God's Jewels.

"And they shall be Mine, says the Lord Almighty, in that day when I make up My jewels" (Mal. 3:17). To whom is God here referring? Who are the favored ones whom He terms His "jewels"? The previous verse tells us, "Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name." A twofold description is there given by which the people of God may be identified: they have a reverential awe and profound respect of God's majesty and authority; they have a deep love and adoration for Him—evidenced by their thinking upon His name.

It almost surprises one to learn that the great and self-sufficient God has "jewels," but our surprise increases to astonishment when we learn that these "jewels" are living creatures, and astonishment gives place to overwhelming amazement when we discover that these living creatures are fallen and depraved sinners redeemed from among the children of men. Truly, nothing but Divine grace would ever liken such wretched worms of the dust, unto precious stones. Yet that is the very thing which we find God doing in our text. It is not the unfallen angels, nor the holy seraphim and exalted cherubim who are spoken of as Jehovah's valued treasure, but lost and ruined sinners saved by amazing grace!

Saints are likened unto wheat, fish, trees, stars, but here to "jewels"; the figure is a deeply interesting and instructive one. In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." This is seen in the difference between human and Divine estimates of relative values. The world's standard of worth is very different from that of God's. Who are the immortals of human history? Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon: soldiers and warriors. Among statesmen and politicians we may mention Gladstone and Lincoln: among dramatists, Goethe and Shakespeare. Those were great in the eyes of earth; but who were great in the eyes of Heaven? For the most part they were unknown down here. They were humble and lowly, insignificant in the affairs of the world. Their names were never chronicled among men; but they were written in the Lamb's Book of Life!

It is noteworthy that our text is found in the book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, which corresponds in many respects with the character of our days, as we seem to be nearing the end of the New Testament era. As the late C. H. Spurgeon pointed out, "These words were spoken in a very graceless age, when religion was peculiarly distasteful to men; when they scoffed at God's altar, and said of His service, 'What a weariness it is!' and scornfully asked, 'What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance?' Yet even those dark nights were not uncheered by bright stars. Though the house of national worship was often deserted, there were secret conventicles of those who 'feared the Lord,' and who 'spoke often one to another,' and our God, who regards quality more than quantity, had respect to these elect twos and threes. He 'hearkened and heard,' and so approved of that which He heard that He takes notes of it, and declared that He will publish it. 'A book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name'! Yes, and He valued so much these hidden ones that He called them His 'jewels,' and declared in the great day when He should gather together His retinue, His regalia, the peculiar treasure of kings, He would look upon these hidden ones as being more priceless than emeralds, rubies, or pearls."

So it is now when all godly testimony has broken down, when Christendom is in spiritual ruins. Many of God's dear children no longer have the privilege of church fellowship, for they dare not attend the modern "synagogues of Satan." But some of them still have the joy of meeting with little groups of fellow pilgrims, seeking to strengthen one another's hands as they journey through this wilderness scene. But there are others of God's "scattered" (John 11:52) saints, who are cut off from practically all real Christian fellowship, isolated ones, who have to mourn with David, "I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop" (Psalm 102:7). Yet, though they can no longer "speak often one to another," they still have the holy and blessed privilege of thinking upon that Name which is above every name. These, too, shall be numbered among His precious treasure in the day when He shall "make up His jewels."

Let us now endeavor to ponder this beautiful figure, and reverently enquire why the Lord has likened His people to "jewels."

1. Because of their inestimable VALUE in His sight. This is an exceedingly hard thing for the Christian to really grasp, for he feels such a wretched and worthless creature in himself. That the Lord of Glory should deem him of any consequence is difficult to conceive, that He regards him as of great worth "passes knowledge." Yet so it is. The Scriptures are very plain on this point. They declare, "For the Lord's portion is His people" (Deut. 32:9). They speak of, "The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (Eph. 1:18). The Lord Jesus likens His Church unto "one pearl of great price," so that He "went and sold all that He had, and bought it" (Matt. 13:46).

From the remotest antiquity men have thought much of precious stones, and fabulous prices have been paid for them. With great ardor and toil, do men hunt after gold, but with even greater eagerness and labor will they seek the diamond. Hundreds of men will labor for a whole year in one of the diamond mines of Africa, and the entire result of their efforts may be held in the palm of your hand. Princes have been known to barter their estates in order to obtain some gem of peculiar brilliance and rare excellence. More desirable still are His saints in the esteem of the Lord Jesus. The value of a thing in the eyes of its possessor may be gauged by the price he was willing to pay for it. So valuable was the Church unto Christ that He gave Himself for it, and shed His "precious blood" to purchase it for Himself. Thus, the saints are likened unto "jewels" because of the great value which the Lord places upon them.

2. Because of their DIVINE CREATION. "A jewel is the production of God. Diamonds have been burned, and other jewels have been resolved into their elements; but, after the most laborious attempts, no chemist has yet been able to make a diamond. Men can cut the Gordian knot, but they cannot tie it again. Lives have been wasted in attempts to produce precious stones, but the discovery is still unmade; they are the secret productions of God's own skill, and chemists fail to tell how they are produced, then though they know their elements. So the world thinks it knows what a Christian is, but it cannot make one. All the wit in the world put together could not find out the secret of the heaven-born life; and all the sacraments, vestments, priests, prayers, and paraphernalia of Popery cannot create a Christian. The Lord alone can create a child of grace, and a Christian is as much a miracle, as was Lazarus when he rose from the tomb. It is as great a work of Deity to create a believer as it is to create a world!"(C.H. Spurgeon)

This is the basic reason why the saints are precious unto the heart of the Lord Jesus: He regards and receives them as the Father's workmanship, the Father's gift unto Him. This comes out, again and again in that wondrous 17th Chapter of John: "I have manifested Your name unto the men which You gave Me out of the world: Yours they were, and You gave them Me" (v. 6). "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours" (v. 9). From all eternity Christ viewed them in the glass of God's decrees, and before the foundations of the earth were laid His "delights were with the sons of men" (Proverbs 8:31). Because the Father had, by His predestinating purpose, fashioned His elect as vessels "unto honor" (Romans 9:21) the Son prizes them as of infinite value.

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