Jesus is Going to Judge the World

Scripture: Malachi 4:5-6

"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."

Insights:  During Sunday School yesterday the Lord changed the direction of my sermon.  I was supposed to conclude our series out of Exodus eighteen, but the Lord moved me to three different passages of Scripture which we will look at this week.  Let me start today’s Thoughts by Scott with a statement I have made before regarding Old Testament prophecy.  When an individual in the Old Testament saw a vision from the Lord, it often time looked like mountain peaks.  If you have ever been a long way off from a range of mountains and saw one that seemed really large, you might have thought it was just one peak.  As you got closer, however, you realized there were two peaks and one was just behind the other one.  Old Testament prophecy is like that.  Malachi saw the coming of the Lord and His herald, John the Baptist, who bore the spirit of Elijah.  At the same time he saw the great and terrible day of the LORD.  The great and terrible day of the LORD is the Great White Throne Judgment of the damned.  It is a terrible day because of all the souls sentenced to eternal hell away from the love of God.  For Malachi, his vision made the coming of John the Baptist and this great judgment the same event.  We know there have been at least 2000 years of separation from the two events.  The point is the herald, John the Baptist, was preparing the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  There was and is a time between this initial proclamation from John the Baptist and Jesus’ coming on the scene to this judgment seat.  During this time, people are able to get saved, made new, become born again, but they must do so before that great and terrible day of the LORD.  If they wait till then, it is too late and they will be damned for all of eternity.  Beloved, because of this future judgment, we ought to be compelled to go and tell others about the love of Jesus.  Their very eternity is at stake.  Will you share Jesus with them?

Questions:

1. Which judgment seat are you going to sit under?
2. Will you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior today?

Prayer: Father, I am so grateful You sent Your Son Jesus to die in my place.  Because of His sacrifice and gift of salvation, I do not have to face the Great White Throne Judgment.  Stir my heart Lord, to be more urgent in my proclamation of Your Son’s Work so that others will not have to face that judgment.  Amen.