The Last Word

Introduction:

· Sunnyslope on a Sunday morning...

AS THE CURTAIN FALLS ON THE OLD TESTAMENT, WHAT DOES GOD HAVE TO SAY TO A GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT NEEDS?

I) A Day Will Come When God will Punish Evil (vs. 1)

A. A Day is Coming When God Will Punish Evil

i. God has set his electing love on His People (Malachi 1:2)

Malachi 1:2 ESV

“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob

1. From the very beginning God had chosen this people to receive His Love!

2. Everything else: Chastisement? Warning? Comfort? All rooted in THIS!

ii. God’s judgment is portrayed as a fire that will consume evil entirely

1. ILLUSTRATE:your sacrifice vs. neighbor’s; honesty vs. dishonesty

2. QUOTE: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends…”

3. Yet it seems that evil sometimes wins?

a. Internet scammers never get caught

b. Sometimes our understanding is limited

c. Sometimes human justice cannot adequately punish evil (Hitler)

B. A Future Day Will Come when God Will Punish evil (vv. 1, 5)

i. A Greater Day of the Lord is Coming when All Creation will be purified

1. Heaven: not disconnected from here and now, but a perfection of it

2. ILLUSTRATION: Back to the Future II

ii. A comfort for the weary righteous

1. Better than John Lennon’s “Imagine” -- life without it!

2. What would life be like without bitterness? Lust? Racism?

BUT THERE’S MORE.

II) A Day is Coming When God Will Vindicate His People (vv. 2-3)

A. The Hope of Vindication for God’s People (vs. 2)

i. God will heal the deep wounds of our world

1. The sun of righteousness is the dawn of goodness after the darkness of evil

2. EXAMPLE: When we look around and see…One day light will dawn!

3. The healing in the wings is God’s commitment to remove all scars of sin

4. EXAMPLE: What scars/hurts might God heal: Divorce; other person’s sin

ii. God will restore the righteous to a position of authority (vs. 3)

1. In politics, business, it seems that cutting corners àsuccess

2. In God’s kingdom, the righteous govern while wicked come to nothing

B. Living in the Hope of God’s Future

i. Confident in this hope, we must examine our lives

1. Sometimes those who are identified with God’s people are complacent

2. Are you living for temporary and momentary that iwll come to nothing?

ii. Confident of this hope, we must live with radical trust in God’s judgment

1. Confident in God’s judgment, we can have patience in adversity

2. EXAMPLE: Khen in India in the face of persecution

HOW DO WE GET READY FOR THIS DAY? LOOK AT WHAT MALACHI TELLS US.

III) We Can Prepare for God’s Rescue (vv. 4-6)

A. A Calling and A Promise:

i. The call: Remember your identity (vs. 4)

1. God had elected His people to a covenant which required obedience

2. You and I are not just chosen for heaven, but for holiness

ii. The Promise: God send one to prepare His people (vv. 5-6)

1. Just as Elijah called for repentance, another Elijah would come

2. For those who don’t repent, God would hand them over to destruction.

B. The Hope of Rescue that God’s People Need

i. The Messenger:

1. An unhappy ending: For 400 years, God’s people would wait in silence

2. Advent we hear bout John who came to prepare the people

ii. The Savior

1. Jesus is the sun of righteousness who rises with healing in his wings

2. Jesus is the one who “remembers the Law, statutes, and rules” perfectly

3. Jesus is the greater Moses who leads a better Exodus from sin

4. Jesus will come on that great day of the Lord bringing purifying fires

5. But on the Cross, Jesus was handed over to utter destruction and consumed in the oven of God’s wrath for our salvation

Transition:

Conclusion