Could we open our Bibles at this last chapter of Malachi, chapter four, verse one. For behold, the day cometh. Behold, the day cometh. Let us bow in prayer. Our Father, as we turn to thy precious word, How we thank Thee for the Word of the Living God. What a comfort it is. And Lord, as we look back over the year, we thank Thee for grace given. We thank Thee that art a faithful God. And Lord, we thought this morning about providence. And Lord, we cannot understand or read the providence of God. Lord, it's like that tapestry that the threads underneath don't seem to have a pattern, but yet When we get to heaven and look down, then we'll see the picture in all its beauty and glory, and we'll give Thee the praise. But Lord, as we think of the last Lord's Day of this year, realize that it needs to be impressed upon us that we're not here forever, that one day there will be no more days upon earth. Lord, may we think solemnly upon this truth, and thy glory be brought to Christ's name. For it is in his name, but ask it. Amen. Well, today is obviously the last Sunday in December, the last Sunday of the year. Tuesday is the last day of the year, last day in the calendar. Now, I know in one sense it's only a date on a calendar. Other cultures and societies Do not follow our calendar. I think of the Jewish calendar is different than ours. I think of the they say the Chinese calendar. It's different. You talk about the Chinese New Year usually here than the news. So in one sense that we know it's only a date on a calendar but yet. It's good to have years. God in the Old Testament told his ancient people to mark certain days, the first day of the month and so on. And of course, he gave them a calendar of a year. So it is good to stop and think on this last Lord's Day of the year, what the Lord would have to say to us. And I was thinking the last few days of the last day. The last day, that term impressed upon itself or pressed itself upon me, the last day, thinking that this is the last Sunday of the year and there'll be the last day. And one day in this world's history, there'll be the last day. The last day will come. There'll be a Sunday that will be the last Sunday. There'll be the Lord's Supper, which will be the last supper, which will be the last communion. that God's people will ever hold. One day there will be the last day. And what will then happen will be entered into the day of the Lord. Of course, that's an eternal day. That's an eternal day. But the last day shall come. I've been looking up verses that refer to the last day. There's quite a few of them or the last days. That's a common phrase in the New Testament. You'll read about it or the last times I've been reading some verses about that. And then, of course, we know that the last day on earth, I've already said, ushers in the day of the Lord and I've been looking up references to the day of the Lord, and there's so many I wondered, well, where will I ever start? I had to pick out one of the passages and I picked out this passage where it mentions the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord. And it's interesting that this morning I highlighted for a brief time in the message how David the Psalmist was honest in what he wrote. And he said he was often confused. For instance, Psalm 73, when he looked at the prosperity of the wicked, And he said to himself, I have sought to follow the Lord and I have troubles and trials. And yet here are these wicked people who are corrupt and they mock God and they speak against God and they have no time for God. And yet they seem to prosper. They seem to have no problems, no sickness, no trials, and even they don't fear death. Have I cleansed my heart and vein? It was a question to him until he saw the end, until I went into the sanctuary and saw the end. You have to look at the end. Don't judge things yet. Don't judge things yet. You have to look at the end. And it's interesting that this verse we're looking at in this phrase is in the context of the very same question, the very same question. If you look back where we started our reading in chapter three and verse 13, God said, Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet you say, what have we spoken so much against thee? Here's what God said. You have said, this is what the people were saying. It is thee and to serve God. What prophet is it that we have kept his ordinance and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? Now we call the proud happy. Yea, they that work wickedness are set up. Yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. What the people are saying is what profit is there in serving God? What profit is there in going to God's house? Because there are people and they do wickedly and they don't come to God's house and they don't try to follow God's commandments and they ignore God. They have no time for God and they seem to be happy. Exactly the same question we're at this morning. Of course, God gives the same answer as David gave in that Psalm 73. Because God just replies in verse 16 of chapter three, there's a group that fear the Lord. And, you know, I'm writing a book of remembrance. And then he goes on to say there will be a day of judgment coming. The day is not yet. The day isn't yet. Wait until the day. And these people who do fear me, They're my jewels. They're my special treasure. So let's come to the text where the law, where the prophet says in chapter four, verse one, behold, for for in other words, you're questioning why is it evil seem to prosper? Is it worthwhile to serve the God? Of course, it is. Of course, we ought to fear God for behold, the day of the Lord cometh behold. Behold means. to stand back and pay attention. Behold means listen carefully. Take notice. Here's something that's striking. And what's it about? Well, he wants us to pay attention to the day cometh. The day cometh. And it is repeated here. Look down to verse 1 again. The middle of the verse. The day that cometh. Look in verse 3. It has it there, too. The day that I shall do this, said the Lord of Hosts. Verse five, you have it again about this. Yes, verse five, the great and dreadful day of the Lord. You have it back in chapter three and seventeen. The day, the day. Now. The day repeated the day. God's put in an emphasis on the day. He's wanting them to think about the day of the Lord. We've been singing about that day tonight. That day. One day that's going to be the last day on earth, and then that day shall come, the Lord's day, speaking eternally. Day of judgment will stand before him. And my first point is this, the certainty of it. The certainty of it. Four times he mentions the day, he mentions the day. Now, skeptics may deny it, scoffers will deride it. But listen, scriptures declare it. It's absolutely certain this day will come. In 2 Peter chapter 3, Peter wrote about the day of the Lord and he said this very thing that scoffers will laugh. They'll say, where's the promise of his coming? All things continue the same from the beginning. They just continue and continue. They deny there was ever a universal flood. They are uniformitance. They it's a bit like evolution. They just say things just go on, go on, go on. There's no God. Nobody looks at things just drift on. But, of course, it's fools. But there's people who will laugh at the day of the Lord. They did it Malachi's day. They do it in our day. But Scripture declares it. And not only does Scripture declare it, but notice again in verse 1. Verse 1, the middle of the verse. The day that cometh, saith the Lord of hosts. See that? Look at verse 3. This struck me. In the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts. And back in chapter 3, verse 17, they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in the day when I make up my make up the jewels. Three times, the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Hosts. In other words, not only does Scripture declare it, the sovereign God declares it. This is why the certainty of it. The sovereign God declared then, declares to us today, There is coming the day of the Lord. It's coming. Scriptures declare it. Sovereign declares it. When you go to the Old Testament, Scripture declares it through the seers. Prophets were sometimes called seers because they saw things that were about to happen and would happen in the future. And I could take you to Amos. I could take you to Isaiah. I could take you to Joel. And here we are in Malachi. And it's emphasizing about the day of the Lord. And these Old Testament prophets prophesied the day of the Lord. There's a day coming, that day. They were looking forward to a particular day when time would cease. The saints of God in the Old Testament look forward to that day. Are you familiar with the verse in Job 19, verse 25? Remember Job when he was under such pain, such trials. And what did he say on that day? He said in John 19 and 25, listen, listen to what he said. For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day. The last day. He's going to stand on the last day upon the earth. And then he went on to say, though he die, though he be buried, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Job, in the Old Testament, saint, he knew that one day there's going to be the day, that day, when the Lord's coming again. And he knew that one day, even though he would die, that he would be raised and he would see the Lord. Of course, saints in the New Testament spoke about it. Do you remember Martha when her brother Lazarus died? And the Saviour came and spoke to her? Do you remember what she said? in the New Testament, she turned and she said in John 11, 24, I know that Lazarus shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. It's interesting the expression, the last day. The Savior spoke about it as well. The Savior spoke about it as well. Let me just quickly give you some of the verses that I was looking up. John 12, 48, the very last public address the Savior ever gave. And the only preach to the crowd, he told them in John 12, 48, about the word, he that rejected me, the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. He warned the crowd and he said, the word that I've spoken unto you over these three years of my ministry, in the last day, that word's going to judge you. But then earlier in John's gospel, For instance, in Chapter 654, talked about eating his flesh or trusting in him, he the bread of life and so on. And he said those that trust him have eternal life and I will raise them up at the last day. That's a wonderful promise. Again, in John 639. He said, this is the Father's will that has sent me, that of all which He has given me, I should lose none, but I will raise it up at the last day. He's saying all who trust in me, I will keep and I will raise them up at the last day. I'm saying the certainty of the coming day of the Lord. People may laugh at it. And if you tell them Christ is coming again. And one of these days is going to be the last day. There'll be no more time. Time's up. One day God's going to say time's up. They'll laugh at that. They'll think you're one of these crazy preachers. But listen, there's a certainty of it. The scripture declares it. The Old Testament prophets declared it. The saints in the Old Testament believed it. The saints in the New Testament believed it. The Savior spoke about the last day being a day when the believers will be raised and a day when those who know not him will be judged, who reject. They use that word reject, those that reject my word. Do you know the apostles talked about it? Here's a mighty verse, I think it's worth turning to just take time just to turn to this verse is one of the great verses, Acts 17, Acts of the Apostles, verse 17. Now, Paul was mocked when he preached this sermon in Athens, these people were philosophers and they laughed at him when he preached and talked about the resurrection. But in Acts chapter 17, he's speaking to these philosophers. Now, remember, they didn't have an Old Testament. In Acts chapter 17, verse 30, Paul is preaching. And he's saying at the end of verse 30 of Acts 17, But God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Why? Because God hath appointed a day. See that? There's the day. God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained were all faith given assurance unto all men. There's the evidence. How do I know there's going to be the day of the Lord come? In that he hath raised them from the dead. You know, Easter time, we rejoice that it reminds us the Saviour has risen. But Easter ought to be the most frightening day of the year for those that reject Christ. Because what God is saying here is the proof, the assurance, that there is going to be a day when God will judge is that Christ rose from the dead. That's the evidence. God says that that's the proof that I'm going to do this. I'm giving the whole world an assurance that there is coming a day when there's going to be a judgment. And that's why Christ is raised, because he is going to be the judge. Well, Peter spoke about it. He wrote about it. John wrote about it in the book of Revelation. In fact, the whole book of Revelation is written to assure the people of God who were suffering that there is going to be a day coming and the last chapters especially talk about that wonderful day. But you think of Peter, back to Peter, he talks about the day of the Lord will be a time when literally the atoms, translated elements in the King James, literally it's the atoms shall melt with fervent heat the day. of the Lord. The day of the Lord is coming. We don't know when it'll happen, but I know this last Sunday of this year reminds us we're a year nearer. We're a year nearer. It is coming. Oh, we get so busy in our life that even as believers, we know it in our head. You say, of course, we believe the word. Of course, I would not deny the doctrines of God's word, but practically, in our lives? How often does the thought grip us that one day is going to be the last day? Not just of my life. If the Lord doesn't tarry, we'll all have a last day in that sense. But the last day of this world's history is going to come. And what about the day of the Lord? Are we prepared for that day? Well, let me come to the second point in Malachi chapter 4, verse 1. The certainty of it, behold, the day cometh. But what type of day will it be? That's what we're thinking of here. Well, it'll be a day of judgment for the Christ rejecter. Christ already said that, I quoted it to you in John 12, but it says it here again. Often when we talk of the day of the Lord, we think of how glorious it'll be. But it'll be grievous for the one who rejects Christ. For the people of God, it'll be a glad day, but it'll be a sad day for them. You see, sadly, We live in a day when many people outside the church, many people in society, if you were to talk to them of any concept of God at all, they think of God and I'm just putting myself in their place now. I'm not trying to be irreverent, but they think of God as some feeble, tolerant old man who will overlook sins. Who would never send anyone to a place of punishment, hell. Who's so loving and so kind that only the evil terrorist or a mass murderer would go to a place of punishment. But as long as you do your best and seek to do what you can, that's the theology of today, you'll be all right. God will somehow bring everybody into heaven, except the very, very vile, and he'll overlook our faults. That's not what the word teaches. The word teaches here there'll be a future judgment. They say it's not yet. The day comes. The day comes. It's not yet. It's not yet. There's going to be a day when we're going to give an account. There's going to be a day when we meet him and it's going to be a fiery judgment for in verse one of chapter four. It uses the picture of an oven. See that burners, an oven and then it speaks shall be stubble. Shall be stubble, they'll be left without root or branch. Now, a clay ovens in those days, they didn't have a gas oven or electric oven that we have, of course. They put the sticks and they heated the oven up. Some of them, they would have a place above it to put in the bread. Sometimes they would heat the bricks with the fire and the sticks would all burn. And then they would lay the bread upon the hot stones, clear away the ashes. The stones are still very hot. And they would lay bread upon it like a griddle. And they would heat it that way. What the prophet says is this day of the Lord that's coming. Remember, the background is there were people that were speaking against the Lord. And that some were saying, look, they seem to prosper, but the prophet is saying, listen, the day of the Lord's coming and then. It's going to be a burning like an oven. How often in scripture God's judgment is described as a fire, Sodom and Gomorrah. Our God is a consuming fire. Christ talked about the fires. of hell. What an awful, awful judgment it'll be. It'll be a fiery judgment, not annihilation. Don't, when you read that verse, think, oh, they'll burn up and that's it. We could take you to Revelation where it says the smoke of their torment forever. Don't believe in annihilation. Even though well-known evangelical writers who have written some great things Men like John Stott, he's passed away now, towards the end of their ministry, very sadly went into this nonsense that those who reject Christ will just suffer and that's it, cease to exist. That's not what the Bible teaches. That is not what the Bible teaches. It's forever. This judgment is forever. It's a fiery judgment. It's a future judgment. Ah, but it's a fair judgment. It's a fair judgment. Because look what it says here, the pride in verse one, the pride and all that do wickedly. Of course, some in today's society would say, well, that's not me. I'm not a terrorist. I'm not a mass murderer. What do the words mean? The word pride, and it's used in the earlier chapter three, it has the idea of living your own life without God. That God is there, but you're saying, no, I'll go my own way. That is not the basis of sin. That's the very foundation of sin. I'll live my own life without God. Wicked, turning a deaf ear to his commandments, going our own way. And what he's simply saying, these people who make their own choices in life, leave God out of their decisions, give no thought to God and go their own way. And that is wickedness. No doubt some of them did engage in more outward gross forms. that we look upon and point the finger at open sins. But the basic truth of these words is someone who lives without God. Has no thought of God. Goes their own way. Does not submit to God. And the judgment is fair. Because the people in this background knew God's word. You go back to chapter three and read it all. These were people who were Jews. These were people who had the temple. These were people who had the teaching from their childhood. But yet they had lived without God. They had rejected his truth. Now, I'm saying it's a fair judgment. It's a fair judgment. God is never unfair in this judgment. God is never unfair. He's always just. And here's the thing. It's what I deserved. All of us are in this group. Or I should say, all of us were in this group. That's the nature of everybody. That's the sin that Adam committed and Eve committed. But I love that passage over in the book of Zechariah. You know, it talks about in chapter 3, he's a bran plucked from the burning. And that's all I am. And that's all, if you're saved tonight, that's all you are. You and I, you know what the brand from the burning means. Have you ever lit a fire? You ever on a camping trip and you're putting wood on the fire? You put the different sticks and here's a stick you put on and the flames are beginning to burn the stick. And maybe for some reason you say, I will take it out. And you take it out, you blow and you. There's the flames have already eaten into the wood. But it's not fully consumed yet. You've taken a brand out of the burning. It's singed with the fire. And that's all you and I are who are saved. We were in the burning. That's what we deserved. But God in his wonderful grace reached down and he lifted us out of the burning or we would be consumed. And that's why we rejoice this last Lord's Day of this year, that we say, Lord, thank you. Thank you for reaching down and saving me, or I would have been lost. If it wasn't for God's grace and how often we hear this prayed in prayer meetings, something like this has already been prayed in prayer meetings before the services today, Lord, if it wasn't for your grace, where would we be? We may have already been in a Christless hell. Thank God we're bronze plucked out of the burning. But those that go on rejecting Christ. It's a day of judgment. They ought to fear the day of the Lord. They ought to fear the day of the Lord. It's because Christ bore our fire on Calvary that we can go to heaven. That's the only reason. He bore our fire. Third point, the certainty of the day. It's a day of judgment for the Christ rejecter. Thank God it's a day of joy for the redeemed. That's the whole point here where he talked in the chapter before about making up as jewels. This is written to encourage believers. You see, for the sinner is a grievous day, for the saviour is a glorious day. For the Christ rejecter, it's a day of horror, but for the believer, What a happy day it is. What a happy day it is for those who project Christ. The day of the Lord is a day of retribution for the believer. It's a day of celebration. What a wonder. It's a glorious day. It's a glorious day. Because look what he said here in verse two. The sun of righteousness shall arise with healing his wings after a dark night. And you're looking forward to the day coming, especially if maybe you have some difficulty or maybe even something that's kept you awake and you're saying, I wish it was morning. I wish it was morning. You look out the window. And then you look out and there's the beauty. There's no clouds and there's the beauty of the sunrise. The sun has risen. What a beautiful, glorious sight. That's what we're singing. The glorious day of the Lord. What a day that will be. The sun arising with healing in its rays it means. I know how the sun can make us so joyous. How the sun can shine upon us. And of course, if we're time to go to the book of Revelation, don't you know it? In heaven there's no need of the sun as we think in the sky. Because the Lamb is the light. He's the light. He is the sun. It's speaking about a person here. It's speaking about our Saviour. And He comes. He came, of course, on His first coming. He was the day star. He's the one that came and shone light. But this is primarily His second coming. He's coming. And for those who are believers and life has been dark and life has been hard. What a glorious sunrise it'll be when we see the Savior's face. That's the picture here. You know, in the book of Revelation, if we have time to go to it, no more death, no more sorrow, no more sickness, no more pain, no more separation. No more curse. What a glorious day that will be. Christ-redacted judgment. Those that have received Christ. Joy. What joy. What joy that will be. The C.A. Blackmore was one of America's first radio preachers way back in the 1920s in America. And one of his programs And in those days, there were so few of them. It's not like today. There were so few Christians would have listened in. He talked about the hope of Christians, how that one day the pain will be over, the sorrow will be over. All pain will be over. You'll have a glorified body. And Mr. Blackmore received a letter that said this. Mr. Blackmore, the message you gave on the radio on Christ's coming was such a blessing to me. I've been an invalid for almost 25 years. Sometimes I get so discouraged I can hardly wait for the Lord to come. Just to think I'll be able to walk again. There'll be no heartaches there. Thank you so much for preaching that sermon. His son, Carl Blackmore, was struck by one of the expressions his father used, and that expression was some golden daybreak. We don't have it down to sing tonight, we've sung it before different times. Some golden daybreak, sorry, some glorious morning sorrow will cease, some glorious morning all will be peace, heartaches all ended, labor all done, heaven will open, Jesus will come. You know the hymn, I'm sure, don't you? He wrote that after listening to his father preach. Changed in a moment like him to be. Oh, glorious daybreak, Jesus I'll see. Oh, what a meeting there in the skies. No tears nor crying shall dim our eyes. Loved ones united eternally. Oh, what a daybreak that morn shall be. Some golden daybreak, Jesus will come. That's what verse two is talking about. He's coming. That's what the last day will mean for us. When the last Sabbath comes, the last Sunday comes and the last Lord's Day, the last day of this world's history. What a day it'll be to be with the Lord forever. What a joyous day it'll be. Just point this out quickly in closing. Look at the end of verse two. You shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. That's speaking about the joyous time. The words actually grow up. It actually means to to frisk or to frolic. You farmers may know more about this. The calf has been in the dark barn, held in, can't get out, it's in the dark. But the farmer lets the young calf out. And what does it do? Does it just walk out? And it goes jumping about in the field, so excited. So that's the picture that's here. That's exactly what the prophet is writing. He's describing By the means of a calf, and I suppose a lamb would be something similar. You see the little lambs in the field shortly after they're born, the way they go. How joyful. And he's saying that's what it's going to be like for the believer. What a day it'll be in that day when we get to heaven. The deaf will be shouting, I can hear now. The blind like Fanny Crosby left us so many hymns. She'll be shouting, I can see now. I can see now. The crippled will be shouting, I can walk now. The tone deaf will be shouting, I can sing now. What a day it'll be. It's real. This isn't just sentimental talk. This is reality. It'll be a glorious day, a joyous day, a victorious day. For verse three, you shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Oh, yes, we're to love people and seek to win them to Christ. But the idea here is those who have deliberately and defiantly and refusing to repent, have opposed God and opposed His people. And we think of those who have persecuted believers and put them to death and sought to destroy them. And we think, too, of stories even in the Old Testament, Pharaoh trying to destroy the Israelites, the time of Haman and all these awful persecutions. And we come down through church history and it's saying, listen, that day the church of God will be victorious. Doesn't look like it today around the world. But in that day, as Christ prayed in John 17, that the world will know that we're the Lord's people, that these are the ones that thou givest me. That's what the Lord's praying at the moment, that one day, one day the world will see that these are the people that thou hast given me. What a day it'll be. A day of victory. A day of victory. We should never forget that we're on The winning side, you know, the ironic thing is thought about this. It's so ironic that those who ought to fear the day of the Lord don't. They just go on, many of them in their stubborn way, never thinking of the day of the Lord. And sometimes those who do not need to fear that day do. What do I mean? I mean, believers. But if your sins are washed away. If you're cleansed. We don't need to fear that day, but we do fear because we know God's Word. And oftentimes we do wonder and we look inward and we look at ourselves and we get a little bit fearful of that day. But, oh, if we'd look to Christ and realize that he has paid the price for us, then we don't need to fear that day. Very last word in the chapter. Do you see it there? Very last word. Curse. The Old Testament finishes with a curse. Thank God, the New Testament begins with a cradle, tells us about the cross, goes on to the crown, and the New Testament finishes with, in Revelation 22, no more curse. Aren't you glad there's a New Testament? And it finishes in the very end of the book, grace. the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The certainty. A day of burning. Yet, thank God, a day of healing for the people of God. But in the meantime, we're to obey God's word. Make it a day of obeying. A day of obeying. Let's turn in God's