The Promise of God to His Afflicted Church 2
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II. The PROMISES made to these people. The Lord comes down to Zion; he is very tender of her; he loved her from eternity; he knows all her sorrows, her sufferings, and her exercises; he does not cut her off. He neither casts her down, nor tramples her as mire in the streets; he is very pitiful; his heart is full of compassion; he stoops to hear her whom men reject. What does he say to her? He makes very sweet promises. What are they? "Behold, I will lay your stones with fair colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your windows of agates, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your borders of pleasant stones."
Now the Lord seems here to compare Zion to a building, which we know is a frequent figure in the word of God. Zion is compared to a building, "The Lord shall build up Zion" (Psalm.102:16). Zion is compared to a temple; she is also called a spiritual house, a palace for the King of kings. Thus the Lord speaks of her here under the figure of a building, saying what he will do for her under this figure. He says he will build her up of the choicest materials; there shall be nothing common about her; and what he does for her will be of a most precious character. Here you see the emptiness of the creature, and the fullness of God. What the Lord does, he does in a manner worthy of himself. Though he brings his Zion down, it is for the purpose of raising her up; though he fills her with affliction, confusion and sorrow, it is for the express purpose of establishing her in beauty and glory. It is wonderful to see how the Lord depresses Zion, then raises her up; how he brings her to the lowest ebb, that he may have all the glory in establishing her in peace and righteousness, proving the truth of what one says, "God is in the midst of her" (Psalm.46:5). She shall never have common fare; no, says the Lord, she shall have the choicest dainties; she shall not be built with common stones; no, says the Lord, there shall not be a common thing about her, but all uncommon; nothing contemptible or vile, but all precious and rare. "I will lay your stones with fair colors, and your foundations with sapphires. And I will make your windows of agates, and your gates of carbuncles, and all your borders of pleasant stones." Let us look at these promises each in its order, and see whether there is not in them something spiritual, heavenly and suitable.
The first promise is, "I will lay your STONES with fair colors." This may be a general description, preceding a particular one. The Lord may say generally, "I will lay your stones with fair colors," before he goes on to specify the way. These words allude to a custom in ancient buildings, and in some of which whose ruins have been uncovered in this country, old Roman pavements have been found. The ancients used to have tessellated pavement, which were in mosaic, that is, a number of beautiful stones of different colors set in mortar, so beautifully contrasted, as to form a picture. Thus when the Lord speaks of laying her stones with fair colors, there may be an allusion to this kind of pavement. Lately, in the ruins of Nineveh, some of these beautiful bits of granite have been found. At least, this was known in the time of the Jews, who used this granite for pavement; it was very beautiful. Thus Zion is not to be built with common materials, but inlaid with beautiful tessellated work.
"And lay your FOUNDATIONS with sapphires." Now the very foundation shall not be of common materials. You know usually the worst and roughest stones are put into the foundation. But not so in Zion, her very foundation is sapphires, precious stones. What is Zion's foundation? Is it not Christ? "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor.3:11). When Christ is made known to the soul, when he is brought with divine power in the heart; is this not laying the foundation with sapphires? What a beautiful representation is this of Christ, a sapphire, a precious stone of a blue color.
Laying the foundation with sapphires--what is it spiritually? Laying the foundation of Christ to the soul. Every visit from Christ, every manifestation of Christ, every promise from Christ, every opening up of his glory and beauty, every solemn visit from him is laying the foundation with sapphires, laying Christ in the heart, inlaying Christ in the soul. God is in this way continually laying the foundation in a sinner's heart. Christ is the foundation. Every view of Jesus, every testimony of saving interest in his atonement, every sweet smile of his blessed countenance, every laying of the foundation in the soul for eternal glory--this is laying the foundation with sapphires; because in Jesus everything is precious.
As in this precious stone we see everything desirable; in this precious sapphire is everything beautiful. And as this precious stone is very bright, so in this precious stone we see these three distinct characteristics of the Person of God's Son. Who so beautiful as Jesus? Who so adorable as Jesus? And who so precious as the Lord of life and glory? What a precious temple. Who so precious, or what so precious, as a precious Christ! Every time we have a view of Christ; every time we have a manifestation of Christ; every time we have a visit or a word from Christ, is laying the foundation with sapphires, sparkling, bright and brilliant, standing up and shining forth as a precious stone in the heart.
You see Zion's foundation must be tumbled upside down, before laying the foundation with sapphires. God does not mix Christ with works, Christ with the creature, Christ with human piety and creature religion. This is all turned out to lay the foundation with sapphires, to inlay a precious Christ into the soul, to bring anything of Jesus' presence, love, blood and mercy into the heart. This is laying the foundation with sapphires. What a beautiful building it must be, when the very foundation which in common buildings is rubbish and rough stones, is in this foundation precious stones, sapphires, worth one, two, or thirty thousand pounds.
Besides, what a sapphire is laid in the foundation; it is as though the Lord would never give anything more, nor anything less, than Christ. He never does; he can give nothing but what is worthy of himself; he gives as God; he has given us his dear Son as a free gift; then when Christ is made known to the soul, it is laying the foundation with sapphires.
"And I will make your WINDOWS of agates." Zion then has windows. These are not made of glass; glass was not known at that time for windows; it was known for ornaments, but not for windows; God has his windows for his Zion made of agates. What is an agate? You that are acquainted with it, know it is a kind of precious stone; not exactly so; this agate is more of a semi-transparent, not quite transparent, but what is called a semi-transparent, clouded over, very beautiful, partly shining with a degree of cloudiness. What do these windows denote, or seem to set forth? They set forth the view for Zion. Is it not out of our windows we see the view? I live in a very pleasant situation when at home, and can see a pretty view before me. When I want to see the view I look out of the windows.
So these windows of Zion are said to be of agates; they seem to represent the view the soul has of Christ, which is indeed only a semi-transparent, only a cloudy view of Jesus, as the apostle says, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face." Seen through agate, not perfectly clear, as the bride says, seen through the lattice (1 Cor.13:13, cf. Song of Sol.2:9); like a person passing by, seen through the lattice, see them for a moment and then they are gone. So Zion's windows made of agate; a sweet view of Jesus; a view of the heavenly country and eternal things; a view of the immortal glorious palace. Immortal beyond the skies, yet often cloudy; faith takes a look; sees as in a glass darkly, not quite a bright view; as the pilgrims on the delectable mountains, when the shepherds gave them the glass to have a view of the celestial city, their hands trembled, so that they only got a dim view.
So it is with Zion; she looks through the windows, they have a cloud over, not so bright or transparent as they will be, yet very sweet, raising up the feelings within, enough to set her affections on things above. Sometimes, when the soul has had a sweet visit from Jesus, or in reading his Word, his Word is made sweet and precious to your soul, both heart and affections cleaving to things above, what a view of the heavenly country, so that you are led to say, "Whom have I in heaven but you? and there is none on earth I desire beside you" (Psalm.73:25). Have you not had to lament how short this view was? How soon unbelief, and darkness of the mind, seem to raise a mist over this beautiful view, to hide it from your sight; how strange it is.
We say sometimes, we have seen things as plain and clear, as though we had seen them with our bodily eyes. Have we not seen the Godhead of Christ? I remember once on my bed, having such a view of the Person of Christ. How clearly I saw his Godhead, and his manhood; as a divine person, what a sweetness and blessing rested on my soul; how I received him into my heart as God, yet what infidelity lurked in the midst at the time as to his deity! What unbelief as to him altogether. How soon his Person, blood, and work, all seemed swept away and out of sight. I could see no Creator, no God-man, no atoning blood, nothing in him, and nothing in myself.
Contrast this with other times, when our faith has been raised up, our eyes anointed with eye-salve, we have had some sweet discoveries of the love of Jesus to the soul. Do we doubt them? No! Then how plain, then how clear; no more doubts; the day begins to break, the light shines forth, increasing from glory to glory; it reaches the soul, and warms the heart. There are no doubts then, they are all gone, and the soul feels as a temple sanctified, a dwelling for the King of kings; a principality for the Lord of Hosts to come down to dwell in, and take up his abode--and perhaps before half an hour has gone, all these views have departed--beclouded, dimmed, and out of sight. Little felt but the workings of unbelief and sin; yet what a mercy to have windows of agate, to give these views, now and then, to gaze on the heavenly country where Jesus is.
Zion has GATES also, and these gates are made of carbuncles. A carbuncle is a precious stone of a blood-color, as a bloody red. Now gates, we know, are for exit and entrance. It is by the doors we come into the chapel, and by the doors we leave it. Thus Zion has gates, and these gates are for Zion's exit and entrance; out of these gates Zion's prayers, Zion's tears, Zion's desires, and Zion's breathings flow. Through these gates Zion's mercies, Zion's favors, Zion's promises, and Zion's visits come. There may be something else, I do not say it positively, there may be something else, perhaps here it has a sweet allusion to Christ's blood. The carbuncle is of a red color, as red as blood. It was through these gates of carbuncle prayers went up. Through these gates answers came down. How do our prayers go up? Through the blood of Jesus. How do the answers come down? Through the blood of Jesus. Through these crimson gates the desires go up, and through these crimson gates the answers descend.
Zion has gates then as well as windows; through these gates our desires ascend, and through these gates there is an entrance for the fulfillment of the longing, hungering soul. These gates are of carbuncles, the Lord would not leave us without them; she could not live without them. Zion is a praying city. Prayer is her breath; as long as she lives she prays, and so long as she prays she lives. What a sweet thing it is! Through the gates prayer ascends to God, perfumed with the incense of Christ's intercession; washed in his blood, redeemed with the merits of his priestly office. What a mercy it is that all favors, all blessings, and visits, come through these gates! That God can still be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus.
"And all your BORDERS of pleasant stones." There is to be nothing common about her; her very borders and walls round about; her fences by which she is surrounded; her very courtyards that bound her length and breadth, all these are precious stones; they do not have any common materials about her borders. What then are her borders? Many of God's poor children, poor people, who cannot come into Zion's inclosure, but walk round about her and count her towers. They are not yet brought by the Spirit's application into Zion's pleasant things, they are borderers, they hang about Zion's gates, they look at her towers, admire her loveliness and beauty, which makes them long to be brought into the sweet enjoyment of Zion's provision, Zion's refreshments. Her very borders are pleasant stones, nothing vile, nothing common about her. She is a queen and all her apparel shall be queenly, all her clothing is queenly, her very gait is queenly, for her husband is the King of kings, and he has determined as a great king that his queen shall be clothed from head to foot, from top to toe, yes, appareled in queenly garments. The King of kings and Lord of lords has his Zion decked in queenly apparel.
Sometimes the borders of the palaces of earthly monarchs are not so very lovely, there are some animal stables near the palace of our queen--but it is not so with Zion. Her borders and courtyards, her bordering walls, everything belonging to her are all built of pleasant stones. The enemies may go about her, but they shall not, and are not able to put their finger on one bit of free-stone, one bit of granite, all her borders are precious stones. They may envy and hate her, but they shall never be able to say this is worthless, common or unbecoming and not fit for Zion. No, they shall not be able to say there is anything common, cheap, or worthless, about her borders. "All your borders of pleasant stones."
Whatever low place Zion may take as regards her feelings, the Lord does not think lightly of her. Though she says of herself, there is none so vile or black as she, yet the Lord will not say so, he says she is all fair, without spot or blemish; she says she is black but lovely; the Lord says she is the fairest among women. Why so fair, beautiful, and lovely? Not so in herself, but because she is washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness, and decked with his ornaments. Thus he has prepared her as a queen for himself, adorned her as a bride for her husband, a building for himself, a chosen temple, where she shall be delighted with his presence and glory, wherein she shall shine to all eternity, brighter than the sun, fairer than the moon, and more beautiful than the stars, shall be forever a palace for the King of kings, a habitation for God. This is her comfort. This is God's glory, that she shall be a palace for the King of kings, a habitation worthy of himself.
Now, have you any hope, any seal that you belong to Zion? Remember this, you must sink before you rise; you must have the bitter before the sweet, as Christiana said to Mercy--affliction before joy, shame before honor, self-loathing before light and beauty, the spirit of heaviness before the garment of praise and robe of righteousness. Afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted before he lays the foundation with sapphires, the windows of agate, the gates of carbuncles, and all the borders of pleasant stones. So sure as the Lord has done the one, so will he do the other.
If in the Lord's providence, and the Lord's grace, you correspond to Zion's character, as afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, as he has given the description, and has also given the promises in his Word, if that answers the description of the things at work in your soul, he will be sure to accomplish that promise. Thus there is every comfort for a poor child of God; everything to cause him to hope, everything to bring him to anchor in a precious Christ. At the same time there is no hope given for anybody else, while there is the sweetest hope of salvation for the self-condemned, self-abhorred, afflicted, tempest-tossed, and not comforted; there is no hope for the self-righteous in God's Word, no hope for those who are not exercised, who are not taught by the Spirit, who are not brought into self-condemnation, repentance, and faith, hope, and love. Whatever hope they may have in themselves, they have no solid ground in the Word of God, and by that Word we are to be justified, and by that Word we must be condemned.
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