Introduction

Friends, some mornings feel like the sky forgot to wake up. The headlines are heavy, our homes can be hurried, and our hearts carry more than they let on. Yet right in the pages of Scripture, God promises a sunrise. Not just any sunrise, but the “Sun of righteousness” with healing in His wings. Can you imagine that? Warmth touching the cold corners of your soul. Light stepping into every shadow you’ve tried to outrun. A holy hush over the noise that nips at your heels.

Malachi wrote to people who knew long waits and weary weeks. They wondered if God still saw, still spoke, still saved. Maybe you’ve asked the same question in your car, in your kitchen, in the quiet half-lit room where sleep wouldn’t come. Does God set things right? Does He heal what hurts? Will He keep His word? The last chapter of the Old Testament answers with a firm and fatherly yes. God keeps His promises. He heals His people. He turns our hearts back to Him and back to each other.

Listen for the lyrics of grace here: fire that purifies, wings that heal, hearts that turn. Feel the cadence of hope: the Day is coming; the Word still stands; God sends a voice—Elijah’s echo—to call us home. If your faith feels thin, let this be fresh wind. If your courage feels cracked, let this be strong glue. If your family feels frayed, let this be a gentle seam.

John Wesley once said, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven upon earth.” That kind of holy hunger is the fragrance of Malachi 4. Fear God’s name, and there is healing. Remember God’s law, and there is steadiness. Welcome God’s messenger, and there is fresh turning of hearts.

So today we listen for the Lord’s footsteps and we lean toward His light. We welcome a word that sifts and saves, that corrects and comforts. We ask for holy awe to rise, for humble obedience to grow, and for heaven-sent courage to carry us into the week ahead. Are you ready to receive healing under His wings? Are you ready to stand steady on His word? Are you ready to live with the simple strength of Elijah-like faith—bold love, bright hope, and a burning devotion to the Lord?

Before we pray, hear the Scripture in full.

Malachi 4:1-6 (KJV) 1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. 4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Opening Prayer: Father, thank You for Your faithful word and Your forever love. Let the Sun of righteousness rise over us with healing in His wings. Warm our cold places, straighten what is bent, and strengthen what is weak. Teach us to fear Your name with glad and trusting hearts. Help us remember the law of Moses, to receive it not as a burden but as a blessing, a lamp for our feet. Send, O Lord, the Spirit and power of Elijah—courage to speak truth, compassion to mend relationships, and conviction to set our hearts fully on You. Turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and children to their fathers. Turn our homes into havens and our church into a beacon. On the great and final Day, find us faithful and full of hope. We ask in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.

The Great Day Brings Judgment and Healing

The prophet points to a day that is set by God. It is not vague or hazy. It is sure. He calls it a day that burns like an oven. That picture lands. Heat that reaches the core. Heat that does not miss a corner.

The proud and those who practice harm are called stubble. Dry. Light. Quick to catch. The warning is plain. When God sets the fire to what is false, nothing holds. Neither root nor branch remains. The source and the spread of evil end. The field gets cleared.

This fire is not wild rage. It is holy and measured. It aims at what destroys life. It removes what poisons homes and cities. It tells the truth about deeds and motives.

There is a kindness in that firmness. Victims are not forgotten. Secrets do not stay buried. Cruel gains do not last. God will not leave the world stuck in cycles of harm.

Then the tone shifts. For those who honor God’s name, a bright morning rises. Not a small light. A full sun. Strong light. Steady warmth. It brings clean air after long smoke.

Ancient people spoke of the sun’s rays as wings. That is the picture. Healing rides on those beams. Old wounds begin to close. Infections of the soul meet a true cure. Shame loosens. Strength returns.

The text says the faithful go out and leap like well-fed calves. Picture a barn door open. Animals that were kept for a season, now set free. Heads up. Feet light. Space to move. Joy that shows in the body.

This is more than relief. It is growth. It is wholeness. It is steady energy for work and worship. It is a good appetite for what is right. It is laughter that was lost.

There is also a hard line in verse three. The people of God tread on the wicked, who become ashes underfoot. This line is not a call to violence. It is a picture of a world finally safe. The fire has done its work. The ground is no longer dangerous.

Ashes mean the end of the threat. No more ambush. No more fear on the path. People can plant and build. Courts can rest. Songs can rise in the open.

Justice and peace show up together here. Wrong cannot stand up again. Right has room to breathe. The land gets a future. The faithful can get on with holy tasks.

Right after the promises, there is a call to remember the law given through Moses. Memory matters. What God said before still holds now. This is how a people stays steady while they wait. This is how they stay ready when the day breaks.

Statutes and judgments are not random rules. They form a way of life. They shape markets, meals, and meetings. They guide speech and money and mercy. They keep worship tied to daily choices.

God also speaks of a messenger in the likeness of Elijah who comes before that day. This is mercy. He gives warning. He gives preaching that wakes people up. He gives help for the heart.

That work touches families first. Fathers and children turn toward each other. Cold eyes warm. Bitter words quiet. Promises are kept again. Trust grows where it was thin.

When hearts turn, communities heal. Violence loses ground. The soil of a place is spared from ruin. The day does not catch people asleep. It finds them alert, humble, and ready.

Remember the Law and Keep the Covenant

Malachi places a clear charge in front of us: “Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO