Well, let's again seek God's face and ask for help in His Word. Our Father in Heaven, we have come and gathered in this place this morning, not as a cultural club, not as a civic club, but we have come as the Church of Christ, We are Your people, and we gather here for the sole purpose of giving You, seeking to give You the worship that You're worthy to receive from us. And Lord, as we have sung praises to Your name, as we have pleaded and invited You to come and join us and be with us, we pray, Lord, that You would be with us all the more now in the preaching of Your Holy Word. We ask, Lord, that we would be able to leave here, every one of us today, knowing that we have been in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Well, if you would, please turn in your Bibles to the book of Malachi. The book of Malachi. Last book in the Old Testament. The place is Jerusalem. The year, around 432 BC. The 70 year captivity in Babylon is over. Israel has returned to Jerusalem and is living under Persian rule. The temple has been rebuilt for several years, and the spiritual temperature of Israel is at an all-time low. The prophet Malachi, who we really know nothing about, the name Malachi literally means my messenger, he is God's mouthpiece for charging Israel, both the leaders and the people, to turn, to repent. Most of the book of Malachi, at least three quarters of it, reads kind of like a loving, caring, nurturing father trying to reason with a bratty, obstinate child. If we take a look at a few select verses, we quickly get the flavor of Israel's attitude toward God as he lays out several charges against them. Look at chapter 1 and verse 2. To all Israel, God says, I have loved you. Israel's response, how have you loved us? Do you hear the attitude? You get the picture of a bratty, obstinate child with his lower lips sticking out. How have you loved us? This is the prevalent attitude. This is where Israel is at. Verse six, a son honors his father and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is my honor? And if I'm a master, where is my respect, says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise my name. But you say, how have we despised your name? And God tells them, verse seven, you're presenting defiled food upon my altar. But you say, how have we defiled you? Regarding your worship and offerings, God says, verse 13, your attitude is, my, how tiresome it is. And you disdainfully sniff at it, says the Lord of hosts. In chapter two, verse eight, God says, through their corruption, the priests have caused the people to stumble. And because they have followed the poor examples of their leaders, the people have inverted all of God's ways. They've been divorcing their wives to marry pagan wives. They've left off paying the tithe. They've tested God with hypocrisy and unbelief. They've adopted the attitude that it's actually a vain thing to serve God. So this is the condition of the people that the prophet Malachi is called to minister to. As you can see, there's been this incredible spiritual erosion, this spiritual degeneration that's taken place in Israel, and this is going to be God's last call. This is it. This is God's final prophetic warning to Israel. This is going to precede 400 years of virtual silence by God. That's the period between the Old and the New Covenants. The Old Testament and the New Testament. No more prophets of God are going to be heard from until the one spoken of in Malachi 4-5 comes, and that's John the Baptist. And you see, God's message to the people through His messenger Malachi, it's a warning. Israel must turn. God calls them to turn from their apathy, from their hypocrisy, from their idolatry, and from their dead formalistic religion. Israel must repent. Because a day is coming. A day is coming. Look with me at chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. These are the verses I want us to look at this morning. Malachi 4, verses 1 and 2. For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff. And the day that is coming will set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, The Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall." These two verses here in Malachi, they are so filled with imagery and analogy. There are no less than seven pictures here that are meant to illustrate a reality. Malachi speaks here of a day that is coming, a day that God is preparing. It is the great and terrible day of the Lord. He's talking about the day of judgment. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament come to a close, pointing to the same future event. An event that's referred to many times throughout scripture. Isaiah 2.12, for the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning. Joel 1.15, Alas for that day, for the day of the Lord is near and it will come as destruction from the Almighty. 2 Peter 3.10, The day of the Lord will come like a thief. in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works be burned up. These texts and so many more point to this future event in human history, which obviously has not yet taken place. You see, there's going to be a final day. There is going to be a last day, a day of all accounts being settled once for all time. And it's going to be a day that nobody misses. We're all gonna be there for that day. And the picture Malachi paints of that day, the imagery that he uses to show what that day is going to be like is one of heat. The description's not that complicated. Malachi, he's describing the dawning of a new day, the fact that when the sun rises on a new day, the heat generated by that sun, it can be a true blessing for some, But it can also be an absolute curse for others. I think it was Matthew Henry who first said it's the same sun that melts wax and hardens clay. You see, you've got one sun and you've got two different effects from that sun. The rising of the sun as the world turns, it can be a source of warmth and growth and healing for some. Or, for others, it can be an incredibly destructive force. For behold, the day is coming, verse one says, burning like a furnace. The Day of Judgment, it's depicted as a day of intense heat, burning like a furnace, like an oven. The picture that the language is painting is that of a big brick kiln, the kind that would have been commonly used by blacksmiths and smelters to melt metal back in the day. As you all know, melting metal requires really intense heat. I think it takes 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit to melt gold. But you see the melting of metal, that's always necessary in order to burn off what we call dross, right? Dross is the name for the useless elements that are found mixed in precious metals when they're in their raw form. And so this furnace that Malachi speaks of, this oven, it's used to separate the useless from the precious. And that is exactly what this coming day is going to do. It's going to be a great day of separation. And the imagery Malachi uses to achieve this separation is that which, of course, is exceedingly hot. Picture, if you would, for a moment, the intense heat of a blazing hot desert sun rising on a dry, parched, tumbleweed-infested field of chaff. Chaff, as most of you know, that's the dried up husks of grains and grass that are separated usually during the threshing process. Chaff is like paper. It's very light and dry and combustible. It's easily blown around by the wind and it burns really quickly. It's really totally useless, chaff, except maybe to use as a kindling or even to get kindling going. And quite often, we find chaff being used as a metaphor in scripture for people. Malachi says on this coming day, which is going to burn like an oven, like a furnace, he says certain people are going to be like chaff under that heat, in that furnace. Look at the verse. For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff and the day that is coming will set them ablaze. These are very sobering words. I mean, who are these arrogant? Who are these evildoers? Who is this chaff that Malachi speaks of? Are they the the Hitler's of the world? Are they the Osama Bin Laden's of the world? The serial killers, the mass murderers, are they the worst of the worst? How does one achieve the rank of what God would call chaff? What qualifies a person to be set ablaze on this great and terrible day that's coming? Here's what the Bible tells us. Here's what the Word of God tells us. There are three offenses that would qualify a person for being chaff. Three aspects of those who would be considered chaff by God. Are you ready? Number one, they don't delight in God's law. Number two, they reject God's Word. And number three, they won't listen to God's Word. They do not delight in God's law, they reject God's rule, and they won't listen to God's word. That's all. Now, where do I get this? Let's look at these really briefly. First of all, they simply don't delight in God's law. Turn with me to Psalm 1. The very first Psalm, which many of you are familiar with, it shows us the difference. between the man who would be considered blessed by God and the man who would be considered chaff by God. Psalm 1, verse 1. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but to the contrary, His delight is in the law of the Lord. And in His law, He meditates day and night. And then in verse 4, we see the contrast. It says, the wicked are not so. They're not like this. They don't delight in God's law, but they are like chaff, which the wind drives away. So, you see, to be chaff, you need only to not rejoice with, not delight yourself in the law of God. How else is one considered chaff by God? Well, secondly and thirdly, by rejecting His rule and by despising His Word. Look at Isaiah 5.24. Isaiah 5.24. Isaiah 524 says this, And the Hebrew word translated stubble here is the same exact word that's used for chaff. and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust." Who's he talking about? "'For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.'" Doesn't this sound like a description of the people in Malachi's day? Right? God's law is rejected. God's word is despised. So here's my point. Here's the point here. One does not have to be Adolf Hitler to achieve chaff status by God. One does not have to be public enemy number one to be considered chaff by God. All you have to do is really continue to do what comes quite naturally. Simply have no fear of God in your heart. Just refuse to heed God's Word that warns. Just refuse to heed the Word of God that pleads with you to turn from lawlessness and sin and to believe in the Gospel. That's all. If you continue on just like this with no fear of God in your heart on that great and terrible day of the Lord, you will be counted among the arrogant, the evildoers, the chaff, that will be set ablaze. And I want you to note this is not a refining fire. This is not a purging fire. It's not a purgatory. It's not the kind of burning where you're going to be given a second chance at eternal life, at heaven. This fire is a final judgment. I want you to note what Malachi says here in verse 1. He says, The day that is coming will set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. Have you ever noticed how often trees are used in scripture? You know, trees, branches. Merv read John 15 this morning where people are compared to branches and vines, right? These things are often used to describe the spiritual condition of people. Trees, branches, vines. Like in Psalm 1, you know, the blessed man is like a tree that's planted by streams of water. like Romans 11 where Paul speaks of God's grace and mercy and salvation and he uses as an illustration the Gentiles being like wild olive tree branches getting grafted into God's blessed, redeemed family, right? You see, his point is that God can take just a branch He can take just a disconnected branch and he can suture it. He can join it to his personal orchard. To his own family. He can give it new life. He can have that branch produce real fruit. But you see on this day Malachi is saying there will be no branch left to graft. He says this is a thorough burning that's going to take place. There isn't even going to be a root left. Not even some little root by which maybe a little sprig of hope might sprout up to start afresh. He's saying this is a final fire. This is not reversible. This is an eternal fire. And it's not annihilation either. He's not saying that you're simply going to cease to exist. Revelation 14 says the smoke of their torment goes up forever. The burning of this furnace that Malachi speaks of is going to continue burning on and on. The sun rising on this day, it's going to be a day of inescapable, irreversible burning and everlasting final judgment. For who? For those who murdered thousands of people through tyranny and terrorism? No. for those who won't listen to God in this life because they don't fear him. Now, I would ask all of you to measure yourself by what you see here. Young people, measure yourself by what you're seeing in God's word. You need to determine whether this description of arrogant, evildoer, chaff could possibly be describing you. Consider just three quick questions with me. Number one, is there in your heart a real genuine love for the law of God? Do you love God's law? The Apostle Paul said, I concur with the law of God in the inner man. Can you say that? Can you say I love the law of God? I love it. Or is God's law perhaps more of a burden to you? You know, oh, I gotta keep the law. I gotta be a good person. Oh, what a burden on my shoulders. Or do you just delight in the law of God and the inner man? A second question, is God your king? Is he really, truly your king? Is his law your rule? Or do you reject God's rule over you? No, no, no, I, it's my life. I rule my life. A third question, do you listen to his word? Do you listen to the word of God? Do you abide in his word with a whole soul desire to obeying it? Examine yourself in light of this great and terrible day that is going to come. You see, because for some it's going to be a day of intense wrath and retribution. But bless God, not for all of us, not for everyone. Verse two begins with a very hopeful little word, but. But for some others, he says, the day that is coming is going to be a very, very different day. Verse two gives us really an entirely different scenario for the same exact day, right? Whereas verse 1, the sun rises, the day comes with an intense, destroying heat for some. In verse 2, for others, this same day comes as a day of healing, a day of final restoration, a day of absolute freedom, a day of inexpressible joy, exhilaration. And I want you to know what the separating factor is between those of verse one and those in verse two. Look at the separating factor. It says, but for you who fear my name. For you who fear my name. Fear my name. What does it mean to fear a name? What does that mean? Well, you fear a name when the name represents that which you know is a real threat, right? If I were to say to you the name ISIS, you would agree that this is a name that's caused a lot of fear in our world in the past decade, right? If you're swimming in the ocean, and I'm standing on the beach watching you swimming, and I cup my hands and I yell out to you, starfish! But you're probably gonna say, okay, he must have found a starfish on the beach, how nice for him, right? But if you're swimming in the ocean and I'm standing on the beach and I cup my hands and I yell out to you, shark! I guarantee that that name is going to strike in you a deep sense of fear. And you are going to become the Olympic swimmer that you didn't know you were. Right? Because the name is connected to something that you know is very real and very dangerous. Right? C.S. Lewis understood this. I'm sure you're all familiar with the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. Right? When Susan and Lucy first hear the name of Aslan, that's the lion that represents Christ, Susan asks Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion. Oh, that you will, dearie, says Mrs. Beaver. And make no mistake, if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly. Then he isn't safe, said Lucy. Safe, said Mr. Beaver? Of course he isn't safe, but he is good. He's the king, I tell you. C.S. Lewis understood that the power connected to a name, you see. And yet the name referred to here in Malachi's prophecy, it's not the name of a fish. It's not the name of a fictional character. It is the name that is above every other name. Isaiah 42 8. I am the Lord. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another. You see, God is rightly and righteously jealous for the glory of his name. Look back with me a page or two to Malachi 1 in verse 11. Malachi 1.11. Where God says to His rebellious people, for from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations. And in every place, incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure, For my name will be great among the nations. These words spoken some 2,400 years ago, they have been fulfilled. God's name has been made great among the nations of this world since the days of Malachi. Christ has fulfilled these prophetic words, and today in almost every land on the globe, there are those who revere and fear his name. Do you fear his name? Do you fear his name? Does it grieve you when you hear God's name blasphemed? Does it cause some kind of an eruption in your belly when you hear the name that is above every other name used with casual indifference? Does it grieve you when you hear it in jokes or in cursing and swearing? When it's used in a flippant, irreverent way? How do you react when you hear the name that is above all names? The name that is to be feared being used with irreverence? Do you react at all? Does it make your gut churn a little bit? How about in your entertainment? We love our entertainment, don't we? You're watching a movie or you're watching a TV show and all of a sudden it comes up, the name of God or the name of Jesus Christ is used as a curse word or as an expression of human anger. What do you do? Do you stop watching the movie? Do you turn off the TV show? Or do you start to rationalize? Does the rationalization process begin? Well, it's just a movie. They're just acting. It's just a script. They'll probably just do this a few times. Or maybe you say, well, I hope I don't have to hear much more of that, because I really don't like hearing that. But I really want to see how the movie ends. I really want to see how the show ends, right? Or does it not even cause you to flinch? Is there not even a blip on the screen of your inner conscience when you hear the name that is above every other name used with a casual indifference? You know, the world has a way of numbing the conscience. If you allow yourself to hear something enough times, you can begin to develop calloused ears. It seems like the shock of almost anything can wear off in time and sometimes I wonder if the world hasn't been wearing the shock off of a lot of professing Christians today. So how is it with you? Do you have a holy jealousy for the glory of God's name? Do you fear his name? The name is to be feared because it represents the God that is to be feared, right? Jesus said, Don't fear those who can just kill the body, but fear Him who can kill both body and soul and cast them into hell. You see, the people in verse 2 fear His name. They fear His name because they know Him. And to know God is to fear God, right? Listen, if you don't fear God, then you really can't say you know God. Do you fear Him? What is the fear of God? Simply put, the fear of God is to recognize your rightful place in the universe. The fear of God is to know who you are and to know who He is. It's to live life in light of the fact that you are under the watchful eye of God at all times and that you are accountable to Him. The fear of God is to understand something of his almighty power, something of his almighty strength that he wields and seeing that power reflected in his outpouring of love at the cross. I remember hearing during the first Gulf War many years ago that some of our American soldiers, as they began witnessing some of the destructive force behind our own U.S. missiles, some of our own American soldiers were commenting on how glad they were to be on the good side of those missiles. That's kind of what it is to fear God for the believer. There's a fear, a reverence, And it's perfectly compatible with an intimate love and admiration and adoration. Because even though you know God is not safe, you know He is good. Malachi 4, verse 2 is the greatest confirmation of this. Malachi 4, verse 2. But for you who fear My name, the Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. The same day that brings destruction to some is a day of revival rejoicing and rejuvenation for others Because that the son of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings This is this is a picture Malachi paints of darkness being suddenly interrupted darkness being suddenly broken by the breaking of dawn and The sun suddenly and quickly appears. It comes cresting up over the horizon. Its rays go spreading out like wings. It's the same imagery David used in Psalm 139 when he said, if I take to the wings of dawn, even there your hand will lead me. You see, it's the sun of righteousness rising that breaks the darkness. This is one of those rare times when the language of our English Bibles presents us with an ironic homophone. You know what a homophone is? Any English majors out there besides my wife? A homophone is a word, homophones are words that sound alike but they're spelled differently. A perfect example is Proverbs 17, 16. Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom when he has no sense? S-E-N-S-E. But you could just as easily put in C-E-N-T-S. Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom when he has no sense? That's a homophone. You see, the picturesque imagery that Malachi uses of this son of righteousness, S-U-N, is in fact and indeed the son, S-O-N, of righteousness. Jesus Christ, He's the light of life. He's the light of men. He's the true light. He's the light of the world. Jesus is the son of righteousness that is going to rise on that day. You see, it's His return. It's His second coming to this world that ushers in this day. And His arrival is one that's eagerly anticipated by all who truly know and fear God. Hebrews 9.28 says, Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation, without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. Friends, make no mistake, Jesus is coming. He is coming. It's hard to know exactly how much Malachi understood of the actual event. It's hard to know how much he would have understood about this son of righteousness. But you see, for us, the New Testament adequately fills in the blanks left by Malachi, right? And even though we're not privy as to when this is going to take place, we do have an idea of what's going to happen when this takes place on this coming day. Turn with me, if you would, to 1 Thessalonians 4.16. 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 16. Verse 16, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. This is the same day Malachi speaks of. This is the day of the Lord. This is a day of great transformation. There's an old song called What a Difference a Day Makes. Anybody remember that song? What a Difference a Day Makes? This song came to my mind a few years back when I totaled my van. A woman ran a stop sign and I T-boned her. I left home that morning with a perfectly good work van. And by the end of the day, I found myself sitting on a curb, watching it being hoisted up onto the flatbed tow truck, just a big crumpled mess of metal. And I remember that song coming into my mind, what a difference a day makes. Well, you see, this day that Malachi speaks of, this day that is coming, this is going to make a colossal difference for every human being that's ever been on the face of the earth, for every human being that's ever lived. This day is going to make all the difference. I want you to see the difference that this day is going to make for everybody. Nobody excepted. First turn with me to 1st John 3 2. 1st John chapter 3 and verse 2. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. What a glorious transformation awaits the people of God. Brethren, we're going to be transformed. This day is going to make a colossal difference. We're going to be made like Him. Redemption is going to be finalized. We're going to have new glorified bodies. Sin is going to be done away with. Death is going to be defeated. Listen to Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15. Let these words just sink in. Listen to these words. We will all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. What a difference a day makes. But now, turn with me to Revelation 6.15. Revelation 6.15. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come. And who is able to stand? You see what a difference a day makes? Christ returns, healing transformation for some, wrath, punishment, and hiding for others. You see, Jesus has always been and Jesus will always be heat for some and light for others. Child of God, rejoice. Rejoice in the fact that healing is coming. Healing in every possible way. Healing in every form. Healing from the ravages of living for so long where the whole creation is groaning and suffering until now. Healing from the psychological trauma of living in a world that is so rapidly changing. A world where it's becoming colder and darker to live. A world where good is evil and evil is good. You know, the people of God, we are sensitive to the sin that's all around us, are we not? And we feel the same spiritual erosion that Malachi must have felt in his day. Brethren, don't think that this doesn't take its toll on you. It does. It takes its toll. If it doesn't numb you, it presses on you. When you live in a world increasingly calling good evil and evil good, it takes its toll on your body and your mind. But a day is coming, a day of healing, healing from the physical pain of living in a dying body. A body that, as soon as you're born, begins the aging process. As soon as you're born, your body begins to die. A body that reaches a point in life where it begins to fail you. Where it no longer wants to perform what your mind insists it do for you. The body that, in old age, begins to produce nothing but daily aches and pains. new sicknesses and ailments, everything, all of these things that require doctors and hospitals and treatments and medicines. And you can get really tired of it. But a day of healing is coming. Real healing. And then there's going to be healing from the ongoing struggle that you have within your own heart. You know, the sin that entangles and encumbers you, the stuff that just seems to pour from you at times, and you cry out, when is this going to be done with? The sin that keeps coming back, the sin that drives you to say, oh, wretched man, wretched woman. Lord Jesus, I just want to be done with this. Christian. A day is coming where you're going to be able to lay down the weapons of your warfare. Healing is coming. You will have rest from the struggle that you now know. I just love the way Malachi expresses it. I love the way he expresses the result of that healing. This is my favorite part of these two verses. It's almost as if words simply can't do justice to the reality, so Malachi has to resort to an illustration to express the joy and exuberance that this day of healing is going to bring. Look at this wonderful illustration. Again, verse 2. Here's what he says. He says, Now, if you're reading a King James Bible, you're going to be at a slight disadvantage because it doesn't portray the language accurately. Here's the picture Malachi paints. The newborn calf, as it shares its stall with its mother, it becomes acquainted only with the sights and sounds and smells of the barn. I'm sure a lot of you are familiar, there's a lot of cows driving through here, and I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with cows, right? That little calf becomes very acquainted with just the close quarters of the stall from the time it's born. And as most of you know, cows are not particularly clean animals, right? Cows think nothing to lay down in their own manure. They become pretty filthy in the stall. But you see, when that day comes for that newborn to be let out into open pasture, when that day comes and that calf gets to see for the first time what it's never seen before, this new outside world, something actually overcomes this calf. And I know we have friends who are dairy farmers 25 minutes from here, and he has given me firsthand account of what it looks like to see that calf let out for the first time. He's told me, he says, it becomes absolutely giddy with excitement. He says, they're silly looking. As they're let out, they begin to spontaneously leap, leaping up and down. He says the appearance is as if they're overcome with joy. Like they cannot, they can't contain the exuberance, this new energy that they have. And you know, you know, think about it. No doubt that the feel and the smell of the fresh air and the grass and the flowers, the sight of green pastures all around them, the open expanse. the light and the warmth of the sun on their back. This is all different. It's all different from the darkness and filth of the stall, the only environment they've ever known. And so as these little things are let out into this new breathtaking environment, All they can do is just expend that energy and that exuberance by jumping up and down on their knobby little legs. Brethren, do you see what God is showing us here through the prophet? Do you see the picture he's painting for us? He's showing us that a day is coming where we are going to leave the confines of the only environment we've ever known. And we're going to enter into a new world. We're going to enter into a new environment, a world that, to say the least, is completely foreign to our present circumstances, our present experience. You know, right now, we're seeing through a glass darkly. But on this day, we're going to see Jesus Christ as he is. Hope is going to be realized. Faith is going to become sight for the first time. The body of sin is gonna be done away with. We're gonna know the meaning of David's words in Psalm 16. In your presence there is fullness of joy. Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard. That which hasn't even entered into the heart of man. All that the Lord has prepared for those who love him. Brethren, a day is coming. All lawlessness, all oppression, violence, The worries of the world, sickness, disease, loneliness, even death itself is going to be swallowed up for the last time. It's going to be done away with. And we, all of us who fear God, we are going to breathe an air that we have never experienced before. And you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. As difficult for this is for us to imagine, a day is coming where we, we who know and fear God and love the law of God, we are going to join a countless host of others. Some who have gone before us, some who have recently gone before us. And we're going to join them In an exuberance that we've never experienced before, we're gonna know a joy and we will be leaping for joy. Every one of us. We are gonna be letting out an uncontained exuberance on that day. Bless God for the hope of this coming day. It's coming. And it is only possible through the perfect righteousness and atoning sacrifice that Christ made for us upon his cross. Apart from Jesus Christ, you see, apart from his life and death and resurrection, nobody would be able to fear God. Nobody would delight in the law of God. And nobody would willingly and gladly submit to his divine will. Nobody would or could obey His Word apart from what He's done. So if you have not yet done so, if you are here this morning and you haven't done so, run to Christ by faith. Flee to Christ. Go to Him. Flee to Him. Turn from sin and trust Him with all your heart. If you would know the blessing of those who eagerly await His return, then go to Him. Well, my time is pretty much gone. This leaves us with really just one simple but pressing question. This day is coming. We don't know when it's coming, but it's coming. Here's my question for you. When this day comes, will this day find you a calf or will it find you chaff? Will this day find you hiding or healing? If Jesus returns tonight, how will you be found? See, it's obvious that there's going to be a massive separation that occurs among all people, right? Do you see that? All people are going to be divided into only two groups. It's laid out so clearly in the Gospels, right? The wheat separated from the tares, the sheep from the goats, the wise virgins from the foolish virgins, right? This day that's coming is going to be a day of separation. It's going to separate husbands from wives. It's going to separate parents from children. It's going to separate siblings from siblings, neighbors from neighbors. It's even going to separate church members from church members. Will that day be a day of light for you, forever expelling the darkness? Or is that day going to be a day of heat for you, leaving neither root nor branch? Please don't let that day find you not trusting in the righteousness of Christ to save you. Don't let that day catch you not trusting in his work and his righteousness. Don't let that day catch you with no fear of God in your heart. You can go to him. You don't have to prepare yourself. You don't have to do anything to ready yourself. You can go to Jesus Christ this very day, and you can even confess to Him, I don't think I fear You as I ought to fear You. But You can help me to fear You. I don't delight in Your law the way I think I should delight in Your law, but You can help me to delight in Your law. Lord, You can make me willing in the day of Your power. You can do this. You can confess this to him today. You can say to him, teach me to delight in your commandments. I don't delight in them, but change me so that I do. Your word says that your commandments are not burdensome. I want to feel that. I want to know that for myself. All of you, make sure that you know what side you're going to be on when the great divide occurs. Are you going to be a calf? Or are you going to be chaff? Are you ready for Christ to come back? Let me close with the words of 1st John 2 28. Now, little children abide in him so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we have this hope that you have set deep down into our hearts. And Lord, this is what keeps us going so many days, knowing that there will be a day of justice, a day, Lord, where we will be able to see you as you are. a day where we are going to be made like you. Lord, we can't imagine that day. We can't imagine being without sin. And yet, Lord, we hold on to your promises. with great hope and expectation. And Lord, we pray for those, any who might be among us who are yet on the chaff side of that divide. Oh, Lord, have mercy. Lord, please open up the hearts of those who do not know you so that when this day comes, they would be neither chaff nor trying to hide. We pray in your name. Amen.