1 W. M. Punshon, Sermons, ii. 279.
MALACHI in. 16 469
^f The word " thought " is one of intense meaning, and I should like to trace it in one or two passages of Scripture in order that we may more clearly understand it.
In the 17th verse of the 13th chapter of Isaiah we read: " Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver ; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it." The only purpose for which we have turned to this verse is that we may extract the word " regard " from it, and see how it is used in this particular case. The Medes will not " regard " silver — that is to say, that they will set no value on silver. The Medes, stirred up against the ancient people of God, will not be bought off by silver. They do not set any value upon it, they do not " regard " it. The connection between this thought and that of our text is centred in the fact that the Hebrew word translated " think " in Malachi is exactly the same word which is translated " regard " in Isaiah. They thought upon His name, they regarded His name, they set a value upon His name.
Take another case in which the same word is again translated "regard." Isaiah xxxiii. 8, "The highways lie waste, the way- faring man ceaseth : he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man." That is, he sets no value upon man. The word is identical with that translated in Malachi: "They that thought upon the Lord" — that is to say, what these people did not do concerning man, the Elect Eemnant did concerning God. I do not say there is any connection between these passages ; we are simply getting the light of them upon a particular word in our present study. They regarded God, they set a value upon Him. In the terrible day described by Isaiah the personal man was not regarded, he was accounted as " nothing worth," valueless; but this Elect Eemnant set regard upon the name of the Lord ; they did for that name what the Medes did not do for silver, and what was not done for man in the days of which Isaiah writes.
In the same prophecy a very remarkable case occurs. Isaiah liii. 3 : " He is despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ; and we hid as it were our faces from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." " Esteemed " is the word ; it is the same Hebrew word translated " thought " in Malachi. You see the word again almost more wonderfully presented here than in other instances. " We esteemed him not." We thought nothing of Him ; we set no value upon Him ; His worth in our sight was nothing, and we spurned Him from us. He came to His own, and they received Him not ; they perceived no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. But the Elect
47o THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SAINTS
Eemnant esteemed the name of the Lord ; they " thought upon his name " — they set a high value thereon.
To follow this thought a little further in order that we may get additional light upon it, turn to the letter of Paul to the Philippians, iv. 8 : " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatso- ever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." The Greek word translated " think " here is a word which means " Take an inventory." What are the things of which men, as a rule, take an inventory ? Things which they value; and Paul, in writing, is practically saying, "Do not reckon as riches things perishing; but those things which make you rich indeed, the things which are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, take an inventory of these, keep your mind upon them, set a value upon them." In the Septuagint the translators have taken this word which Paul uses and have used it in the three cases in Isaiah — to which we have already referred — so that when you read, " These men thought on the name of the Lord," it is not a matter of little moment ; they did not simply meditate upon His name, and meet together to endeavour to comprehend its deep riches. All this I believe they did ; but their position as described by this word is far more wonderful than that. It is that they set value upon the name of the Lord, esteemed it, made an inventory in it, accounted it as their property, wealth, riches. It was the chief thing; nothing else was worth consideration to these faithful people. They took an inventory in the name of the Lord.1
II.
Their Motives.
What are the motives which lead to Christian fellowship? Four may be mentioned.
1. The first is the intense love and interest begotten in us when once the facts of redemption have taken possession of our heart. We profess to believe that " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." If we really believe 1 G. Campbell Morgan, " Wherein?" 74.