It gets worse mon - in the following he claims that John the Baptist failed:
Dwight Pentecost in brown text:
Some time before the Transfiguration, John the Baptist, who was in prison, sent two of his disciples to ask the Lord Jesus whether He was the Messiah or whether they were to look for another. Our Lord sent a message back to John drawing attention to His miraculous ministry as sufficient testimony that He was the One foretold by the prophets, and then He told the multitudes of John’s greatness, and that the Baptist was indeed the Messenger of whom Malachi spoke (Mal. 3:1). And then added: “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come” (Matt. 11:12, 14).
What did He mean? He was telling them this: that if Israel had been ready and willing to receive Him then, He would have established the Kingdom which He offered them, and that in that event, John’s ministry would have been the fulfilment of the prophetic Elijah.
Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Kindle Locations 5639-5642). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Inasmuch as John could not have fulfilled the prophecies because Israel rejected the offered kingdom, it does not seem possible to assert that the prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6 has been fulfilled. The fact that John could have fulfilled it, even though he was not personally Elijah, seems to indicate that Elijah need not come personally to fulfill the prophecies.
During the period preceding the second advent, and prior to the outpouring of judgments upon the earth, there will be a ministry by one in the spirit and power of Elijah, which will fulfill this prophecy.
Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Kindle Locations 5652-5655). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mal 4:6 And he shall
turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
The above is quoted by an angel in regards to John, but ol' Dwight thinks nothing of throwing out John with the bath water:
Luke 1:13 But
the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
Luke 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
So either John came to
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children or he didn't, if he didn't then he failed.
I think I'll take the angel's word over ol' Dwight's.