November 3, 1999
GREAT QUESTIONS OF THE BIBLE:
"Who can endure the day of his coming?"
Malachi 3:2
___
___I never will forget my one and only visit to the office of the school principal.
___ My buddy and I had done something we had been warned not to do. We were making some unflattering remarks out of the boys' bathroom window that opened into a large school hallway. The girls could hear us but could not see who was speaking.
___ A sly teacher caught us in mid-sentence. It was a high offense against the oft-stated rules of the high authority himself, and we were immediately taken to the office we most feared--the principal's office. He had the final word, and we knew the sentence. As
RON COOK
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Brownwood
elementary students, we were not sure we could endure the swats, the shame and the further accountability we faced at home that night.
___ Most of us have faced a higher authority, wondering if we would endure. All moments of accountability seem as harmless as trips to the principal's office when compared with the fearful prospect of coming before the living God.
___ Malachi has the last word in the Old Testament, and it is a message of judgment and hope. How appropriate for the final prophet on the list to sum up the great truth-tellers of ancient Israel. The question is to the point: Who can endure the day of his coming? The answer remains the same, especially since the days of the great prophets. No one can endure unless prepared by the Lord himself. The Lord must intervene, he must provide and he must save. And this is exactly the message of Malachi.
___This latter prophet brings a word of hope along with the word of judgment. The Lord will purify and refine (Malachi 3:3). "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings" (Malachi 4:2). Nevertheless, for all others there will be no enduring the day of his coming. "All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty" (Malachi 4:1).
___ It is certainly obvious for most believers that the action of the sun of righteousness is fulfilled in the Son, Jesus Christ. He will bring both judgment and salvation. The New Testament witness does not drop the expectation of judgment. "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). Thanks be to God that the resounding note is one of hope and salvation: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10: 13).
___I have been held accountable more than once since that day at the principal's office, but I have been held in the arms of grace since the day I trusted Jesus Christ for salvation, "... because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day" (2 timothy 1:12).
Previous Columns: 7/14, 7/21, 7/28, 8/4, 8/11, 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, 9/22, 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20 10/27.
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