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The Gospel Truth
covenant believers. The people to whom Malachi was sent to preach were enormously discouraged. They were the descendants of the destruction of Jerusalem. They had lived in captivity in Babylon, their old covenant home land, which was an utter mess. So it is not surprising that they were not really living for the Lord. Malachi told them so in six or seven series of sermons. He really let them have it. Some of them, the remnant of the remnant, repented and rejoiced and received this beautiful last word of encouragement from the Lord. They had been burned by their enemies. Their enemies were God's enemies. God promised to burn their enemies with an unquenchable fire. Revenge is sweet, if you leave it up to the Lord. They had learned to fear the Lord. Of course this speaks of a sense of reverence, a willingness to worship, and desire to obey God according to the power of his spirit and the truth of his word. Fear is glorious when your life is lived for the glory of the Lord. They had been declared righteous, healed from their sin curse, and given freedom that belongs only to the children of God. In the day of judgment, they would skip. In the day of judgment, they would sing. In the day of judgment, they would be saved. I think they were encouraged by these last words. While they waited on this day they were told to keep God's word in the forefront of their minds and lifestyles, look for the promise of the prophet who would prepare the way for the prophet, and love one another. Again, encouraging last words, if you were a devout Old Testament Jew. This is a last word of hope to new covenant believers. In one of Jesus' confrontations with the Pharisees he challenged their self-proclaimed expertise in the Old Testament scriptures. Jesus said, "... it is these that testify about me" (John 5:39). In Jesus' day and now in our day, if we love him and believe in him, then when we read the Old Testament law we find abundant traces of New Testament grace. This is certainly true of Malachi's last word. "The day" in verse one isn't coming. It has come. And, it is coming again. The ominous "day of the Lord" is the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. It began with his birth, was affirmed by his death and resurrection, and will end with his return to earth. This day is a day of hope for the believing church, today's remnant of the remnant. Verses 2-3 are for us, too. We "fear" his name in worship and love. We have the imputed righteousness of Christ by grace through faith. We are free from the condemnation of sin. We will stand on the earth with the returning Lord after he has trampled all of our enemies under his feet. We have the word of God made more complete than merely the law of Moses. We have both testaments to guide us into salvation and the spirit-filled Christian life. "Remember" reminds us to devote ourselves to the proper study and application of the Bible to every area of our lives. We know when our hearts are restored by the gospel, we love one another. There is no love like genuine Christian love, love between parents and children, husbands and wives, even fellow church members. Jesus said this is our identifying mark (John 13:34-35). So if you have love in your heart for your family, your Christian family, because God has graced you with faith and repentance, and you believe that Jesus Christ has come and is coming again, then you have hope. This is the last word for you. This is a last word of warning to no covenant believers. "Hell's hot, heaven's sweet, and Jesus saves." This is one of the overly simplistic ways in which modern Christians put the gospel out into the market place. It think it is woefully incomplete, except for the last phrase. Jesus saves, no doubt. But heaven is not merely sweet. The homely boy who sat next to you in algebra, when you couldn't think of anything else to write in his yearbook, was "sweet." Heaven is radically glorious in such ways that defy sound bites. Furthermore, I'm not so sure hell is merely hot. It is infinitely worse than that. Hell is the land of no covenant. No covenant means no family, no friends, no relationships. "It will leave them neither root nor branch" (verse 1). It will be altogether lonely all the time. The richness of heaven is principally in being with God, but also in being with family and friends who embraced the same covenant with God. Hell is the opposite. It is the land of no covenant. No covenant means no future. There is no way out. To put someone or some people "under the soles of your feet" means to forget about them entirely. Your friends in heaven will not remember you any more. God will not visit you with his spirit and his redeeming word any more. There is no future in the land of no covenant. No covenant means no forgiveness. The law of Moses served to convict people of their sin and lead them to the forgiveness of the Lord. The gospel of Jesus Christ is preached daily, and has been for 2,000 years. Soon the sound of the gospel will be no more. Those who miss out on the new covenant will suffer in the land of no covenant. They will suffer under what the first two covenants removed - the "curse." In no covenant there is no forgiveness from the curse. Compare this last word with the last word in Revelation (Revelation 22:1-7; 16-21.) This is God's last word.
Do you want Christ or the curse? What will be your last word?
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