 “For I hate divorce,” says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says Yahweh of hosts. “Be careful then to keep your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.””

How does our society and how does the church feel about divorce today? How should we feel? How do divorced people handle this scripture?

Start with those who have gone through divorce.

It is because of this fundamental covenantal relationship that God is determined in his judgment not to obliterate his people but to cleanse them.

To do this the Lord must first cleanse the priesthood and then the immorality of the people.

The order is significant.

So are the metaphors chosen to describe the judgment of God.

The refiner does not intend destruction but purification.

So does the fuller’s soap (really alkali), the latter being used to whiten cloth.

Many of the prophets use the refiner’s image, and with good reason, as J. Neil suggests:

“The beauty of this picture is that the refiner looks into the open furnace, or pot, and knows that the process of purification is complete, and the dross all burnt away, when he can see his image plainly reflected in the molten metal” (Everyday Life in the Holy Land [Church’s Ministry Among the Jews, 1913], p. 163).

The Process of Judgment

5. In the light of this, why do you think judgment begins at the sanctuary and with the priestly tribe of Levites (see 1 Peter 4:17)?

Malachi 3:2–3 (LSB) “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a smelter’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 “And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.

1 Peter 4:14–19 (LSB) If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; 16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be put to shame, but is to glorify God in this name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER? 19 Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God must entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing good.

6. In contrast to the refining process in 3:2–4 APPLIED TO THOSE WHO TRULY SEEK THE LORD, what will God’s judgment mean to those in the community who persist in disobedient living (3:5)?

Review: Mal 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the sojourner and do not fear Me,” says Yahweh of hosts.”

Question 6. Fundamental to the biblical idea of judgment is that it is not merely a collection of individuals that will be judged but the community that is purified by removing the base elements.

The people concerned are not merely sinners but those who will not repent.

So the Lord has no alternative but to grant them their unspoken request—to live away from him in the deprivation of all that is good.

Judgment is based on facts already known and choices already made.

The entire Bible, and especially the New Testament, shows that human beings sentence themselves to hell in advance by loving darkness rather than light (Jn 3:19–21).

John 3:19–21 (LSB) “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed. 21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.”

That seems to especially be the case of

sorcerers, adulterers and liars

Employers who cheat employees

Those who oppress widows and orphans

Those deny justice to refugees (?)

7. Why do you think the Bible connects true holiness with concern for social righteousness?

Micah 6:8 (LSB) He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does Yahweh require of you But to do justice, to love lovingkindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 25:31–33 (LSB) “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

James 1:27 (LSB) Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 2:15–18 (LSB) If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Question 7. The basis of judgment throughout the Bible, and certainly here, is our works as an evidence of true heart condition (Mt 12:36; 25:35–40; Rom 2:16; 1 Cor 4:5; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:12).

Works do not save us, BUT works will come after salvation or true salvation hasn’t occurred. (Agree/Disagree)

SCRIPTURES not GIVEN

2 Corinthians 5:10 (LSB) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

James 1:22–27 (LSB) But become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious while not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Except for sorcery, the sins mentioned in 3:5 all have a social bearing: breaking the marriage covenant, perjuring oneself (2:10–16) and so becoming untrustworthy, underpaying employees, and oppressing powerless widows and orphans (people who are the special concern of God in the covenant obligations—Ex 22:22–24; Lev 19:10).

Biblical faith is never merely personal but always involves public discipleship and social justice. In these matters, as Joyce Baldwin says,

“Malachi is the faithful pastor who faces his people with the possibility of ultimate rejection but hopes all the time to win them” (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary [Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1972], p. 244).

8. In what ways has Malachi answered those who ask, “Where is the God of justice” (2:17)?

Will you be punished an evildoer who complains about evildoers and are one? (Oh, may God help us to be very careful!)

Are we even ready for justice?

Read Malachi 3:13–4:3.

Malachi 3:13–4:3 (LSB) “Your words have been strong against Me,” says Yahweh. “But you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 “You have said, ‘It is worthless to serve God; and what gain is it that we have kept His charge and that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts? 15 ‘So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.’” 16 Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another, and Yahweh gave heed and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name. 17 “And they will be Mine,” says Yahweh of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.” 18 So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. 1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them aflame,” says Yahweh of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” 2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 3 “And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says Yahweh of hosts.

9. What assurance does Malachi give to those who feel that living righteously “does not pay” (3:17–18)?

Question 9. Malachi once again takes up the theme that the “arrogant” (3:15) appear to thrive, a subject that concerned the psalmist as well (Ps 73:2–14).

Those who were complaining are probably the same people as those “who feared the Lord,” only they now have taken the rebuke, repented and encouraged each other to renew their faith.

To demonstrate further that God’s judgment is his saving judgment, Malachi reports the Lord’s listening response (3:16) and the believers’ security that they will not be forgotten in the Lord’s record of names of those who are his (Ex 32:32–33; Ps 69:28; 87:6; Dan 12:1; Rev 21:27).

Verses 17–18 offer the joy of covenant security and covenant consummation (you are mine and I am yours). Simultaneously, they offer a positive incentive to repent now, rather than wait for the final and irrevocable separation (v. 18). As J. I. Packer says:

Judgment will be vindicatory, establishing justice, rather than vindictive, expressing malice. For God to judge justly is his glory, for which he is to be praised; his self-vindication is glorious (Rev 19:1–5). For God not to judge would be destructive of all serious morality and all moral responsibility. (“Notes on Systematic Theology IV”)

10. Assuming that the people mentioned in 3:14 are the same as those “who feared the Lord” (3:16), what do we learn about living in the light of God’s judgment?

Question 10. Malachi repeats the judgment-by-fire metaphor but now with a disturbing twist. The wicked who do not serve God (3:18) will not experience the fire as purifying but as final destruction. The same day produces gold and “tropical heat, when parched vegetation suddenly catches fire and dry fields become one vast oven in which even the roots of the plants are reduced to ash” (Baldwin, Malachi, p. 250). But the righteous who serve God (3:18) will experience “a fair morning of God, as when dawn comes to those who have been sick and sleepless through the night, and its beams bring healing.… They break into life and energy, like calves leaping from the dark pen into the sunshine” (George Adam Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, Vol. 2, rev. ed. [New York: Harper & Row, 1928], pp. 362–63).

11. How is the judgment here different from that which is applied to God’s own people (4:1–3)?

12. God’s people, while exempt from final condemnation, are not free from evaluation. What difference will this make to the way you live?

Prayer: Thank God that you are not left to invent the meaning of your own life. Ask that in the end you may be found in him and all that you have done in this life be refined in fire and, purged of sin, find its place in the new heaven and new earth.

Now or Later

The final passage of the book—not included in this study—takes up again the messenger of 3:1 as the precursor of “that great and dreadful day of the Lord” (4:5).

Read Malachi 3:1–4:6.

This time, however, Elijah is named as the messenger who will prepare the way. Jesus considered John the Baptist as both the messenger (Malachi 3:1; Matthew 11:10) and Elijah (Malachi 4:5; Matthew 11:14), though John rejected the notion that he fulfilled the Elijah prophecy (John 1:21). John the Baptist was profoundly influenced by the prophecy of Malachi, to the extent that his hope for a fiery judgment was undoubtedly not fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus (Matthew 3:11–12; Luke 3:16–17)

Joyce Baldwin brilliantly explains how this Old Testament prophecy of final judgment was ultimately fulfilled in the New Testament: “An interval separated the first and second comings and the day of grace was extended to delay final judgment. This does not mean, however, that judgment has been averted. The warning that ends the Old Testament is not absent at the end of the New (Revelation 22:10–15), but the difference is that there grace has the last word (verse 21)” (Joyce C. Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malach: An Introduction and Commentary [Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1972), p. 253).

The most stupendous thought of which the mind is capable is that of personal accountability to Almighty God. — Daniel Webster[1]

[1]Stevens, R. P. (2004). End Times: 13 Studies for Individuals or Groups: With Notes for Leaders (pp. 33–36). IVP Connect: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press.