Malachi 4:6

0:00 All right, let's go ahead and jump in. Turn to Malachi. You can find that on page 801 in your pew Bible. Like Greg said this morning, Malachi was the last prophet of the Old Testament period. He prophesied some 400 years before the coming of Jesus. And our verse tonight is actually Malachi 4.6, which is the last verse of the Old Testament, the last word of God to his people until Jesus would come.

0:32 Let's read our verse for tonight. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. So who is the he that's referred to in verse 6 here? We just need to look up one verse there, look up in verse 5. the he was Elijah not Elijah reincarnate but the prophet who was promised to come and prepare the way for Jesus who would be like Elijah and as we saw this morning that person was John the Baptist and what was he supposed to do again turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers that might sound a little bit confusing so let's do a little explanation. The key word in this phrase here is turn. You see that word? He will turn the hearts.

1:31 It's the same word that's often translated as repentance. To turn. To turn away. Most commentators are actually convinced that this verse, this idea, is a hearkening back to the fifth commandment. So if you know the ten commandments, the fifth commandment was to honor your father and mother. This is the relationship, the first one that you have with other people in this world, which means it's likely the first people that you're going to sin against in this world. It's not like God is unconcerned about other relationships that you have with people, though.

2:07 It's more likely that this relationship, the parent to child, is meant as a stand-in representative of all of our relationships. That's why Peter, even in his letter, can say, Honor everyone. God is concerned about how we treat everyone in this life, not just our parents. And in our relationships with other people, particularly in a community like in the community of Israel or in the community of this church, we sin against each other. And that sin creates division. And that division can only be healed when there's reconciliation. And reconciliation comes through repentance. So here's the main idea for our sermon tonight. The main idea, repent and be reconciled or be destroyed. Repent and be reconciled or be destroyed.

3:05 Point one, repent, turn away from your sin and be reconciled. Repent, turn away from your sin and be reconciled. Turn, repent. God promised that the Elijah to come would preach a message of repentance. And sure enough, if you read the Gospels, that's exactly what we see. John's message was to repent, flee from the wrath to come. So, repentance, what does it mean?

3:38 What does it look like? Well, fundamentally, like we see in our passage here, it's a turning, right? It's a turning away. So if sin is over here, and I am turned towards my sin, I need to turn away from my sin. But of course, as I'm turning away from something, I'm also turning towards something else. That's called faith. That's what we call faith. So repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin. Christian repentance is when you turn away from your sin and turn towards God in faith. Repentance is the proper response for someone who has been convicted of sin. God commands it of everyone because we're all sinners.

4:26 We've all rebelled against God in all kinds of way. You need to be reconciled to the God who created you. You need forgiveness from him, not primarily from other people, but from God. You need forgiveness from God because it's God that you have offended primarily. Of course, you have offended other people, and you should seek their forgiveness, but your primary need as a fallen human being, as a sinner, is to receive forgiveness from God and to be reconciled to him.

4:59 Flip the page over to Malachi 1. Look at verse 6. A son honors his father and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? Then look down at chapter 2, verse 10. Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? God is our father, and we have dishonored him.

5:35 you're a sinner. Deep down, you know it. You've sinned against God. And maybe you're here tonight and you're not convinced of this yet. Maybe a friend brought you here or your parents brought you here and you're not convinced that you're a sinner. Keep thinking about this idea. Talk with your friends this week. Talk with your parents. Let me be clear. We don't think as members of third avenue, that we're somehow better than you. No, we are sinners just like you. The difference is we've been reconciled to God by repenting and believing in Jesus Christ, and we intend to follow him, Jesus, the one who saved us by his perfect life, his death, and his resurrection. That's the foundation of our faith. We've been forgiven. We've been reconciled to God. I do want to be clear about one thing, though, when we talk about repentance. Repentance is not a work that we do to somehow

6:36 earn God's favor. Repentance is a gift of grace, just like faith. God gives the grace of repentance and faith. We see this even in our statement of faith as a church, because we find in Scripture that faith and repentance are not a work that we do to somehow earn God's favor. They're actually a gift that he gives to us. And I think the Pharisees in Jesus' day missed this point. We're going to get into this as Greg continues through Luke, but the Pharisees and other Jews in Jesus' day read passages like this in Malachi, and they were very confused. We often think of the Pharisees as the bad guys when we're reading the Gospels. But really, they weren't really bad the way we think of bad today. They weren't out there robbing banks, selling drugs. These guys were morally upright, good citizens in their day. And their entire project, as they read passages like

7:39 this in Malachi, was to get Israel to clean itself up, and then the Messiah would come and wipe out their enemies, which in their day was the Romans. They thought they could force God's hand through their obedience, but the problem was they're trying to earn their salvation, which is why they constantly came into conflict with Jesus. This actually comes to a head in Luke 15, which we're going to stay on brand, Malachi, Luke, we're going to stay on brand here, But in Luke 15, Jesus gives a parable of what it looks like to truly repent.

8:18 So turn over real quickly with me to Luke 15. Luke 15, verses 1 and 2. Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. Now look down to Luke 15, 11 through 32. You've probably heard this story before. There's a father, he has two sons, and the younger son demands that his inheritance, which he should only get when his father dies, be given to him now.

8:53 And his father gives it, and he takes it, and he squanders it all. And in his poverty, he dreams of going back to his father and begging to just be a servant in his household. Pick it up in verse 20. And he arose, that's the younger son, and came to his father. But, while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.

9:24 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. For this son was dead and is alive again. and he was lost and is found, and they began to celebrate. But the story doesn't end there. It keeps going. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing, and he called to one of the servants and asked what these things meant.

9:57 And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound. But he, the older brother, was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, Look, these many years I've served you, and I never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.

10:30 And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. The younger son was truly repentant. He was welcomed by his father, but the older was left outside, trying to earn his father's approval. Good works and repentance do not earn salvation. Salvation is a gift from God.

11:02 You don't need to clean yourself up before putting your faith and trust in Jesus and repenting. You can do it right now. Of course, even as Christians, we still continue to sin, and that sin causes divisions among us. Becoming a Christian doesn't mean that you stop sinning, and therefore, you have to keep repenting. It's certainly something that we struggle with. Amen, that's right, me and you, John. You're all part of a family, you're part of an extended family, you're part of a church family, you've probably experienced the consequences of unrepentant sin.

11:41 Maybe there's a strained relationship in your own home, maybe between you and your spouse or you and your children. Maybe an extended family member had an argument over Thanksgiving or Christmas or Easter that just happened. Someone got a little carried away. Someone said something they shouldn't have said. And now it's awkward because someone has sinned and they refuse to repent. So there's a separation. Someone needs to repent, but they won't do it. Are you that person? Do you need to repent of something and you haven't done it? What's holding you back? One of my favorite movies, I like to watch it every year, is Home Alone. Home Alone. I've watched it dozens of times. I can quote most of it. Keep the change, you filthy animal. One of my favorite scenes in that movie is when Kevin finally talks to old man Marley in the church. Do you remember this scene?

12:44 Kevin's been so afraid of this guy for the whole movie, and Marley comes and sits down right next to him in the pew. Old man Marley says, you want to know the real reason why I'm here right now? Sure. I came here to hear my granddaughter saying, and I can't come here tonight. You have plans? No, I'm not welcome. At church? No, you're always welcome at church. I'm not welcome with my son. Years back before you and your family moved on the block, I had an argument with my son.

13:19 How old is he? He's grown up, we lost our tempers, and I said I didn't care to see him anymore. He said the same, and we haven't spoken to each other since. If you miss him, why don't you call him? Why don't you call him? Do you need to call someone? Do you need to text someone tonight? What's stopping you from reaching out and starting a conversation and apologizing? What's the worst that could happen? They decide not to forgive you?

13:51 Why worry about that? You can't control what someone else does, but you can repent and apologize when you've done something wrong. There's a beautiful scene at the end of Home Alone when Kevin is looking out the window, it's snowing, and he sees Marley embracing his son. They've reconciled. God wants us to repent, and repentance leads to reconciliation. So why do we struggle with it? Well, oftentimes, if we're honest, it's because of our own pride.

14:23 We don't want to admit we're wrong. We think that somehow if we admit our sin or our guilt, people will think less of us. So we blame shift. We act like nothing's wrong. But sin creates a separation, and it's separated us from our God. And if we refuse to repent, then judgment awaits us, which leads to point two. Point two, God will destroy the unrepentant. God will utterly destroy the unrepentant.

14:56 If you repent and turn away from your sin and turn towards God in faith, then he will save you. But if you don't, then you will face the wrath of God. Does that sound harsh? That in the end, God will judge and destroy those who refuse to repent. i think to non-christians and to the world it does sound harsh if god is loving why doesn't he just let everyone off the hook god is loving but he's also just would you actually want to believe in a god who ignores sin god is just and he has the right to judge why does god have the right to judge? At the end of time, why is he the one who will decide our fate? Well, let's think of a few of God's attributes just for a minute. God is perfect, like perfectly perfect in every way.

15:56 He's perfectly holy, completely pure. He has never sinned or committed a single wrong. No one can accuse God of showing partiality or taking a bribe. He's perfectly good. There's no evil in him whatsoever. No evil motives, no intentions, no evil actions. Furthermore, God knows everything. He knows everything you've ever done, I've ever done, everything that's ever happened. He knows it. There's nothing hidden from his sight, and he knows all of your thoughts. So when you are judged, God will have all of the facts. He's not going to be missing that one piece of evidence that would get you off the hook. God is all-powerful. There's nothing that can stop God or stand in his way. When God plans or purposes to do something, he's going to do it. So we

16:58 can be sure that God is going to carry out this judgment. So when it comes to the question of who would make the best judge, it should be obvious at this point. It's God. I think though at the center of God's right to judge is the distinction between creator and creature. God is the creator. We are his creatures. God made us. We did not make him. He made everything. Everything that exists was created by him and belongs to him. He created everything from nothing.

17:36 So it's kind of like house rules. You know house rules. Have you ever played a game like pool or billiards, as fancy people call it? If you've ever played pool, you know that depending on whose house you're in, the game slightly changes, right? What happens when you knock in the white ball? That's a scratch. But what happens when you scratch? Do you get to pull out one of your opponent's balls and put it back on the table? Do you get to place the white ball wherever you want? It depends. Whose house are you playing in? It's kind of like that with God. Except with God, He created everything.

18:17 His house is the entire creation. So he gets to decide the rules. Not only did he create you, but he's also sustaining your very existence. Every moment, every breath we have is from God. He could flip over the table in an instant and the game would be over in the blink of an eye. Because God created you, he has the right and the authority to tell you how you should live. He has every right to judge your thoughts, your desires, and your actions, and he will.

18:50 Look at Malachi 4, 1 and 2. We read it this morning in our service, and it starts the passage for tonight. For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all the evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You see, the mercy of a passage like this in Malachi and so many other places in the Bible is that God has announced the coming judgment in advance.

19:30 God has spoken clearly. The question is, are you going to listen and act? Listen. You need to repent now, before it's too late. Turn away from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. He will save you from the coming judgment. There will be no excuse on that day. When you read the prophets and you look at the passages that are talking about the coming Messiah, you often read about God's salvation and God's judgment, and it sounds like it's all going to happen at the same time.

20:05 It's all simultaneous. Like, when the Messiah comes, God will save his people and destroy his enemies immediately. This is something that was very confusing to the people of Israel in Jesus' time on earth. When it became clear that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, they assumed from reading these passages that he was going to wipe out their enemies. The Romans are toast. So it didn't make sense to them when Jesus was captured, tortured, and crucified by the Romans.

20:38 But here's the thing. There was a first coming, and there will be a second coming. The Son of God came down once on a mission, but His mission was to save sinners like you and me. Praise God that it didn't all happen at once. Yes, Jesus defeated our enemies, sin, Satan, and death, but He also died for His enemies, you and me. Now is the time to repent. You know what happens in the end.

21:09 It's been announced. There will be a second coming. Jesus is coming back. And he will utterly destroy all of those who refuse to repent. But for now, there's still time. There's time to repent and be reconciled. So what are you waiting for? Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that you are a merciful God and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

21:43 Father, we praise you for your perfect holiness and righteousness and justice, but also for your mercy and grace on us. Father, we pray that anyone who has not put their faith and trust in Christ would do so soon. Don't let them delay one bit. God, we pray that you would turn their hearts towards you. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.