A Sermon by Rev Alexander McPherson
Malachi 3:17. And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Malachi seems to have prophesied about the time of Nehemiah’s second appearance at Jerusalem. His book reveals that the people had become self-righteous and materialistic, looking for temporal blessings at the same time as they were careless about God’s worship. Confining ourselves to this chapter, we note that it begins with a prophecy of Christ’s coming (vv 1-6); then a promise of plenty if the people would tithe properly (vv 7-12); then a reference to the complaining and reproachful attitude of most of the nation, who viewed religion as just a way of buying God’s favour, yet charging God with failing to keep His side of the contract (vv 14-15).
There were others, however, who were of a different spirit, who feared God. He took special notice of them, and our text tells of His purpose concerning them.
1. The people claimed by Jehovah. They are described in verse 16: those among the Jews in Malachi’s time who had a correct view of God and a corresponding attitude towards Him: “They feared the Lord”. Godly fear is meant: that knowledge of, and reverence for, God’s Majesty; submission to His authority and care to avoid offending Him. That is the mark of all who have been savingly changed and have come to repentance and faith – the very opposite of what we see in verses 7-8,13-15.
Let us remember, however, that these words of Malachi have a reference to ourselves as well, and that it is the God-fearing people of all ages whom God claims as His. Yet the contrast today is not between the godly and the self-righteous and insolent, but between the godly and a great variety of others – from those who deny God and disregard Him, through many forms of false religion, to formal adherence to the true religion. Can we distinguish ourselves from all these as persons who fear God?
We may note two ways of proving that we fear God. (1) Do we think “upon His name”? God’s name is all that He has revealed about Himself. The all is very great; it is a revelation through creation, providence and Scripture. Do we frequently think about God in a way that honours Him? (2) Do we speak “often one to another”? Are we ready and willing to speak to other Christians about God and His works, about His essential and sovereign
1These are Mr McPherson’s notes for a sermon he preached in London, on 18 December 1988, when he was minister there.
attributes, and about His dealings with souls as we know them? Are these the subjects that draw us closest together and that we feel to be most important? Now if our belief that we fear God is borne out in these ways, should it not give us great pleasure to know that God claims such people as His own: “They shall be Mine”.
2. When God will make good His claim. In any ungodly age such as Malachi’s and ours, it is likely that few will accept that the God-fearing are God’s special property. They are thought of as worse than others because of their uncharitableness and narrowmindedness etc. A day is coming, however, when God – who now claims as His those whom the world regards as least likely to be in God’s favour – will make good His claim. It is the day when the Lord will make up His jewels.
Here, at the very end of the Old Testament Scriptures, is a reference to what God had principally been doing since the Fall. He had been separating from the corrupt mass certain individuals who, under the influence of His grace, would fear and serve Him. And when the New Testament would be written, it would become fully clear that these persons were God’s elect, redeemed and called.
Our text also looks forward to the completion of the saving process, when earth’s last day shall come. When the last person has been saved, time, history and the world itself will end. The trumpet will sound; Christ will come; the dead will rise; the world will be destroyed; and Christ will judge all who ever lived in it.
Now let us see the significance of the expression, the Lord of hosts. The hosts are angels in great number: “He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Mt 24:31). As a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats, the angels will gather together God’s elect, as stated in the verse just quoted, and “they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity” (Mt 13:41). God’s claim will be made good; when placed at Christ’s right hand, it will be plain to all that the righteous are God’s peculiar treasure.
3. How the claim will be made good. This great host of saved sinners will be treated and displayed as jewels. The word means special treasures, and in Bible times this almost invariably meant jewels, which were immune from wear, rust and wastage.
As jewels are usually regarded as the most valuable things their owners possess, so God will make it appear that saved sinners are His most prized possession. The things of earth that its worldly inhabitants sought after will all have passed away. Earth’s silver, gold and precious stones, together with
its honours, titles, power and pleasures – all will have gone. And now God will display – to angels, devils and lost men – the multitude clothed in white raiment and holy in heart, as His dearest possessions.
We must now ask, What gives these people their value in God’s estimation? We know that literal jewels acquire their value on account of such things as rarity, shape, colour, brilliance and cost. These spiritual jewels are valuable for such reasons as:
(1.) God’s discernment of what grace would do for extremely unsightly objects. In this way they reflect God’s infinite wisdom; they are triumphs of His unerring choice, as a sparkling gem might be whose potential a master jeweller sees in the rough, dull piece of rock.
(2.) The infinitely great cost of their redemption. Yet they would have remained guilty, vile sinners had that price not been paid. These jewels are God’s possession as the result of unique outgoings of the love of all three Persons in the Godhead.
(3.) The work put into their cutting and polishing, so to speak – their sanctification. The course of their lives was planned from eternity to be affected by innumerable things, persons and events, under the constant influences of the Holy Spirit. A stupendous divine work was entailed in fitting them for heaven.
(4.) Their beauty after the work of preparation has been finished. “Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God” (Is 62:3).
Let me ask those who fear the Lord how much they think of the outcome of salvation. In the midst of their ordinary tasks and religious duties, do they think with longing of the time when they shall have done with sinning and be fit to enter heaven? Do thoughts of perfect holiness spur them on to a more determined conflict with Satan, indwelling sin and worldliness? Do they – when sadly conscious of their sinful, miserable environment and weary from a multitude of tasks, and encounters with wickedness and moral filthiness – think pleasantly of the rest that remaineth to the people of God? And do they wonder that God should bear so long and patiently with them when so often they are not spiritually minded? Nevertheless the fact is sure: God will make good His claim. He will yet have His people with Himself.
4. The added promise. “I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” We have just referred to the feelings of sinfulness and manifold imperfection that often trouble God’s people in the world. Sometimes they are more conscious of their faultiness than of their status as adopted children and beloved of the Lord, who has shown them mercy. How will they fare at the Judgement Day? They ought to know that they are no longer under con-
demnation, but the Lord, in kindness to their weakness, says here that He will certainly not treat them as enemies and rebels, but as children. When His wrath will devour the ungodly servants of sin and Satan, He will spare and bless His dear children who, notwithstanding their imperfections, have served Him on earth.
God knows those who fear Him and think about His name, and He will acknowledge them and display them among His jewels. Are we among them, hoping for salvation from sin for Christ’s sake, seeking to be like the Saviour morally, and to be among His jewels eternally?