LAST
JUDGMENT
November
10-12, 2018
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Malachi 4:1-2 (EHV)
“THE DAY IS COMING!”
1.
A
day of absolute Hell.
2.
A
day of absolute Heaven.
Malachi 4:1-2
(EHV) “Look! The day is coming, burning
like a blast furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The
day that is coming will set them on fire, says the LORD of Armies, a day that
will not leave behind a root or branch for them. 2But for you who
fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, and there will be healing in
its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released
from the stall.”
Do you have a favorite day of the
church year? I’m thinking of other than the main festivals like Christmas or
Easter. If I had to pick one I’d choose next Sunday, known as Saints Triumphant
Sunday. I love that Sunday because it focuses our attention on the joy and
happiness of brothers and sisters who have made it from this veil of tears to
the triumph of heaven. With both my parents in heaven Saints Triumphant Sunday
puts a smile on my face as I picture them there. Hymns for that day like
“Behold a Host arrayed in white” with its picture language. I still remember
when my dad called to let me know my mom just went to heaven and I walked
through the church on the way to my office and Mickey Schultz was practicing
for Saints Triumphant Sunday playing “For all the Saints”. That’s a great
memory. That’s why I would pick next Sunday as my favorite. And if I’d have to
pick a least favorite it would be this Sunday, Last or Final Judgment. The list
of hymns written especially for this Sunday include the one we just sang, “The
Day is Surely Drawing Near,” and one we will sing, “Day of wrath O Day of
Mourning.” An old hymnal also had what must have been a favorite, “Day of wrath
that dreadful day.” And then I started to wonder. Why is it that I don’t like
something the Bible clearly teaches, the fact that our Holy God makes just
judgments and the last day they will be announced and for some it will be a day
of wrath and mourning? And that set me down another path. We hold a service
once a month at Forest Ridge apartments in Hales Corners. All they have for us
to use for hymnals are ones produced by the Methodist Church from the mid
1980s. You know I couldn’t find one hymn in there that even alluded to the fact
that at the Day of judgment unbelievers go to Hell. It made me wonder. Has our
enemy the Devil been at work in the church on earth? Is he at work on me? Poll
after poll still show that the majority of Americans believe there is some kind
of heaven but fewer believe there is a Hell. Our enemy has been at work! For if
there is no Hell, then there is no need for rescue, for a Savior. That’s what
he’s trying to do, to get rid of Jesus. Not
so among us. While Last Judgment may not be my favorite Sunday of the church
year and while I might not like the contents or melodies of Last Judgment hymns
and you may feel the same, this is a message we need to hear. The Day is
coming.
The Day is coming! That’s a message
God wants all people to hear. So He put it in a prominent place. Malachi is the
last book of the Old Testament. Chapter 4 is the last chapter of that book.
Malachi was the last prophet God would use to speak His words until Jesus would
come some 400 years later. What was the last word that God wanted His people to
remember so they would be ready to receive their Savior? The Day is coming.
What day? Judgment Day. A day of absolute Hell. “Look! The day is coming, burning like a blast furnace. All the
arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The day that is coming will set
them on fire, says the LORD of Armies, a day that will not leave behind a root
or branch for them.” Malachi directs our attention to the
day that is coming. It is not a good day for the arrogant and evil doer. Who
are they? When we think of arrogance or evil, we in these days, think of those
who arrogantly commit the evil of taking other’s lives in these mass shootings.
That is arrogant and that is evil. But what is most arrogant and evil is to
reject Jesus as Savior. God could have justly destroyed the world when Adam and
Eve plunged it into sin. Instead in love God put into place His plan of
salvation. He did so even though it meant Jesus would have to be punished for
every sin. Heaven is a free gift for all. To reject God’s way of saving through
Jesus or to in any way suggest that our own good deeds can pay what Jesus paid
for is a slap in God’s face, spitting in His eye and taking Jesus and throwing
Him into an outhouse. That is arrogance and evil. And for those who do so the
day is coming. Absolute Hell.
Hell
is consistently described in the Bible as a place of eternal burning,
hopelessness and despair. When God says not a root or a branch will be left. He
means no second chance. No hope. Just despair. This is not a pretty picture. It
is absolute Hell. Some of you may remember a book that was made into a movie,
“Heaven is for real!” Did you know there was another book written? Hell is for
real. Not a best seller. No blockbuster movie. Not what people want to hear.
And yet the Day is coming. A day of absolute Hell.
And at the same
time a day of absolute Heaven! The Word
of God goes on. “But,” now I hesitate to say this because I know how your
juvenile minds work. However you need to understand this is a really big but.
It means everything that follows is the opposite of what you heard before. “But
for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, and there will be
healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves
released from the stall.” You are described
as those who revere the Lord’s name. Revere has that idea of loving respect,
wanting someone’s approval. That’s a good description of believers. We know the
Lord as the Savior God. We know we deserve punishment for our sins. We know
that we can’t make up for even one sin. We sadly see what Jesus has gone
through instead of us when He was forsaken on the cross. At the same time we
are happy and thankful for it. For Judgment Day, the day that is coming, we
will be among those who see a day of absolute heaven.
Malachi describes our judgment day as
the sun of righteousness rising with healing in its wings. Picture the sun
rising and feeling its rays warm you on a cool fall day. That’s a picture of
the Son, Jesus, who by rising from the dead has his forgiveness of sins
touching every believer. Maybe a picture will help. It’s judgment day. You have
watched the line of unbelievers stand before the judge. You hear the long litany
of their sins revealed. You see their shame and despair. Now it’s your turn.
You walk forward and sweat is beading on your brow. You see family members,
neighbors, co-workers and you dread them hearing the sins you have worked so
hard to keep hidden. Now they will know what you said about them behind their
backs. They will hear what you really thought. The shameful embarrassing sins
you thought to keep secret. Exposed! Reluctantly you step forward. The judge
says. “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink. You made sure I knew I had a Savior. You served the
needs of others. Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your
Master’s happiness.” And so you leap for joy like a calf getting to run free
for the first time. It’s absolute heaven. You are sin free. Pain free. Healed
from every sickness of sin, body and heart. That day is coming. Absolute
heaven.
Brothers and sisters, I began today
expressing the truth that the reality of Hell is something we need to talk
about as much as the reality of heaven. It’s what we need to hear so we see our
need for Jesus as Savior and appreciate what He has done. This Day that is
coming, the last day, Judgment Day is when God will make public what happens
the day you die. Do you die trusting in Jesus or rejecting Him? You younger
people especially need to understand that the Devil is going to work hard on
you to give up your faith in Jesus, to not value it and take care of it and
feed with regular word, worship and sacrament. Take heed. The Day is coming!
Only with Jesus is it absolute heaven. But friends, others need to hear too.
The unbelievers. We can snatch them from the fires. This Christmas churches of
the WELS throughout the nation are banding together with the goal of inviting
one million unchurched people to come and hear the Good News of a Savior. St.
Jacobi is joining that effort and we’ll talk more about your part at the end of
service. We need to. For the day is coming. Amen.
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