SERMON XXXIII.

MALACHI, iii. 1, 2.

And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: 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?

THIS text of Malachi has turned out a fruitful subject; more so, perhaps, than the first general view of it might seem to promise. We have already drawn from this text ample confirmation of some of the chief articles of our most holy faith: We have seen their great antiquity: We have found that they affirm nothing of our Lord but what the Jews were taught to look for in the person whom we believe our Lord

to be, the Messiah: We have had occasion to expound some important texts-to open many passages of prophecy to consider some remarkable passages in the life of Jesus to make some general observations on the style of the. sacred writers - to recall the remembrance of some customs of the ancient Jews; by all which, we trust that we have thrown some light upon interesting texts of Scripture, and have furnished the attentive hearer with hints which he who shall bear them in remembrance may apply to make light in many other places for himself. This harvest of edification which hath been already collected encourages me to proceed in the remainder of my subject, with the same diligence and exactness which I have used in the former part of it; and I trust that it will engage you to give me still your serious attention.

We have already found in Jesus of Nazareth that great character of the Messiah the Lord of the Jewish temple. Such Jesus was; and such, by three remarkable actions in three different periods

of his ministry, he had claimed to be. Let us now look narrowly for the second character,- -that of the Messenger of the Covenant; of that covenant of which the establishment was so explicitly foretold by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

In general, that Jesus was the proposer of a covenant between. God and man, is much too evident to need any laboured proof. Did he not announce blessings on the part of God? did he not require duties in return from men? Now, an offer of blessings from God, with a demand of duties in return from men, is, in the Scripture language, a covenant between God and

man.

It was thus that the promises to Abraham were a covenant: It was promised to Abraham, that his posterity should become a numerous nation, prosperous in itself, and a means of blessing to all the families of the earth: It was required; in return, of Abraham and his posterity, to keep themselves pure from the general corruption of idolatry, and to adhere to the true worship of the true God. Thus, also, the Mosaic institution was a covenant :

The land of Canaan was given to the Jews:" A strict observance is required of the rituals of the Mosaic law, and obedience to the prophets who should succeed Moses. And thus the Christian institution is a covenant: The sins of men are forgiven, through the sacrifice of Christ; eternal happiness is offered to them in the world to come: Christians are required, in return, to fear, love, and honour God-to make open profession of the faith in Christ to love one another - to do good to all men to forgive their enemies to control their passions, and to deny all sinful appetites. Jesus therefore, it is evident, propounded the terms of a covenant: And he made the proposal on the part of God; for he declared that he came from God, and the works which he did by the finger of God bore ample testimony to him. But this is not sufficient: It must be examined whether the covenant which Jesus propounded bears the character of that which is described in the writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel; for that being the covenant intended by Malachi in the text, if the covenant propounded by Jesus were any other, although he would still be the

messenger of a covenant, he would not be that messenger whom Malachi predicts that Messenger which the Messiah was to be; and, by consequence, he would not be the Messiah. Now, the first remarkable character which we find in Jeremiah and Ezekiel of the covenant which they describe is, that it should be new, or different from the Mosaic institution. And this same character we can be at no loss to find in the covenant propounded by Jesus. The Mosaic institution required duties of a ceremonial service: Jesus requires the natural devotion of the heart, the reasonable sacrifice of an innocent and holy life. And the social duty, under the law and under the gospel, is in its first general principles the same: Yet Jesus, in his sermon on the Mount, points out imperfections in certain particulars of the Mosaic law, in some of its political institutions; arising from that necessary accommodation to inveterate prejudices and general corruptions with which every rational scheme of reformation must begin; and the Mosaic institution is to be considered as the beginning of a plan of Providence for the gradual amendment of