Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading 1 John 4:7-21

Good morning church family and friends.

Let us look at the Catechism question this morning.

Q. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

A. God, out of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity, having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation, by a Redeemer.

Pastoral Prayer

Health of the Church, Janie, People Exploring god’s will for their lives.

Let us Pray

We are starting the last chapter of Malachi today as he wraps up his prophecy with a foretelling of the great day of the Lord.

Malachi is a book disputation where he brings forth a series of charges against Israel and then brings forth the evidence as proof to that charge.

These charges should have motivated Israel to repent and to turn back to God but we know from history that they failed to do so.

Have you at any level been motivated to evaluate where you are at in your life?

Have any of the charges against Israel come a little to close to home?

Well they should, we see all throughout scripture that we are prone to wander and turn to our own ways.

Open you bibles to Chapter 4. Stand as we read God’s Word.

Malachi 4 (CSB)

1 “For look, 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 Armies, “not leaving them root or branches.

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.

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 Armies.

4 “Remember the instruction of Moses my servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

5 Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible 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.

Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

In the Hebrew text chapter 4 is not a separate chapter it is a continuation of chapter three.

The text is following up on the end of the last chapter.

Malachi 3:13–18 (CSB)

13 “Your words against me are harsh,” says the Lord.

Yet you ask, “What have we spoken against you?”

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 Armies? 15 So now we consider the arrogant to be fortunate.

Not only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God and escape.”

16 At that time those who feared the Lord spoke to one another.

The Lord took notice and listened.

So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who feared the Lord and had high regard for his name.

17 “They will be mine,” says the Lord of Armies, “my own possession on the day I am preparing.

I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.

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.

The people of Israel had let their desire for material wealth cloud their view of God.

They looked at the prosperity of the wicked in contrast to their own prosperity and had concluded that is was worthless to serve God and that they had not gained what they thought they deserved from God.

They were acting the part but their hearts were not in the right.

But we saw that there was a remnant that feared the Lord and spoke to one another and had high regard for God’s name.

God listened to these people and claimed them to be his possession on the day he is preparing.

He will have compassion on them and once again it will be crystal clear who is the righteous and who is the wicked.

Chapter 4 continues with explaining more about the day of the Lord.

The Day of The Lord

Malachi 4:1 (CSB)

1 “For look, the day is coming, ...

The day is coming...

Earlier in chapter three we saw that God was going to send two future messengers.

We learned that the first was John the baptist and the second was Jesus at his second coming.

This is another reference to a future day of the Lord.

The day of lord can be a little confusing since the phrase is used in multiple ways in the scriptures.

The prophets used it to foretell of events that would take place in the history of Isreal that we have seen happen and far off events that have not happened.

This day is associated with judgement.

When we use the word judgement we usually think of people saying “don’t judge me” or “you are so judgmental”.

The other way we use it today is in the courthouse.

Who here has ever been to a court house and sat before a judge.

I had to once for a car accident that I was in.

What is the role of the judge they are supposed to take the situation and determine who was right or wrong based on a set of standards.

In theory they are not supposed to apply their own biases into the judgement.

They are supposed to apply the law.

We see in scripture multiple times that God will sit in judgement over man.

But unlike worldly judges, his conclusions will be flawless and will be based on the perfect standard of himself.

One of the future judgments we see is the Judgment Seat of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:10 (CSB)

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Romans 14:10 (CSB)

10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister?

Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister?

For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

This is the time where Christians will stand before Jesus and will receive rewards for the good or bad that they have done in their lives

1 Corinthians 3:12–15 (CSB)

12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious.

For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.

14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.

15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.

The good works that come from a saved person will be rewarded and the bad or better worthless works will lead to loss.

We don’t know what the rewards will be or specifically the loss other than the works themselves.

We do know that it is not the condemnation of our sin because the Judge Jesus already took on that punishment for our iniquity.

There is the judgment of the Nation Israel

Ezekiel 20:33–38 (CSB)

33 As I live—the declaration of the Lord God—I will reign over you with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath.

34 I will bring you from the peoples and gather you from the countries where you were scattered, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath.

35 I will lead you into the wilderness of the peoples and enter into judgment with you there face to face.

36 Just as I entered into judgment with your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you.

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

37 I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant.

38 I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against me.

I will bring them out of the land where they live as foreign residents, but they will not enter the land of Israel.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Here God will remove the rebels from the nation of Isreal.

This will bring them under the new covenant of Jesus.

The Jews that will be saved will be saved by grace through faith.

Then there is the judgement of the nations seen in Joel and what is called the sheep-goat judgement that is in Matthew 25.

There is also the Great White Throne Judgement in Revelation at the end of this world.

Revelation 20:11–15 (CSB)

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.

12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.