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Malachi Chapter
One
Malachi 1
Chapter Contents
The ingratitude of Israel. (1-5) They are careless in
God's institutions. (6-14)
Commentary on Malachi 1:1-5
(Read Malachi 1:1-5)
All advantages
either as to outward circumstances
or
spiritual privileges
come from the free love of God
who makes one to differ
from another. All the evils sinners feel and fear
are the just recompence of
their crimes
while all their hopes and comforts are from the unmerited mercy
of the Lord. He chose his people that they might be holy. If we love him
it is
because he has first loved us; yet we all are prone to undervalue the mercies
of God
and to excuse our own offences.
Commentary on Malachi 1:6-14
(Read Malachi 1:6-14)
We may each charge upon ourselves what is here charged
upon the priests. Our relation to God
as our Father and Master
strongly
obliges us to fear and honour him. But they were so scornful that they derided
reproof. Sinners ruin themselves by trying to baffle their convictions. Those
who live in careless neglect of holy ordinances
who attend on them without
reverence
and go from them under no concern
in effect say
The table of the
Lord is contemptible. They despised God's name in what they did. It is evident
that these understood not the meaning of the sacrifices
as shadowing forth the
unblemished Lamb of God; they grudged the expense
thinking all thrown away
which did not turn to their profit. If we worship God ignorantly
and without
understanding
we bring the blind for sacrifice; if we do it carelessly
if we
are cold
dull
and dead in it
we bring the sick; if we rest in the bodily
exercise
and do not make heart-work of it
we bring the lame; and if we suffer
vain thoughts and distractions to lodge within us
we bring the torn. And is
not this evil? Is it not a great affront to God
and a great wrong and injury
to our own souls? In order to the acceptance of our actions with God
it is not
enough to do that which
for the matter of it
is good; but we must do it from
a right principle
in a right manner
and for a right end. Our constant mercies
from God
make worse our slothfulness and niggardliness
in our returns of duty
to God. A spiritual worship shall be established. Incense shall be offered to
God's name
which signifies prayer and praise. And it shall be a pure offering.
When the hour came
in which the true worshippers worshipped the Father in
Spirit and in truth
then this incense was offered
even this pure offering. We
may rely on God's mercy for pardon as to the past
but not for indulgence to
sin in future. If there be a willing mind
it will be accepted
though
defective; but if any be a deceiver
devoting his best to Satan and to his
lusts
he is under a curse. Men now
though in a different way
profane the
name of the Lord
pollute his table
and show contempt for his worship.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Malachi》
Malachi 1
Verse 2
[2] I have loved you
saith the LORD. Yet ye say
Wherein
hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved
Jacob
Loved you — Both personally considered and
relatively
in progenitors.
Us — Who have been captives
and groaned under it all our
days 'till of late.
Was not Esau — Did not one father beget them
and one mother bear them? I loved Jacob - I preferred him to the birthright
and this of free love. I loved his person
and his posterity.
Verse 3
[3] And I hated Esau
and laid his mountains and his
heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
I hated — I loved not Esau's posterity as I loved Jacob's.
His heritage — Mount Seir with the neighbouring
mountains.
Waste — By Nebuchadnezzar's arms five years after the sacking
of Jerusalem
and whereas Jacob's captivity returned
and their cities were
rebuilt
Esau's never were.
The dragons — Creatures which delight in
desolate places
by which the utter desolation of Esau is signified.
Verse 4
[4] Whereas Edom saith
We are impoverished
but we will
return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts
They shall
build
but I will throw down; and they shall call them
The border of
wickedness
and
The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
Throw down — So he did in the times of the
Maccabees.
The border of wickedness — They will be a most
wicked people
and so notorious
that all their neighbours shall brand them for
it.
Hath indignation — They will so highly
provoke God
that his indignation will be kindled against them for ever.
Verse 5
[5] And your eyes shall see
and ye shall say
The LORD will
be magnified from the border of Israel.
From the border of Israel — Let Israel from all
his borders give God praise.
Verse 6
[6] A son honoureth his father
and a servant his master: if
then I be a father
where is mine honour? and if I be a master
where is my
fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you
O priests
that despise my name. And ye
say
Wherein have we despised thy name?
O priests — Had undutifulness been found
among the ignorant people
it might have been a little excusable. But you
O
priests
whose business is to know me
have like Eli's sons despised me
yourselves
and made others do so too.
Verse 7
[7] Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say
Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say
The table of the LORD is
contemptible.
Bread — Either the meal-offerings
or rather in a more large
sense
all sacrifices and oblations.
Ye say — Perhaps in words; at least your deeds speak your
thoughts.
The table — This comprehends all that was
offered to God.
Verse 8
[8] And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice
is it not evil?
and if ye offer the lame and sick
is it not evil? offer it now unto thy
governor; will he be pleased with thee
or accept thy person? saith the LORD of
hosts.
Evil — Is it not against the express command of God.
Verse 9
[9] And now
I pray you
beseech God that he will be
gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons?
saith the LORD of hosts.
I pray you — O priests.
Beseech — Intercede with God for his sinful people.
This — This contempt of God.
Verse 11
[11] For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down
of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place
incense shall be offered unto my name
and a pure offering: for my name shall
be great among the heathen
saith the LORD of hosts.
Incense — A law term for a gospel duty
and under this type are
contained the prayers and praises
nay
the whole gospel-worship.
A pure offering — Both sincere
in opposition to
hypocrisy
and holy
in opposition to impurity
superstition and idolatry.
Verse 12
[12] But ye have profaned it
in that ye say
The table of
the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof
even his meat
is contemptible.
But ye — O priests! And the people by your examples.
Ye say — By your deportment.
Is polluted — Not a sacred thing.
His meat — Either the meat which fell to the priest's share
or
the portion which was laid upon the altar.
Verse 13
[13] Ye said also
Behold
what a weariness is it! and ye
have snuffed at it
saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was
torn
and the lame
and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept
this of your hand? saith the LORD.
What a weariness — What a toil and
drudgery to observe every point of the law.
This — With such minds snuffing at my service
and with such
sacrifices
unfit for mine altar.
Verse 14
[14] But cursed be the deceiver
which hath in his flock a
male
and voweth
and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a
great King
saith the LORD of hosts
and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
The deceiver — The hypocrite that would seem to
offer a sacrifice of the best
but puts God off with the worst.
A male — A perfect male
such as God requireth.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Malachi》
God’s Love for His People
‘I have loved you’
saith the Lord
(1.2)—God’s Love—
I. Declared—I have loved you (1.2)
II. Denied—Wherein hast thou loved
us? (1.2)
III. Defined—I loved Jacob (1.2)
IV. Demonstrated—Your eyes shall
see (1.5)
── Archibald Naismith《Outlines for Sermons》
01 Chapter 1
Verses 1-14
The burden of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
A Divine burden
Some burdens are self-imposed; some laid upon us by our
fellow-men; some by God. The prophets felt that the Word of God was a burden
upon their souls.
I. It was a burden
of Divine revelation. Words reveal. A true word is a manifestation of the soul.
God was known by the utterances of these inspired men. His Word is now His
choicest revelation. His Word is true
faithful
precious
enlightening
saving
eternal.
II. It is a burden
borne by the holiest of men. God speaks through men. Many holy men now feel
that the Word of God is in them. This burden should be borne by these holy men
humbly
prayerfully
thankfully
and conscientiously.
III. It is a burden
borne for the world. God’s Word must not be hidden. Truth heard in the inner
sanctuary of the soul must be proclaimed upon the housetops. God’s Word is for
all nations. Whoever has it
has this burden for the world
He must carry it
fearfully
distinctly
honestly
and unadulteratedly. Let the churches pray
much for those who bear the burden of the Word. Often they are oppressed with
their responsibilities. (W. Osborne Lilley.)
The burden of the Word of the Lord
The prophets of old were no triflers. They carried a burden. The
servants of God mean business; they have something to carry
worth carrying.
Those who speak for God must not speak lightly. God’s true servants
who are
burdened with His Word
right willingly and cheerfully carry that burden. We
bear a burden indeed
but we should be sorry not to bear it.
I. Why is the word
of the Lord a burden to him that speaketh it? It is a burden because it is the
Word of the Lord.
1. The Word of the Lord becomes a burden in the reception of it. No
man can preach the Gospel aright until he has had it borne into his own soul
with overwhelming energy. True preaching is artesian
it wells up from the
great depths of the soul.
2. The Word of God is a burden in the delivery of it. He that finds
it easy to preach
will find it hard work to give an account of his preaching
at the last great day. To speak aright
God’s Word beneath the Divine influence
is
in the speaking as well as in the getting of the message
the burden of the
Lord.
3. When we have preached
the Gospel becomes a burden in after
consideration. If God sends any of us to do good to our fellow-men
and to
speak in His name
the souls of men will be a perpetual burden to us.
II. It is a burden
because of what it is. What is it that the true servant of God has to bear and
preach?
1. It is the rebuke of sin. If a man bears the burden of the Word of
the Lord
he speaks most to his people upon the evil of which they are most
guilty. Every true preacher must be careless of man’s esteem
and speak
faithfully; but this is a burden to one of a tender spirit.
2. The Word of the Lord gives a rebuff to human pride. The doctrines
of the Gospel seem shaped on purpose
among other objects
to bring into
contempt all human glory. So human nature does not like our message. And such
preaching becomes the burden of the Lord.
3. The true preacher has to come into contact with the vanity of
human intellect. The things
of God are hidden from the wise and prudent
but revealed unto babes; and the
wise and prudent are indignant at this act of Divine sovereignty. To face false
science with the “polishness of preaching
” and to set up the Cross in the
teeth of learned self-sufficiency
is a burden from the Lord.
4. The most heavy burden is that which concerns the future. We are
heavy at heart for the many who will not turn to God
but persist in destroying
their own souls for ever.
III. It is a burden
because of the consequences of our bearing it to you. Suppose that we do not
preach the Gospel
and warn the wicked man
so that he turn not from his
iniquity
what then? “He shall perish
but his blood will I require at thy hand.” What
will my Lord say to me if I am unfaithful to you? Then it becomes a great
burden to me to preach the Gospel when I think of what those lose who will not
have it.
IV. It is often the
burden of the Lord
because of the way in which men treat the Word of God. Some
trifle with it. The preoccupation of human minds makes it such a burden when we
are in earnest to reach the heart and win the soul. Quite a number hear with
considerable attention
but forget all that they hear. The sermon is all done
with when they have done hearing it. There are even some that hear to ridicule.
The preacher is in anguish to save a soul
and they are thinking about how he
pronounces a word.
V. It is a burden
when the preacher remembers that he will have to give an account. There will
come a time when it will be said
“Preacher
give an account of your
stewardship.” Remember the great Lord of all true Gospel preachers bore a far
heavier burden than we. Since it is a burden in itself
I ask you not to make
it any heavier. You add to my burden
if you do not aid me in the Lord’s work.
But the greatest increase of my burden comes from those who do not receive the
Gospel at all. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse
2-3
was not Esau Jacob’s brother?
saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob
and I hated Esau
and laid his mountains and
his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Jacob
From the fate of the hunter Esau
we learn the peril of life’s low
ideals; the power of life’s crucial moments; the continuity of life’s
irrevocable retributions; the anguish of life’s fruitless tears. The fortunes
of Jacob are indeed too eventful
his character too complex
to allow any
attempt at exhaustive analysis. But we may learn something which will aid us in
our daily difficult endeavour to choose the good and not the evil
and to give
our hearts and lives to God.
1. “I loved Jacob
and hated Esau.” Does not our first instinct
almost rebel against this appeal? Do we not incline to prefer the elder
for all his
frank earthliness
to the younger
with his mean servilities and subterranean
shifts? Yet there the sentence stands; and all Scripture
and the long
centuries of human history
set the seal of confirmation to the sacred verdict.
The Aryan has prevailed in war and civilisation
but in all other things the
Semite conquered his conqueror. More than any other nation
the Hebrew realised
the intense grandeur and infinite supremacy of the moral law
and saw that the
greatest and most awful aim for human life is not culture
but conduct. Let us see
why Jacob
who seems to concentrate all the worst faults which we associate
with the lowest type of Jewish character
is yet preferred to his more gallant
and manly brother.
2. Let me reject at once two solutions of it. Some would settle it on
the broad grounds of predestinated election and arbitrary decree
and would
confuse our understanding with reasonings high of freedom and foreknowledge
will and fate. Others think it sufficient to silence us with the triumphant
assertion
that we are but clay in the hands of the potter
that God may treat
us as He wills. Others
again
argue that we must not judge Jacob’s sins as
though they were sinful
because Scripture records them without distinct
condemnation
and because he may have been acting under Divine directions. I do
not only reject all such solutions
I declare the first to be blasphemous
and
the second deplorable. God is no arbitrary tyrant
but a merciful
loving
righteous Father. And the moral law
in its inviolable majesty
infinitely
transcends the wretched “idols of the theatre” which men have called theories
of inspiration. If God chose Jacob
it was because the true nature of Jacob was
intrinsically worthy of that choice.
3. According to the Hebrew idiom
the strong antithesis of the text
connotes less than it asserts
being but a more intense way of saying that
in
comparison with his brother
Esau neither deserved nor received the approval of
God. A second abatement--though not removal--of the difficulty lies in the fact
that Jacob seems worse to us because his faults were essentially those of an
Oriental
and are therefore peculiarly offensive to the heart of a true
Englishman. And long may falseness and meanness be utterly abhorrent to our
Northern character! But our special national scorn of Jacob’s deceitfulness
does not make it one whit more contemptible than Esau’s animalism.
4. Herein lies the first great moral of these two lives. That which
is holy is not to be cast to the dogs. Esau lost the blessing because he reeked
not of it. Jacob gained it
because his whole soul yearned for its loftiest
hopes. Men
on the whole
do win what they will: they do achieve that at which
they resolutely aim. This is perfectly true in worldly things. But there is one
ambition which is worth the absorbing devotion of a human being. It is the
ambition of holiness
the treasure of eternity
the object of seeing the face
of God.
5. What a difference is made by different ideals. Each of these
twin-brothers lost and gained much more beside their immediate wish. Esau the
rough becomes by scornful memorial Edom the red; Jacob the supplanter becomes
Israel the prince with God.
6. Another lesson is
that however lofty be our aims
we must not
in
order to hasten them
deflect
were it but one hair’s breadth
from the path of
perfect rectitude. Jacob inherited the blessing because his faith yearned for
its spiritual promises; but because he compassed its immediate achievement by a
crime
therefore
with the blessing there fell on him a retribution so heavy
so unremitted
as made his look back over life a bitter pain.
7. In spite of all which stained his life
Jacob was still a
patriarch and a saint. You must not judge of him as a whole by the instances
so faithfully recorded
of his guilty plottings. In two main respects Jacob was
certainly greater
better
and worthier than Esau. The sins of Esau’s life
were
so to speak
the very narrative; the sins of Jacob’s life were but the
episode of his
career.
8. There is this further difference. There is not the faintest sign that
Esau ever repented of his sin. But in Jacob’s life there was many a moment when
he would have forfeited the very blessing to purchase back the innocence by
which it had been gained. Learn lastly
that the continuity of godliness is the
choicest gift of all
and innocence is better than repentance. And we see in
the case of Esau’s red pottage and ravenous hour
that one failure under sudden
temptation may be alike the ruin and epitome of a man’s career
because the
impulse of the hour is nothing less than the momentum of the life. (Dean
Farrar.)
The sovereignty of God in relation to man’s secular condition of
life
1. Some men on this earth seem to be more favoured by providence than
others
yet they are often unconscious of it. This is true of individuals
and
of nations.
2. This difference in the privileges of men is to be ascribed to the
sovereignty of God. That sovereignty does not imply either partiality on His
part
or irresponsibleness on man’s part.
3. Those whom the sovereignty of God does not favour are left in a
secularly unenviable condition. They will--
God’s love to His Church
The first fault reproved in this people is their ingratitude
and
not observing or esteeming of God’s love toward them
which therefore He
demonstrates
from His choosing of Jacob their father
and preferring him to
Esau the elder brother; not only in the matter of election to eternal life
but
in that God had chosen Jacob to be the root out of whom the blessed seed should
come
and the Church propagated in his posterity; and accordingly (as an
eternal evidence of this rejection of Esau and his posterity) the Lord had
given to him but a hilly
barren country
and had now cast them out of it
and
laid it desolate
as a habitation for wild beasts; whereas the seed of Jacob had
gotten a fruitful land
and were now restored to it again after their
captivity. Doctrine--
1. The chief and principal study of the visible Church
and the godly
in it
ought to be the love of God manifested toward them
as being that which
God will not allow to be suspected
and which ought to oblige them to Him; that
which will be the sad ground of a process when it is forgotten and undervalued;
and that which
being looked on when God reproves
will encourage and
strengthen to take with it
and make use of it. Therefore doth He begin this
doctrine
and the sad challenges with this
“I have loved you
saith the Lord
”
that is
all of you in general have tasted of respects suitable
and beseeming
My Bride and the visible
Church; and particularly the elect among you have tasted of My special love.
2. God’s love to His Church is often met with great ingratitude
in
not being seen and acknowledged as becomes
especially under cross
dispensations
in undervaluing the effects of it
when they fit not our mould
and in deeds denying it
while thoughts of it do not beget love to Him again;
for “yet ye say
wherein hast Thou loved us?”
3. Election unto eternal life is a sufficient testimony of God’s
love
to be acknowledged and commended
although all things else went cross
and seemed to speak disrespect: for in this--“The Lord loved Jacob
and hated
Esau
” as is exponed (Romans 9:13); and this is sufficient
to answer their quarrelling.
4. To be chosen and selected to be the Lord’s Church and people
speaks so much respect from God unto a nation
as may counterbalance many other
hard lots.
5. The Lord’s love will not be so clearly seen and acknowledged
when
we compare some dispensations with the privileges bestowed upon us
but when we
consider our own original
and wherein we are dealt favourably with beyond
others
as good as ourselves
if not better: for however Israel
looking on
their many privileges
could not see God’s love in their low condition
yet it
would better appear when they looked back that “Esau was Jacob’s brother” (and
the elder too)
yet “I loved Jacob and hated Esau.”
6. The grace of God is not dispensed differently in the world
upon
any difference in the point of worth among men: but grace itself makes the
difference in choosing out one
and leaving another
as good in himself
to his
own ways
according to His pleasure
who hath mercy on whom He will have mercy
for Jacob and Esau are equal
till love makes the difference.
7. However
no man can know love or hatred by outward dispensations
simply considered in themselves
yet afflictions are to wicked men real
testimonies of God’s displeasure
and God’s people
being at peace with Him
may look on external mercies as speaking special love; for Esau’s hilly land
and the desolation thereof
speaks “hating of Esau
” not only as rejection from
Canaan was a type of the rejection from the Church and heaven
but as it was a
judgment inflicted on a nation unreconciled
whereas (at least) the godly in
Israel might look otherwise on their land and restitution. (George
Hutcheson.)
The love of God undiscerned
God is love. This is true even when He afflicts
for whom He
loveth He chasteneth. We must not therefore infer that He does not love because
He afflicts. The gardener prunes the grape which he values
not the thistle
which he hates. The fruit-tree that is highly prized is trimmed that it may
bear more fruit: the forest tree that is designed for the flames is left to
grow in unpruned luxuriance. God still addresses us with the same touching
appeal
“I have loved you
” and He still meets the same hard
ungrateful
response
“Wherein hast Thou loved us?” Men suffer many forms of outward evil
and inward grief because of their sins; but instead of referring them to the
proper cause--their own wickedness--they impiously accuse God in their hearts
of being indifferent to their welfare. They refuse to look at the tokens of
love strewed all along their history
and dwell in obstinate ingratitude on the
evils that their own sin has entailed upon them. And yet that history is
crowded with such tokens. (T.V. Moore
D. D.)
A remonstrance
I. The prophet’s
reproof. He is
in the name of God
taxing the people with ingratitude. There
is no sin more hateful to God than the sin of ingratitude. Another charge is
that of neglect. They offer a polluted sacrifice. All they want is a cheap
religion. They are willing to make some offering
but not the best offering.
They would be glad to do something for God
but it must cost them nothing.
II. The threat. There should
in consequence
be the rejection of their prayers
the rejection of their
persons
and the rejection of their services
and a transfer of their
privileges to others.
III. Practical lessons.
1. God’s service is a real service
not a nominal service. Formality
is not enough.
2. It is a sure sign of want of grace in your hearts
when God’s
service is a weariness.
3. Confidence in God is a necessary part of acceptable prayer and
acceptable service. (Montagu Villiers
M. A.)
God’s declared hatred of Edom
The two nations
Israel and Edom
were utterly opposed in genius
and character. Edom was a people of as unspiritual and self-sufficient a temper
as ever cursed any of God’s human creatures. Like their ancestor they were
“profane
” without repentance
humility
or ideals
and almost without
religion. Apart
therefore
from the long history of war between the two
peoples
it was a true instinct which led Israel to regard their brother as
representative of that heathendom against which they had to realise their
destiny in the world as God’s own nation. In choosing the contrast of Edom’s
fate to illustrate God’s love for Israel
“Malachi” was not only choosing what
would appeal to the passions of his contemporaries
but what is the most
striking and constant antithesis in the whole history of Israel: the absolutely
diverse genius and destiny of these two Semitic nations who were nearest
neighbours
and
according to their traditions
twin brethren after the flesh.
If we keep this in mind we shall understand Paul’s use of the antithesis in the
passage in which he clenches it by a quotation from Malachi: “as it is written
Jacob have I loved
but Esau have I hated.” In these words the doctrine of the
Divine election of individuals appears to be expressed as absolutely as
possible. But it would be unfair to read the passage except in the light of
Israel s history. In the Old Testament it is a matter of fact that the doctrine
of the Divine preference of Israel to Esau appeared only after the respective
characters of the nations were manifested in history
and that it grew more
defined and absolute only as history discovered more of the fundamental
contrast between the two in genius and destiny. In the Old Testament
therefore
the doctrine is the result
not of an arbitrary belief in God’s bare
flat
but of historical experience; although
of course
the distinction which
experience proves is traced back
with everything else of good or evil that
happens
to the sovereign will and purpose of God. Nor let us forget that the
Old Testament doctrine of election is of election to service only. That is to
say
the Divine intention in electing covers not the elect individual or nation
only
but the whole world
and its need of God and His truth. The event to
which “Malachi” appeals as evidence for God’s rejection of Edom is the deso
lation of the latter’s ancient heritage
and the abandonment to the “jackals of
the desert.” (Geo. Adam Smith
D. D.)
Election
Why should God say
Jacob I loved
Esau I hated? Why should He
choose one nation of the earth to favour beyond all others? Is not that an
arbitrary and unfair exercise of His will? Now
no doubt that is the case if we
only put on election the interpretation common among the later Jews
and the
one most familiar to ourselves. We need to correct it by the larger ideas which
St. Paul suggests to us
and which are
at least
latent in the Old Testament.
For one thing
let us remember that God’s purposes are wider than anything we
can conceive of
and that we have to make allowances for that
whenever we seek
to understand or criticise His providential dealings. As St. Paul tried to
teach the Christians in Rome
God chose Israel not for the sake of Israel
alone
but for the sake of the world. To him this explains at once the apparent
arbitrariness of the choice
and the narrowness of the groove within which
Israel had moved. God elected and trained the people for a certain special end. It was not
that by nature they were specially fitted for that end
but rather that they
were made to fit it by His grace. Here is one Semitic people out of many
showing a peculiar temperament and genius for religion
and subjected to
influences all of which tended to emphasise its peculiarities and fit it for
its destiny among mankind. And its history can only be read aright in the light
of some larger and even world-wide scheme
which it was being prepared to
fulfil. But
of course
it is not only in Israel
or
indeed
in any of the
nations of the world
that this apparent arbitrariness of Providence is to be
seen. It runs through human life. Take the story of Jacob and Esau
as only
referring to the men themselves
and we find that it is one that is constantly
repeated in our experience. The inequality of human destinies is one of the
stock themes of the pessimist; one man is chosen and another rejected
and it
is certainly not of works but of Him that calleth. One of the most
disconcerting things in all our experience is the apparent failure of goodness
to secure its reward. Sometimes it is the most unworthy who is selected for the
crown
while the saint is passed by or made to stoop under the cross. Then men
enter for the race of life strangely and even unfairly handicapped. One man
inherits a physique and a nervous system which means a happy temperament and
unusual strength of character; another is the victim of congenital weakness
which dooms him to much misery and possibly to sin. One man is elected to
conditions altogether favourable to the development of his higher self
while
another’s circumstances tend constantly to drag him down. We have all
experienced at times the baffling and tragic sense of wrong to which such
thoughts as these give rise. But do we remember that most of our perplexity is due
to the fact that we confine our views to the earthly and material side of life?
We have to take much else into account before we can hope to face the prospect
which God’s providence presents with anything like equanimity. His purposes are
surely not confined in their scope either to the lives of individuals or to
this world in which we now live in the flesh. Nor is the supreme object of His
dealing with us the happiness of many or of most. If we are to trust all the
indications of natural and revealed religion
God’s purpose is supremely
ethical In His eyes goodness is as far above happiness as heaven is above the
earth; and that even happiness should be sacrificed that high moral ends may be
secured is something which should cause us no concern. Then
again
if we have
read our Bibles to any purpose
or even studied intelligently the average
experiences of men
we shall know that no view of life which leaves out of
account its spiritual aspect can be either just or sane. We cannot
gaze as we
will
see the end from the beginning. Events that seem most contrary and cruel
in our experience have in them a soul of goodness for those that have eyes to
see. The wicked may flourish like a green bay-tree
but he perishes like the
green hay-tree too when his time comes; and the righteous may obtain no reward
but that of a good conscience
yet in the end he is received into everlasting
habitations. There is more being done all round us to redress the balance than
we have any conception of
hut it is not until we come to look at life from a
higher standpoint than that of mere earthly interests that we can see it. The
work of Providence in a man’s life is not finished when the man himself has
passed away; sometimes it is only just begun. But we need to bear in mind that
God’s election of a man or of a race is not always
as we think
an election to favour or privilege
alone. Under Providence special privilege means special responsibilities
and
election is election to service. Men and nations alike are instruments in God’s
hands
and He makes them serve His ends. Where there is a special endowment or
fitness
there is a special function to be fulfilled
and this function is one
in which many have an interest outside the individual. We must learn to judge
therefore in the light
not only of the special endowment given
but of the
special ends to be served by it. The history of Israel
for example
were
almost inexplicable apart from its results on the religion of mankind. The key
to it is to be found not in Moses or the prophets or the rabbis
but in Christ.
The people had been fitted for a particular work
and it was their fitness
which constituted their election. This helps to explain the strange
one-sidedness there is in national life. It is a question of selection as well
as election
the power or faculty most regularly employed growing at the
expense of the rest. And to the religious mind each nation alike is an
instrument of Providence
and in them all is to be seen something of the grand
purpose of God working itself out slowly but surely
through difficulty and
apparent defeat
towards that best which is yet to be. But we need to come a
little closer to the subject yet. All that has been said may be quite true
but
it does not dispose of the difficulty in our text. There may be a great deal to
be said for the doctrine of election in the abstract; but when it is couched
ill such language as this
“Jacob I loved
but Esau I hated
” it is difficult to avoid a sense of undue
favouritism
and the thought that God is
after all
a respecter of persons
in
the sense of having personal preferences. And yet we have only to look behind
the words to see that the conclusion is unwarranted. As it is
we see behind
the words a law or principle which we must not ignore. If we may argue from
human analogies
it is but natural and just to say that God loves those who
love Him. One of the things we learn most surely flora Bible history is that
God does not look for moral perfection in those to whom He grants His favours
and whom He chooses to do His work. Jacob was far from being a perfect
character; but with all his faults he had the supreme virtue of religion
he
had learned to take God into account in his actions
and to work and think with
reference to His will. Esau
on the other hand
is the type of those who are
without God in the world--profane persons
who are blind to their highest
interests
and live wilfully on the lower side of life. What wonder that from
such God’s face should be turned away! God loves those who love Him
and the
shadow cast by His love is His hatred of all that would lead men away from Him
and keep them in the dark
of selfishness and sin. As has been said already
we have to reckon with man’s
will as well as God’s. He compels no man to be either righteous or sinful
and
the fact that we are free adds a brighter halo to our goodness
and deepens
immeasurably the stain of our guilt. We are always working either with God or
against Him
and this fact
while it adds a new hope and assurance to our
efforts after righteousness
makes the evil that is in us point only to
despair. Judged by the only standards we can use
we have to lay the blame on
man and not on God for whatever is dark and terrible in the words
“Jacob I
loved
but Esau I hated.” A subject like this brings vividly home to us the
supreme needs of the religious man--faith in God and co-operation with Him. It
is often cruelly enough revealed to us that in this life--in spite of the light
of reason--we are as those that grope in the dark. After all
the world is only
in the making as yet
and we have to learn to judge not by the intricate mass
of scaffolding
rubbish heaps
and half-built walls that we see
but by the
Architect’s plans. In spite of all the perplexities and inconsistencies which
puzzle us here
we have to learn to look at the design which runs through them
all
and the purpose which by them is being slowly evolved. Sometimes all we
can do is to trust and wait
to be sure that there is a secret to this mystery
and a solution to that riddle
but that we have not yet eyes to see them; and
we must remember
too
that faith will never sit with folded hands doing
nothing
but that true faith always works. The greater the trouble and the
difficulty the more need there is for work
and the effort to do God’s will as
far as it is known is the only means by which that will can be more clearly
understood. (W. B. Selbie
M. A.)
The dragons of the wilderness.
The dragons
Ancient history is full of legends concerning the deadly power of
dragons. The Bible has many references to these imaginary monsters. In Church
history they are represented as winged crocodiles
and regarded as emblems of
sin and the devil. There are spiritual dragons now. Consider--
I. These dragons. They are
besetting sins
turbulent passions
sinful customs
fascinating vices
evil
spirits
etc.
II. Where they dwell. The
wilderness. The world
though beautiful
is yet cursed by sin. To the saintly
heart it is often a wilderness--
1. For its loneliness.
2. For its barrenness.
3. For its dangers.
Dragons lurk there. They may pour forth their fire and fury upon
us there at any time. Application. Be watchful. Seek the help of the great
dragon-slayer--Christ. In all legends of the slaying of dragons it was one hero
that did it--Hercules
Perseus
Siegfried
St. Michael
St. George--these slew
the dragons
and delivered the people. (W. Osborne Lilley.)
Verse 4
They shall build
but I
will throw down.
Foolish builders
To separate our lives from
God is folly; to live in opposition to Him is madness. Many not only disregard
Him
but also oppose Him.
I. Who are these foolish builders?
1. Those who seek to build up a reputation with deceits.
2. Those who build up the fortunes of their houses with
unrighteousness.
3. Those who build up a religious life without faith in Christ
the
only foundation.
4. Those who build up their characters with evil principles and
deeds.
5. Those who build up high positions by treachery and tyranny.
II. Consider the certainty of their overthrow. Woe be to the work that
has God against it. It cannot stand. Think of His power
knowledge
and
absolute control of all things. Everything that He does not smile upon must
perish. History confirms this. Kingdoms created with great magnificence and
might
but built in defiance of His laws
have
like Edom
fallen. Theological
systems
and ecclesiastical despotisms that have been built up in opposition to
Him
have been overthrown. Biography also confirms this. No life that has been
spent in opposition to Him
however apparently influential
but has crumbled
away like a falling tower. When God says
“I will throw down
” none can save.
Experience also confirms it. Learn not to lay a stone in life without God. We
should enter upon no work without first securing His aid and blessing. We can
only erect a structure that will stand for ever
as we build in God’s way
and
under the influence of the Spirit
of Jesus. ( W. Osborne Lilley.)
Verse 5
The Lord will be magnified from (or upon) the border of Israel.
Each nation had its God
The deities were made to rival each other in the protection and
blessing which they afforded to the nations that worshipped them.
I. This prophetic
utterance. Evils abounded when the prophet lived. The sins of the people were
eclipsing God’s glory; but the prophet knew that it would shine forth as the
sun. It is therefore an utterance--
God must be magnified. It is necessary--
1. For the furtherance of His purposes.
2. For the vindication of His righteousness.
3. For the good of the universe.
II. How this
utterance was
and may be fulfilled. The history of the Israelites abounds with
confirmations of the prophet’s words. His faith would be strengthened as he
remembered past dispensations. Though God’s ancient people were dispersed
the
spiritual Israel remains. He has been magnified.
1. In the redemption of the cross.
2. In the interposition of providence in behalf of His Church.
3. In the holy lives and sufferings of His people.
4. In the missionary enterprises of His Church.
III. Where this
should be fulfilled. In “the border of Israel.” The spiritual Israel must ever
magnify God. This is the duty of the Church.
1. The Church should interpret all events so as to do this.
2. It should do it under all circumstances.
3. It should seek this first in all its organisations and
evangelistic efforts.
Application. Let this be our aim continually--to magnify God. We often seek to
magnify ourselves. Our truest greatness is in making Him great. (W. Osborne
Lilley.)
Verse 6
A son honoureth his
father
and a servant his master.
Christian reverence
There is a sin common
among us
which we may be unwilling to recognise
the sin of irreverence; a
want of respect for the presence
power
and majesty of God
arising from
thoughtlessness or practical unbelief. We need not attempt to prove that God
has a right to expect from us the fullest tribute of veneration which we can
offer
for this truth is a self-evident one. He is the Creator; we are the
creatures. He is the Redeemer; we are they whom He has purchased to Himself. He
is the Sanctifier; we are they who need sanctification. He is Eternal
Almighty
Infinite; we are mortal
weak
finite. As His mercy claims our love
so do His power and goodness claim our reverence. This conclusion we must have
arrived at
if we had only the light of nature; it is fully sustained by
revelation. In order to serve God acceptably
we must serve Him “with reverence
and godly fear.” But on this point we are lamentably defective
so that the
reproof addressed to Israel in the days of Malachi may
with as great
or even
greater
appropriateness
be applied to ourselves. Malachi’s censure was
in
the first instance
applied to the priests. But as it was with the priests
so
is it now with all. We do not deny that God is our Father and Master. With our lips
we acknowledge Him
but our hearts are far from Him. We do not consider the
force of our words when we confess Him
or what they involve. We speak of Him
as our Father and Master
but we tacitly persuade ourselves that in His case
the paternal and domestic relation is something different from what it is among
ourselves; that we are not His servants and children in the same sense as we
are with regard to such of our fellow-creatures as hold such a connection with
us. And it is true God has this further claim upon us
that He is our God. But
this is a consideration from which we shrink
and so endeavour to persuade
ourselves that His Godhead rather diminishes than enhances His claims upon us
on other grounds. Irreverence in Malachi’s days was shown by the character of
the offerings made to God. Instead of bringing the best and most perfect
men
thought it sufficient to sacrifice what was torn and crippled
what was cheap
and paltry
what was of no value in the market. They offered to God of that
which cost them nothing. Have we no temptation to commit precisely the same
kind of sin? Look at the state of our churches; and negligence in
church-repairs. It may be said
“so as our hearts be right
it matters little
under what external circumstances we worship.” The Israelites might have
offered a similar plea. But let us examine whether our hearts are right
and
whether we have as much reverence for God’s presence in His house as we ought
to have. It is not in God’s own house only that we show our indifference to
Him. The manner in which we treat His name
His day
His Word
His ministers
His sacraments
all is so much evidence against us that we have not that
abiding awe of Him which is due to Him. From what causes such a spirit of
irreverence has grown
and spread till it has taken possession of us; in what
was its origin
and how it has been fostered
I cannot now stop to express an
opinion. The fact is before us
and the bitter fruits of our profaneness and
irreverence are ripening day by day. I do not say that our national and
individual irreverence will end
in open apostasy
but the tendency is
of course
that way; and
we are in the greater peril
because the infection has spread both silently and
universally. What then must be done? Let each endeavour to realise to himself
more fully than he has yet done
the presence of God among us. He is present in
His Church
in His sacraments
in His ministers
in His poor; present among us
everywhere
and at all seasons. We must watch ourselves in little things
and reflect
continually before whom they are done. We must avoid speaking of religious
subjects before those who are likely to ridicule them. As a Father
we must pay
God the honour that is due. We must not forget that
as our Master
He claims
our fear as well as our love. (F. E. Paget
M. A.)
The honour due to God
This text is identified
with general and permanent principles
and it admits of a general and permanent
application
to be interpreted as a just pleading by Jehovah on behalf of His
own glory
with the whole family of man.
I. Whence
the claim of god upon the young arises. From His character as Father. The
reason why the Most High is thus represented is
because from His creative will
and power men derive their being
and because by His providential arrangements
and care their being is supplied and preserved. Hence His paternal character is
extensive as the world and permanent as time. It is designed to be recognised
by us as involving the two great attributes of authority and
kindness--authority which is supreme and unimpeachable
kindness which is
unfailing and unbounded.
II. What
the claim of God upon you involves. He claims a Father’s right to be honoured.
The mode of address here implies the guilt omission of men to render to God
what is His due. “Where Is Mine honour?” A vast proportion of the human family
have attempted to banish God as an alien from the universe He has made.
1. The
honour which your Father requires is your adoring reverence of His perfections.
2. Your
practical obedience of His law.
3. Your
zealous devotedness to His cause.
III. How
Is the claim of God upon you commended? He whom you are summoned to honour
possesses an absolute right to you.
1. Your
compliance with the claim of God as your Father will secure your dignity.
2. It
will secure your usefulness.
3. It
will secure your happiness.
Your consciences will be
perturbed by no agitations. Your happiness will be that arising from gratitude
and from benevolence. The knowledge that you have imparted happiness to others
will be delightful. (James Parsons.)
The Father’s honour
The claim of God
upon the confidence and obedience of man is based upon the unalterable fact
that man is the son of God. For the answer to this ceaseless appeal to the
filial instinct of humanity the world’s Father stands waiting with tireless
patience and unspeakable compassion at the door of every heart. There is a
stage in the spiritual development of most lives when this transcendent truth
passes from a dim instruct into a radiant certainty
it is the stage of
“knowing the Lord.” The instinct of sonship has never been absent from the
race. The ancient Aryans spoke of the Eternal as “Dyaus Pitar”; the Greeks as
“Zeus Pater”; the Latins as “Jupiter”; the Norsemen as “Thor
” each word
foreshadowing with stammering lips the Pater-noster--our heaven Father. Christ
alone revealed the truth in perfection
and taught it in power. He
the
revealer of the Father’s moral and affectional nature in the limitations of a
human body. This new clement infused into the thought of the world possesses
individual hearts but slowly. The mind perceives that as the self-existent
primal cause of all has conditioned Himself in natural phenomena that all
thinkers might recognise Him as an Intelligence; so Almighty fatherhood has
conditioned His moral attributes
His love
tenderness
and sacrifice in the
workings of a human mind
and the words of a human voice
and the actions of a
human life
in the Incarnation. As he looks on Jesus he sees Him as the great
Sacrament of the Fatherhood
the visible embodiment of the all-pervading
Father-Spirit. Just here comes in the searching power of the individual
application of the appeal of God for the spiritual evolution of man. “If I be a
Father
where is Mine honour?” The test of knowing the Lord is hearing the
voice: ears that are deafened by the din of second causes hear not the voice.
The conscious moral act whereby a son of God accepted the challenge
is
deliberate mental disentanglement from second causes
and the recognition of
God in every concern of life. The Father’s demand
“Where is Mine honour?” is
not satisfied without witness
enthusiasm
and loyalty. The duty of witness is
clear and inalienable. No son of God can claim exemption. As to enthusiasm; one
characteristic of the civilised heathenism of the age is the undisguised
contempt ever poured upon enthusiasm. The Archetypal Man was an enthusiast; He
loved the people with passion
and He turned the world upside down. And loyalty
to the heavenly citizenship
and the guidance of the Eternal Spirit. (Canon
Wilberforce
D. D.)
A Fatherly exposulation
Every relationship has its
rights and duties. God’s claims are paramount. As our Father He has a right to
our veneration and love. He requires us to possess the filial spirit.
I. Consider
the truth assumed. “If then I be a Father.” God’s Fatherhood has been generally
recognised. He has always acted as a Father towards men--
1. In
bringing them into existence.
2. In
stamping upon them His own image.
3. In
providing for their needs in the bounties of nature.
4. In
redeeming them from sin.
5. In
adopting them into His heavenly family.
6. In
arranging life so as to discipline them.
II. God’s
appeal in view of this truth. “Where is Mine honour?” This appeal is just and
right. It is our duty to render honour to God. This involves--
1. Reverence
toward Him. Always to speak of Him with respect and love; revering His
ordinances; worshipping in His sanctuary.
2. Obedience
to His commandments. Making them the rule of our lives
and delighting in them as
the expression of His will.
3. Trust
in His goodness. Believing that He will never err in the arrangements of His
providence
but that all things will work together for our good.
4. Submission
to His chastisements. Bearing affliction as from His hand.
5. By
revealing His image. Showing in our dispositions and deeds that we are His
children.
III. How
this appeal should be responded to.
1. By
serious reflection.
2. By
true repentance.
3. By
earnest prayer for the possession of the spirit of sonship promised in Christ.
4. By
constant efforts to honour God in the future. (W. Osborne Lilley.)
Of God’s being the Father
and Master of mankind
Consider--
I. How
truly God is the Father
and the Master of mankind.
1. The
Father. God gave being to the world and all things in it. St. Paul styles Him
“the Father
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named
” the Head
of the rational system
the Father both of angels and men
who all derive their
being from Him
and in the constitution of their nature bear some features and
resemblances of the great original from whence they sprung. God created man in
His own image. It is evident from our consciousness and experience
that we
have such powers of perception and understanding
such a sense of good and
evil
right and wrong
and such principles of honesty and goodness in our
nature as ally and unite us to the Father of spirits
and give us a striking
resemblance of Him
in some of His
most glorious attributes and qualities. God is also to be considered the Father
of mankind
as He has made an ample provision for the improvement and happiness
of the excellent nature which He has given them.
2. The
Master. As God hath all power in Himself
and as by this alone the universe
subsists
all creatures whatsoever are necessarily in a state of subjection to
Him. There is something implied in the notion of God’s being the Master of men
more than His merely exercising an uncontrollable dominion over them. But God
is a perfectly holy
righteous
and good Potentate
governing rational agents
according to the dictates of the highest sanctity and justice
and consulting
their happiness in all His administrations towards them. That He is the
righteous Governor of men is evident from His having laid us under the law of
righteousness in the constitution of our being. The foundation of God’s moral
government over men is firmly laid in His own nature and in ours. A just order
is plainly prevalent in the conduct of human affairs
notwithstanding the
irregularities and confusions which are to be observed in them.
II. What
is that duty which we owe to God as Father and Master? Expressed in the terms honour
and fear.
1. Honour.
No sentiments are made universal and better known to the mind than those of
respect
duty
and submission
which children entertain for their parents in
this world. If this be the temper which becomes us with respect to the fathers
of our flesh
how much more must we cultivate the same temper towards the
Father of our spirits. Surely the devotion of our minds towards Him must rise
into a perfect adoration of His goodness
accompanied with the sincerest
gratitude and love
the firmest affiance in Him
the most absolute resignation
to His will
and the most earnest endeavours to obey His laws and to imitate
His purity and benignity in our whole conversation.
2. Fear.
As the masters of this world are of different tempers and characters
so the
fear of their subjects or servants in regard to them is of very different
kinds. God has nothing in His nature resembling the qualities of the arbitrary
or oppressive masters and rulers of this world. His government is founded on
the maxims of perfect wisdom
goodness
and righteousness
therefore a slavish
fear of Him can be no part of thee homage which His worshippers and servants
are to pay to Him. The only fear of God which it becomes us to entertain
is a
mixed affection of mind
made up of a high reverence of His perfections
particularly His wisdom
justice
purity
goodness
and power; an affectionate
esteem of His laws
an earnest solicitude to obey those laws
and a great dread
of transgressing them
from a sense of the baseness and odiousness of trampling
upon the authority of our rightful and most gracious Lord and Saviour. The
cultivation of these principles
the honour and fear of God
should be
earnestly commended. Let us not
upon any pretences
excuse ourselves from the
cultivation of a becoming temper towards the Deity
but cheerfully pay Him all
that honour and love
that obedience and submission which
as our most
compassionate and indulgent Father
and our most gracious and righteous King
and Lawgiver
He claims and demands from us. (J. Orr
D. D.)
Truth learned from our
human relations
As we form our
notions of the Divine character and perfections from our consciousness of
similar affections in our own minds
so all our ideas of the relations in which
we stand to Deity are derived from the relations in which we am placed to our
brethren of mankind. We could have no ideas or conceptions of the perfections
of God unless we had some corresponding and similar powers in our own minds.
Man was formed after the image of God; and
although that image has been
tarnished and defaced by his fall and his transgression
he retains those
capacities and susceptibilities of soul
which remind him of the moral glory
from which he has fallen. He knows
from reflection on his own nature
and
capacities
what is meant by wisdom
power
justice
truth
goodness. When he
views these qualities as attributes of Divinity
he regards them as free from
every imperfection
uninterrupted in their operation
and incapable of change
or decay. In a similar manner we form our notions of the relations in which we
stand to Deity
and of the affections and duties which these relations imply
and demand. As we know of the relation of a father to his children
the
Scriptures do not explain the nature of the relation
but urge the duties which
it implies. In the very forcible and touching appeal of the text
we are
reminded of that honour and obedience which we owe to God as His children and
servants
and are pointedly charged with having withheld them. Endeavour to
state the nature and reasonableness of that claim which God
as our Father and
Master
has to our honour and fear
and urge the inquiry
whether the claim has
been recognised and obeyed. The first characteristic of that honour and fear
which a son and servant show to a father and master
is delight in his presence
and society. Wherever the filial relation is felt and sustained with the
affection which it implies
it prompts the child to seek the presence and company of
his parent. A servant
too
that fears his master with sincere regard
delights
in his presence. Similar to this is that honour and fear which God requires of
those who profess to be His sons and His servants. If our relation to God be
anything more than a name
His presence will be the object of our most ardent
desire
and communion with Him the highest happiness we shall seek to know. But
can this be said to be the experience or the taste of many who call God their
Father and Master? In the second place
obedience to the Divine commandments is
another indication of that honour and fear which God
as a Father and Master
demands of those who profess to be His sons and His servants. An implicit confidence
in the wisdom of his parents is one of the earliest instincts which nature has
implanted in the bosom of a child; and to merit parental approbation and love
is one of the most amiable and powerful desires that influence his conduct.
Every expression of a father’s will commands respect
and the sweetest music
that falls upon the ear is the voice of paternal applause. It is this cheerful
childlike
and affectionate obedience which our heavenly Father claims from
those who profess to be His sons and servants. We say
He is our Father--let
Him have our filial love and obedience. We profess to bow to Him as our Master
and Lord--let us devote ourselves unreservedly to His service and honour. In
the third place
the relation should prompt a desire after resemblance of God
in His moral excellence. The principle of imitation is one of the earliest and
most active tendencies of our nature. As reason advances
the principle of
imitation retains its power
and exerts its influence. Its power and influence
are chiefly discernible in the resemblance which it generates in the temper and
affections of the child to those of the parent. It is true that the tendency
may be very strikingly modified by counteracting circumstances. But the truth
holds good
that there is a strong and ever-operating tendency in a son to
imitate his father; and where this imitating tendency is exercised by virtue in
the parent
it is the source of the highest reciprocal satisfaction and
delight
what the Father of our spirits requires of us is to elevate and
ennoble this tendency to imitation by directing it to Himself. In the New
Testament this imitation or resemblance of God is repeatedly pointed out as the
prominent and characteristic distinction of His children. The moral excellences
of the Divine character are presented as at once the sources of our comfort and
the objects of our imitation. Only at an infinite distance from the moral glory
of the Divine character the sons of mortality must for ever remain. In every
renewed heart there is the ardent and ceaseless
and ever active desire to grow
in resemblance to the moral grandeur which it adores and loves. In the fourth
place
acquiescence in the appointments of His providence
and submission to
His chastisement
distinguish those who are the sons and servants of God. In
the exercise of his authority
and to promote the happiness and preserve the
virtue of his children
the father must sometimes insist on privation and
restraint
and give inflictions which he administers with reluctance and pain.
Our Heavenly Father
who knows our waywardness and frailty
puts forth His hand
in chastisement upon us. He doth not afflict willingly
nor grieve the children
of men. Then what is the state of mind in which they should be met and endured?
Have the visitations of Providence always been met in a right spirit? Have we
not often
by the fretfulness of our temper in the hour of visitation
evinced
the absence of the childlike spirit that becomes those who profess themselves
the sons of God? (J. Johnston.)
Obedience the practical
test of affection
This address was
made to the priests of the Lord
at a very corrupt age of the Jewish Church.
The whole Church was exceedingly polluted. Every precept of the law was
violated and every rite of the sanctuary perverted. It will be no violation of
the spirit of the text if we apply it to an impenitent world
embracing those
who have no show of godliness
as well as the whole family of false professors.
We find in the lips of many who make no pretensions to a change of heart
high
professions of respect for the character and government of God. They claim Him
as their Father
and would have us believe that they respect and obey His laws.
We inquire whether men of this character yield Him that filial esteem
that
dutiful subjection
which are due to a Father and a Master.
I. Contemplate
the government of God
and see if we can discover Him dealing with all His
rational creatures as a Father and a Master.
1. As a
Father and Master He protects them. This the son and servant expect. God keeps
His eye on all His intelligent creatures
and puts underneath them His arm of
mercy.
2. He
provides for all His creatures. No man could make his seed vegetate
or render
his fields fertile
or ensure success in trade independently of his Maker.
3. He
makes us know His will. We have some lessons from the broad sheet of nature;
but in His Word He has opened all His heart; has made every duty plain
and
placed it in the power of every son and servant of His to do His pleasure.
4. He
has made our duties light. The service He requires is pleasant and easy.
5. He
provides for our future happiness.
II. How
will a kind and dutiful son or servant treat a Father or Master?
1. The
son loves his father
and the good servant his master. If we have any love to
God
we must love His whole character
and must learn His character from the
Bible. The question is
do that class of men who speak so highly of their
Maker
love the whole of the Divine character? They are pleased with only a
part of the Divine character. Hence they will deny such doctrines as clash with
their views of God. If they loved God they would believe what He says.
2. The
good child loves the society of his father; and the faithful servant loves to
be with his master.
3. A
good son and a faithful servant will be cheerfully obedient. A dutiful temper
is indispensable in either of these stations. Will the class of men addressed
in the text stand this test? Are they uniform in regard to their duty? Have
they a tender conscience which fears to do wrong
fears to neglect a duty
fears to violate an obligation
dreads the least deviation from the most
perfect rectitude?
4. The
son and servant will each be attached to his father s or his master’s family.
Do these people attach themselves to the family of Christ? Do they love His
disciples and choose them as their intimates?
5. The
servant and son are very jealous of the honour of their father and master. But
do we discover this delicacy of feeling in that class of men who would be
esteemed religious
but who have no pretensions to a change of heart?
6. The
kind son and the dutiful servant will wish to have others acquainted with their
father and their master. (D. A. Clark.)
Devotion to a master
Admiral Sir George Tryon
to whose fatal error of judgment (his only mistake as a commander
it is
said) the loss of the Victoria was due
was much beloved and trusted by
his subordinates. As he stood on the bridge of the fast sinking ship
he was
heard to say to a midshipman standing beside him
“Go
my lad. Save yourself
while there’s time.” But the midshipman answered
“I’d rather stay with you
sir.” And he did. Christian! The duties and trials of life are daily testing
your devotion to a Master who makes no mistakes. (S. S. Chronicle.)
Honour shown in conduct and
in sentiment
A young man who
occupies pleasant rooms in a large city was entertaining a guest from his
country home. “You see I honour my father and my mother
” he said
pointing to
two portraits which hung in prominent positions on the walls of his sitting-room.
“You do in sentiment
Frank
” answered his visitor; “but if you will forgive an
old friend speaking plainly
your principles do not honour them to the same
degree. Those portraits have looked down on a good many card parties and wine
suppers and wasted hours. They have seen neglected the work which you came to
the city to do
and your old habits of plain living and high thinking’
forgotten very often. Think it over
won’t you?” The young man
it may be said
did think it over
and he did not need another such reminder. Instances of
inconsistency between sentiment and rules of conduct can be discovered by
everyone in persons around him easily
in himself not quite so easily perhaps
but pretty surely. (Christian Age.)
A life expected worthy of
the Divine Master
A former queen of
Madagascar
gathering some of the palace officers together
said to them
“I am
aware that many of you are numbered among the praying people; I have no
objection to you joining them if you think it right
but remember
if you do
so
I shall expect from you a life worthy of that profession.
O priests
that
despise My name.
The priests challenged
“And ye say
Wherein have
we despised Thy Name?” This is the worst kind of impiety
because it displays
utter ignorance of one’s self. The caution is not against open or violent
hostility; there may be simple ignorance
or unconscious contempt
or that sort
of passivity and indifference which amounts to positive neglect. We go down not
by a plunge
but by an inclined plane. The plane is lubricated
is well-oiled
so that we slip own little by little
and hardly know that we are slipping. “Ye
offer polluted bread upon mine altar.” The retort is
“Wherein have we polluted
Thee?” In this way. “Ye say
The table of the Lord is contemptible.” There the
error was fundamental. This is the charge that is levelled against all men
to-day. Why patter with incidental errors
why not lift up the impeachment to
its proper dignity
and charge men with having left the Lord
with having
turned their backs upon the Lord? (J. Parker
D. D.)
Verse
7
Ye offer polluted bread upon Mine altar.
The sacrament polluted
What closeness of attention
what concentration of thought does it
not require of us
if we consider the great and comprehensive views
which
animated the Saviour of the world when He instituted the sacrament of the
Supper! Behold Him prepared to finish the great work
which heaven has given
Him to do. He comes to substitute Himself in the room of those victims whose
blood could do nothing towards the purification of guilty man. What shall He do
to support Himself in the prospect of such tremendous arrangements? Love formed
the generous design of the sacrifice which He is ready to offer up; and love
will carry Him through the arduous undertaking. He says to Himself
that the
memory of this death
which He is going to endure
shall be perpetuated in the
churches
even to the end of the world. He Himself institutes the memorial of
it. Malachi severely censures the priests of his day
because called
as they
were
to maintain good order in the Church
they calmly overlooked
or avowedly
countenanced
the open violation of it. He reproaches them for this misconduct
by the example of what a son owes to his father
and a servant to his master. (James
Saurin.)
The table of the Lord profaned
1. Let us state the parallel
between the altar of burnt-offerings
the table of the shew-bread
and the
sacramental table of the Lord’s Supper; the offerings which were presented to
God on the first
and those which we still present to him on the second. The
viands presented on both the one and the other are the meat of God
or the
bread of God. The sacred ceremonies are destined to the same end
and represent
the same mysteries
namely
the intimate union which God wishes to maintain
with His Church and people. The august ceremony of the holy sacrament is a
mystery of reconcilia tion between the penitent sinner and the God of mercy.
What made the ancient Jews profane the table of the Lord How came they to say
The table of the Lord is contemptible”? It was--
The profession ant the practice of religion
1. These should always be in
accord. Any discrepancy between them is morally unnatural. Our conduct should
accord with our creed
our deeds with our doctrines. These priests showed--
Verse 8
If ye offer the
blind for sacrifice
is it not evil?
Imperfect sacrifice
The old law
demanded that God should be honoured with the sacrifice of a man’s best. Every
oblation was to be free from spot or blemish. Such laws had their symbolic and
spiritual meaning. They asserted God’s right as first and supreme. They
embodied the law of sacrifice
which is the law of all holy beings
and they
formed a test of the faith and love of those who professed to be worshippers of
God. The reality of the test was manifest in the fact that there were those who
sought to escape the demand. In their view
anything would do for sacrifice.
Are there not multitudes still whose professed worship is nothing more than a
mere miserable pretence? Surely our temptations to disobey are just as powerful
as ever. Our business now is not with the blasphemer or the infidel
but with
those who either render
or fancy that they render
God some service.
1. The appeal of the text may be addressed to all whose service does
not include the sacrifice of the heart. Many give their souls to the world
--to
what remains God is welcome. They are found in God’s house
but though they are
present there they do not render any spiritual worship. What is this but
offering the blind and lame and sick for sacrifice; and is it not evil? Can it
be that it is thus God is content to be served? Not thus would even man be
satisfied. It is God only whom we expect to please by a service that lacks
every element of thorough heartiness
and is nothing more than a piece of
mechanism. Yet is there no other whom it is so utterly hopeless to deceive. He
asks the heart
and He knows that
despite all the beauty of our outward rites
the heart is what we absolutely refuse. But such religion is no religion at all
2. The language may be applied to those who purpose to render to God
the service of their last hours. They will take thought for the present life
and the soul
with all its immortal interests
they will leave to the uncertain
contingencies of a future which may never be theirs. This is bringing the
blind
the lame
the sick for sacrifice; and is it not evil? We need not deny
the possibility of death-bed repentance; we may not limit the grace of God. But
if not impossible
it is in every way improbable that the sacrifice of life’s
last hour is what God will accept.
3. These words may be addressed to the secret disciple. You will do
just so much as is necessary to ensure your salvation
but beyond this nothing
more
--there is no love to Jesus constraining devotion
making you rejoice even
in the cross which you bear for Him
teaching you
as with a holy ingenuity
to
find out modes in which you may glorify Him. And is not this evil?
4. The question may be directed to the half-hearted professor. There
are many sharing in our worship who are lacking in all heartiness and fervour.
They do not disgrace their profession: they observe with a certain regularity
the ordinances; but in all generous
noble
devoted consecration they are found
wanting. Let me address myself earnestly to you. Does not the text describe
your sacrifice? Everywhere else
if the heart is interested at all
you are
full of intense zeal. In religion you are cold and indifferent. Review your own
service; compare it with what you do for other lords
and say
does it not
correspond with the description of the text? (J. G. Rogers
B. A.)
The Divine appeal
I. The appeal.
1. To the dictates of conscience.
2. To the usages of human life.
II. The lessons the appeal suggests.
1. We have all failed in the discharge of our duty to God.
2. Our failure in the discharge of our duty to God is incapable of
defence.
3. We need a Saviour.
4. Our services can be accepted by God only through the mediation of
the Lord Jesus Christ. (G. Brooks.)
A strange test
They performed
solemn duties hypocritically. Malachi would show them their folly by asking
them to test their conduct by the way in which the (Persian) governor of the
land would regard it.
I. Men often act towards God as they would not act towards an earthly
ruler. Men generally respect human authorities. If gifts are presented to them
they are of the best. They humble themselves before human majesty
and fear to
insult it. But men act differently towards God.
1. How many stand in His presence and profane His name. Let them
offer that to their governor.
2. How men treat His authority and disregard His commands.
3. How many pretend to make sacrifices for His cause
and yet give
only that which is worthless
or what they think will bring the man equivalent
in temporal good.
4. How many render heartless homage and selfish service. Men act in
these ways sometimes through
God has a right
to all that we possess. No earthly governor has such a claim upon us. To act
towards Him deceitfully is foolish
ungrateful
and ruinous.
II. Our conduct towards God may be tested by the way in which it would
be received by an earthly ruler. Such rulers are not always just. This is a test that is--
1. Easily applied.
2. One that the humblest can comprehend.
3. One that may reveal much.
4. One that should be applied honestly.
III. The displeasure of an earthly governor may reflect the displeasure
of God. This is not always the case. Rulers have been displeased with and
persecuted the most holy. But the honest displeasure of a ruler against
hypocritical pretensions and deceitful gifts is a reflection of the Divine
displeasure. Would thy “governor” be “pleased with thee”? If not
there is--
1. Just cause to fear.
2. Need of reformation.
3. And of a truer consecration of yourselves and your property to God.
Learn--Our
holiest acts need examination. Our sacrifices may be worthless. It is a great
sin to act niggardly towards God. (W. Osborne Lilley.)
Anything good enough for
God
In Malachi’s
time the people seem to have been utterly indifferent as to God
and openly
insolent. “Behold
” said they
“what a weariness it is!” They thought any thing
was good enough for God
and offered Him the refuse of their households. Even
the priests had become a set of mercenary hirelings
refusing to do anything
without reward. This state of things was a result of living so long in the
idolatrous land of Babylon. The people had lost their habits of devotion
and
had become accustomed to a life of listlessness and carelessness
and now they
found it difficult to submit to the restraints of religion. And these of ours
are worldly days. The general idea
is that anything is good enough for God. A spare minute
an hour
when we can
do nothing else
is all we can devote to God. Notice--
I. The Christian sacrifice. Times have changed
but circumstances
have not. God does not demand expiatory sacrifice
but He requires spiritual.
We are to render Him certain services
and these services are the New Testament
sacrifices.
1. There is the heart--penitent
repentant
soft.
2. There is the body--a living sacrifice; for use
for work.
3. Worship.
4. Alms.
II. The imperfections by which these services are blemished.
1. Spiritless worship. The form without the spirit.
2. Blind sacrifice. How many crimes have been committed in the name
of zeal.
3. Lame offerings. Professors of religion who live in conformity to
the world.
4. Sick gifts.
Half-hearted
prayers
languid attendance at His house
the hand working without the heart
songs without melody. There are preachers who preach ill and sickly sermons.
There are Sunday school teachers who offer sickly lessons. It is a terrible
thing to offer to God that which is diseased. (W. R. F.)
The true sacrifice
Malachi begins
with rebuking the unthankfulness of Israel
and ends with a threat of coming
and smiting the earth with a curse. Israel gave indeed
a melancholy example of
the unthankful heart of man. God’s law was
“If there be any blemish therein
as if it be lame
or blind
or have any ill blemish
thou shalt not sacrifice
it unto the Lord thy God.” Yet they offered the blind
the lame
the sick for
sacrifice
and thought to be accepted of God
though they durst not have
offered such things to their governor. But this conduct of Israel is only a
lively representation of the way in which God
the giver of all good things
is
commonly treated by the receivers of His bounty. Men have found Him so
overflowing in kindness
so long-suffering
that they have come to think He
will take up with anything. They think not
that though God does not speak out
He is watching
and preparing to reckon with them. And
however slow He may be
He will set all right on the great day when He will separate the chaff from the
wheat
and the tares from the corn. Applying to ourselves
let us remember what
the Lord commands us to offer. Paul says
in His name
“Present your bodies a
living sacrifice.” We are to serve in “newness of the spirit
” and not in the “oldness of
the letter.” The living sacrifice of our body is not only keeping its members
in all purity
as we would be members of Christ’s body
but also giving to the
Lord that “from which all purity must come
a heart devoted to His service
and
well instructed for that purpose in all heavenly knowledge and spiritual
wisdom. See the particulars of the text.
1. “If ye offer the blind for sacrifice
is it not evil?” They had
plenty of cattle without blemish to offer to the Lord. But they wanted these
for themselves. The Christian has a body given him which he may present a
living sacrifice unto the Lord
without blemish of sight. In it he has an eye
to read the Word of God
an understanding to receive it: an eye to lift up to
heaven in prayer
an understanding to offer prayer and praise in the name of
the Lord. The eye should be withdrawn from all unholy sights; it should be
single and pure. Instead of this
to what service is the eye and understanding
commonly devoted! The true and living sacrifice of the body in this particular
is the growing in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Never forget that growth in grace and growth in knowledge go together.
Instead of using their eye and understanding in the spiritual service of the
Lord
men waste their light in the pursuit of vanity and sin
until at last
there comes the appointed hour of their departure from earth. Then at
length--and often in vain--they turn their eye and their thoughts unto God.
2. If ye offer the lame and sick
is it not evil?” The Christian is
compared to a runner
and his life to a course. He is to run well
so that he
may obtain. But when do men generally
begin to set themselves to this race? Just as their course in this world is
finishing; when their strength has been wasted in running for earthly prizes.
Is not health the season for serving the Lord on every account? Yet many think
they have nothing to do with the Lord but in the day of sickness.
3. “Offer it now to thy governor.” Men will treat God
their heavenly
Sovereign
as they dare not treat man
their earthly sovereign. Some go through
life with a fixed purpose of giving to the Lord only the refuse. The man who
bows to the ground
and anxiously seeks favour in the sight of his sovereign
and keeps himself continually in his view by doing something which may please
and make his person accepted
will think it a great thing if he kneel in the
house of God for a short time once a week. Men who are most particular in
wording a petition to be delivered at the throne of their sovereign
and endeavour to
turn and polish every sentence
these very men will not trouble themselves to
prepare a prayer to be delivered at the footstool of the throne of heaven. Let
us all be wise in this
that we fully recognise the high claims of God
and
loyally
lovingly
worthily try to meet them. (R. W. Evans
B. D.)
Verse 9
This hath been by your means.
A solemn charge
Irreligion is the cause of social chaos and national ruin.
Calamities frequently arise from spiritual conditions. Outward circumstances
are often very closely linked with the inner life.
I. Men have power
to bring evils upon themselves and others. Man is a centre of causation. Deeds
do not end in the doing of them. We may meet them in the results of after
years. More than half the evils that afflict men are self-wrought. God seldom
interferes with the sequences that follow our action. Man is not the creature
of circumstances
but the creator of them. He is treated as being responsible
for his own happiness or misery. Man cannot keep the results of his actions
from affecting others. One man has ruined thousands. Godless parents ruin
families; hypocritical pastors destroy their flocks; depraved senators
overthrow a nation.
II. Evil-doers
seldom admit this pointed charge. There is a disposition in men to look for the
cause of their afflictions anywhere rather than in themselves. They have come
from fate
from misfortune
from accident
from the errors of others
from the
vindictive anger of God. Honest confession is rare. Not to admit this charge
is--
1. Unwise.
2. It will only
increase our guilt.
3. It will hinder
our reception of mercy. (W. Osborne Lilley.)
Verses 10-14
Who is there even among
you that would shut the doors for nought?
Wrong worship
1. Wrong
worship is worse than no worship at all.
2. Wrong
worship will one day be practically repudiated.
3. Wrong
worship is sometimes rendered even by the religious teachers of mankind. These
priests made worship appear contemptible and burdensome.
4. Wrong
worship evermore incurs the just displeasure of heaven. (Homilist.)
A sordid religion
I. It is
common. “Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought?”
II. It is
God-displeasing. “I have no pleasure in you
saith the Lord of hosts
neither
will I accept an offering at your hand.” It is displeasing to Him--
1. Because
it is repugnant to love. Something like this a noble father would say to his
son who paid him attention only for what he could get
a true husband would say
to the wife who did the same. Genuine love sickens at such service
disdains
and refutes it. Pure love in man is the same as pure love in God. It is
displeasing to Him--
2. Because
it is opposed to happiness. It is an eternal law of mind
that it can never be
happy in self-seeking. He who searches for happiness as an end will never find
it. It will always be to him a mirage; as he thinks i.e. approaches it
it will vanish into thin air. God’s great law in His spiritual universe is
this--that souls shall only get happiness as they pursue goodness. When goodness
is pursued as an end
full happiness gushes up at every step in the march. (Homilist.)
Verse
11
My name shall be great among the Gentiles.
God’s name shall be great
Prophecy has a double sense--or rather
an inferior and a higher
designation: not only to keep the faith and the hope of the Church in exercise
by the presentation of a grand consummation
but to edify
to warn to comfort
and to instruct the Church. The prophets were the ordinary preachers of
righteousness. Though their lessons of morality and religion were conveyed in
the figured strains of poetry
they were highly conspicuous and impressive. We
behold
in the discourses of those holy m-n
a faithful and fearless statement
of the principles of pure theology. Malachi closes the prophetic dispensation.
He appears in the worst part of tile Jewish history. Darkness came upon them
and for four hundred years that darkness seemed to increase in depth. Malachi gives a revelation of the
coming of the Lord. Here he declares that God shall be magnified and honoured
and worshipped by all nations.
I. The prophecy embraced the
revelation of God’s name amongst the gentiles. God cannot be magnified or
revered or worshipped unless He is known. God can only be known as He is
pleased to reveal Himself. He has given us a revelation of Himself
clear and
full
so that we may know God. The name of God denotes Himself
His nature
His
moral character
and all that can be made known of Him to the mind of man.
1. It denotes His self-existence. That existence is absolutely
eternal
immortal
invisible. As He thus exists
He exists independently. All
existence
however varied and modified
must be an emanation from Himself. And
thus He appears to us
arrayed in the awful attributes of the Creator and
Governor of all things. He is the parent of all; and on Him all depends.
2. It denotes the spirituality of His nature. This would follow from
the infinite perfection of His nature. God is capable
as Spirit
of occupying
immensity without displacing matter. A real Christian carries about with him a
solemn sense of the spiritual presence of God; and he connects with that the
presence of all His attributes--of power and purity and love. Wherever we go we
have a present God.
3. It denotes the mysterious existence of the Trinity in the unity of
the godhead.
4. It denotes the harmony of His attributes.
II. The majesty of God’s
government. “My name shall be great among the Gentiles.” It shall be magnified--it
shall be a name of weight
of authority; before it every name shall bow.
Wherever the name of Jesus is published
that name becomes dominant. The
majesty of the Redeemer’s kingdom is demonstrated by its interior and
intellectual design. Human beings under no other government are ruled by truth
by interior influences
which bring the mind and the affections to God. And the
Lord’s government is demonstrated by the silent but irresistible agency
employed.
III. The celebration of His
worship. The worship will be spiritual
but it will be offered “in every
place.” Spiritual worship is enlightened: it is the result of knowledge; it
perceives its object
and rejoined in its object; it takes hold of a promise
or fixes on a precept; it must be the result of faith
for faith sees the great
Invisible; it must be the kindling of the Holy Spirit. There will be living
offerings: it will not be a cold
irrational service
but the service of a warm
heart; each man will offer himself to God
and each man will be a holy and a
purified oblation
kindled by the fire of God. And thus myriads of spirits
everywhere
all over the world
shall be ascending in flames of pure devotion
to God. (Theophilus Lessey.)
The name of Jesus among the Gentiles
The Rev. Mr. Broadhead
returned missionary from India
related a
beautiful incident when preaching foreign missionary sermons in the county of
Durham. Whilst in India it was made known to him that not far from his
residence there was an extraordinary piece of architectural work in the shape
of a temple
most luxuriously designed in white marble. This edifice was
erected in memory of some female
but one of the things that specially
attracted the notice of the missionary was the great number of arches which it
contained. On nearing the entrance the attendants told him that if he whispered
a word inside the building it would be re-echoed from every arch proceeding
into the interior. The missionary breathed out the word “Jesus
” and instantly
the echoes were resounding from every part of the building. The effect was
magnificent. The desire of every Christian heart is--
“Let the echo
fly
The spacious
earth around.”
Christ’s influence increasing
Speaking on the day of Mr. Gladstone’s funeral
the Rev. F. B.
Meyer said: “One of the marks which distinguishes Jesus Christ from every human
teacher and reformer is the fact that His influence is ever increasing. The
influence of Gladstone
to-day so great
will diminish year by year
but Jesus
Christ’s influence was never so great as it is now.”
Of the meaning of the name of God
I. The principal scriptural
acceptations of the “name.”
1. Sometimes it signifies God Himself. Praising or blessing the name
of God is
praising God Himself. By His name being “great” is meant their acknowledging or
professing Him to be the true God
and their adhering to the worship of Him
only
in opposition to all idolatry and false religions.
2. Sometimes it is used to signify His true religion and worship.
“The place which the Lord your God shall choose
. . . to put His name there
”
means the place where He shall appoint His servants to appear before Him with
the external tokens of their homage and worship.
3. In other places of Scripture the “name” expresses those adorable
perfections or attributes which are
as it were
the proper denomination and
character of the Divine nature. See Exodus 34:5.
4. Once more
the “name” signifies the authority of God
or His
Divine commission.
II. The event predicted. In it
is evidently contained--
1. To the Jews
something comminatory.
2. In relation to the Gentiles
a particular promise; joined with a
general declaration concerning the state and condition of the universal Church
in the future and latter ages of the world. Whatever be the true meaning of
these and the like prophecies; whether there be a time still to come
wherein
they shall be accomplished literally
or whether they are intended only to
express the natural tendency of the universal and sincere practice of
Christianity in the present world
and the real effect which shall be obtained
by it in the world to come
we must not be too curious about particular times
and seasons. Learn--
And in every place incense
shall be offered unto My name.
The future glory of Messiah’s kingdom
Two phenomena of the moral world severely task the faith of
religious persons. One is
that so large a portion of the globe should not even
be nominally Christian. The other is
that Christendom itself should be so
corrupt and so scantily imbued with vital godliness. Attempts may be made to
reconcile our minds to this difficulty in the moral administration of the
world
by urging that the scheme of nature lies open to similar objections
and
that much physical energy runs to waste in abortive efforts and through
counteracting forces. But analogies of this kind are more ingenious than
conclusive; they silence rather than satisfy. We may find comfort in such
reflections as these--
1. It is the prerogative of an infinite Being to be deliberate and slow
whereas
haste and precipitation are the characteristics of s limited nature.
2. Much may be going forward by secret and unnoticed processes
conducive and preparatory to the development of Messiah’s kingdom.
3. God has consulted His own glory in thus far contracting the supply
of His Spirit; since He has thereby made apparent the insufficiency of moral
means
and the strongest objective inducements
although accompanied with
common grace
to overcome the repugnance of the human heart to the humbling
doctrines and self-denying precepts of the Gospel.
4. Contrasted with the stage of thick darkness or glimmering twilight
between which the world has been so long divided
the glory of that unclouded
day will be the more conspicuous
when “the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” But the prophecies have a
special virtue
reviving our drooping faith. This text contains a sublime
annunciation of that triumphant era when Messiah “shall have dominion from sea
to sea.” It is usual with the prophets to describe the dispensation of the Gospel by terms and
analogies taken from the Mosaic ritual.
I. The prediction that
“incense shall be offered unto the name” of Jehovah. The “incense” denotes
primarily the intercession of the Saviour. He hath given Himself for us
“an
offering of a sweet-smelling savour.” The Word is
in the original
the past
participle of a verb which means to fume
and may properly denote any sacrifice
which
being consumed by fire
was carried up in smoke. Its spiritual meaning
should not be restricted to proper acts of worship
but should be held to
comprise all those holy works which are the produce of a spiritual
nature--those “sacrifices of righteousness” with which God is well-pleased. Then
translate the passage
“In every place whatever is fumed shall be brought near
unto Thy name
”--then what else is represented to the mind save the universal
reign of evangelical righteousness? What is meant by the phrase
“offered unto
Thy name”? There is strong presumptive evidence for believing that this
denomination of Jehovah is no meagre expletive
but carries a direct and
explicit allusion to Christ the Mediator. This appellation of God is strictly
associated with the character He sustains in redemption. The elder patriarchs
appear to have understood the “name” as a sacramental term
by which Jehovah
exhibited Himself conversing with guilty men through the promised Intercessor
the Word made flesh.
II. The prediction that a pure
offering should be everywhere presented to Jehovah. We have considered the
offering of incense to imply the benign effect of our Lord’s pacification
in
rendering the worship and service of mankind acceptable to Jehovah
and surely
the “pure offering” will express the sanctification of the Church
and of each
individual believer
and the consequent purity of those offerings which are
brought near to Jehovah by His spiritual household. In this pure “offering”
see--
1. The extraordinary extension and purity of the Church. Contemplate
the entire extermination of the lewd and sanguinary rites of paganism
and the
abolition of all bloody sacrifices
through the oblation of one great victim
who by actually putting away sin has annulled all symbolical immolations.
Henceforth we are to render only unbloody offerings--the sacrifice of
thanksgivings. We are warranted to contemplate the Catholic Church as one
magnificent offering to Immanuel. The Church
indeed
teems with nominal
Christians
self-deceivers
and hypocritical pretenders. But from this it shall
hereafter
even in its visible pale
be wholly or extensively purged. Another
thing constituting the adult Church “a pure offering “ will be this--that its
worship will be no longer debased with fiction and mummery. The doctrines of transubstantiation
indulgences
masses
penances
purgatory
and supererogation will fall to the
ground
and with them will expire the adoration of images
saints
and angels.
And the universal Church will be free from sectarian distinctions. We may also anticipate
a considerable abridgment of ecclesiastical ordinances.
2. The religious worship of that brilliant age will have a peculiar
purity
owing to the improved character of the individual Christians. They will
have attained a much higher illumination. The conscience will then be
thoroughly pure and undefiled. There will be none of that double-mindedness and
self-delusion with which the purest minds of this silver age are more or less
alloyed. We are even led to expect a state of perfect exemption from the dross
of earthliness. The kingdom of Christ will be developed in their bosoms in all
its purity and fulness; and to them it will be not less easy than delightful to
have “their conversation in heaven.” The promise of the text is most
encouraging. What manner of persons
then
ought we to be? If the blessed
Trinity is incessantly employed in this work of regeneration
shall we not help
it forward as humble but zealous instruments
with the best faculties that we
have? (J. N. Pearson
M. A.)
A worshipping world
I. The glorious prediction of
a worshipping world. We accept any promise according to the known worth or
truthfulness or power of him who gives it. Here is the very highest authority
even that of God Himself. The image is very significant; it is taken from the
wide circuit and prevalency of solar light which visits every portion of the
globe. There can be no vividly more glowing nor general promise of the
widespread power of the Gospel than this is.
II. This divine time of
general happiness includes millennial glory for the world. The second image
employed indicates the glorious season of true religion possessing the hearts
of men in all its Divine purity and hallowed devotions. The contrast is lovely
between the two figures used. Light
the most beautiful element in nature;
perfume
the sweetest of elements; the incense of most precious odours
represents the purity of soul-worship presented to God
whether in public
devotions or from private hearts. We need not enter on the question
whether
this Divine time shall be before or after the second advent in glory. The sweet
incense and pure offering which Jehovah now demands and loves are spiritual
devotions
true prayers
praise
obedience
love
and charity. These are to be
found “in every place.” The coming glory of Christ in the conversion of the
world is the earnest prayer of faith now; it is the glowing object of Divine
hope now; it is often the warm pulse and action of Christian love and charity.
III. Our imperative duty to
extend the Gospel of Christ in all lands.
1. This is the Christian’s duty of obligation.
2. Efforts for the conversion of the heathen always bring down rich
blessings on the soul. (J. Angley
M. A.)
Acceptable worship
I. The worship which God
ordains. All true worshippers “worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” The
first idea relative to God’s ordination
of worship is
that human inventions in the worship of God are rejected as
hateful to Him. Open vice is not more evil in the sight of God than the mockery
which is offered in human inventions. There is one offering that is pure
and
that is the offering of God in Christ for us
and that alone God will accept.
Its purity constitutes its value. We must keep an eye upon the two natures of
Christ
and the purity of both
in order to get at the pure offering.
II. The exaltation of the name
of Jehovah. In Scripture the one prominent object the Lord has in view
everywhere is the glory of His own name. The honour of Jehovah’s name is to be
constantly eyed
in doctrines received
in experience enjoyed
and in practice
manifested; and the interests of the living Church are involved therein. (Joseph
Irons.)
The universal spread of the Gospel
For our Lord’s obedience unto death His Father appointed unto Him
a kingdom
that all people
nations
and languages should serve Him. The
world-wide spread of Christ’s Gospel is the truth announced here.
I. The scripture testimony to
the ultimate universal spread of the Gospel. This testimony is full
clear
and
decisive. It is given alive under patriarchal
Mosaic
and Christian
dispensations.
II. The same truth is evident
from the nature of the case.
1. The need of redemption is universal. All false religions bear
testimony to the need. And to their own insufficiency to satisfy this need.
2. The Gospel alone can satisfy this craving of mankind. It proclaims
the one oblation by which Christ hath for ever perfected
etc. It shows the
chains of evil broken by the great Deliverer.
3. The Gospel is fitted for universal diffusion. All other religions
are adapted only for local influence; even the Jewish religion was suited only
to Palestine. But the Gospel is at home under every clime
and with every race
of man.
4. The Gospel implants the instinct of universal diffusion. It
produces hatred of sin
and love to God and man. It impels the Christian to say
to his brother
“Know the Lord.” It finds a brother where the Samaritan found a
neighbour. It brings us to our knees to pray
“Thy kingdom come.”
5. The kingdoms of providence and grace are united under the same
sceptre. The revolutions of nations ultimately further the Gospel.
III. The voice of history
confirms the conclusions. Here we
have God’s works confirming His words. The witness of history is
to the point
whether we consider--
1. The importance of the conquests hitherto won by the Gospel.
Christianity has conquered every religion with which it fairly came in
contact--Greek
Roman
Egyptian
Persian
Scandinavian
Celtic
Phoenician
Polynesian.
2. The proved weakness of the only weapons with which it can be
assailed. Persecution
false philosophy
and priestcraft. Then--
A pure offering.--
An acceptable sacrifice
The world rose in vision before Malachi
as one great altar
burning everywhere with the incense of devout hearts
and covered with its
myriad races
offering themselves to God as a “pure offering.” The vision must
have comforted him. The glorious era which Malachi gazed on for a moment has
not yet come. We may
however
offer unto God “a pure offering.”
I. The duty suggested. From
the earliest ages the custom of presenting offerings to God has prevailed. It
might have arisen from instructions given to our first parents
or from the
natural instinct of gratitude or of fear. The first family presented their
offerings. Christianity does not remove from us this obligation
though Christ
has offered Himself without spot for us. He offered Himself that we may be able
to offer ourselves through Him. Ourselves are the best offerings we can give.
If we had no sense of possession in ourselves we could not consecrate ourselves
to God. Every sacrifice
sincerely made for the world’s advancement
is an
offering presented to God.
II. What a pure offering is.
Many offerings are not pure. Men defile their offerings by their own impurity.
How can man present an offering that shall be pure in God’s sight?
1. It must come from a purified heart. Men’s hearts may be purified
and yearn after God. Holy love may prompt the gift. Cleansing fountains abound
on this polluted earth. Angelic ministries
the sanctifying spirit
the purging
flame of God’s truth
the fountain of forgiving love opened at the Cross
are
all ours to take away our guilt
as we seek to present our offerings to God.
2. It must proceed from a penitent and obedient spirit. The
disposition of the offerer will be regarded more than the offering. Gifts
separated from the inner life are of no value to God.
3. It must emanate from a spirit of entire consecration to God.
Entire consecration purifies. To devote ourselves to God is to separate
ourselves from sinful defilements. Offerings ever derive their value from the
devoted spirit of the offerer. Entire consecration is difficult to our depraved
hearts. All lingering covetousness must be conquered.
III. How it should be
presented. We should seek not to mar our offering by the way in which we
present it. It should be--
1. In faith. Which will lay hold of God’s willingness to accept our
gifts
however lowly and insignificant they may be. Faith will lead us away
from the altar
rejoicing in the assurance that God has accepted our offerings.
2. By Jesus Christ. He is the High Priest of humanity. He presents
prayers
praises
works for us. He presents the saints themselves as an
offering without blemish to God.
3. With sincerity. God looks into the heart of the offerer. Some
offerings are presented only for the eves of men.
4. With grateful eagerness. All lukewarmness should be banished.
Grateful love should animate us.
IV. Blessings attend the
presentation of a pure offering. We have a consciousness of Divine approval. Every
time we present ourselves as a pure offering to God we receive ourselves back
again from His hands with every spiritual power quickened and enlarged. (W.
Osborne Lilley.)
The Christian sacrifice
I. A definition of the
christian sacrifice. As the ancient Church meant it. Not the mere sacrament of
the body and blood of Christ; but the whole sacred action or solemn service of
the Church assembled. The sacrifice of praise and prayer through Jesus Christ
mystically represented in the creatures of bread and wine. This is the
sacrifice which Malachi foretold the Gentiles should one day offer unto God.
Incense denotes the rational part of the sacrifice. Mincha the material part of
it. The rational part is prayer
thanksgiving
and commemoration. Mincha
the
material part
is a present of bread and wine. It is called a pure
offering--mincha purum; wherein does this “purity” consist? Some think the
meaning is purely or spiritually offered. Others say pure
by reason of the
disposition and affection of the offerer. I prefer to understand
pure in
respect of Christ
whom it signifies and represents a sacrifice without spot or
blemish. Six particulars contained in the definition of the Christian
sacrifice.
1. That this Christian service is an oblation.
2. That it is an oblation of thanksgiving and prayer.
3. An oblation through Jesus Christ commemorated in the creatures of
bread and wine.
4. This commemoration of Christ is also a sacrifice.
5. The body and blood of Christ
in this mystical service
was made
of bread and wine which had been first offered unto God
to agnize Him the Lord
of the creature.
6. This sacrifice was placed in commemoration only of Christ’s
sacrifice upon the Cross
and not in a real offering of His body and blood
anew. The sacrifice of Christians is nothing but that one sacrifice of Christ
once offered upon the Cross again and again commemorated. (Joseph Mede
B.
D.)
Verse 13-14
Should I accept this of your
hand?
saith the Lord.
Vain oblations
(taken with Isaiah 1:13):--Each age has its characteristic. No two are just alike; and
though history repeats itself
yet there is progress. Its processes are those
of a spiral.
I. In the age of
Isaiah the Jews were full of religiosity. Sacrifices were not neglected--a
multitude were offered. They brought the best of all kinds
not as in the days of Malachi
the lean and the poor
but abundantly they brought the blood of bullocks
of
lambs
and of he-goats. Clouds of incense arose; they carefully kept the new
moons
the Sabbaths
the assemblies
and the solemn meeting
not only all
appointed feasts
but even others they observed in an intense devotion to the
forms of religion. Why were their oblations vain? Why were they not regarded in
their sacrifices and accepted in their persons?
1. As in the days of the Saviour
so now
whilst they were careful to
tithe
mint
anise and cummin
they omitted the weightier matters of the law
judgment
mercy
and faith.
2. They were offered without faith. This whole chapter shows such to
be the case. This was just what made the difference between Abel’s sacrifice
and Cain’s offering.
3. Their offerings were unaccompanied with repentance; for repentance
implies confession of sin
the forsaking it
and the reformation of life.
II. This positive
sinfulness is clearly made out.
1. They were laden with iniquity.
2. There was no soundness in them
from the sole of the foot even
unto the head.
3. Their rulers were like the princes of Sodom
and themselves like
the men of Gomorrah.
4. Their hands were full of blood. The rulers did not punish the
people
and reciprocally the people abetted their rulers in their blood-guiltiness.
5. The times were full of evils
unredressed and unavenged. Their
princes had become companions of thieves and bribe-takers.
III. On the other
hand
god still remembers grace and mercy.
1. There was still a remnant left (verse 9).
2. All are called to repentance (verses 16
17).
3. Those that repent shall obtain mercy
but the contumacious shall
not be spared (verses 18-24).
4. And still further
God holds up the gracious promise to send times
of reformation and refreshing (verses 25-27).
Reflections--
1. Do we preach and pray
and is there no answering fruit--no
conversions
and no increase of piety?
2. Can the reason be found in devotion to the forms of religion and
the neglect of its spirit?
3. Are our people characterised by an absorbing devotion to the world?
4. Then to us as to Israel is the call to repentance; to us as to
them
the hope of forgiveness; to us as to them
the promise of revival upon
repentance and reformation. God forbid that we should merely possess the forms
of religion and be destitute of its life-giving power. (L. O. Thomson.)
Hypocrisy in public
worship
All that wears the
appearance of religion is not sincere piety. This remark will particularly
apply to those acts which constitute what we call public worship. For in
privacy
where no eye is upon us but that of the Omniscient
there is less
temptation to
and less danger of insincerity. Malachi is here remonstrating
with the people for the “iniquity of their holy things.”
I. The criminal
charge he fixes on this professing community. It is aggravated by three things.
1. By the salutary discipline to which they had recently been
subjected for their backslidings and rebellions against God.
2. By the fact that they thus sinned against the clearest knowledge.
3. By the majesty of the object against whom their offence was
directed. We censure and condemn the Jews
but “are we better than they”?
II. The uses to be
made of this remonstrance.
1. Here are materials for your deepest humiliation and penitence.
2. How incompetent are all the rites and ceremonies of religion to
save the soul!
3. See the fallacy of pharisaism.
4. How welcome
then
is the evangelical intelligence which is
brought to us
to awaken a hope of the acceptance of our persons and services
in the sight of a holy God. (J. Clayton.)
Verse 14
But cursed be the deceiver.
A cursed one
Curses are the echoes that sin awakens. All deceivers are
cursed.
I. The deceiver.
He may be a self-deceiver
or a deceiver of others
or both. Some may
unconsciously deceive; others intentionally. It is the intentional deceiver
that is cursed; he who aims to deceive others. These abound in--
1. Religious communities. The wily priest
the glib teacher of error
the hypocrite.
2. In the social circle. The liar
the seducer
the false friend.
3. In commerce. The unreliable employee
the concocter of lying
prospectuses
the swindling merchant.
4. In political movements. The bribing agent
the self-seeking
adventurer
the unscrupulous statesman. Men sometimes turn themselves into
incarnate falsehoods for the sake of worldly success. The advantages gained are
only seeming
not real. The deceiver is--
II. HIS CURSE. This
may be suspicion
discredit
fear of discovery
exposure
stings of conscience
spiritual blindness
the execrations of his victims; the contempt of all good
men; the displeasure of the Almighty
hell-fires
etc. His curse is certain. In
a universe where a God of truth and righteousness reigns
the deceiver is sure
to be punished. The curse is terrible and eternal. Application--
1. Let us guard ourselves against all deceivers.
2. Let us beware of deceit.
3. Better be deceived than deceive. (W. Osborne Lilley.)
And sacrificeth unto the
Lord a corrupt thing.
The service of God an unblemished offering
The prophets were God’s messengers
commissioned to witness in His
name against the sins of the people. To understand this remonstrance aright
we
must remember what were the laws respecting the offerings. The prime of
each offering was to be presented to God. But these profane priests thought
that anything would serve for a sacrifice
though never so coarse and mean.
They picked out the worst they had
that which was neither fit for the market
nor for their own tables
and offered that at God’s altar. With every sacrifice
the law commanded them to bring a meat-offering of “fine flour
mingled with
bread”: but they brought “polluted bread
” of coarse and refuse material. The
principle illustrated is--that the service of God admits of nothing short of
the most perfect offering that can be presented; and everything below this
affixes upon the offerers the character of “deceivers
” and the condemnation of
being “cursed.”
I. The service of
religious worship.
1. It is profane service whenever it is not intelligent
whenever it
is not founded on a right understanding of the object of worship. You
who have
watched the movements or the torpidity of your minds at the time of supposed
prayer
will bear me witness how often you have failed to recognise the simple
being of the God before whom you bow down.
2. No offering of worship is acceptable which is not also solemn and
reverential. This it could not fail to be if we were possessed by a just sense
of the transcendent greatness of Him to whom prayer is presented. His majesty
is infinite and ineffable
and therefore we stand at an immeasurable distance
from Him. And yet to such a Being we address ourselves in prayer. Do any of us
detect in ourselves the vacant gaze
the roving thought?
3. Acceptable worship must be spiritual. Why so? “God is a Spirit
and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” They must
so worship Him
because it is not possible that He should receive any other. Do
you assert that “God is a Spirit
” then you contract Him into the narrow
dimensions of your own being if you give Him no more than the devotions of the
body
if you give Him not the ardent services of your soul.
4. If our worship be genuine
it will be marked by intentness of
mind. Languor and laxness of the spirit are sure tokens that it” is not a glad
offering
but an irksome task. In all these cases what is the sin which we
charge home but that very sin for which the prophet utters his rebuke? They
have a better offering which they might offer. They are capable of a worship
more worthy of God. Instead
they bring the lame
and the sick
and the torn
they “sacrifice unto the Lord a corrupt thing.”
II. The habitual
service of the life. Here too the service of God admits of nothing short of the
most perfect offering that can be presented. Our baptismal covenant
made for
us in our unconscious infancy
when our own reason was not privy to the
engagement
is sealed and confirmed in maturer age; and then it is that we
deliberately and personally “vow” to give the choice thing in our flock. But
where is he to be found that fully recognises and performs the baptismal oath?
The baptised man
the communicant
and the parent for his child
and he who is
in near danger
has vowed
deliberately
unto God
the male that is in
his flock; but he leaves off with sacrificing unto the Lord “a corrupt thing.”
(R. Eden
M. A.)
I am a great King
saith
the Lord of hosts.--
Jehovah a king
What God is Himself
what constitutes His essence no language can
describe. What God is to His creatures
and what relations He sustains with
respect to them
may without difficulty be stated in language sufficiently
intelligible. Sometimes God styles Himself a father
sometimes a master
and
sometimes a king.
I. Jehovah is a
king. A king is the political head or supreme ruler of a kingdom. There are
kings by right
and kings in fact. The king by right has claim to the throne
though he may not possess it. The king in fact actually possesses the throne
though he may have no right to it. He alone who has both the right and the
possession can properly be called a king. And such a king is Jehovah. His
kingdom is the whole created universe
and of this kingdom He is in actual and
full possession. And He is the rightful sovereign of the universe. All men were
born into the dominions of Jehovah. Men cannot cease to be His subjects without
ceasing to exist. He possesses all the insignia of royalty. He has a throne
a
crown
royal robes
etc.
II. Jehovah is a
great king. Great is the Lord
and His greatness is unsearchable. See the
greatness
duration
and stability of His empire. His kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom.
1. If God is a king
He is under obligations to make laws for His
subjects. When He assumes any office He binds Himself to perform all the duties of that office.
The first and most indispensable duty of an absolute sovereign is to make laws
for his subjects. It is as much his duty to make laws
as it is their duty to
obey them when made.
2. He is under obligations to make the wisest and best laws possible.
It was incumbent on him to consult
not the private wishes and inclinations of
individuals
but the great interests of his whole kingdom.
3. He is under obligations to annex some penalty to every violation
of his law. A law without a penalty annexed is not a law
that is
it cannot
answer the purpose of a law.
4. He is bound to enforce his laws
and to inflict the threatened
punishment on all who transgress them. He must not bear the sword in vain
but
be a terror to evil-doers. Justice in a sovereign ruler consists in treating
his subjects according to their deserts. He may be guilty of injustice by
treating them better than they deserve
as well as by treating them worse than
they deserve. But God cannot act unjustly.
5. We may learn the necessity of an atonement for sin. Something
which shall maintain the authority of God’s law
secure the great interests of
His kingdom
and answer all the ends of government
no less effectually than
the infliction of merited punishment upon transgressors. Without such an
atonement God cannot consistently with justice
or His obligations as a
sovereign
pardon a single offender.
6. If Jehovah is king
sin is treason and rebellion
and every
impenitent sinner is a traitor and a rebel.
7. If Jehovah is king
it is requisite that He should have
ambassadors
in order that His will should be communicated to His subjects.
God’s inspired messengers
the prophets and apostles
were ambassadors
extraordinary. His ministers are His ambassadors to-day. (E. Payson
D. D.)
God a great King
Men reveal their conceptions of God by the kind of homage they
render to Him. God was dishonoured by the hypocritical worship of His own
people; they were representing Jehovah as a senseless idol To reprove them He
here declares His greatness.
I. This
declaration which Jehovah makes respecting Himself. God places Himself towards
us in various aspects. He is a king. He has in Himself all the qualities of
kingly greatness. Kings should be the greatest of men. He has all the
attributes of a great king. His power
authority
majesty
etc. His dominions
are great. His kingdom is eternal.
II. What lessons
may be learnt from this declaration. Learn--
1. To reverence Him.
2. The importance of securing His favour. He has shown us the way to
secure it--by repentance
faith
and obedience.
3. To trust implicitly in His overruling providence.
4. To submit ourselves to His government.
5. To expect great blessings from His hands. Great expectancy in His
creatures pleases Him. Great expectations from Him are never disappointed. (W.
Osborne Lilley.)
God is a great king
In one country abroad
much plagued by invasions from heathens
a
grand old custom sprang up in their churches. When the Apostles’ Creed was
repeated the noblemen and men-at-arms drew their swords
and did not sheathe
them again until the creed was over. They meant it as a sign that “God was
their king
” and that they would show their earnestness in saying so
if need
be
by fighting and dying for that God to whom they owed all
and that Church
of God to which they belonged. (C. Kingsley.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》