Seven Jewels in the Christian's Casket
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What will I gain by loving and serving God? That is a very legitimate question for anyone to ask, and I find God's own answer to this vital question condensed into the few closing lines of the ninety-first Psalm. Here they are: "Because he set his love upon me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." Psalm 91:14-16.
These are the seven rewards of a godly life. These are the seven jewels in the Christian's casket. Look at them, my reader—until you admire them; look at them—until you covet them and pray for the Holy Spirit to help you secure them! These seven wonderful promises, are made only to those who "set their love" on God. That means to give God your heart. What will he do in return for you?
1. The first reward, is deliverance from the dominion of sin and the power of the devil. Our pathway through this world is lined with temptations, and often the soil beneath us is honeycombed with explosives as dangerous as dynamite. Such temptations to fleshly lusts—as beset Joseph and David; such temptations to cowardice as beset Daniel; and such temptations to self-conceit as beset Peter; are to be encountered. Jesus Christ comes to the rescue. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That means a pardon of sin so complete that it kisses away the tears on the cheek of Penitence. That means a full salvation. The bigger the cup we bring—the more it will hold. This rescuing work of our Savior continues all the way to heaven, and when we get there and see what a dangerous road we traveled, we will want to spend the first century in singing praises for his atoning blood and redeeming grace. Suppose that it were possible for us up there to get a distant glimpse of hell—how we would thrill with joy over our merciful deliverance!
2. The second blessing promised is security. God says, "I will set him on high." Fortresses in olden times, were built on lofty elevations; and our God is the stronghold into which the righteous man runs and is safe! When we embrace Jesus Christ by faith, and join our weakness to his strength, we have a delightful sense of safety. We know whom we have believed, and are perfectly sure that he is able to keep that which we have committed to him.
Every child of God who is lodged in the stronghold of redemption may let Satan's jackals howl and let the adversary prowl, as long as they will. We are safe while on the rock; but God makes no promises to backsliders who wantonly wander away from the citadel. The history of every faithful Christian is full of special providences of deliverances.
3. This brings us to the third precious promise: "He shall call upon me—and I will answer him." How closely these two words, "call" and "answer," come together! The prayer going up—and the answer coming down. I don't believe that a true Christian ever yet breathed a right prayer in a right spirit—and received no answer. If we delight ourselves in the Lord—he delights to give us the desires of our hearts. God loves to give to those who love to let him have his wise and loving way. When we ask for a blessing—we must work for that blessing at the same time, or else the acts of our lives will contradict the utterances of our lips. What a glorious epic the triumph of victorious faith will make! Prayer is faith's pull at the rope, and he who obtains the blessing, is the man who pulls boldly and continuously until the great bell rings in the ear of the Infinite Love.
4. What music to the soul there is in the fourth promise: "I will be with him in trouble!" God's people must take their share of thisuniversal malady, for all men are born to it as certainly as the sparks fly upward. The first sound that escapes from the lips of infancy—is a cry of need or pain; the last sound on the dying bed is often a groan or a painful respiration. But under the aching heart and fainting spirit, God puts his everlasting arm. Jesus declares to us, "In the world you shall have tribulation—in me you shall have peace." It is not in the power of any amount of troubles to wreck the true Christian—as long as his will is sweetly submissive to God's will.
Blessed be the discipline which makes us reach our soul's roots into closer union with Jesus! Blessed be the gale which shakes down the golden fruit from our branches! Sunshiny days often bring out adders; but in dark nights we look for him who comes over the billows with the cheerful greeting, "Lo! I am with you always—do not be afraid!"
5. The next promise is one of promotion. "I will honor him." How? With wealth and wordily rank? With something infinitely better. "I call you my friends," says the glorious Son of God. That approving smile of the Master gives an inward joy beyond any roar of earthly acclamations. "Those who confess me—I will confess before my Father in heaven."
When a marshal of France fell on the battlefield, the emperor hung the Legion of Honor medal on his breast, and the old soldier died with a gleam of joy on his countenance. But what is that—in comparison to the promise made to the humblest follower of Christ: "Be faithful unto death—and I will give you a crown of life!" There will be some wonderful promotions up in heaven, when many a neglected sufferer from a hovel or an attic shall be called up into the royal family, and when some hard-toiling, ill-paid frontier missionary shall receive his sparkling diadem. Be of good cheer, brother, your turn will come. "Those who honor Me—I will honor." We shall be kings and priests unto God!
6. In those olden times, length of days was regarded as a special evidence of the divine favor, and it is still true that obedience to God's laws, commonly lengthens life. But the promise, "With long life will I satisfy him," goes deeper than chronology. It describes a life that is long enough to fulfill life's highest purpose. If you and I live long enough to do what God made us for, and Christ redeemed us for—ought not that to satisfy us? Who would ask for anything more? Life is measured by deeds, and not by hour marks on a clock. In the warm morning sun of grace, many a young soul has grown fully ripe for a harvest of glory!
7. The last promise is the Kohinoor diamond of them all: "I will show him my salvation." This word does not signify the process of being saved; it signifies the result of being saved, and that is—life everlasting. The word translated "show" means to see with joy. He shall gaze with delight on the glory which is in store for him; he can say: "As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with your likeness." This last promise spans the chasm and reaches over into the magnificent inheritance of the saints in light.
Once more let us count over these jewel passages, rendered according to their most literal meaning: "Because a man falls in love with Me—I will rescue him from danger. I will set him up on a stronghold because he knows my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer his prayer. I am with him in every time of trouble. I will deliver him and honor him with my favor. He shall live long enough to be satisfied; and then he will behold with joy his everlasting salvation."
Here are seven precious promises of what a loving God will do for us. If, through Christ's redeeming and renewing grace, we reach that celestial home—we shall see those fulfilled promises shining like the seven candlesticks before the throne!
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