Malachi: Epic Instructions

Malachi closes with two key instructions for God’s people: rely on God’s Word and anticipate God’s future work. The command to “remember” the Law means to obey and apply it, not merely recall it. The prophecy of Elijah was fulfilled through John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus Christ. The message reminds believers that Scripture is their foundation and that they can live with hope because Christ has secured salvation and will one day return.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Garible Grace Chapel Podcast, where we value the expository preaching and teaching of the word of God for the purpose of life transformation. If you have your Bible, I would encourage you to open it to the book of Malachi. The book of Malachi. By way of reminder, Malachi was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah. He prophesied to the people roughly 100 years after their return from the Babylonian exile. The temple had been rebuilt. The worship of Yahweh had been reinstituted. However, things were not going as planned. The people were not faithful to the Lord. The priests and other leaders of the nation were corrupt. And so consequently, they were struggling. And they began to doubt God's love for them, God's plan for them. They even doubted God's justice. They were looking around at some of the other pagan nations and they appeared to be blessed, and yet the people here in Judah, Israel were struggling. And as we have noted throughout this series, the book of Malachi is structured around six disputations. And so the Lord would bring a charge against his people, the people would dispute the charge, and then God would prove his case. Now, we have already looked at the six disputes. Today we look at the epilogue or epilogue of the book. An epilogue is when content has been added to the end of a book that kind of wraps it all up or answers lingering questions or hints toward future events. And as you will see, this is exactly what Malachi does at the closing scriptures. So if you have your Bible open to Malachi chapter 4, we will read verses 4 through 6. And this is from the English Standard Version. Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. And so those two verses we could summarize into one sentence, or those three verses we could summarize into one sentence, and it would be Malachi presented God's people with epic instructions. So from that we learn God's people are presented with epic instructions. What are the epic instructions? There are two epic instructions presented to God's people. The first epic instruction presented to God's people is to rely on the word of God. Look at the text, it's Malachi chapter 4 and verse number four. It reads, Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. And so we see from that particular text that the prophet Malachi instructed God's people to rely on the word of God. And he accomplished that task by calling on the people to remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and the rules that I commanded him at Horah for all Israel. Now that word remember does not mean to think back upon something with fond memories. It doesn't mean that word remember doesn't mean to think back with nostalgia. For example, those around my age or thereabouts, give or take, 10 years north or south of me. You may think back upon your childhood with nostalgia, especially if I say blockbuster. Do you remember that? Do you remember what it was like on a Friday night after school and you were gonna have your friends spend the night and your parents took you to Blockbuster? You think back to a time, for you young people, that was like Netflix, but in a store. It's kind of how it went. You go pick out whatever you wanted to watch. If I, some of you older generation, if I said something like, Do you remember three on a tree? You would probably think back with some nostalgia. For you young people, you know, there was a time when you could shift gears up here on the instead of down here. So they call it three on a tree. Do you remember? Hey, here's a good one. Do you do you remember landline telephones? Do you remember when they were attached to the wall? But the cord was like 12 foot long? You could walk around? Do you remember rotary phones? Uh-huh. Time was much simpler back then, wasn't it? Or at least we thought. You know, when I use that word remember, that's typically what we think of. We think of nostalgia. You know what I mean? Like, like, oh, I think about fondly to those days. But that's not what this word means here. This word remember. When the prophet Malachi said, remember the law of my servant Moses. It meant to observe. Obey. Apply. It's not just think about it as in, oh, that was so nice when God gave Moses that law. Man, that was so, those were the good old days. No. Observe. Obey. Apply. That's what the prophet was saying. Remember the law of my servant Moses. And we know that the prophet is specifically talking about the law word of God. Because he goes on to say, remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and the rules that I commanded him and Horeb. Horab is also known as Mount Sinai. So it was a place where God gave Moses the law. It's a place where God gave Moses the word. It was summarized in the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments. But the rest of like Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and so on is okay, how does the Decalogue or how does the Ten Commandments, how do the Ten Commandments apply in everyday life? And so the prophet Malachi is telling the people, remember that. Not just so you could recite it in fond memory and think about when you were a little kid in kindergarten learning the Ten Commandments. No, it's the summarization of the law, and then the rest of the Old Testament in effect is how does that apply in everyday life? The historical books of the Old Testament show what happens when a people no longer remember the law word of God and instead they reject the law word of God. The prophets of the Old Testament use the law word of God to call the people back to covenant faithfulness, saying, this is what it looks like to faithfully serve God in your life, in your home, in your church, and in the nation. And of course, he reminds them that there are blessings for being faithful to the Lord and there are consequences for being unfaithful to the Lord. And so the prophet Malachi is saying, remember the law of Moses, and this takes on profound effect. The reason why it's called an epic instruction is because of this fact alone. I want you to listen to this. This was the last prophetic message to the people of God for 400 years. From the close of the Old Testament to the open of the New Testament, there was no prophet speaking inspired words from the Lord, and no scripture was being produced. And yet the Lord, through the prophet Malachi, said, Don't worry about the silence. Everything that I wanted you to know, I've already spoken. It is in the word of God. And so rely upon the word of God. Now, as we can see, the first epic instruction is to rely upon the word of God. And you close the Old Testament and you open the New Testament, and now you have Jesus, the Son of God, who is walking on the face of the earth, and he is in his earthly ministry, and in his earthly ministry, he held people accountable to the written word of God. Listen to this in Matthew chapter 15, verses 1 through 6. Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat. He answered them, And why do you break the commandment of God? For the sake of your tradition. For God commanded, honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say, if anyone tells his father or his mother what you would have gained, me is given to God. He need not honor his father. So for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. The scribes and Pharisees were trying to accuse Jesus and the disciples of not following their tradition. He said, Why do you break the tradition of the elders? And Jesus came right back at them. And he said, Why do you break the word of God? And of course, he used an example about people not fulfilling their responsibility to their parents, meaning to make sure that they were taken care of if they needed financial assistance or something along those lines to help them. Instead, they they had a tradition where they could kind of get around that and keep all the money for themselves. And he said, Jesus said, What you've done is you have made void the word of God. See, Jesus pushed people back to the written word of God. If you would read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7, it's a constant thing. Jesus was constantly pushing people back to the word of God, the written word of God. You see this again in Matthew chapter 23 and verse 23. Jesus says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe meant and deal and cumen and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. In other words, it wasn't just about action, it's what does the Bible say about justice? What does the Bible say about mercy? What does the Bible say about faithfulness? And so on. He was constantly pushing people back to the written word of God. And I can tell you today, we are instructed to rely on the written word of God. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 through 17, we are told that all scripture is breathed out by God. It's breathed out, it is inspired by the Holy Spirit, breathed out by the voice of the Lord. It is breathed out by the Holy Spirit. And it is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be equipped or complete, equipped for every good work. Notice that we are told to rely on the word of God because it's inspired by the Holy Spirit and it is profitable for everything that we need in order to be complete and equipped for every good work. And just in case you're wondering, yes, that includes the law word of God. In other words, that includes the Old Testament as long as it is properly interpreted and applied to today's life. Let me give you an example from the scripture in 1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 8 through 11. Paul is writing to young Timothy, and he writes, now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. So Paul here clearly states that the law is good when it's used lawfully. In other words, we have to apply it today in the light of Jesus and his ministry and his death, burial, and resurrection, and so on. But we never discard the law word of God. It is still binding today, even upon people. And it is not in contradiction to the gospel. In fact, Paul made that very clear at the end of that text. He said, you know, he goes through a list, and of course he didn't list all the sins. It's impossible to do that. But he said, whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel. And so we are told, clearly told, to rely on the written word of God. Furthermore, let me challenge you with this thought. Furthermore, we are to rely on the written word of God because we're in a very similar situation to the people of Malachi's day. When Malachi prophesied this to remember the law of Moses and so on, it was the last prophetic message given to the people of God for four centuries. And he said, never mind that, rely on the word of God. So it is for us today. When the canon was closed, when the New Testament was completed, depending on how you date the book of Revelation, it could be pre-AD 70, or it could be sometime mid-90s, like 95 AD. Doesn't really matter which view you hold, because at the end of the day, it's over 1900 years. So let's just say, let's round up for easy figuring. Let's say 2,000 years. There has not been an inspired prophet in 2,000 years speaking the very words of God, and there is no new scripture being added. I'm not saying that the Lord doesn't impress upon people's heart to go minister to someone or to encourage someone or to remind them of the scripture or anything like that. It's not what I'm saying at all. I am saying there has not been a Jeremiah walking on the land for 1900 years. There's not a Daniel walking around, and there hasn't been for 2,000 years. In the absence of that, what we do have is the word of the living God. This is exactly why Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 that the scripture, all scripture, has been God-breathed. It is inspired by the Lord. Listen to this text in Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 2. Long ago, at many times, and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. And Ephesians chapter 2, verses 19 through 21, we read. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens. But you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, and whom the whole structure of being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. The scripture clearly teaches us in Ephesians chapter 2 that the apostles and the prophets are the foundation of the church. With Jesus Christ, of course, being the cornerstone. Everything has to line up to him and on him. Let me rephrase that. Meaning, no, if you go back and read Acts chapter 1, if you go back and read Acts chapter 1, when they talked about apostles and having to select an apostle to take Judas' place, they had to meet three requirements. And there is nobody on the planet who meets them today. And again, there's no prophet in the sense of Malachi or Jeremiah or Ezekiel or Daniel and so on. That foundation has been laid. When you build a house, you only lay the foundation once. You don't build a foundation and then build another foundation and then build another foundation and then build another foundation. No? You do the foundation once. Unless it was messed up. It's a bad foundation. You gotta start all over. Well we know the Lord doesn't mess up. And the apostles and the prophets laid the foundation. And everything that the Lord wanted us to know, He has enscripturated. It is in the written word of God. And we are to rely on this word. So that today, when people are prompted by the Holy Spirit to go and to encourage someone or to give them a message, they're not producing scripture. They're operating from scripture. See the difference? They should be driving people back to the word of the Lord. This is how you know when someone is off and when they're not. Even Paul told the church at Court, in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, to weigh what is said. We are to weigh, we are to that's only to judge the spirits. How do we do those things? By the written word of God. So I think it was, I think it was Vody Bachmann who who said this in a sermon. You know, obviously before he passed away, he said, the Bible says, Trumps any, I feel like the Lord said. Listen to that. The Bible says, Trumps any, I feel like the Lord says. Because I feel like the Lord says has to square with this. And it has to rest on this. This is the foundation. The word of the living God. Given to us by the apostles and the prophets, and of course, Jesus Christ being the cornerstone. In other words, what I'm trying to communicate to you is the value of the word of God that we have. Everything, according to Peter, everything that the Lord wanted us to know and to have for godliness and holy living, He has given to us in His Word and through the power of the Holy Spirit. So, my friend, what I'm challenging you to do is to rely on the word of God. This is what keeps you centered. This is what keeps you focused on what truly matters. If you spend way too much time listening to media, if you spend way too much time listening to the people on the fringes of the Christian movement. Instead, when you stay in the Word of God, you recognize clearly that there are problems. Clearly, the world is not in a good position right now. But at the same time, what you see is the hand of the Lord shaking things so that what remains are things that are built and lasted upon the kingdom of God. Some of the chaos that we see in the world right now is actually the enemies of God turning and devouring one another. Because their worldviews aren't built on the foundation of the Bible, and so it is destined to crumble. So, my friend, I'm here to encourage you today, rely on the written word of God. This is how you know what you're quote-unquote hearing, what people are saying to you, in your prayer time. This is how you know what spirit it's coming from. So it is vitally incumbent that you follow this instruction and rely on the written word of God. Amen. All right, two of you agreed. Thank you. It's important. It's important. It's so important that we're told not to even add anything to this book or take anything away from it. Look, if you will, in Revelation chapter 22, verses 18 through 19. The apostle John writes, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life in the holy city, which are described in this book. Now, obviously, in proper context, John was speaking of the book of Revelation. But the principle certainly applies to the rest of the scripture. In fact, you read something very similar in the book of Psalm. Psalm says the same thing. His word is steadfast, it's insure. And if you add anything to this book, you will be proven a fool. In other words, at some point, everybody, you will be exposed as adding to the book and being false. We can't add anything to this book, and we can't take away anything from this book. We have to preach the Bible for what it is and what it says. Whether we always like the message, and whether or not it always agrees with our denominational or fellowship standards that we say we agree to. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. So Malachi instructed the people to rely on the word of God, and then he instructed them to anticipate the future. And they were to anticipate the future by anticipating the coming of Elijah the prophet. Now, the coming, we're told here in Malachi 4, verses 5 and 6, that the coming of Elijah would precede the great and awesome day of the Lord, which the people in that time would have understood as some type of judgment. And then they're told that as they anticipate the future, this coming of Elijah, that the coming of Elijah would produce some sort of revival. And it says it this way: the hearts of the fathers would be turned back to the children, and the hearts of the children would be turned to their fathers. In other words, when the prophet Elijah came, there would be some type of revival in which the group, God's people, from old to young would turn back to the faith of their forefathers that was clearly given to them, and that that would also bring a sense of cohesion among the family of God so that their hearts would be turned toward one another. Now, I submit to you that the coming of Elijah has already occurred. It occurred figuratively and literally. And his coming preceded the great and awesome day of God, and it produced a revival of sorts. Let's look at this. First, the coming of Elijah has been fulfilled figuratively in the ministry of John the Baptist. And this is clearly told to us in Scripture. Let's look in Luke chapter 1, verses 13 through 17. So the proposition is the promise of Elijah was fulfilled figuratively in the ministry of John the Baptist. And the angel declared this to be so. Listen, in Luke chapter 1, verses 13 through 17. But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord, and he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before them, or he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. The angel clearly told Zechariah that his son would come in the power of Elijah. And it referenced the very text that I'm preaching from today. Where do we read that? Today in Malachi 4, verses 5 and 6. And just in case that's not enough proof for you, Jesus declared that John the Baptist was the Elijah to come. Listen to this in Matthew chapter 11, verses 10 through 11. This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. This is the one I've told you about. Later he goes on to say, and if you can receive it, this is Elijah to come. Jesus made it very clear. This is Elijah. Speaking of John the Baptist. And when John the Baptist came, in the spirit and power of Elijah, he did produce a revival of sorts, just as the word said that the hearts of the fathers would be turned back to the children, and that the hearts of the children be turned back to the fathers. In other words, they they would look to the faith of their forefathers. They would serve God. And they would know it. It would be evidenced by the application of the law word of God throughout the land. I'm gonna read a long passage of scripture. I want you to follow along with me. It's Luke chapter 3, verses 2 through 18. You know what? Let's pick up in verse 7. In Luke chapter 3, verse 7, the first part is clearly saying this is Elijah. I mean, this is John the Baptist in his ministry. But listen to this in verses 7 and following. He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers. Who warns you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father, for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And the crowds asked him, What shall we do? Now think about what he just said. He said, Hey, I'm calling us back to our faith. I'm calling you, and don't say, Well, we have Abraham as our father, we're part of the covenant people. Because if you're not following and you're not applying, you're not obeying the lawword of God, you can be dismissed, and God will raise up children to himself. And they're like, What do we do? And now you begin to see this turning in their hearts. They're what do we do? What do we do? And listen to what John the Baptist says. Verse 11. And he answered them, Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none. And whoever has food is to do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Collect no more than you are authorized to do. Soldiers also asked him, And what should we do? And he said to them, Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages. As the people were in expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to unite. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And goes on to describe some of what that would look like. The point is, for our message today, when John the Baptist was ministering, people were asking, What do we do? What do we do? Notice, he pointed them right back to the law word of God. This is what you do, this is what it looks like. When God really gets a hold of your heart, when there's really a revival in the land, this is what it looks like. When there's true revival in the land, it doesn't look like mass people coming to service for a week. Those are good, those are needed. Times of refreshing, absolutely, not opposed to that whatsoever, but you can't call that a biblical revival. What is a biblical revival? It's when God changes culture because God has changed the human heart. And all of a sudden, you now what do we do? And you begin to search the word of God because the word of God tells you what to do, the word of God tells you how to live, the word of God tells you how to order your home, how to order your business, how to order your priorities, how to order your money. It's all in the written word of God, and you begin to see a revival that shakes the nation. So we see that the coming of Elijah has been fulfilled figuratively in the ministry of John the Baptist. But second, I submit to you that the coming of Elijah has been fulfilled literally during the ministry of Jesus. Look at this text. It's Luke chapter 9, verses 28 through 31. Now, about eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him: Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Now it's interesting, isn't it? You know, we know this, we refer to it as the Mount of Transfiguration, where Jesus goes to the mountain and prays, and he was transfigured. Peter, James, and John saw a glimpse of his glory. But they also saw two other people appear on that Mount of Transfiguration who was having a conversation with Jesus. And we're clearly told they were Moses and Elijah. And what I find fascinating is Moses and Elijah lived centuries before Peter, James, and John. But when they got a glimpse, they knew who they were. Kind of a side note here. I'm kind of looking forward to going to heaven. I mean, I don't know that I want to go like right now. I want to see my grandkids. I want to see my great-grandkids. I want to advance the kingdom of God on this earth. I want to take territory from the devil before I go. But I'm looking forward to getting there. And when I get there, yeah, I'm going to see my loved ones. Absolutely. But more than that, I want to see some of these biblical characters. And I use that word in the strictest sense of the form, that they're real. They were real people and individuals that God used. Imperfect real people that God used. And I look forward to asking them some questions. Of course, when we get there, I probably won't because I'm going to be confronted with the Lord Jesus Christ and I won't be able to say a word. But think about this for a second. They knew who they were. And it's interesting that Elijah not only appeared figuratively in the person of John the Baptist, if you will, he also appeared literally on the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus was talking. And what were they talking about? It's interesting. In Luke chapter 9 and verse 31, it says, and they were talking about his departure. In Greek, that word departure is Exodus. Yeah. And it's meant to cause that image to come to your mind. As soon as I said Exodus, you start thinking about Moses, don't you? As soon as I say Exodus, you start talking about coming out of Egypt in the Red Sea. Absolutely. That's the point. Luke 9 said they were talking about his departure. They were talking about his exodus. That he was about to accomplish, Jesus was about to lead an exodus for his people from sin to salvation, from oppression to deliverance, and his death, burial, resurrection, his ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That the Bible specifically tells us is a reference to the great and awesome day of the Lord. Listen in Acts chapter 2, verses 16 through 21. Remember, the day of Pentecost had fully arrived. The Lord poured out the Holy Spirit as he promised. People were wondering what's going on. Peter stands up to preach, and part of his sermon goes like this. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be, God declares, and I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy, and I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire, and vapor of smoke, the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the Lord comes. The great and magnificent day, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Clearly connecting the two. And you may think, wait, wait, wait, you said earlier that the great and awesome day of the Lord they would have understood it's a day of judgment. Malachi's audience would have understood it's a day of judgment. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. When Jesus Christ went to the cross of Calvary, it was a part of this great and awesome day of the Lord. It was there at the cross, according to John chapter 12. That the world, the enemy, was judged at the cross. In essence, Christ died on the cross of Calvary, and he bound Satan at the cross of Calvary. Furthermore, your sin, my sin, was atoned for on the cross of Calvary. Every single one of them. When Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross of Calvary, he was the propitiation, he was the one who bore the wrath of God. The wrath of God should have been poured out on you. The wrath of God should have been poured out on me. Instead, Jesus satisfied the wrath of God by dying in my place. It was indeed a great and awesome day of the Lord. And because he did this, not only did he provide salvation for his people, but it kept God from striking the entire earth and land with utter destruction. Think about this for a second. Look, look, go back to Malachi chapter 4 and verse 6. Malachi 4, verse 6 reads, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Lest I come and strike the land with the decree of utter destruction. There are two ways to read that. Lest I come. To you know, strike the land with the decree of utter destruction. The ESB and others translate it, lest I come. And it kind of leaves the impression that this is like a warning. Like if this doesn't happen, then I'm coming and I'm bringing destruction. But the other way to read it is this the Lord is going to send Elijah. These things will happen so that I don't come and bring utter destruction. And I believe that's the way the NASB translated, and I think it is the proper translation in this particular verse. In other words, God took the initiative to secure the salvation of his people, to provide a covenant representative in the person of Jesus Christ, who would faithfully fulfill the word of God, faithfully fulfill the law word of God. Elijah came in the form of John the Baptist, preached, turned people's hearts back to the law word of God, but they couldn't do so faithfully. And so Christ did, and he died in their stead to pay for their sins. And the reason why I'm saved, and the reason why you're saved if you're a child of God, it's not because of anything that you do, it's not because of anything you've ever done, and it's because Jesus Christ accomplished it for you. You are in Christ. Romans chapter 5. And because he took that curse upon himself, the Lord didn't have to come and smite the earth with utter destruction. Galatians chapter 3, verse 13 tells us Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, curse is everyone who is hanged on a tree. He removed that from us. So that now we can have blessings in Jesus Christ. And so the people of Malachi's day was to anticipate the future because of all of these things. We are on this side of Calvary. And we look back and we say, Thank God for the cross of Calvary. That it saved us. We are now children of the Most High God. And we too can anticipate the future. Because we know one day Jesus Christ is returning. And when he returns, he will fully and finally judge sin. And all those who died in rebellion to him and who rejected the word of God, who rejected Jesus Christ, will be summoned. They will stand before him. They will be found guilty, and they will be cast into a lake of fire. And we don't say that with glee. We stand that, we say this with a sense of warning, saying you need to repent and come to Christ, or that is your fate. Those of us who are saved, we look forward to that day that Jesus Christ returns. We anticipate the future. Because the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then those of us which were alive and remain shall be caught up in the clouds to meet with them, and so shall we forever be. What a great time that's gonna be. And then it will be the vindication of the saints. God will make everything right. And so us as children of God can anticipate the future. Because Jesus Christ has already accomplished the victory on the cross. And we can have everything we need to know to live a godly and holy and Holy Spirit, powerful life right now in the earth, advancing the kingdom of God, because he has given us everything we need to know in the written word of God. Amen and amen. Will you stand to your feet with me this morning? Two epic instructions were presented to God's people in the epilogue of Malachi. The first epic instruction presented to God's people is to rely on the word of God. Oh church, I challenge you today. Fall in love with the word of God. Read it, study it, know it. The second epic instruction presented to God's people is to anticipate the future. If you're a child of God, you can anticipate the future because you're ready due to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can anticipate the future of a victorious kingdom right now on the earth. And you can anticipate the future because one day Christ is coming back to right all the wrongs. And we get to spend an eternity with the one that we sing about, we preach about, we pray to. We can anticipate the future. If you are not a child of God, unfortunately, you don't have much to look forward to. In fact, if you're not saved, if you're not a child of God, like this is your best life. This is as good as it's ever gonna get for you. Think of that for a moment. Why? Because you're so dead in your sins. You're in rebellion to God. You reject his word. You reject Christ. And if you die in that state, you will spend an eternity separated from God in something we call a lake of fire. A second death. If the Holy Spirit is dealing with your heart, you can repent and place your faith in Jesus Christ. And what he did on the cross of Calvary. He was your propitiation. He bore the wrath of God on the cross. He was your substitutionary atonement. He died in your place. So I'm pleading with the Holy Spirit is dealing with your heart. I can't explain that to you. There's no formula, but you know it. You know when you're wrestling with the Holy Spirit in your heart, and when he's dealing with your heart, I challenge you, repent and place your faith in Jesus Christ. There's no magic formula, there's no magic words you can say. It's simply crying out to God, God, I repent and I trust in Jesus as my Savior. And if you made that commitment today, please let someone know. Because that's the first step of living for God. I'm Dr. Jason Murphy, proclaiming grace, transforming culture.