The Day of Judgment Is Coming!

22nd Sunday after Pentecost Malachi 4:1-6 The Day of Judgment Is Coming! I. When the evil will burn II. When the righteous will shine Why is it that people don’t like to talk about Judgment Day? After all, we live our entire lives facing judgments. As children, we hear from our parents what’s right and wrong. They instruct us on what is acceptable behavior and what isn’t. And when we choose to violate that code of behavior, we can expect our parents to make a judgment which usually involves a punishment. Children who disobey have their privileges revoked and their freedoms curtailed severely. A student in school faces the judgment of his or her teachers every school day. What’s the teacher’s judgment about my homework? Did I pass or fail that test? When the end of the semester or the end of the year arrives, will I pass the class? Will I be recommended for the next grade or for graduation? And those judgments follow us into the field of employment. Like it or not, as an employee you are being judged on your performance every hour of your working life. Is your work acceptable or not? Is your work worthy of a pay increase or not? Are you capable of handling an increase in responsibility or not? Will you retain your position or will it be eliminated? Every one of those involves a judgment. So, if we’re so familiar with judgments in so many areas of our lives, why do people avoid the subject of God’s final judgment on the Last Day? For one reason, it means they are not the masters of their own destiny. They are accountable to a much higher power. For another reason, they want to live their lives as they please without any repercussions. Live and let live. Thirdly, if there is a judgment, then they have a lot of explaining to do and/or a lot of damage control to perform and the time is short. It’s just much easier to deny the Last Judgment or to avoid thinking about it. But the Last Judgment is real. It will occur, like it or not. And no amount of wishing it away will do any good. This morning’s text from Malachi leaves no misunderstanding about that fact. “Surely the day is coming.” We need that reminder, because it’s likely we don’t want to think about it as well. But, as Malachi explains, we, as God’s people, can actually look forward to it. The day of judgment is coming! Let’s find God’s comfort in that truth this morning. Part I. For decades, perhaps centuries, people young and old have enjoyed games in which the player tries to remove a small piece of the structure without causing the structure to collapse. Are you familiar with such a game? At first, the removal of certain pieces of the structure is harmless and you can readily see that. But as the game progresses, each piece removed becomes more and more critical as the structure becomes less and less stable. Sadly, too many Christians like to play a similar game with the truths of God’s word. Like small pieces of a structure, they like to pull certain truths of God’s word out and ignore or deny them. For instance, many Christians deny that the Bible is God’s word. Others deny God’s almighty power in creating the heavens and the earth and human life. Still others deny one or more of the miracles of Christ. Still others deny this one, “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire.” People want to remove this piece in the structure of the Christian faith. They want to deny that a judgment will occur which will consume every unbeliever. But do you see what collapses if there is no judgment, if there is no punishment in hell for those who don’t trust in Jesus? Then Jesus was useless. He came to save us from nothing. What’s more, this plan God formed and worked out to send Jesus as the Savior was a complete waste of divine time and almighty effort. Finally, it means that God is a liar and the Bible is nothing but a cruel joke from cover to cover. To prevent us from removing the Last Judgment from the structure of our faith, the Bible emphatically announces it. The Last Judgment is announced on the opening pages of Genesis and on the closing pages of Revelation, and you can find it everywhere in between. You have to work hard to deny that the Bible teaches there is a Last Judgment or to deny that the Bible teaches there is a hell. God speaks about it here in our text as a testimony against those who attempt to do so. What’s more, he does so as a harsh preachment of his law against careless sinners. Do you know people who don’t care how many sins they commit as long as they don’t get jailed for it? They live their lives as if they’re accountable to no one. If it helps their cause, if it’s to their advantage, if it will make them feel good, they do it. But that’s not us. At least I hope not. So, why do we need the reminder of the Last Judgment? Because it reminds us of what God thinks about sin. How often every day do you make light of sin? You know it’s wrong to talk or think that way, but you do it any way, figuring that God doesn’t care. But he does care. He punishes sin with burning hell. He also reminds us of the Last Judgment to convince us of our sinfulness. The worst thing I can do when you come to church is to give you the impression that you’re OK with God just the way you are. That’s why we begin worship with an honest confession of sins. “Lord, I have sinned against you countless times in the past week.” That’s being honest. God’s judgment drives us to it. And, lastly, the judgment drives us to our Savior. We’re helpless. We don’t have an alibi. We can’t justify ourselves before the holy God. We desperately need a Savior. Do you feel that need? If not listen to this voice, “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire.” My sins reveal my arrogance and evil. How about yours? We need a Savior. Part II. But isn’t our God a loving God? How can a loving God condemn us? You can’t pit God’s perfect love against his perfect justice. He must punish sin or he wouldn’t be just. But his love for us caused him to punish his Son instead. You see, our God isn’t all about condemning sinners to hell. Our God is all about saving sinners from hell. He loves sinners so much—each and every sinner—that he sent his Son as our Savior from sin. We’ll celebrate the account of that Savior coming to this earth in a little more than a month. God the Son, who is eternal—as the Father and the Holy Spirit are—took on human flesh and blood in the womb of the Virgin Mary and was born into our world. He did that in order to live a perfect life for us and die as the punishment for our sins. Out of love for us the Father sent him to be that Savior and out of love for us Jesus carried out that work perfectly. God’s glory is not in seeing how many sinners he can send to hell. God’s glory is in saving sinners from hell. That’s what our text reveals with these words, “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.” Do you revere God’s name? In other words, do you love and adore what God says about your salvation? Your salvation is not your own work in any way. It’s the work of your God. When you trust your God to save you through Jesus Christ, you’re revering his name. Your God shares his glory with you by faith in Jesus Christ. Like the sun whose rays bring warmth and light, so also your God brings you spiritual healing and eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ. That’s what your God wants for you. He doesn’t want you condemned in the judgment; he wants to save you. And therein lies your confidence in the Last Judgment. You don’t have to wonder what your God will say to you on the Last Day. In the words of Jesus himself, this is what he’ll say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Mt. 25:34). He will say that to the righteous, to those whom he declares to be righteous by faith in Jesus. He will say that to you. Perhaps another reason we don’t like the thought of the Last Judgment is that we know what’s at stake—our eternal future. But Jesus doesn’t want you spending your days wondering what his judgment of you will be. He tells you in advance. The day of judgment is coming, a day when the righteous will shine. That’s what awaits you by faith in Jesus. Christian, be confident of it! Amen.