It was characteristic of the restored exiles that they endeavoured exactly to reproduce the old Mosaic system; but there was a grave danger involved in their effort. They could not precisely reproduce everything. There must be some adjustment to the very different social and religious sentiments and relations. But those who claimed the authority to make the adjustments would be almost sure to carry their authority too far, and claim to alter and amend the very laws and rules. Under the guise of translation, adaptation, and amplification, the new law of the rabbis became established; and the mischief that it had become in the time of our Lord is evident in its actually overlaying the revealed Law of God, and making the Jehovah religion a burden beyond bearing. Malachi seems to foresee the mischievous growth of an evil which had already begun in his time, and in this closing passage of his work solemnly calls the people back to the unquestionable and unrivalled authority of the Horeb revelation given to Moses. It is the great recall that has been again and again found necessary in the course of the ages. It is the recall needed today. "To the Law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20).

I. THE SIGN OF GOODNESS IN GOD'S PEOPLE. Practical interest in God's revealed Word. The old Jew had none of the difficulties which modern infidelity and modern criticism have put in our fathers' way and in ours. Our fathers were troubled by being assured that a book revelation was impossible. They might have confidently, yet meekly replied, "But here it is." We are troubled by being told that the Bible is not at all what we think it to be, and is not trustworthy. We may quietly reply, "Whatever it is, it is 'a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path.'" Treatment of the Word is the best test of the godly life.

II. GOD'S REVEALED WORD SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND, It is designed to replenish our life at its fountains of thought, knowledge, and feeling. Therefore the prophet says, "Remember ye the Law of Moses." Keep it in mind; freshen the memory continually.

III. GOD'S REVEALED WORD IS BEST KEPT IN MIND BY KEEPING IT IN THE LIFE. "If any will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." Practical obedience is

(1) the best teacher; and

(2) our best and constant revealer of the need of teaching. - R.T.

Of all the books of the Old Testament, the first five books are the most vital. The Pentateuch is not a branch of the tree of revelation; it is one of the very roots. If objectors must attack some portion of the Old Testament, let them assail the Book of Kings, the writings of Solomon, the prophecies of Daniel, the glories of Ezekiel, the sublimities of the Book of Job, for these, though inspired, are not of such vital importance; but of the foundation truths of Genesis, we say, "Touch not, handle not." If the writings of Moses are not authentic; if the facts therein recorded are untrue; if, in fact, Moses in his offices and character, be a mere fiction of the brain, then the most tremendous results must necessarily follow. If such be the case, then the whole of revelation must be blotted out. If the Pentateuch suffer an eclipse, the New Testament suffers the same. You cannot have a partial eclipse. The Pentateuch and New Testament are woven together in one seamless robe. If you make a rend, you destroy the whole. The Epistles of St. Paul are full of Moses. If Moses falls, St. Paul falls with him, and all the glorious apostles. He that rejects the law must reject the Gospel also: for the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Moses spake of Christ, and testified of Christ. The man who rejects Moses must reject the Lord Himself. We have other witnesses to the authenticity of the Pentateuch than the inspired Word of God. The testimony of the rocks of Sinai, etc.

(Alfred Cay, A. K. C.)

In our text Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, shows that the fear of the Lord necessarily involves reverential regard for His law. This law is described as that which was given to Moses in Horeb, and the charge is given: "Remember ye the law." These words seal up the Old Testament revelation. Our text expresses a necessary, universal, and perpetual obligation: "Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb." In very many minds there are very hazy notions in reference to the relation of the Old Testament to the New, of the Mosaic to the Christian dispensation, of the law to the Gospel. It is quite true that there are statements in the New Testament which indicate that some old things had passed away, and that some new things had come. There is a sense in which the revelation of the Gospel is in contrast to that of the Old Testament — not, however, the contrast of contradiction, but rather of fuller and clearer development. We must remember that the term "law of Moses" is used in two senses — the one covering the whole Mosaic legislation, the other having special reference to what are called the "Ten Commandments." There were things in the legislation of Moses which were purely civil — which could apply only to the Jews as a nation. There were other things which were ceremonial — belonging to a dispensation which was symbolical, typical, and preparatory. All these things, national and ceremonial, passed away with the dawn of the new dispensation. But there was one part of the revelation given by Moses — and this the central and most important part — called distinctively "the law," the moral law, the ten commandments, which is of universal and perpetual obligation.

I. THE LAW IS A GLORIOUS REVELATION OF THE CHARACTER AND WILL OF GOD. God is the Creator and Governor of the universe. He hath made all beings and things by His almighty power. He governs them according to His own infinite wisdom. Over material things and irrational creatures His control is a matter of forceful operation; but over all orders of rational, responsible beings His control is a moral government. This renders an intelligible revelation necessary. His moral nature is at once the source and the standard of all purity and beauty. The moral law reveals Him as the just and holy God, pointing out the way of duty and demanding obedience. This law is perfect. It reveals God s character, declares His will, and discloses the fundamental, unalterable principles of His moral government.

II. THE LAW IS SUITED TO THE NATURE OF MAN, AND IS FITTED TO SECURE HIS HIGHEST DEVELOPMENT AND HAPPINESS. Man is a moral, responsible being, who was crested in the image, and intended for the service and glory of God.

1. Likeness to the Divine character is essential to man's true development. The moral law revealing the purity and beauty of God, or declaring His holy and righteous will, sets before men the original pattern of their own character and the standard of their intended development.

2. Thus we may say also that obedience to the law of God is the necessary justification of man's existence. The holy and righteous God could not create a race of rebels intending that they should exist to be disloyal and disobedient. Man, coming under the power of sin, through rebellion and disobedience, forfeited his right to existence in the sight of God and among His creatures. The law declaring man's duty justifies his Divine sentence of condemnation and death upon transgressors.

3. Still more, it is absolutely certain that harmony with the will of God is essential to man's happiness. Holiness and happiness are in their very nature closely and inseparably linked together.

III. THE LAW CAME STRAIGHT FROM GOD TO MAN. Man was not left to discover or reason it out for himself. The law is not a constitution agreed upon among men for self-government. This same law was given of God to Moses in Horeb.

IV. THE LAW IS ENFORCED BY THE MOST POWERFUL SANCTIONS. To it are attached promises of blessing and reward, and threatenings of curse and punishment.

V. THE LAW HAS NECESSARY, UNIVERSAL, AND PERPETUAL AUTHORITY.

1. Necessary. Man's obligation to keep the law does not depend upon his own profession or resolution. Some people excuse themselves in reference to a certain looseness of conduct by saying that they make no profession of religion, or that they have very liberal views. They say that it is quite proper and necessary that professing Christians should recognise the authority of the law, but they contend that every man has the right to judge for himself. This is all wrong; no man has the right to set his judgment or opinion or prejudice or wilfulness against the plain, positive precepts of the Divine law. The authority of the law is due to its Divine authorship.

2. Thus it must be evident that obligation to the moral law is universal. Wherever you find the moral faculty, the moral law has authority.

3. Thus also the authority of the law is perpetual. God cannot change.

VI. THE LAW IS THE BASIS, AND SHALL BE THE CROWN AND GLORY OF THE GOSPEL. The Gospel did not destroy the law. It did not lower its standards. It was not intended as an apology for its severity. The Gospel honours and maternities the law, declaring that it is holy, just, and good. The law could not pardon a transgression, therefore it could not give life and salvation to guilty sinners. It gave the knowledge of sin, measured the extent of man's weakness and the depth of his fall; thus it prepared for the exhibition of pardoning mercy and saving grace by showing the necessity for it. Then. again, the law determined the plan of salvation and the provisions necessary, so that in the exercise of mercy the Divine righteousness might be preserved and declared, so that God might be just in justifying every one that believeth. Still further, the condition of pardon and salvation under the Gospel — which is faith — is determined by the law. What is faith but the recognition and acceptance of the truth that Christ in our behalf made a full satisfaction to the law, and took away our guilt and cancelled the sentence of condemnation by the sacrifice of Himself? Thus we must see that the law is the basis of the Gospel — determining its plan and provisions and conditions of salvation. But there is more to be told. Through Christ Jesus come the renewal of man's nature and the gift of life and power, so that men who were dead in trespasses and sins, and under the carnal mind, and led captive by the devil at his will, are caused to love and delight in, and are enabled to obey the law. The law is always the same. The motives to obedience are higher and the power stronger, because of full satisfaction and reconciliation, and the free gift of life and salvation through the redemption of Christ. The crown and glory of the Gospel come to each man when the law of God is enthroned in his heart and manifested in his life and conduct. It is said that in ancient times some laws were put into verse, so that the people might learn to sing them. Through the grace and Spirit of Christ, God's law becomes poetry to us and His statutes a song.

(J. K. Wright, B. D.)

Elijah, MalachiHoreb, JerusalemCommand, Commanded, Decisions, Decrees, Horeb, Judgments, Law, Laws, Mind, Ordinances, Remember, Rules, Servant, Statutes1. God's judgment on the wicked;
2. and his blessing on the good.
4. He exhorts to the study of the law;
5. and tells of Elijah's coming and office.

Malachi 4:4

     4269   Sinai, Mount
     7160   servants of the Lord

The Last Words of the Old and New Testaments
'Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.'--MALACHI iv. 6. 'The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.'--REVELATION xxii. 21. It is of course only an accident that these words close the Old and the New Testaments. In the Hebrew Bible Malachi's prophecies do not stand at the end; but he was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and after him there were 'four centuries of silence.' We seem to hear in his words the dying echoes of the rolling thunders of Sinai. They gather up the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Whether it was Fitting that John Should Baptize?
Objection 1: It would seem that it was not fitting that John should baptize. For every sacramental rite belongs to some law. But John did not introduce a new law. Therefore it was not fitting that he should introduce the new rite of baptism. Objection 2: Further, John "was sent by God . . . for a witness" (Jn. 1:6,7) as a prophet; according to Lk. 1:76: "Thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest." But the prophets who lived before Christ did not introduce any new rite, but persuaded …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Rest for the Weary
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. W hich shall we admire most -- the majesty, or the grace, conspicuous in this invitation? How soon would the greatest earthly monarch be impoverished, and his treasures utterly exhausted, if all, that are poor and miserable, had encouragement to apply freely to him, with a promise of relief, fully answerable to their wants and wishes! But the riches of Christ are unsearchable and inexhaustible. If millions and millions …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

"The Sun of Righteousness"
WE SHOULD FEEL QUITE JUSTIFIED in applying the language of the 19th Psalm to our Lord Jesus Christ from the simple fact that he is so frequently compared to the sun; and especially in the passage which we have given you as our second text, wherein he is called "the Sun of Righteousness." But we have a higher justification for such a reading of the passage, for it will be in your memories that, in the 10th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul, slightly altering the words of this …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Thoughts Upon the Appearance of Christ the Sun of Righteousness, or the Beatifick vision.
SO long as we are in the Body, we are apt to be governed wholly by its senses, seldom or never minding any thing but what comes to us through one or other of them. Though we are all able to abstract our Thoughts when we please from matter, and fix them upon things that are purely spiritual; there are but few that ever do it. But few, even among those also that have such things revealed to them by God himself, and so have infinitely more and firmer ground to believe them, than any one, or all their …
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

At the Medical College
After three years of study and practice in the Sanitarium she applied for admission to the Woman's Medical College in Philadelphia, from which she was graduated in the spring of 1869. She often spoke of the pleasure she had in lingering in the park after class hours, on her way to her boarding-place, and of the occasional free and intimate talks with certain of her instructors. She enjoyed the Sabbath services and had many opportunities of hearing some of the celebrated preachers of the day. The …
Mrs. Robert Hoskins—Clara A. Swain, M.D

Not that Light, but a Witness.
(John I. 8.) "Nothing resting in its own completeness Can have worth or beauty; but alone Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness, Fuller, higher, deeper than its own. "Spring's real glory dwells not in the meaning, Gracious though it be, of her blue hours; But is hidden in her tender leaning To the summer's richer wealth of flowers." A. A. PROCTOR. Resentment of the Sanhedrim--The Baptist's Credentials--Spiritual Vision--"Behold the Lamb of God"--The Baptism of the Spirit The baptism and …
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

The Prophet of the Highest.
(LUKE I.) "Ye hermits blest, ye holy maids, The nearest heaven on earth, Who talk with God in shadowy glades, Free from rude care and mirth; To whom some viewless Teacher brings The secret love of rural things, The moral of each fleeting cloud and gale, The whispers from above, that haunt the twilight vale." KEBLE. Formative Influences--A Historical Parallel--The Burning of the Vanities--"Sent from God" "Thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High"--thus Zacharias addressed his infant …
F. B. Meyer—John the Baptist

John's First Testimony to Jesus.
(Bethany Beyond Jordan, February, a.d. 27.) ^D John I. 19-34. ^d 19 And this is the witness of John [John had been sent to testify, "and" this is the matter of his testimony], when the Jews [The term "Jews" is used seventy times by John to describe the ruling classes of Judæa] sent unto him [In thus sending an embassy they honored John more than they ever honored Christ. They looked upon John as a priest and Judæan, but upon Jesus as a carpenter and Galilæan. It is probable that …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

John's Introduction.
^D John I. 1-18. ^d 1 In the beginning was the Word [a title for Jesus peculiar to the apostle John], and the Word was with God [not going before nor coming after God, but with Him at the beginning], and the Word was God. [Not more, not less.] 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him [the New Testament often speaks of Christ as the Creator--see ver. 10; I. Cor. viii. 6; Col. i. 13, 17; Heb. i. 2]; and without him was not anything made that hath been made. [This …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

John the Baptist --visit of Jesus to John, and his Abode in the Desert of Judea --Adoption of the Baptism of John.
An extraordinary man, whose position, from the absence of documentary evidence, remains to us in some degree enigmatical, appeared about this time, and was unquestionably to some extent connected with Jesus. This connection tended rather to make the young prophet of Nazareth deviate from his path; but it suggested many important accessories to his religious institution, and, at all events, furnished a very strong authority to his disciples in recommending their Master in the eyes of a certain class …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

The Child Jesus Brought from Egypt to Nazareth.
(Egypt and Nazareth, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 19-23; ^C Luke II. 39. ^a 19 But when Herod was dead [He died in the thirty-seventh year of his reign and the seventieth of his life. A frightful inward burning consumed him, and the stench of his sickness was such that his attendants could not stay near him. So horrible was his condition that he even endeavored to end it by suicide], behold, an angel of the Lord [word did not come by the infant Jesus; he was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 17), …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

Letter Xl to Thomas, Prior of Beverley
To Thomas, Prior of Beverley This Thomas had taken the vows of the Cistercian Order at Clairvaux. As he showed hesitation, Bernard urges his tardy spirit to fulfil them. But the following letter will prove that it was a warning to deaf ears, where it relates the unhappy end of Thomas. In this letter Bernard sketches with a master's hand the whole scheme of salvation. Bernard to his beloved son Thomas, as being his son. 1. What is the good of words? An ardent spirit and a strong desire cannot express …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Consolation
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received at the LORD 's hand double for all her sins. T he particulars of the great "mystery of godliness," as enumerated by the Apostle Paul, constitute the grand and inexhaustible theme of the Gospel ministry, "God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

The Lord Coming to his Temple
The LORD , whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple; even the messenger of the covenant in whom ye delight: Behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like a fuller's soap, -- and he shall purify the sons of Levi -- that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. W hereunto shall we liken the people of this generation? and to what are they like? (Luke 7:31) …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Opposition to Messiah in Vain
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. T he extent and efficacy [effects] of the depravity of mankind cannot be fully estimated by the conduct of heathens destitute of divine revelation. We may say of the Gospel, in one sense, what the Apostle says of the Law, It entered that sin might abound (Romans 5:20) . It afforded occasion for displaying the alienation of the heart of man from the blessed God, in the strongest light. The sensuality, oppression and …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Annunciation to Zacharias of the Birth of John the Baptist.
(at Jerusalem. Probably b.c. 6.) ^C Luke I. 5-25. ^c 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa [a Jewish proselyte, an Idumæan or Edomite by birth, founder of the Herodian family, king of Judæa from b.c. 40 to a.d. 4, made such by the Roman Senate on the recommendation of Mark Antony and Octavius Cæsar], a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course [David divided the priests into twenty-four bodies or courses, each course serving in rotation one week in the temple …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Birth and Early Life of John the Baptist.
(Hill Country of Judæa, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke I. 57-80. ^c 57 Now Elisabeth's time was fulfilled that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58 And her neighbors and her kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her [mercy in granting a child; great mercy in granting so illustrious a child] ; and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it came to pass on the eighth day [See Gen. xvii. 12; Lev. xii. 3; Phil. iii. 5. Male children were named at their circumcision, probably …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Third Withdrawal from Herod's Territory.
Subdivision D. The Transfiguration. Concerning Elijah. (a Spur of Hermon, Near Cæsarea Philippi.) ^A Matt. XVII. 1-13; ^B Mark IX. 2-13; ^C Luke IX. 28-36. ^c 28 And it came to pass about eight days { ^a six days} ^c after these sayings [Mark agrees with Matthew in saying six days. Luke qualifies his estimate by saying "about." But if we regard him as including the day of the "sayings" and also the day of the transfiguration, and the other two as excluding these days, then the three statements …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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