And Lord willing, next week we'll begin back in the New Testament, studying the book of 2 Timothy. So somebody was to ask you this morning, what is your favorite day of the year? Favorite day of the year, Debbie? April Fool's Day. Really, April Fool's Day. And why is that, I gotta ask this one now, I don't even know why if I should or maybe I, but why is it your favorite day of the year? She has an evil heart. Her father, who has known her longer than any of us has, says she has an evil heart. Anybody else? Any Christians here today? What's that? November 24th. Why are you excited about November 24th, Gabe? He's getting married! November 24th. How come you're only excited and she's not? We'll do counseling later. Anybody else have a favorite day here that they're excited? They look forward to every year. Favorite day. October 28th. You better say that one. That's your anniversary. Amen. Amen. Getting some good brownie points there. Anybody else? Christmas. Yep. April 14th. April 14th. What's that day? April 14th. Somebody... Not on April 14th. April 14th. He likes it for some reason. We'll figure it out later. Anybody else? Any day? Christmas, Easter. People love Easter. Nobody said Thanksgiving? Anybody favorite day, Thanksgiving? I love... Thanksgiving, that's, you know, you get to eat good turkey. What do you call a turkey the day after Thanksgiving? Lucky, yep. It got through Thanksgiving. Yeah, that was a bad one. They get bad all throughout the whole... Nobody said the day of the Lord. Ooh. Let's look at Malachi 4.1. It was a trick question. Because look what he says here, for behold the day is coming. And he's talking about the day of the Lord. And as we understand this, the Jewish people understood this because their day begins with night and ends with light. And so the day of the Lord begins with darkness or judgment and ends with blessings and light. And so when it's talking about the day of the Lord in the Bible, it's talking about not just one 24 hour day. It's talking about success. There's events that are going on, historical events that will go on when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back. There will be a time of tribulation upon this earth. And there will be people that will still shake their fist at God and want to die and can't die. And really will not believe in God amazingly during that time, but some will. And then there's going to be a time when the Lord comes back with his saints and then he's going to separate the sheep from the goat. And then he's going to reign on this earth. And then there's going to be a time in Peter that talks about where God burns this earth and burns the heavens. And now we get a new earth and a new heaven. And that's all part of the day of the Lord. He's saying, behold, it's coming. The day of the Lord is coming. We don't know when it is. In fact, be careful when somebody tells you they know when it is. Five times in Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus says, you do not know when the day of the Lord. You do not know. So guess what? We don't know. But the day is coming. And we understand that. And when Christians talk about the Day of the Lord, all they do is like to talk about the blessings of the Day of the Lord. But what we're going to see in this passage of Scripture, he's going to mention in verse 1, those who don't know Christ, what's going to happen on the Day of the Lord. It's very scary, and it should stir our hearts. In verse 2, we're going to see in this chapter, what happens to those who do believe in Christ and have Jesus Christ as their Savior, the Day of the Lord, what that means to them. And in verse three, we're going to see what also it means to them is it's going to be a change that's going to happen with the unbeliever and the believer. In verses 4 to 6, he's going to talk about what do we do until the day of the Lord comes? What does God want us to do? We don't just sit around and wait for the day. There's things to do before that day comes. So, we're going to study this chapter out. Verse 1, he's going to mention what happens to those who don't believe. Verse 2, those who do believe. And verse 3 also. And then verses 4 to 6, we're going to see what do we do while we're waiting for the day of the Lord. Are you with me with the outline? All right, do we got it? Because I am going to take an exam at the end because the cadets are here and I want to make sure that they got it all figured out. If not, they will not eat lunch this afternoon. All right, I'm kidding around. Let's look at this here. The day of the Lord. Let's talk about what it means for those who do not know God, who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior. Look what he says here. He says, but behold, the day is coming Burning like a furnace. In other words, what he's going to say here is the day is going to be like a fire. And it's not an uncontrolled fire. Like we see out here in Colorado when they try to control the fires. And once there's a little burn, forget about it. It goes all over the place. It's burning like a furnace. In other words, this is controlled anger by God. He's not out of control when it comes to his judgment. He's not just, oh, I'm going to judge this one, judge this one, judge this one, out of control. It's controlled. It is against who? Those who are arrogant. You know who the arrogant are? The arrogant are the ones who think they can out-argue God. The ones who think that their words are more important than God's words. The ones when you come to them with a verse, they come back at you with their own arguments and they say, this is more important, this is what I believe, who cares what God says, this is what I think it is. Those are arrogant people. Those are the ones that think, if I am going to serve God, what's in it for me? Or if I am going to live for God, what's in it for me? Or if I am going to be sad about my sin, what's in it for me? They're all thinking about themselves. They're selfish and arrogant people who think they can out-argue God. And so we always go back to the Word and we say, what does the Word say? But they come back with their arguments and think that their arguments are more important than what God says. He's coming against those people who don't want to submit to Him and submit to His Word. And it says here in verse 1, And every evildoer... He brings it all together here. Those who do the things that do not please God. How will they be on that day? They will be like chaff. You know what chaff is? Straw. Like the straw that burns easily. They're not going to get away with this. They are going to burn. You say, what's going to happen to them? It says, the day that is coming will set them ablaze. This is scary talk here. This is talking about conscious torment. When people mention hell, they say, well, hell is just something that somebody goes to it and they're done and then that would, this is conscious torment. They are set ablaze, says the Lord. And not only that, look at this phrase here. It says, says the Lord of hosts, so that they would leave neither root nor branch. In other words, the totality of the suffering. And there is no second chance when the root is gone and the branch is gone. There's no other chance for them to ever bear fruit. There's no other chance that they will have in the kingdom of God. He's saying this. He is stirring our hearts. He's saying that hell is a real thing. It's a real judgment. It is an eternal conscious judgment. It's not like they're annihilated. There is no such thing as annihilation. In fact, in Daniel chapter 12, verse 2, it says, even the unbeliever will be raised again. And so, what he's saying here is there's going to be no second chance. There's going to be eternal conscious torment. It's bleak for the future. Their memory, all that they've done on this earth will be wiped out. You say, why does he start with that? Here's why. Because as Christians, when we talk about the day of the Lord, we make it all about us. And we don't think about what's going to happen to those who don't know Christ. This should stir our hearts. This is not a place they have to go. This is a place that they choose to go. And God has put us here to help them not to go there. And so Malachi, instead of talking about all the wonderful blessings of the day of the Lord that we get excited about, he puts some teeth in this passage and he says, you know what? This is a day that the arrogant do not want to face. This is a day that's going to come and set them ablaze. All their arguments are gone. They're not going to escape it. There is no second chance. And it is eternal. You say, look at verse 2, but what about me? Who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. Watch this. This is beautiful. I want you to look at this verse here in verse 2. But for you who fear my name. He's talking about those who have a real relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who know God and have a healthy fear of His name and esteem His name. Those who are true believers. Now watch this in verse 2. There is a phrase here in this passage that is not found anywhere else in the Bible. This is a beautiful phrase. If you can't underline it in your Bible or highlight it in your Bible or go back to this verse, this is a beautiful, beautiful passage. Look at verse 2. It says, But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise. With what? Healing in its wings. What he's saying is when the Lord comes back, we will be healed completely. You say, healed of what? I'll tell you what. Physical healing. I don't know about, I don't know if it's happening to you, but Lord willing in two months, I'm going to be 50. The body's breaking down. I'm seeing people more and more around me physically breaking down. What is going on? You know what's going on? It's called age. Ran into one of our neighbors. She was in a wheelchair and then she got into a walker and now she's in a... just because of foot surgery. We need physical healing. I'll tell you what else we need in this broken world. We need emotional healing. I mean, it's public all over the news what happened to the Air Force this week with that cadet. If that doesn't break your heart, I don't know what will. And you see young people dying. You see older people dying. My stepfather would have been 31 years yesterday. He is a broken, broken man. We live with hearts that are broken. We are emotionally broken. We go through this life and things happen to us. And if it doesn't affect you, I don't know what, I don't know what, but it's just in your heart, you just ache. God will heal that when he wipes away every tear. Why would he have to wipe away a tear if we weren't emotionally broken? We are emotionally broken people. We are physically broken people. And we are spiritually broken people. And you say, how is this healing possible? As the sun, back then the sun, they would use like an image of a disc with wings. It would bring healing in its wings. And he's saying, the day is going to be a healing to us. We're going to be physically and spiritually and emotionally healed. And the totality of that healing will be healed forever. It's not like we're going to be in heaven for 50 years and stub our toe and start limping around. There will be no death. There will be no crying. There will be no pain. There will be no more of those things. And no more breaking down emotionally, depressed or doubting. All that will be gone. You say, how is that possible? Look with me in Isaiah 53. I'll show you. There's only one way this is possible. Isaiah 53 verse 5. It says this. But he was pierced through, for what? Our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him. And guess what it says here, and by his scourging or by his wounds, we are what? We're only healed because of the death of Jesus Christ. There is no other way we can be spiritually or physically or emotionally healed if it wasn't for our Lord Jesus. He took our sin upon Him on the cross. He died in our place. He never sinned so that we could be healed. Now be careful with this verse. That doesn't mean we're going to be healed today. Some people use this verse, Oh, your back's hurting. Come over here. Isaiah 53, five and by his wounds, you'll be healed. And the guy goes, I still can't move. This healing will come on that day when the Lord Jesus Christ, when we're in His presence. Now, let's go back to this, this is where this gets great. Look at verse two. This is beautiful. Back to Malachi. You say, can it get any better than that? It does get a little bit better than that. Look at this in verse two. It just reminds me so much of our daughter, Ellie. Watch this. It says, but for you who fear my name, the son of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You'll be healed emotionally and physically and spiritually and the totality of that healing. But not only that, we're like cows that are stuck in this pen that can't get out of the bondage of our sin and the bondage of what we're going through in this world. And look what happens here in verse 2. And you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. You say, what is that saying? Well, have you ever been around our daughter, Ellie? When she gets excited, she skips around the house. She'll get excited, she'll read something, she'll just, I'll be, Ellie, what are you doing? She'll. I'm like, what is she doing? And she just. And whenever we see any one of our other kids who I think Ellie's back in the house, you know, she gets so upset. She gets so excited. Here's what he's saying. The picture is we have been in bondage for so long. And on that day, God is going to set us free. And we're going to come out of those stalls like calves that are skipping, just ready, well-fed. It's like COVID when they opened up the Italian restaurants, amen? And you pulled the mask down and you ate. We're going to have the beauty of being free. It's an amazing picture of heaven. On that day, we'll be free from the pain of this world and the emotional bondage that we're in and the spiritual bondage. We'll be free. He's saying the day is coming. For the arrogant, it's not so pretty. But for the believer, it is. And in verse 3, he says this, And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet. Back then they would use ashes when it rains so that people wouldn't slip around. And here's what he's saying. He's saying, now you're being oppressed by the wicked. Now they are getting ahead in life. Now they look like they're blessed. But one day we will show them who is really blessed. There will be a role reversal. They may get ahead in this world right now, but one day we will get ahead. But trust in Christ. You say, how does this apply to me today? Here's how it applies to us today. As excited as heaven is, we should look around at this world and not want anyone to go to hell. I am so thankful that we had over 30 volunteers talking to people about Christ on Monday. And let me tell you, we got all kinds of responses. I asked one guy, what are you going to say when you sit before Jesus and stand before Jesus to wet you in the kingdom? He said, I'm going to say, what the bleep at Jesus. There are people right in our midst who hate God. And I could have said, you know what, go ahead, go say that to him. But I didn't. I said, let me ask you, who is Jesus? And why did he come? And here's what makes him so great. He died for you. See, we don't want them to go. That's why Malachi is stirring our hearts here. He's saying, look, behold, the day is coming. How exciting that is for us. We're going to be like cats skipping around. We're going to be free. But they're going to be in eternal torment. So let that stir your heart and share the gospel and preach the gospel. But don't stop there. In verse four, he's going to bring us back to something. In verses five to six, he's going to make us look ahead at something. In verse 4, He's going to bring us back to the very basics. You say, why are all these problems going on in Malachi? Why are they struggling with greed? Why are they struggling with doubt? Why are they struggling with their marriages? Why are they struggling with selfishness? Why are they empty religion people? Why do they have this empty worship for God? What's going on? Here's what's going on. They forgot about something. You say, what did they forget about? They forgot about God's Word. So what he does in verse four, he says, he doesn't say, read the law. He says, what? Remember. Why is that important? If I tell you, remember the Alamo, what does that mean? Think about it. Act on it. When I say to you, remember Lot's wife, what does that mean? Think about it and act on it. When he says, remember the word, what is he saying? Think about it. Act on it. Don't just read and forget. Or as I love asking people, what did your pastor preach last week? How about this one? After the day goes by, what did you read for your devotions today? You know why? Because we're good at reading. We're not good at remembering. He's saying, remember it. Think upon it. And here's what's beautiful about the Word of God. The more we read it, the more it's just amazing. We can read it a thousand times and new things pop out. He's saying, reflect on it. Remember it and act on it. I like what one guy says, when you have your devotions in the morning, write down a thought that you got from your devotions and think about it throughout the day. Just one thought. Remember the law of Moses, my servant. Even the statute and ordinances which I commanded him in horror for all of Israel. Somebody says, I'm struggling in my marriage. Do you have a book for me? Yeah, it's called the Bible. I'm struggling in this area with doubts. Yeah, it's the Bible. It will talk to every area of our lives. Now, here's the thing. It doesn't tell me, marry Katie. but it will give me guidelines to find a wonderful woman like Katie. And so we go to the Bible. What are we trusting in this church? I don't trust in my dad jokes. Amen. Now what? Amen. I heard one guy say he's never gonna, never gonna get mad at his insomnia again. You know why? Because most of his relatives died in their sleep. No, I better get back to the Bible. Here we go. I just want to see if you trusted in my dad jokes or not. Here's the thing. Here's what's happening. I was reading this article by a guy that wrote how you can turn your church around. Listen to what he said. He said, I turned my church around by changing the name of the church. So next week we're going to be Widefield of Shreema Bible Church. He said he changed the name of his church. This is no joke. He changed the name of his church. He changed the music of the church. And this is what he said. And I started preaching less. And my church grew. Took less Bible. I'm here to tell you, only God's word grows people. And we remember what it says. We live by what it says. He rules, we drool. He says it, we bow down to it. It is what God says, and he says, I want you to go back to what God says. You guys are in this mess, he says here, and he wrote the whole book about it. He says, you guys, because you don't remember what God said. Go back to that. It will help your greed. It will help your selfishness. It will help your worship. It will help your marriage. It will help your life. Remember it. Act on it. And then look how patient our God is. In verse 5, he says this. He says, Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet. Now wait a minute. Didn't Elijah the prophet already come? Yeah. If you ever studied the history of Israel, Elijah the prophet was there. And he was there at one of the worst times. When the people were discouraged and they didn't want to live for God and they were wavering whether they should serve God or not. And Elijah the prophet came and he preached an amazing message. And they saw that the hand of God was with them. And so Elijah was there. So he's saying, what does he mean by sending Elijah the prophet? Well, then John the Baptist came. Remember that? And John the Baptist came and they said, oh, here's Elijah. And they asked John the Baptist, are you the Elijah? And John the Baptist said, no. He came in the spirit of Elijah. And then Jesus said this, he would have been your Elijah if you would have listened to him, but you didn't obey him. So then they thought Jesus was Elijah because Jesus was crying out to the father, oh, he's Elijah, but he wasn't Elijah. Here's what he's saying here. He's saying, look, I've sent one person, you didn't listen. I sent another person, you didn't listen. I sent my own son, you didn't listen, but I'm not going to wipe you out yet. I'm going to send one more. How patient is our God? Let me tell you something, I don't know about you, but that's not my reaction when I see evil in this world. I want God to wipe it out now. And sometimes I want him to use me. Let's be honest. They get us mad, they get us angry, and we are sick of it, and we want them wiped out. And our God is in heaven saying, not yet. I'm giving them one more chance. In fact, the only thing that's stopping the Lord Jesus from coming back right now is souls. He is patient with all, waiting for it all to come to repentance and to the knowledge of truth. And so look what he's saying here. He's saying, Elijah the prophet's going to be coming when? He'll be coming before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He points us to the future. He's not talking about the first coming. He's talking about the second coming. When the Lord Jesus comes and judges, He says He's waiting for that. And there will be another opportunity to people to turn to God. And how do you know they're turning to God? Look at verse 6. This is an amazing verse. He's saying they're going to restore their hearts. He's going after the heart. He's not going after their actions. He's not telling them to cut their hair or put suits on or start doing this. He's going right after the heart. That's what matters to God. And He's going to be turning their hearts. Look at this. Through the preaching of the word, through the prophet that God is using, through the message that God is going to turn their hearts. And how do you know their hearts are turned? Watch this. He's going after fathers. You say, why fathers? Because look at the world we're in. And look at men who are so busy doing stuff that matters very little in eternity, and neglecting the most important thing in their lives, their own children. And they say, I'm too busy for this, and I'm too busy for that, and I gotta do this, and I gotta put food on the table, and I gotta... And even if they're there, they're not there. We were reading in the man code, it killed me when he said that the average father, 30 minutes a day, 30 minutes a week, 30 minutes a week talks to their children. When they're on the computer and on the screens, 44 hours a week. 30 minutes compared to 44 hours. Who do you think has a bigger voice in their lives? They said if the father won't talk, somebody will. So the fathers need their hearts turned. And here's what happens. Children disappoint us, let's be honest. Children don't always respond the way we would like for them to respond. Children sometimes neglect. Children can be very unthankful. Children can say things that really hurt a parent. And so then the parent, instead of turning their heart towards their children, guess what? They turn their heart inward and they don't want to be around their children. Life is better. You know how many times I've heard this and I can't understand this. How is it that your kid got home from college? How was your summer? It's better off that they're not here. My heart breaks when I hear that. I want them here. I want to be with my kids. I want to see how he's skipping all over the house. Even though she does it when I'm trying to study, but it's alright. But to say you want your kid away is because the heart is turned away. But let me now pick on the children for a moment. Look at this. Not only do the fathers have to turn to the children, but the hearts of the children need to turn to the fathers. Because here's what happens, children become this independent, arrogant, think that they can handle life by themselves and they don't need their parents and ignore their parents and forget about their parents and care less about them. That needs to change as well. You say, how do we do that? We preach the word. And the only way that can ever be changed is we preach the gospel. And when God gets a hold of a heart of a parent or a heart of a child, relationships are restored. Because not only is our relationship with him restored, but our relationship with each other is restored as well. I was listening to my hero, Chuck Swindoll. He told a story on how things became so important to him that he forgot about his last kid. He has four kids and the kid was named Chuck. And his wife kept telling him, Chuck, you're not playing with the kid. You're not with the kid. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. Well, the kid finally got bitter at his father. They parted ways. The kid didn't want anything to really do with him. And so 37 years old, Chuck decided to go on a trip with his son. And as they're on a trip, they stopped in the middle of the trip. And he said to him, son, I got to tell you something. I know you're 37. He says, will you forgive me? I have not been the father that I needed to be. I neglected you. I made things important to me that really weren't that important. Will you forgive me?" And the kid crying. And he said, you know what? He said, I'm willing to build bridges to you if you're willing to build bridges to me. And the kid said, yes. And he said, after that, that kid became the closest kid to him in relationship that he had with his other three. There are times when we just have to say, you know what, son, daughter, I am sorry. I have made things important to me that really I've worked myself to death for what? When you need me, forgive me. And there are times when children need to look at the father or the mother and say, mom, I haven't treated you in the way that I should have. I haven't glorified you, God. I haven't glorified God in the way I treated you. My attitude towards you has been wrong. Will you forgive me? That's the gospel. Gospel brings those relationships back together. When we accept Jesus Christ, Because here's what he says, if that does not happen, look what's going to happen in verse six. So that I will not come and smite the land with the curse. In other words, what he's saying here is that if this doesn't happen, if you don't allow my word to change your heart, restore your heart and your relationship being restored, there's going to come a day when you're not going to have a chance. And we don't want that to happen. I was looking and I shared with some of you some of the last texts I had with my mother on this earth. And we were playing around with each other because she got an Italian doctor and she was all excited about her Italian doctor. And she said, I'm going to go to him and I hope I don't come out like spaghetti or whatever after I'm done. He's done with me. And we were joking back and forth, but our last interactions were, I love your mom. I'm thankful for you, you know, and all that. And then she writes me back. I love you, son. And those are the last words. I wrote her before she went into surgery, but I don't know if she saw it. I'm praying for you. Do you know that these are the last words of God for 430 years? This means something. He is saying to us, hell is real. The day is coming. So let's remember His word. And let's preach the gospel to others. Because one day we're going to be set free. Now that's going to be a glorious day. But let's be faithful until that day comes. Let's bow and pray. Father, I read this passage of scripture. What a way to end the Old Testament. What amazing last words before 430 years of silence. You are trying to get the attention of your people. And I pray that is true here this morning. That you would wake us up out of our slumber. That you would give us a heart for those who don't know you. And that you would help us to remember and to reflect on your word until we see your face. Oh God, you know that we're in bondage right now. Physical bondage, our bodies are breaking down. Spiritual bondage, we battle sin every day of our lives. The emotional bondage that we go through, the pain, this suffering world, seeing death all around us, the broken hearts of losing those that you love. We are constantly reminded that we live in a broken world, and we are broken people. But one day, Lord, we will be free. So help us, O God. I pray for each one here, Lord. I don't know their spiritual walk with you. I don't know, Lord, their hearts you do. I pray if there's anyone here today that still hasn't called upon the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, that today would be the day. They wouldn't wait. They wouldn't make excuses. They wouldn't be arrogant. But in humility, open up their hearts and say, I believe. that I'm a sinner, and that Jesus died for my sins, was buried and rose again, and I ask him to come into my life and save me. Lord, what a wonderful promise we have in scriptures, for all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. I beg you, if you haven't done that, to do it right now in your heart. Father, thank you for this passage. Continue to prepare our hearts as we have communion right now. In Jesus precious name.