Malachi 3:17 And they shall be mine, said the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them… And if there are different shapes in gems, there are various forms of Christian life and development. And if there are different colours in gems, there are also varieties in the attainments exhibited in personal conduct. Each Christian has his own place and power, and all exhibit the manifoldness of the grace of God. The gentle, tender believers having the graces of the Spirit most fully developed, are like the pearl; and you will remember that it is the pearls which get the place of honour at the entrance to the New Jerusalem; most valuable and most perfect, others enter by them. The enthusiastic disciples, full-blooded in their aggressive eagerness, are like the blushing ruby; while some live so far above earth and earthly things, and so near the sky that they resemble the deep velvety sapphire, "that stone like solid heaven in its blueness." Others with spiritual insight, the seers of the Church, are akin to the most costly chrysoberyl or cat's-eye, with its beautiful moving line of light; while the diamond, "fair as the star which ushers in the morn," is the apt emblem of those who have clear and definite views of truth. Men with a fresh and constant Divine life are represented by the emerald, with its soft, clear green; and the royal magnificence of exalted Christian character by the purple amethyst. Where there is the rapture of intimate communion with God, we think of the golden jasper; and of the opal, "which hath in it the bright, fiery flame of the carbuncle, the fine refulgent purple of the amethyst, and a whole sea of the emerald's green glory, and every one of them shining with an incredible mixture, and with much pleasure, where there is the fully developed manhood of faith. While for simplicity, the onyx; and for solidity, the agate is the natural symbol. And if deficient in all these characteristics, there is still the long list of unmentioned jewels, where, without doubt, every true heart may find a place. It may be the blue lapis-lazuli, so much used in Italian churches; or the green malachite, so often met with in Russia; or the turquoise, which finds its home in Persia; or the chrysolite, now called peridot; or the bloodstone, or jade, or tourmaline, or hyacinth, or cairngorm, or coral, or crystal, or any other of the score still unnamed. Natural temperament very often determines the line of Christian development. A man with a delicate constitution is most likely to display the gentle side of Christianity; while the strong and vigorous, other things being equal, should be most energetic and enthusiastic. (W. Y. Fullerton.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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