Evening, December 15
Go To Morning Reading
“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.