✎ Once upon a time there were two young men who were good friends and successful entrepreneur. By the way, not all stories that begin with “once upon a time” are make believe. Walt, who was anxious to show off his new idea, drove his new convertible over to pick up Art. The two drove forty-five minutes outside their southern-California city. Walt parked the car in an orange grove and said, “Get out of the car; I want you to see this.”
“See what?” Art replied . “All I see are some orange trees.”
“No, no, no! I don’t see orange trees,” Walt said shaking his head. “ I see a family fun park. Art, I want you in with me on the ground floor of this thing. We’re going to build a family fun park here. People will bring their families and have picnics and enjoy rides and have a great time”
Art couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Who in the world would drive 45 miles out into the country for a family fun park?”
Walt continued to try to convince his friend to join him as a partner, but Art adamantly refused to invest any money in Walt’s hair-brain idea. Art focused his attention to his successful radio show “Art Linkletter’s House Party.” What would you have done if you were in Art’s shoes? Some of you have figured out who Walt is haven’t you?
Meanwhile, Art’s friend Walt Disney went ahead and bought the orange grove and turned it into Disneyland; maybe you have heard of the place? Later Art Linkletter admitted, “If only I’d seen what Walt had seen; I’d have put my money into that investment and I would be a wealthy man today.
Someone has said, “Hindsight is 20-20.” How many investors would have pulled their money out of the dot.com market, if they had only seen it’s downfall before it happened? If you could know what stocks were going to yield big dividends and which ones were going to hit rock bottom over the next year you could make a lot of money (and if you know, please share your secret with the rest of us too!).
How would you live your life differently today if you knew what would happen tomorrow? Imagine what it would be like to never be caught off guard by the unexpected.
God knows what tomorrow holds. The future never catches God by surprise; God does not wring his hands saying, “Oh if only I saw that coming.” God know what’s coming tomorrow, but He also holds the future in His hands. God is in control; nothing can or will ever happen without His knowledge and approval!
We have spent the last 8 weeks looking at the prophet Malachi, the Final Prophet. Malachi offers us Godly insight for today. This morning we’re going to look at “Preparing for The Day of Christ’s Return.” God wants us to be prepared for Christ’s return! The Old Testament ends with an important reminder from God; the best is yet to come!
+ Read: Malachi 3:17 – 4:6
THE DAY
One phrase is repeated five times in the final eight verses of Malachi: the day. This day is the focus of this passage. It is
● the day God acts on behalf His treasured possession.
● the day coming that will burn like a furnace.
● the day coming to set the proud and wicked on fire.
● the day when God will act.
● the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Malachi’s message was to prepare God’s people for the coming of the Messiah. The people of Malachi’s time understood “the day” to refer to what we know as Christ’s first coming; the day we celebrate as Christmas, yet Malachi sees Jesus’ birth and beyond seeing Christ’s second coming.
“The Day” which Malachi writes about is still to come. We are looking forward to the great and glorious day when Jesus returns to take us to be with Him.
The interpretation of “the day” referring to Christ’s first coming and the second coming is not a double interpretation; rather it is a successive fulfillment. In other words; Jesus’ first coming prepares the way for the day of His second coming.
The Hebrew verb “bā’” translated “coming” is an active verb; God has set the coming of the day in motion. God is not sitting in heaven doing nothing just waiting for the day to arrive. God is active in the coming of the day; He controls the future and is dynamically involved in making the day a reality; the day is coming!
Let’s try a simple illustration to better understand the successive fulfillment for the coming of the day.
✎ Imagine you have moved to a beautiful beach front home on the Pacific coast (we’re using our imagination, so you may as well have your dream house). The movers have just left and you are faced with the daunting task of getting settled in. That’s when the phone rings. I call and say, “Hey, I’m coming to see you and your new home.” Just what you wanted was company right? Well you want to make a good impression so you try to organize a few boxes, but you’re tired from the big move and you fall asleep. Morning comes and you realize you must have missed me. The phone rings again; its me “I’m on the way, and will be there soon.” Click. Again you start unpacking boxes to make some sense of things; you wouldn’t want me to see your house so disorganized. The day comes and goes, but I never arrive. Morning again comes and I call again, “Hey I’m on the way over; I’ll see you soon.” You think to yourself, “Right that’s what you told me before,” but you tell me you’re looking forward to seeing me. Again you work on getting more boxes unpacked and things put away. This continues for a week. On the eighth morning I call again; by now you’ve stopped using your alarm clock because I’m calling you every morning. Again I tell you, “I’m on my way over to your new house; I can’t wait to see you. I’ll be there soon!” You’re thinking “yea, and Christmas is coming too!” Today you decide that everything in the house is finally put away and you’re not going to just sit around and wait for me to come. You’ve been waiting for me to come for a week and I haven’t showed up yet; today you’re going to finally go out and enjoy the beach. As the sun sets into the Pacific you walk back up to your house and find a note taped to the door. It says, “Drove eight days to get here, but you weren’t home. Sorry I missed you! Pastor.”
Right from the start I was actively coming to see you. My overnight stay in Cincinnati, Kansas City, Denver, Las Vegas, or any other city along the way did not prevent me from coming. It takes awhile to drive from Ohio to California, but I was getting closer all the time!
God controls the future; He has set in motion the events which will culminate on the day of Jesus’ second coming. Just because He has not come yet doesn’t mean He won’t come. Step by step God is putting everything in place for that day of Christ’s return.
What will the day be like? Malachi makes three prophetic announcements about the day of Christ’s return.
1. A DAY OF FINAL RULING
+ Malachi 3:18-4:1 18And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. 4:1"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the Lord Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. (NIV)
Christ’s return will bring God’s judgement; Jesus has been given the authority as a judge to make the final ruling.
+ 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 6God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (NIV)
When the final ruling is made, God will make everything right. The day of judgement will be a day of vindication for the righteous. The people of Malachi’s day like many today: accuse God of ignoring the wicked.
+ Malachi 3:14-15 14"You have said, ’It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? 15But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’ " (NIV)
The consequences of sin may sometimes be immediate. Sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancy are consequences of sexual sin. Sudden death or injury in an auto accident can be an immediate outcome of drunkenness.
Not all consequences of sin are immediate. Sometimes we may be tempted to think people get away with their sin. The day Christ makes the final ruling, the ultimate distinction will be made between the righteous and the wicked.
For the wicked the day will bring devastation and terror . Just as flood waters brought judgement in the days of Noah, the fire will burn the wicked like kindling. Fire will bring total destruction; “not a root or branch will remain.”
For the righteous the Day of the Lord will not bring death and despair; the Day brings healing and hope.
2. A DAY OF RESTORATION.
+ Malachi 4:2-3, 6 2But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the Lord Almighty. . . 6He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." (NIV)
Can you picture the contrast Malachi presents here? For the wicked the day comes with judgement fire consuming everything it touches. For the righteous “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”
+ Romans 8:19-22 19For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse. 21All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. (NLT)
The curse of sin will be broken once and for all! Everything will be made new.
+ Revelation 21:4-5 4He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone." (MsgB) 5He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." (NIV)
The Day of the Lord will be glorious! Creation will be restored to the way it was before sin entered into the world, and we will be with the Lord forever!
Are you looking forward to that day? I have good news; you don’t have to wait for that day for God to begin to make all things new in your life. “Today is the day of salvation!” (See 2 Corinthians 6:2).
+ Isaiah 53:5 4Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (NIV)
What do you have need of from the Lord today; forgiveness, deliverance, healing, peace, strength? Ask and you will receive.
The Day of the Lord is a day of the final ruling, a day of restoration and,
3. A DAY OF REWARD
+ Malachi 3:17 17"They will be mine," says the Lord Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. (NIV)
Jesus will return again! On the day Jesus ascended into heaven His disciples were told, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11 NIV).
Malachi describes Christ’s Second Coming as though it were a single event. However, the Bible shows us a series of events taking place leading up to Christ’s physical return to the earth. Before Jesus sets His feet on the Mount of Olives as He left His disciples, Jesus will come in the air to catch away His own to be with Him in heaven. This event is called the rapture.
What is the rapture? While the word itself does not appear in the Bible, it is a biblical teaching of being “caught up in the air” with the Lord.
+ 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words. (NIV)
Debate abounds as to when the rapture will happen. Why does such confusion exist? God didn’t give us a time line. We think of time as linear, but God stands outside time. When we try to decipher the events of Revelation and other prophecies about the second coming, it is like trying to lay out in a straight line everything picked up and swirling around in a tornado.
The three main teachings about the timing of the rapture center around its relationship to the tribulation, a seven year period of time when the AntiChrist comes to power. Thus the rapture is thought to take place “pre-trib,” mid-trib, or “post-trib.” So which is it? Could it be none of the above?
Malachi alludes to the rapture giving us one clue as to when it will happen.“ ‘They will be mine,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him’ ” (Malachi 3:17 NIV).
The rapture will take place “pre-wrath” or before God begins to pour out His judgement. In God’s compassion and mercy God will spare the righteous from His anger.
You and I may endure hardship and persecution. Jesus said, “Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you” (John 15:20 MsgB). We may also live to see the rise of the AntiChrist; the rapture is not our “escape plan.” The rapture is God’s mercy and compassion for His children. The coming of the Lord and the rapture is close at hand. You and I are not to debate the timing of the rapture; we need to be ready for the rapture!
The day Christ comes to catch us away to be with Him will be a day of reward. What greater reward can we receive than to be with Jesus, the one who loves us?
+ Revelation 19:7-9 7Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) 9Then the angel said to me, "Write: ’Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ " And he added, "These are the true words of God." (NIV)
The day is coming. God has revealed through the prophets what is going to happen in the future. How should you and I live our lives today because God has shown us what the future holds? How should we live in light of tomorrow?
1. Maintain your relationship with God.
+ Malachi 4:4 Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. (NIV)
Malachi is not calling people to legalism; he is offering us a relationship with the living God. Malachi’s message began by expressing God’s love for His people; “ ‘I have loved you,’ says the Lord.” (Malachi 1:2). The love of God is the foundation for Malachi’s message.
Malachi ends by calling us to remember God’s law. What is a the heart or center of God’s law?
+ Deuteronomy 6:5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got! (MsgB)
Jesus said loving God was the first and the greatest of all the commandments (see Matthew 22:36-37). If we are going to be ready for the Day of the Lord then we too need to remember the Law; “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul mind and strength.”
Let’s be careful not to let sin seduce us and separate us from God. Don’t focus on religious duty; build an intimate and loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
2. Be a modern day Elijah!
+ Malachi 4:5 See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. (NIV)
The heart of God in Malachi is a message of mercy and redemption. Yes, God will separate the wicked from the righteous, but he is sending out the message, “Turn to me; be ready.” YOU ARE HIS MESSENGER!
+ 2 Corinthians 5:20 We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, "Be reconciled to God!" (NLT)
God wants to use you and me as His messenger, a modern day Elijah, to announce His mercy and grace! It’s a simple message: “Be reconciled to God!”
Some say Elijah has already come. Jesus said, John the Baptist “is the Elijah who was to come (Matthew 11:14 NIV), yet when asked if he was Elijah John the Baptist said, “I am not: (John 1:21). Others believe Elijah himself will one day come as one of the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11:3.
John the Baptist was not a reincarnation of Elijah and only God knows if Elijah himself will return as a prophet before Christ’s second coming. Instead of debating whether John the Baptist was Elijah or if Elijah himself will one day announce the coming of Christ, we should ask WHY ELIJAH? Why not Moses or one of the other prophets?
Consider these four reasons why “Elijah” is chosen as the prophet to announce Christ’s return. [1] Elijah fearlessly proclaimed a message of repentance to people saturated with idiolatry and pagan worship. [2] Elijah was faithful to God even while other prophet had gone into hiding. [3] Elijah lived outside the power structure, living much of his life in the wilderness. [4] Elijah was a messenger of the covenant, preaching the Law of Moses.
God wants us to be like Elijah! We are to tell others about the love and mercy of God. You ane I are to remain faithful to God even if we face adversity. We are not to be “of this world;” instead we are to live as “salt and light” being an agent of change in a dying world. We are to announce the New Covenant established by Jesus’ death on the cross and validated by His resurrection.
God used Malachi to prepare His people for the coming of the Messiah. Malachi’s final words offer mercy. The day of God’s wrath and judgement is coming; He will judge sin.
God will send a messenger; He will send you and I as a modern day Elijah to announce God’s mercy.
+ Malachi 4:6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." (NIV)
God wants to use us to proclaim His grace; “Today is the Day of Salvation.” Sinner come to Christ before it is too late.
