Nothing can be more pleasing to God than thus to show forth His praise, who has taken us, like the stone of the pit, out of darkness; and as they bore the shining plates of gold that reflected and displayed the riches and magnificence of their great builder, even so may Christ be seen on each of us, reflecting and showing forth the exceeding riches of divine grace. Oh, what grace shone in all the ways of Jesus! Even when crucified on the accursed tree, still grace shone forth: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." And that was a bright reflection of Christ, when they stoned Stephen to death. He said, as it were, "Do not say anything about it; lay not this sin to their charge." Oh, for more of the bright shining of Christ in all and on all our ways! God would have us enter into the full joy of being able to give Him thanks, "who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." Col. 1:12-14.
Is this my reader's joy? Can you thus give God all the glory? Are you in the pit or in the temple?—covered with sin or covered with Christ? Ah, it was of no use, though cut and hewn and sawn on one side or every side, if still left in the pit; no place in the temple; no plates of gold; no knops and open flowers. Those half-cut stones in the caverns of Jerusalem are solemn warnings. You may have long felt the axe and saw of conviction, but are you out of the cavern? This must be the work of God. Paul planted, and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. "So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither is he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." God is the builder. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 3:5-11.) "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" v. 16.
Now God's way of getting stones is in this manner: the Spirit of God takes the axe of conviction and strikes deep; the Word of God is the power unto salvation to every one that believes. I met a poor old sinner the other day, who thought that no poor stone ever had the chiseling he had had in the pit of sin. The Spirit of God enabled me to set the death and resurrection of Christ before him; and while quoting these words, out he came, drawn out and delivered by the power of God. "Be it known unto you therefore, ... that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things." Oh, I love to see great stones drawn out of the pit! The old man said, "How blessed it will be to go home knowing I am saved!" "Yes indeed," I said, "and hearken to these words of Jesus: 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.' " John 5:24. Yes, just as Lazarus heard the word of Jesus when down in the sepulcher of death, so was this old man "born again, . . . by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Pet. 1:23). The hour is come "when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live" (John 5:25).
If my reader has never yet heard that voice, may this be the hour. God grant that from this moment you may yield yourself up to God, as a stone in the hands of the mason, and clay in the hands of the potter.
We must not, however, carry the figure too far; for, while a sinner is, as to that which is good, as dead as stone, yet for that which is evil he is terribly alive. Yes—a live rebel against God -a voluntary, willful, rejecter of Christ, the only foundation stone. "Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?" "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Matt. 21:42,44.
In the day of judgment you will not be condemned because you had been in the pit of darkness, but because you refused to be taken out. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world [the dark pit], and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." The remembrance of the love of God in sending His Son to this dark pit of sin, will be like the worm that dies not. 0 what unutterable remorse!
Was it not in love to the bitten Israelites that God bade Moses lift up the serpent in the wilderness? Even so has the Son of man been lifted up. For sinners Jesus died—lost, ungodly sinners. Yes; it was these God so loved. If He had only bidden you get out of the pit yourself, you might have said, How can I, since I am as helpless as stone? But He sent His Son, and you have rejected Him; you have refused to be saved. Oh, it would have been blessed had your heart been broken with the sense of His love! But if not, it must be crushed before Him in the judgment, with the sense of His everlasting wrath. A very little while, and the end of the present scene shall come. The stone cut out of the mountain shall smite the nations, and they shall become "like the chaff of the summer threshing floor." (Dan. 2:34-45.) This terrible day is closed by those solemn words, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." (Matt. 25:32-46.)
There is one point of contrast, however, between the earthly temple and the heavenly building, we must notice. To have seen those huge blocks of stone so built in the rock, one would have thought they would have stood forever. But the time came when the Chaldeans prevailed against them, and again, when restored in later times, as our blessed Lord foretold, the Romans prevailed until not one stone was left upon another. Where are those two pillars—Jachin, which means "he shall establish," and Boaz, "in it is strength" -though they were such brass pillars as the like were never cast? They stood at least twenty-seven feet high and six feet in diameter; yet they are removed and gone, and not a trace of this wondrous building remains.
But Jesus, speaking of Himself, the only foundation, says, "Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Jesus did not say to Peter, Thou art this rock, but, Thou art a stone. Yes; Peter, a stone, needed to be built on the rock as much as any man. He found this need as much in the high priest's hall as on the swelling billows. Christ is the foundation rock; and that rock is not at Rome, but in heaven. And where the foundation is, there must the building be. Ask a mason if this is not so. Yes; God is not building His Church at Rome, but in heavenly places in Christ. Against the Church, so high, so blessed, so secure, the gates of hell shall not prevail. How can they? Eve was not made or built of the flesh of Adam; but she was built of his very bone, and that bone so near his heart. And the Church, the spotless bride of Christ, all glorious within and without, is also built in Christ, so that "We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones." Eph. 5:30.
Some talk about Christ letting the saint slip through His fingers. No, the devil would have to pull Christ's fingers off before one of His little ones could perish. No, when time shall be no more, this holy building of God shall be seen "Descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." Ah, then it will not be like the plates of gold covering the stones. We shall be changed. We shall be like Him, fashioned like unto His glorious body, like unto a stone most precious—no speck of sin, no dull shade of grief, no cloud of sorrows - clear as crystal. This, my fellow stone, is our eternity. Highest archangels will be ravished with wonder. "The street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." Our feet, that now tread the dirty streets of this sin-defiled earth, shall soon tread the golden street of the city of God. What heart can conceive what it will be to be there? No temple there to shut in and hide the glory. No; God and the Lamb are there. They are the temple of it. "The glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." And all yours, my fellow believer. Yes, though too bright for mortal eyes. Yet wait a little longer. A few more struggles, a few more victories over self, sin, and Satan, through Him that strengthens. Yes, though Jachin and Boaz be removed and gone. "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name." Thus speaks Jesus, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Hark! He also speaks to God. "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me." Blessed Jesus, Thy will shall be done; we shall soon be with Thee. We ask no more. Thou couldst not ask more than for us to be with Thee.
There is but one point more, and I close. (Read 1 Chron. 22:17-19.) Now if David commanded the princes of Israel to help Solomon, saying, "Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath He not given you rest on every side?" how much more has God given us rest and perfect peace through the blood of the Lamb. And now He says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." If my reader has not this "rest on every side," then do not think to get it by preaching or doing; let me point you to Him who gives it, even to Jesus. But if you have peace with God, then "Set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build."
There is a work for every mason, and for every man who has found rest to his own soul. Some may be felling proud cedars, others striking with the stern axe of conviction down in the deep mine, others drawing with strong cords of love divine, and others fitting together the building.
Do not say, I can do nothing. "Is not the LORD your God with you?" "Arise therefore, and build."
God give us more willingness of heart, more singleness of eye, more simplicity of faith; and as the building grows in silent power—yes, when the top stone shall be brought with shouting—to Him be all the praise! C.S.
(Concluded) (Continued from last month)