Do I Look Forward to You?

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a great honor to share the Word of God with the saints of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church on this Lord’s Day.

This past week I turned 32 years old. I’m thankful for another year, but I have to say that the birthday hype just doesn’t hit the same as it used to. I remember as a child the anticipation I would have for my birthday to finally get here. Part of that was driven by the desire to grow and mature. Now that the most significant signs of maturation are rescinding widow’s peaks and aging eyes, I’d be content if the maturation process would slow down or even reverse a bit! But the other reason I would have such an anticipation for my birthday growing up was that my mother would just absolutely roll out the carpet to make the day special. She would find a way to go really beyond our means to make the day incredible with special trips, lunches, and/or gifts. I don’t know if I told her enough back then, but thank you mom! You really made those birthdays special in a way I still tangibly remember!

But typically as we grow up and begin taking care of ourselves, there are less things we need or even want. I don’t need big parties or lavish gifts, in fact it would be a bit awkward now to be treated in the same way I was as a child. As I’ve matured I no longer need to have a day all about myself. I don’t say this as a complaint by any means, but birthdays, for me, are no longer something that I anticipate.

It is natural, as something becomes more familiar, to see it as more common, less special. I now anticipate new moments with my son as he experiences new things more than I do moments about myself.

This morning, I hope to rekindle our anticipation for our God’s plan for His creation. You see, in many ways, our expectation for the great Day of the Lord suffers from a similar but opposite problem from that of our birthdays. We experience a birthday year after year and it becomes stale. When it comes to the day of the Lord its something that we’ve heard about time and time again but it never seems to get here and so we stop expecting it. We can become distracted by other “more pressing” matters and let our anticipation wane.

If you would, open your Bibles to the book of Malachi. Today we will be walking through the whole of chapter 4.

As you are turning there, allow me to share some general thoughts on the book as a whole. This morning we will be finishing up this series and this whole letter that has been entitled, “I love you, but.” We have been looking at all the ways the Israelites were exposed in deficiently loving the Lord. They claim to be His people, they say they want His blessing, yet when it comes time to actually show love and devotion for God, they are more absent than they accuse God of being. While they thought they were innocent, they were indeed guilty of questioning the Love of God, offering spoiled offerings, disregarding God’s design of marriage, questioning God’s justice, withholding tithes and offerings, and becoming apathetic in their service. Though they were truly facing difficult circumstances, they allowed their circumstances to dictate their service. We have seen that circumstances are no excuse, God deserved, remembered, and blessed their good service, even when they don’t see the immediate results.

The temptation for us any time we look back at these Old Testament stories is to shake our heads at the silly Israelites and think that we would never fall into the same mistakes. But as we have tried to showcase throughout the series, we’re really most often no better than the wandering Israelites. In our human condition we are prone to fall short in the same exact ways. We see the harshness of the world around us and stuttered in our service. We’re tempted to question the love and justice of God.

In all honesty, preaching through the book of Malachi has been one of the most challenging texts that I’ve attempted to bring before our congregation because it full of these difficult truths that can be hard to swallow. Each week I have personally been convicted over my own shortcomings in service to the Lord. But we all need to understand that it is okay and even good to face the uncomfortable. It is a grace of God that He allows us to look our sin square in the eye and see it for the scourge it is. This week I was listening to a short video put out by another pastor on assurance of salvation and in that video he rightly stated, “Christians sin. We sin in word thought and deed daily, daily. But, what do we do with our sin? We immediately go to Christ, we go to Him to confess it. Now if you have a sin that is continually haunting you, that you are entangled in the Scriptures talk about that. You are to flee that, confess it to a brother, confess it to others, seek the help that you need to have, but do you hate it?” Being a Christian does not mean that we do not sin, rather it means that by the grace of God we come to hate our sin and through the Holy Spirit, working through the means of preservation, we put to death the sin that continually rears its ugly head.

I hope that this series has thus far allowed us all to have the flesh that remains in us put under a microscope so that we may better glorify the Lord and use steward this life He has given us well, looking forward to the day when we shall hear, “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

This morning, as we enter our text, we will be looking forward, keeping our eyes on the prize of Christ as motivation for our service in the here and now. Let’s begin in verse 1.

Malachi 4:1 ESV

1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

As I have mentioned, the book of Malachi has primarily been a list of accusations, of charges against the Israelite people. As we came to the end of chapter 3 and here into chapter 4, the focus has changed. After pointing out the faults in practices of the Israelites, God then moves their attention towards the future.

It is highly important, whenever we read through really any section of Scripture that we determine the intention behind the text. Each section of Scripture only has one meaning. For example, I have mentioned before that there are a variety different opinions on eschatology, the study of the end times. Some of the best, most scholarly, faithful, conservative pastors and expositors I know hold to different views on the Millennial Reign, the timing and definition of the rapture, the timeline of the tribulation, and so on. They are all using the same Scripture, but come to vastly different conclusions. However, while there may not be consensus, there is still only one correct meaning of the text. When we get to glory, we’ll find see the fullness of God’s plan. We’ll see that all of these texts really did only have one specific meaning, even if it wasn’t the one we thought God would choose. As Pap likes to say, when we get to heaven we’ll all find out, Pap was right on all of it!

This morning, as we walk through the last chapter of Malachi, we will be looking at a prophetic, future-oriented message. My intention will be not to provide theory on how exactly everything will work out, we’ll have to ask pap for that! But my intention will be to bring out the basic, most fundamental truth and meaning of the passage and show God’s revealed plan for creation without personal theory on how specifically that plan will unfold. God’s intention for our text today is not to give us or the Israelite recipients of that day, a detailed timeline of God’s supernatural “Make The Earth Great Again” plan or specifically how He will “Build Back Better”. The intention is to show that God is working HIS PLAN on HIS TIMELINE, and it is GOOD for HIS PEOPLE. The intention is to give us hope!

So with that said, eschatological theories aside, the plain meaning of this text is rather straight forward, graphic as it may be. Malachi 4:1 is describing the total execution of justice that God will accomplish. From the Christian perspective, when we think of the Day of the Lord, we think of the Second Coming of Christ. We think of meeting in the air in the twinkling of an eye. It absolutely should be exciting for us to consider. What we often focus less on though, is the opposite side, the judgment that comes to all those who do not know Christ as Lord.

For example, when I am marveling at the second coming of Christ, my mind pictures something like 2 Thessalonians 1:10

2 Thessalonians 1:10 ESV

10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

I try to picture what a miraculous sight it will be as the Lord Jesus comes and to marvel in His presence. What a sight to behold! When Christ Jesus is glorified in His saints! I believe in Christ and thus know that I will be a part of that glorious event.

However, I don’t as often focus on the verses just prior to that in 2 Thessalonians. Like 2 Thess 1:7-9

2 Thessalonians 1:7–9 ESV

7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

What we’re seeing presented in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 is another look at what is being presented in Malachi 4:1. Read that again and see the connections:

Malachi 4:1 ESV

1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

I don’t have them side by side for you on the screen, but allow me to try to combine these two passages for us in what I hope is a faithful presentation. Read through Malachi 4:1 as I interject 2 Thessalonians: The day is coming, when the Lord Jesus is revealed with His mighty angels, burning like an oven, in flaming fire. All the arrogant and evil doers, those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will be stubble, receiving the Lord’s vengeance. In such a way that will leave them neither root nor branch, eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might.

This is a fearful text. Graphic in many ways. And yet, in the beginning on Malachi 4:1 God says BEHOLD, that word is used to say, “Hey! Look at this!” It’s intended to express strong feelings, hope, expectation, and certainty at the text that follows!

So why is that it that I don’t like to look it?! Well speaking for myself, it is because I know that without Christ, I am deserving of that eternal punishment. I am deserving of being made the stubble. I think I struggle to look at justice of God because I know of even the remaining corruption in me and that it is only there but by the grace of God go I!

But God intends for this message to be an encouragement, something for His people to look forward to. This isn’t intended to bum us out on our own sinfulness. So lets see how this text is an encouragement.

Remember the original recipients were the Israelites holding on to faith in God despite corruption running rampant around them. God was reminding them that true justice will be given. The arrogant and evildoers do not receive a pass. No sin will go unpunished. The same is true today as we see what appears to be a society cascading downward on a path of vanity and depravity. Church, if you know Christ Jesus as Savior, you can rest knowing that even if it looks like wickedness is winning, that is nothing but a fading mirage. This “day is coming”. This is not an allegory, but a literal event. And eventually the time will come when the bill is due. Every injustice you have ever suffered, every stab in the back, every rock through your window, every lie, every defamation, every fraud, all will be made right. Justice will be had. This is an encouragement to remain faithful! As we saw last week, the Lord sees, recognizes, and remembers our service! We can remain faithful to Him because He will remain immutably faithful to us! Justice will prevail! When we look forward to the day of the Lord, though the execution of justice may be graphic, though we may even be reminded the seriousness of our sin, we can be encouraged to know the Lord will address every aspect of the brokenness in our world.

But the encouragement does not end with the destruction of evil. Look to verse 2 and 3

Malachi 4:2–3 ESV

2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

In a world full of darkness, on the flip side of rightful wrath, our text takes a blessed turn! There is intentional contrast between the imagery of verse 1 and that of verses 2 and 3. We see a separation between the wheat and the chaff. This is the vindication of the righteous. Charles Spurgeon noted, “What a change of figures! To the wicked “an oven”! To the God-fearing men a “sun”! Our text was fulfilled at our Lord’s first coming. It awaits a larger fulfillment at His Second Coming. It was always true as a general principle, and it is felt to be true when the Lord Jesus spiritually draws near to His people.”

Spurgeon was presenting the idea of what we like to call, “the already and the not yet” of God’s promise. When we understand our text through this lens, this morning, it should fill us with great hope and exceeding joy!

The concept behind the already and the not yet is this: At the advent, the birth of Christ, His earthly life, ministry, death, and resurrection inaugurated the Kingdom, His second coming, for which we still await, consummates His Kingdom. To put it more plainly, the promises of the Old Testament have come and are still coming.

We will see this even more in the final portion of our text, but it applies here in verses two and three as well.

From the “not yet” perspective, those who fear God, those who know Jesus as Savior and Lord look forward to the time in which sin and pangs of destruction are removed from our existence. In Revelation 21 we see the consummation of the Kingdom, we see upon Christ’s second coming that every tear will wiped from the believers eyes, death will be no more, grief, crying, and pain will all be no more, those previous things will pass away. Healing will come in an astounding display. Even the earth that now groans, covered with thorns and thistles, will be made new. I’ve heard brothers in this room share of how they look forward to that day when the aches and pains are gone and all is well in the sight of the Lord. That is something worth hoping for and something that gives us hope! We share in the victory of Jesus!

But there is still hope for all who hear this message this morning from the “already” perspective as well. You see, when this message was given to the Israelites around 400 BC, they were still anticipating the coming of the Messiah. This text has already been fulfilled in a great way by the advent of Christ. The “Sun of Righteousness” is Jesus Christ, the Light of the world whom anyone that follows will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life (john 8). To all who receive Him, He gives the right to be the children of God, to those who believe in His name are born of God (john 1). Christ is the light that shines in the darkness, the darkness does not overcome it. Jesus has already proven He is the King of kings, though we still wait for the day when every knee will bow and tongue confess. While we wait for the day of perfect health, there is already healing given to the those who fear the Lord. We are healed from the sting of our sin! Jesus Christ has healed all those who believe in Him by quickening, awakening, enlightening, warming, invigorating, healing, purifying, and refining every soul that believes in Him! In the life of the believer, Christ grows the seeds of righteousness and dries up the seeds of sin!

Church, this is a foundational truth that provides believers with living hope! We should be, as it says in verse 2, leaping about like calves from the stall!

Think about that picture. Larry could probably paint this better than I can, but imagine the cold winter months when the weather has kept the cattle kept up in the barn. The young calves are restless. Finally, the good farmer, at just the right time, the weather has cleared, the sun is shining, and the farmer comes down to the barn and opens the stalls for the calves to enjoy the pasture. The young calves burst out the door and begin frolicking in the fields! If you’ve ever seen anything like that, you’ll know it may be hard to quantify, but you can witness the pure joy exuded by those animals.

That is what it is like when the sinner comes to Christ! The darkness is no more, we’ve been let loose from the stall to enjoy the pleasures of the Lord! We aren’t contained. chained down by our sin any longer, we are set free in Christ Jesus to enjoy life abundant! Spurgeon noted here, “The recollection of past sins and present unbelief may halter [the Christian] up and keep [us] in the stall, but when the Lord reveals himself he is set free!” What I’m getting at here is that if you know Jesus as your Lord, stop going back to the barn, beating yourself up over the sins that have been forgiven and neglecting the nourishing pastures of God’s graces through His Word and community with His people. Roam the fields with joy! We ought to be a joyous and hopeful bunch! Through Christ we have already received healing from our sin! Stop going back to the darkness of barn and go out leaping like calves from the stall! No matter what you are going through hold fast to the truth encapsulated in the beloved hymn, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a FORETASTE of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood! This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long!”

While I recognize that we will certainly go through seasons of sorrow, we can maintain joy in Christ through the sorrow. We must recognize that we have a job to do. Verse three in our text this morning points towards our mission as God’s people. In the “not yet” sense of this prophecy, we have already talked about how Christ with bring final justice at the consummation of His Kingdom. But in the “already” or the “here and now” sense, this verse directs us to live in the victory of Jesus.

Now we have to be careful here, an overly zealous reading of verse 3 may make one think that we are to wage some physical warfare against all unbelievers, considering them to be the “wicked” referred to here and thus we must tread them down. But notice it says that “they will be ashes under the soles of your feet.” They are ashes because they will be as verse one says, “burned…leaving neither root nor branch.” God, Christ, is the administer of justice. The intention for us is to live lives without fear of the wicked. What can mortal man do to us, the Lord is on our side. In the here and now, our call is tread down evil by resting on and proclaiming proudly the finished work of Christ. As 2 Corinthians 2:14 puts it But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. 15 For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. Who is adequate for these things? 17 For we do not market the wordr of God for profit like so many. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.”

Church, those who believe in Christ, have been set free from their sin and commissioned to join Him in His victory march! May we do so joyfully and full of hope!

Look now to the final section of our text this morning, verses 4-6

Malachi 4:4–6 ESV

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

As we come to the close of this book, it is important to remember that this is also the close of the Old Testament. I’ve mentioned this before, but after the final words of this book, there would be 400 years of silence from God before what we call the New Testament would kick off. While God is ever-present, He was not always speaking. I find these final words to His faithful followers before the period of silence very interesting.

It is interesting that as He is having them look forward, He tells them to look back. God says to His people, Remember the law of my servant Moses. He’s saying, “remember that I have given you the Law for your good. Remember the standards of righteousness and be holy.” Remember isn’t just saying to think about what has happened in the past, but to also do it. Church, even as we now look forward to the Second coming, may we remember the Law of Christ. May we remember the greatest commandment, to the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and from their love our neighbor as our self.

Then in verse 5, God points their attention back forward. He says He is sending Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord. There will be revival in the land. Their will be repentance. The point in verse 6 is that fathers and sons will no longer live self-serving lives, but fathers will take their sons to heart and vice verse, considering the effects of their actions on another in the course of their lives.

Now, in a provisional sense, John the Baptist certainly came in the “spirit of Elijah” and was the forerunner of Christ. There is much debate on if John the Baptist has already fulfilled this prophecy for the Second Coming as well or if the prophet Elijah himself will be sent by God to witness and testify once more leading to a larger revival just prior to the second coming of Christ. In all sincerity, I can’t give you the exact answer as to how exactly this prophetic Word of God will be fulfilled.

What I can tell you is this, by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God, according to Word of God, in the here and now, we are currently seeing the hearts of fathers turn to the hearts of their children and the hearts of children return to their fathers. When we have experienced the grace of God and come to understand and apply His great Commandment, we experience revival. Not only that, but we move from being the recipients of utter destruction to the recipients of eternal blessing.

Church, the point of all is this is the same as when we looked at another eschatological passage two weeks ago, 1 Thessalonians 4, There. Is. Hope. There was hope for forlorn Israel. Hope broke through the darkness in the person of Jesus Christ. There is hope of eternity for all those who believe in Him. And there is hope in there here and now for reconciliation, love, peace, and joy because of Jesus Christ. God has always been and always will be providing His people with hope because His plan is for the good of His people and for His eternal glory. There. Is. Hope.

Have you experienced injustice? There is hope.

Have you felt trapped in darkness? There is hope.

Have you been stuck in the middle of sin you just can’t seem to shake? There is hope.

And His name is Jesus.

Church, those who know Christ as their hope, hold on to that hope. If the thought of graphic justice causes you to turn your head because you know folks who don’t know the Lord, share that hope. If you are stuck in some besetting sin, remember your hope. Get out of the barn and frolic in the fields of God’s grace through prayer, reading His Word, and communing with His people.

But if you’re here and you’ve never recognized Jesus as Lord, today, I implore you, find your hope. I don’t say this as an emotional manipulation but as a presentation of the truth of God’s Word. The day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evil doers, all those who deny Christ as the Lord He is, will be stubble. It will not sit will to stand opposed to Christ on the great and awesome Day of the Lord. But by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, who lived and died and rose again to pay the full cost of every one of your sins, there is hope. Who so ever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Come forward in this hymn of response. Allow this church to point you to real hope.

Let’s pray.