Evening
Time: 2:42 PM PST
"And lay thy foundations with sapphires." --Isaiah 54:11
Not only that which is seen of the church of God, but that which is unseen,
is fair and precious. Foundations are out of sight, and so long as they are firm
it is not expected that they should be valuable; but in Jehovah's work
everything is of a piece, nothing slurred, nothing mean. The deep foundations of
the work of grace are as sapphires for preciousness, no human mind is able to
measure their glory. We build upon the covenant of grace, which is firmer
than adamant, and as enduring as jewels upon which age spends itself in vain.
Sapphire foundations are eternal, and the covenant abides throughout the
lifetime of the Almighty. Another foundation is the person of the Lord
Jesus, which is clear and spotless, everlasting and beautiful as the
sapphire; blending in one the deep blue of earth's ever rolling ocean and the
azure of its all embracing sky. Once might our Lord have been likened to the
ruby as He stood covered with His own blood, but now we see Him radiant with the
soft blue of love, love abounding, deep, eternal. Our eternal hopes are built
upon the justice and the faithfulness of God, which are clear and
cloudless as the sapphire. We are not saved by a compromise, by mercy defeating
justice, or law suspending its operations; no, we defy the eagle's eye to detect
a flaw in the groundwork of our confidence--our foundation is of sapphire, and
will endure the fire.
The Lord Himself has laid the foundation of His people's hopes. It is matter
for grave enquiry whether our hopes are built upon such a basis. Good
works and ceremonies are not a foundation of sapphires, but of wood, hay, and
stubble; neither are they laid by God, but by our own conceit. Foundations will
all be tried ere long: woe unto him whose lofty tower shall come down with a
crash, because based on a quicksand. He who is built on sapphires may await
storm or fire with equanimity, for he shall abide the test.