Malachi 3:17

And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Ver. 17. And they shall be mine] By peculiar right: Et suum cuique pulchrum: we all affect and admire our own things most. God chooseth them for his love; and loves them for his choice. I will be a Father unto them; and they shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty, 2 Corinthians 6:18, which is all one with that here, "They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts." Concerning all which see my Righteous Man's Recompence, Part II chap. i. iii.

In the day when I make up my jewels] viz. From the world's malignities and misusages. They shall not plunder him of his jewels, rob him of his chief treasure. None shall take or pluck them out of Christ's hands, John 10:29, they that attempt it shall find it a work not seizable. When one desired to see Great Alexander's treasure, he bade one of his servants show him not his gold and silver, but his friends. "Henceforth I call you not servants … but I have called you friends," John 15:15. And a friend is as a man's own soul, Deuteronomy 13:6. The Church is the dearly beloved of God's soul, Jeremiah 12:7, yea, his dearly beloved soul, as the Septuagint and Vulgate render it, &c. See my Righteous Man's Recompence, Part II chap. ii.

And I will spare them] Or, indulge them, as David did Mephibosheth, 2 Samuel 21:7. See my Righteous Man's Recompence, Part II. chap. iv., v.