MESSIAH Part OneNäide

From Handel’s Messiah -

The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the Covenant,

whom you delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 3: 1

6. Air

But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth?

For He is like a refiner’s fire.

Malachi 3: 2

7. Chorus

And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

Malachi 3: 3

Devotion: He is the Lord—Adonai, the basis and foundation on which the world is founded and fastened, the ruler and governor of all, that one Lord over all (Acts 10:36) that has all power committed to him (Mt. 28:18) and is to reign over the house of Jacob forever (Luke 1:33).

He is one whom they seek and one whom they delight in; and yet who may abide the day of his coming? It is a thing to be thought of with great seriousness, and with a holy awe and reverence; for who shall stand when he appears, though he comes not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might have life?

The gospel shall work good upon those that are disposed to be good, to them it shall be a savor of life unto life (v. 3): He shall sit as a refiner. Christ by his gospel shall purify and reform his church, and by his Spirit working with it shall regenerate and cleanse particular souls; for to this end he gave himself for the church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word (Eph. 5:26) and purify to himself a peculiar people (Titus 2:14). Christ is the great refiner.

Text from the 1706 Bible Commentary by Matthew Henry, public domain.