Beauty And Costliness

                                     
Beauty! It’s a mighty thing, an almost over-awing thing in its strength, its power to resist and endure and stand, and yet it is one of those wonderful things about the Lord, the Lord Jesus, and it's one of those wonderful things about anything or anyone in whom He fulfills His purpose is the combination of strength and beauty. 

The balance of strength – it’s not all strength and it’s not all softness – marvelous balance in the Lord Jesus, look at Him! These two things brought together... and that is what the Lord would have.

And finally, costliness. How costly was Solomon’s building, the gold of Ophir! There was a great, great cost bound up with those houses that he built, with the city, the foundation of the walls; all manner of costly stones… something very precious, something very valuable to the Lord.

Here there is nothing cheap, there is nothing cheap in what is of God. Remember that! Everything that is of God is costly. It has a great price attached to it. There is nothing here contemptible, mean; it is the embodiment of suffering – costly stones.

Notice that on these twelve foundations were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb and the first was jasper, clear as crystal. Who was the first of the apostles? Simon Peter. Jasper, clear as crystal; all the mixture has gone out – transparent, clear – but what suffering! Look at him: “he went out and wept bitterly”.

Peter in his letters has quite a lot to say about fiery trials to test us, to try us. Peter knew suffering. Yes, but you see it produced something very precious, valuable and costly to the Lord. Was it not Peter who used that word, “unto you that believe is the preciousness…”?

If you again think of the Lord’s ways with us, you cannot fail to see that the Lord is prepared to use a lot of time and a lot of energy and a lot of money in order to get essential spiritual value.

~T. Austin Sparks~