Spurgeon: December PM
* 12/15/PM
"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.