Key Truth: A day is coming when God will bring complete blessing to His people and complete destruction to the wicked.

Introduction:

How often do you think about the resurrection and the life to come?  What role does such meditation have in your growth in Christian maturity?

“Now we can see why true faith is so rare: our lethargy makes it very difficult for us to overcome countless hurdles as we strive toward the prize of our high calling.  A huge load of unhappiness almost overwhelms us and the scorn of unbelievers upsets us. We gladly give up the attractions of this life, but then seem to be chasing our elusive shadow as we seek for hidden happiness.  [In short], we feel under attack above and below, back and front, from fierce temptation. Our minds would be powerless to resist, unless they had been freed from earthly attachments and given to heavenly. We can only make real progress in the Gospel when we have acquired the habit of meditating all the time on the hope of resurrection.”

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

Destruction for the Wicked and Blessing for the Righteous:

Malachi 4:1-3

“…believers must also do the work of the prophet in proclaiming the word of the LORD to prepare people for the coming day.  It is the task of the church to warn people of the terrifying devastation to come on those who in arrogant unbelief reject the LORD and care nothing for His word.”

Allen P. Ross, Malachi Then and Now

What role does God’s declaration about the future of the wicked play in what you choose to value in this world?

“We are often tempted to read God’s attitude toward us from our circumstances: if life is going well, we think it means that God loves us, while if we are in the pit of trial and difficulty, it means that God doesn’t see us or care about us.  In the passage, the God-fearers could not read God’s favor from their circumstances: they were still stuck in the same morass of visible problems as before. What they needed to do was to read their circumstances in the light of God’s favor: God declared that they were His treasure.  They belonged to Him, and He would not let them go.”

Iain Duguid & Matthew Harmon: Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi: Reformed Expository Commentary

What role does God’s declaration about the good future of all those who fear His name play in your decision making?

Malachi 4:1-3 teaches us that:

-God has total control over history, and His judgment is certainly coming.

-On that day God will bring complete healing and joy to His people.

-The joy of God’s people, in the day when He acts, is an unbounded joy.