Malachi Series
“The Burning Hell”
Mal. 4.1
August 3, 2013 Chester FBC Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A In WWII, the Allies raided various parts of Europe during the course of the war, it was June 6, 1944 that we call D-Day.
1 There have been numerous judgements of God on His people & the nations, but there will also be a final D-Day of the Lord.
a A day when history reaches its climax.
aa Government/world systems will end.
bb Christ will establish His reign as King of king, Lord of lords.
cc The lost will face the Great White Throne Judgement.
b The Day of the Lord will be the beginning of eternal grief/doom for the unsaved.
c The Bible teaches three great periods that may be called days.
aa Day of Guilt: Days before Christ.
bb Day of Grace: Time since the death & resurrection of Jesus.
cc A days is coming that will conclude the day of grace, The day of the Lord.
2 For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the Lord of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch." Mal 4:1 (NASB)
a Malachi’s words denies the teachings of . . .
aa Universalism: “We’re all gonna go to heaven.”
bb Liberalism: “There is no hell.”
cc Humanism: “Human kind can perfect themselves.”
dd Atheism: “No God or afterlife.”
b Not everybody is going to heaven, hell is real, nobody is good enough to make it to heaven on their own and God is real and there is something after this physical realm is over.
B Both testaments (Old & New) end with the declaration of the final state of humanity.
1 Malachi & Revelation both tell of judgement for the wicked & blessing for the righteous (Those who serve Him and those who don’t)
Malachi 3:18 (NASB) 18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.
2 This one verse gives us three truths about this great & terrible day.
I It is a future day.
A Through the centuries, many dark shadows have fallen across this sin-cursed planet.
1 In the days of Noah, God sent the flood all but 8 souls perished.
a It was a dark day when God brought fire & brimstone on Southern Israel, destroying her leading cities, Sodom & Gomorrah.
aa Babylon, said to be invincible, experienced a time of darkness when the hand of God wrote upon the wall an announcement of impending judgement.
bb Darkness engulfed Israel when the Roman army marched in by the tens of thousands, leaving death & destruction in its path.
cc What an awful day it was when the bubonic plague took the lives of 30 million people in Europe.
b Many are living today who remember the dark clouds of destruction during WW I & WW II that took so many lives.
aa Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan.
bb 9/11, War on Terrorism
2 This old world has seen dark times, but the darkest day of all is still ahead for an unredeemed world
a Malachi is so sure, adamant about that coming the Lord’s coming D-Day that he says it twice in this ONE verse (4.1)
Malachi 4:1 (NASB) 1 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the LORD of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."
b Malachi’s combination of words, “For behold, the day is coming” in the Hebrew is very emphatic that “the day” is just around the corner.
c Just as surely as the sun rises in the east, that day is on its way & this old world is closer to His return with each passing day.
B Where will you be in that future day?
1 It is not a question of “if” the day comes but rather “when” it comes.
a There will be hiding, accepted excuses, bribing, no avoiding it.
b The only place of safety, cover, security is in Christ.
2 Romans 8.1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
3 Safety will not be found in a place, but rather a person.
C IL.
II It is a fearful day
A Malachi uses two images related to fire to describe the destruction of that terrible day.
Malachi 3:2 (NASB) 2 "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
1 The first image he uses is a burning oven “. . . burning like a furnace.”
a Not burning chicken on the stove/grill, but more accurately like a blast furnace. (Consumed, devoured in flames/heat).
b This furnace could burn to wasn’t even any ash to burn. All consuming fire!
2 The second image is of a fire sweeping across a field consuming the entire plant.
a Usually a fire leaves something behind after it dies down, but God’s fiery judgement is so fierce that nothing remains.
aa In this fire not even the root remains. New life will not sprout there!
bb Entirely consumed, never to return again.
b Malachi’s description of hell is consististant with other OT prophets.
aa Isaiah 10:16 (NASB) 16 Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
Isaiah 30:27 (NASB) 27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place; Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke; His lips are filled with indignation And His tongue is like a consuming fire;
Jeremiah 21:11-14 (NASB) 11 "Then say to the household of the king of Judah, 'Hear the word of the LORD, 12 O house of David, thus says the LORD: "Administer justice every morning; And deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor, That My wrath may not go forth like fire And burn with none to extinguish it, Because of the evil of their deeds. 13 "Behold, I am against you, O valley dweller, O rocky plain," declares the LORD, "You men who say, 'Who will come down against us? Or who will enter into our habitations?' 14 "But I will punish you according to the results of your deeds," declares the LORD, "And I will kindle a fire in its forest That it may devour all its environs."'"
Joel 2:1-3 (NASB) 1 Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, 2 A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations. 3 A fire consumes before them And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.
Zephaniah 1:14-18 (NASB) 14 Near is the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. 15 A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. 17 I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against the LORD; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD'S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
bb When we take these passages & then study the New Testament, a terrifying picture of burning judgement emerges.
B Jesus spoke of a “fire that is not quenched” (Mark 9.43-48)
Mark 9:43-48 (NASB) 43 "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44 [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] 45 "If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, 46 [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] 47 "If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, 48 where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.
1 He told a story of a rich man who went to hell & cried out, “I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16.24.)
Luke 16:24 (NASB) 24 "And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'
a He told His disciples about the tares burning at the end of the age,
Matthew 13:30 (NASB) 30 ~'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'"
b Paul wrote, “...the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” 2 Thess 1:7-8 (NASB)
c In Revelation, accounts of God’s judgement are given that speak of fire falling from heaven upon this sin-cursed earth
Revelation 8:7-8 (NASB) 7 The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8 The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood,
Revelation 13:13 (NASB) 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
Revelation 20:9 (NASB) 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
d It is recorded the Great White Throne Judgement, those who reject Christ will be bound and cast into the lake of fire
Revelation 21:8 (NASB) 8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
2 Hell is a real place.
a A place of eternal torment, worm never dies, separation from God, friends, lonely.
b Where will you be on that day?
C IL
III It is a final day
A The final words of this verse are simple, yet are pack full of symbolism; “root nor branch.”
1 The root of plant is its beginning, origin, birth; it’s branches are its future.
a When God destroys one’s root, He removes his/her history and heritage in complete obliteration.
aa All your awards, accomplishments, and acclaims.
bb In hell there is no past, nothing to draw satisfaction.
cc Won’t remember the “good times” you had on earth, no good memories to recall, only retribution for sin.
b The branch bears fruit & represents future.
aa When people reject the Gospel of Jesus, people are cut off/separated from God.
bb They cannot produce spiritually.
2 As long as we are alive we have the opportunity for people to repent and come to Christ for salvation.
a As a born again Christian you can “reproduce” yourself spiritually.
b However, those who reject Christ have no future outside of eternal retribution for sin. (In hell, the lost have no future, no possible hope.)
B In Dante’s Inferno, he paints poetic in graphic detail the levels of hell.
1 Dante’s theology was weak, imagery is primitive, but what he says written over the door of hell strikes every person who reads this power poem: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter in.”
a The great day of judgement is eternal and final. (No do-overs, mulligans)
b There are no prison breaks, no possibility of parol, no getting out early for good behavior . . . it is final.
2 Who will face this final judgement?
a Malachi tells us. “ . . . and all the arrogant & every evildoer.”
aa “arrogant” means “to boil over.” & evildoer means “to labor, to toil, to earn wickedly, by fraud, unrighteousness.”
bb It means any person who has tried to get to heaven, avoid judgement in some other way than Jesus Christ.
cc Malachi is speaking of those who are boiling over with self-justification/self-righteousness.
b There is earning, working your way into heaven!
C
Conclusion:
A If you are without Christ, you are not self-sufficient!
1 Nobody can save themselves!
a There are no self-righteous people in heaven.
b Only those have turned to Jesus Christ (The rest burn in an eternal lake of fire forever and ever.)
2 Last Sunday night I explained that eternity has two sides to it.
a Blessing & judgement
b Turn to God today by putting your faith in the death of Jesus for your sin.
c The Bible says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
aa He is waiting for you to call upon Him right now.
bb What are you waiting for?
B IL
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Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
