Homilist Malachi 4:2 But to you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go forth… The "name of the Lord" means Himself, and to fear Him with a loving, filial reverence, is genuine godliness. We have here, in fact, a picture of their inner world. I. IT IS A WORLD OF SOLAR BRIGHTNESS. The "Sun of Righteousness" rises on the horizon of their souls. There are souls that are lighted by sparks of their own kindling, and by the gaseous blaze springing from the bogs of inner depravity. All such lights, whether in the forms of philosophic theories or religious creeds, are dim, partial, transitory. The soul of a good man is lighted by the sun. The sun — (1) Throws his beams over the whole heavens. (2) Reveals all objects in their true aspects and proportions. (3) Quickens all into life and beauty. (4) Is centre, holding the whole system in order. Christ is the light of the good. II. IT IS A WORLD OF DIVINE RECTITUDE. "Sun of Righteousness." "The kingdom of God is within." Eternal right is enthroned. God's will is the supreme law. The meat and drink of the godly soul are to do the will of their Father, who is in heaven. Such a soul is right — (1) In relation to itself. All its powers, passions, and impulses are rightly adjusted. Right — (2) In relation to the universe. It renders to others what it would that others should render unto it. Right — (3) In relation to God. The Best Being it loves the most, the Greatest Being it reverences the most, the Kindest Being it thanks the most. III. IT IS A WORLD OF REMEDIAL INFLUENCE. "With healing in His wings." The sun's beams are in Scripture called His wings. "The wings of the morning" (Psalm 139.). The soul through sin is diseased. Its eyes are dim, its ears are heavy, its limbs are feeble, its very blood is poisoned. The godly man is under remedial influences. The beams of the "Sun of Righteousness" work off the disease, repair the constitution, and enable it to run without being weary, and to walk without being faint. There is a proverb among the Jews that as "the sun arises, the infirmities decrease." The flowers which drooped and languished all night, revive in the morning. The late Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, called upon a friend just as he had received a letter from his son, who was surgeon on a vessel then lying off Smyrna. The son mentioned to his father, that every morning about sunrise a fresh gale of air blew from the sea across the land, and from its wholesomeness and utility in clearing the infected air, this wind was called the DOCTOR. Christ is the Physician of souls. IV. IT IS A WORLD OF BUOYANT ENERGY. "Ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall." See the calf, which from its birth has been shut up in the stall, let forth for the first time into the green fields in May, how full of buoyant energy, it leaps and frolics and frisks. This is the figure employed here to represent the gladsomeness with which the godly soul disports its faculties under the genial beams of the "Sun of Righteousness." Conclusion — What a transcendent good is religion! How blessed the soul that has come under its bright, benign, and heavenly influence. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. |
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