The breastplate of Judgment.
The breastplate
A full description of the breastplate is given twice over in the Book of Exodus, and from it we may gather certain useful lessons as to the Church in all ages.
I. There were twelve stones in the breastplate, each of them different, and each bearing a different name. This shows what variety there is among believers. So long as the human race differs so much in mental structure, we shall not be able to think alike, even in those things that are spoken of in Holy Writ. There are differences with regard to worship, differences in religious feelings and experiences; the stones are not alike, yet they are all on the same breastplate.
II. This brings us to another truth--the unity of the Church, all differing, yet all on the heart of Christ. The enemy has only to show himself, and men who differ amongst themselves agree to drive him back.
III. They were all precious stones; not one was mean or contemptible. God’s Church has ever been costly. No jewel is what it afterwards becomes when first found. Let not the stone which sparkles in its setting sneer at that which only looks like a pebble. The Master has chosen it; He knows that He has put within its rude exterior that which only needs time and skill to make it “shine as the stars for ever and ever.”
IV. Why were those precious stones put upon the breastplate? They were not on the mitre; they were upon the heart, teaching us that the Church is beloved. Every believer is on the heart of God.
V. Great pains were taken to keep the Breastplate from being lost. It was not only fastened to the shoulders by chains, but the bottom part of the breastplate was fastened by two rings lashed to the two rings in the ephod. This tells us of the Church’s security. (T. Champness.)
The breastplate
As the heart is the place of affection, and the shoulder the place of strength, Aaron had to carry the names of his people on his heart, to show that he loved them, and on his shoulder, to show that he was ever ready to serve them. The typical and spiritual meaning of this is very sweet. Jesus Christ is our great High Priest, and the names of all His people are not upon, but in, His heart. His omnipotent strength and His infinite love are ours--ours for ever. He never forgets one of His people, nor fails to love them. They are His jewels, His special treasures, His Father’s love-gifts, and He values them because His Father gave them to Him. The time is coming when He will count up His jewels, and it will then be found that not one soul given to Christ by the Father will be missing. As every ray of light that fell upon Aaron would fall upon the names of Aaron’s people, so every smile that God gives to Christ is given also to the people of Christ; for Christ and His people are one, and God never looks upon Christ without seeing His people--all His people, for they are in Him--loved as He is loved. (G. Rodgers.)
The topaz
The topaz is a beautiful jewel, of a bright orange or golden colour, though they are sometimes found green, blue, and red. It is very hard, being next to the ruby in this respect. I saw lately an account of a fine old topaz seal among the curiosities in a museum in England. What is called the field of the seal was blue. On this there were three arrows. On the top or crest of the seal was the head of a dragon on a crown. And round the seal was this inscription or motto--“Sola bona quae honesta.” The meaning of this is “Honesty, which is the only good thing.” And this, according to the old proverb, might be rendered, “Honesty is the best policy.” The topaz is considered to represent honesty. Most people think that if they don’t cheat when they get a chance, and don’t steal from those about them, they are honest. True honesty means to give to all persons whatever belongs to them. I want to speak of four different kinds of temptations, and to show how this precious jewel, the Bible topaz, will be a safeguard to you against them all.
I. The first kind of temptation in which this jewel will be a safeguard to us are temptations for the eye. You know when an army is besieging a walled city or fortress how very careful those inside of it are to protect the gates. But our souls are like walled cities or fortresses. Satan is the enemy trying to get in. And the eye is one of the gates of entrance. We must guard this gate well if we want to keep our souls safe. Job said he had “made a covenant with his eyes “not to look on anything that it was not right to look at. David used to pray--“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity.” And if we keep this precious Bible jewel, the topaz of true honesty, about us, it will be a safeguard to us in temptations. The first temptations from which it will save us are temptations for the eye.
II. The second kind of temptations in which this Bible jewel, the topaz of true honesty, will be a safeguard to us are temptations for the ear. This is another of the principal gates of entrance to the soul. And it is a very important gate. It ought to be most carefully guarded. We receive a great deal of good, and a great deal of harm, through the ear. If our souls are saved at last, they will be saved by what we hear; and if our souls are lost at last, they will be lost by what we hear.
III. The third kind of temptations from which this jewel will save us are temptations for the tongue. Oh, how much sin people commit by means of the tongue! If we could keep from saying what is wrong, how nicely we should get along! Well, if we carry this Bible jewel, the topaz of true honesty, about us all the time, it will keep us safe from these temptations.
IV. The fourth and last kind of temptations we are to speak of from which this jewel keeps us are temptations for the hand. I mean by this, the temptation to take or to keep what does not belong to us. If we keep this jewel about us--that is, if we remember God’s presence and try honestly to please Him--it will save us from ever taking or keeping what does not belong to us. If you want to keep this jewel about you all the time, so as to be kept from temptation, there is one text you must always remember. It is this, “Thou, God, seest me.” Oh! pray God to write that text on your memory. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The emerald
The emerald is a jewel of a beautiful, soft, rich green colour. Ireland is called the “Emerald Isle” because the grass which covers its hills and valleys is such a beautiful green. When you look at this island from the deck of a vessel far off at sea, it looks like a great jewel--a great emerald rising out of the ocean. The emerald stands, in value among jewellers, next to the ruby. It is spoken of several times in the Bible. In old times people used to think that the emerald had certain wonderful or magical powers. It was not true that it had any such powers. But hope, which is the Bible jewel represented by the emerald, does have them. I wish to speak of three of these powers. This will give us three reasons why hope may be compared to an emerald.
I. And the first reason why hope may he compared to an emerald is because it makes us industrious. People used to think that the emerald had the power of curing idleness or of making men industrious. If it only had this power the emerald would be the most valuable of all jewels. Then, when boys and girls were put to school, it would only be necessary to hang an emerald round each one’s neck, and there would be no lazy scholars. The owners of all our workshops and factories would want to have a good supply of emeralds. I need not tell you, however, that the emerald never had any such power as this. But hope, the beautiful Bible jewel, that which the emerald represents, does have this power. If people hope to get rich they know that they must be industrious and work hard.
II. Again, people used to think that the emerald had the power of taking away fear. And this leads us to speak of the second reason why hope may be compared to an emerald, because it makes us courageous. The Bible tells us that “hope maketh not ashamed” (Romans 5:5). In one place in the Bible hope is compared to a helmet. And a soldier who had his head covered with a good helmet would be very bold and courageous. He would not be afraid when the arrows were flying thick around him. In another place in the Bible hope is compared to an anchor (Hebrews 6:19). Suppose that you and I are at sea on board a vessel. A storm is driving our vessel right on towards a rocky and dangerous coast. If we have no anchor on board we may well be afraid, for pretty soon we shall be dashed against the rocks and perish. But suppose we have a good anchor, and a strong cable to hold it by on board our vessel. We drop our anchor in the sea. It sinks to the bottom and is buried in the mud and sand, or takes hold of the rocks there. It keeps the vessel from drifting towards the shore. We are safe. Our fear is gone. Let the winds blow, and the waves roar ever so much, they can’t hurt us. The anchor gives us hope, and this hope makes us bold or courageous. And it is just so when we become Christians. Then we love Jesus. We have hope in Him. That hope is to our souls just like what the anchor is to the sailor. It keeps us from being afraid.
III. Another strange power, which it used to be supposed the emerald had, was that of taking away gloom and sadness from the minds of people. Of course this was a mistake. It never had any such power. But this points out to us a third reason why hope may be compared to an emerald. It is because it makes us cheerful. Hope is a bright, sunshiny thing. You know how beautiful the rainbow is! Hope is sometimes compared to the rainbow. And it may very properly be so compared, because it seems to paint in bright colours the things it leads us to look for, and to put rainbows all about them. There is a steam ferry-boat on the river Mersey in England. It runs from Liverpool to Birkenhead and back. Several years ago passengers on that ferry-boat would sometimes see on a warm bright day a poor crippled boy. His body was grown almost to a man’s size, but his limbs were withered and helpless, and not bigger than the limbs of a child. He used to wheel himself about in a small carriage, like those that boys use in their play. He had a little musical instrument called a concertina, and on this he used to play some sweet simple tunes. He never asked for anything, but yet very few of the passengers could hear his touching music, or look at his honest, cheerful face, without dropping a penny or two into his carriage. One day a lady was standing near, looking at him with great pity. She thought how sad and lonely he must feel, unable to help himself, and with no prospect of ever being any better in this world. She said to a lady who was with her, but not intending that he should hear it--“Poor boy l what a sad life he has to lead; and nothing in all the future to look forward to!” But he did hear it. And in stepping out of the boat that lady saw a tear in his eye and a bright smile on his face trying to chase the tear away, as he said--“I’m expecting to have wings some day, lady.” (R. Newton, D. D.)
The sapphire
I want to find out what this jewel stands for or represents. Well, when I come to read about the sapphire, I find that in old times people used to think that if you carried one of these jewels on your heart, or in your bosom, it would have the effect of making you strong. And then we have only to ask ourselves which of the Bible jewels, or Christian graces, is it which has the greatest power to make people strong? We see in a moment that it is faith. And so we feel safe in saying that the sapphire stands for faith or trust in God; Faith may be compared to the sapphire because it makes us strong. I wish to speak of two things for which faith makes us strong.
I. In the first place, faith makes us strong to suffer.
II. The second reason why faith may be compared to the sapphire is because it makes us strong to serve. Now, my dear children, if you want to have this Bible jewel, you must ask Jesus to give it to you. You can’t find it. You can’t buy it. Your parents, or teachers, or friends, can’t get it for you, or give it to you. Nobody but Jesus can give it to you. It is only His grace that can put it in your hearts. If you pray earnestly to Jesus to give you a believing, trusting heart, He will give it to you. This precious jewel, trust in Jesus, is all we need to make us comfortable and happy here, and all we need to save our souls and take us to heaven at last. It is faith, simple faith, or trust in Jesus, that saves us. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The diamond
Every true Christian is a spiritual diamond, one of God s jewels. Let us look at this diamond and see what there is about it on account of which a Christian may be compared to it.
I. Its hardness. It is one of the hardest things in the world.
1. It will bear a great deal of rough handling without being scratched or injured at all, And Christians are just like diamonds on this account. They can bear trial or hard treatment without being injured by it.
2. It can make marks that cannot be rubbed out. When we become Christians, we are like diamonds in this respect. One day the superintendent of a Sunday school in this city was going along near Third and Dock Streets. He saw one of the large boys belonging to his school coming out of a drinking-saloon. The boy’s name was George Simpson. As the superintendent passed by he raised his finger, and shaking it gently, he said, in a kind, but serious way, “Take care, George, take care.” Some ten or twelve years passed away. He had forgotten all about it. But one day a very genteel-looking man came up to him in the street, and, bowing to him, said, “I think, sir, this is Mr. P., who used to be superintendent of such a Sunday school?” “That is my name, sir, but I don’t remember you.” “Don’t you remember a boy named George Simpson who used to belong to your school?” “No, I can’t recollect the name.” “Well, sir, don’t you remember meeting him one day coming out of a drinking-place near the corner of Third and Dock Streets, when you shook your finger at him, and said, ‘Take care, George’?” “Oh, yes, I remember that.” “Well, sir,” said the young man, “I am George Simpson, and I want to thank you for what you did and said that day. It was a little thing, but it saved me from ruin. I was just beginning to go in the drunkard’s ways. But something in your words and manner made a great impression on me. I gave up drinking. Not long after, I joined the Church. Now I am living in the West, and am quite well off; but, my dear sir, I owe it all to you.” Here you see how the superintendent was like a diamond, making a mark that never can be rubbed out.
II. Its brightness. The most brilliant of all jewels. It gives up freely the rays of light that God freely bestows upon it. And this is what makes it look so bright and beautiful. And so you see that when Jesus said, “Freely ye have received, freely give,” it is about the same as if He had said, “Be like the diamond, which gives back again so freely the light which it receives”. A piece of coal does not reflect any light. All the light that falls on it is swallowed up and kept to itself. This is what makes it look so black, so dark, and disagreeable. Selfish, miserly people are like coal in this respect. They don’t reflect or scatter about them anything they receive. Whatever God gives them they swallow up and keep to themselves.
III. But there is a third thing connected with diamonds, on account of which Christians may be compared to them, and that is the way to find out counterfeits. There are many counterfeit diamonds. Men can make imitation diamonds. And these often look so very much like the real that it is difficult to tell one from the other. And then God sometimes makes stones that appear so much like diamonds that hardly one person out of twenty can tell the difference between them. Sometimes even the merchants who are engaged in buying and selling diamonds can hardly tell a real jewel from an imitation. There are one or two tests, however. A real diamond can’t be scratched. Another way is by putting it beside a true diamond and comparing them together. And so, if you wish to tell if a person is a true Christian, you must compare him with Jesus, and see if he is like Him. Jesus was gentle, loving, and kind. And the Bible says that “unless the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus, we are none of His.” This means that unless we are like Him we are not true Christians. And then there is another way by which you can tell a real diamond from a counterfeit. If you put them in water, the diamond will still look bright and shine; the counterfeit, instead of shining, will look dark and dull. The Bible compares affliction or trial to water; and you can easily tell a true Christian from a counterfeit by seeing how he acts when affliction comes upon him. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The agate
In old times people used to think that this jewel had the power of securing success. It was supposed that if persons only had an agate with them they would be sure to get the victory over their enemies. The agate was considered as the conqueror’s jewel. And now what is the Bible jewel that will always give us the victory--that will make us “more than conquerors through Him that hath loved us”? It is the grace of God. This is the Bible jewel that we may compare to the agate. And there are two things over which this jewel, the grace of God, will make us conquerors, if we have it in our hearts. Each of these things begins with the letter S.
I. The first thing over which this Bible jewel, the grace of God, will make us conquerors is sin. The Bible tells us that we are born in sin. Our hearts are full of sin. Unless we get this sin driven out, and overcome, we never can be happy, either in this world or in the world to come. We read a great deal in the Bible about the wrestling, and struggling, and fighting, that Christians have to do. And the thing they have to fight against all the time is sin. When two people are fighting, it generally happens that they keep on at it till either one or the other of them gets the victory. And so it is in the great battle we have to fight with sin. Either we must conquer it, or it will conquer us. But we never can conquer sin ourselves. And there is nothing that will give us the victory over it but the grace of God. This is the real agate, the Bible jewel, that will give us the victory.
II. The second thing over which this jewel will make us conquerors is satan. This is the next S. Satan is the great tempter. The Bible tells us that he “goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” or destroy. The only way in which Satan can destroy us, or do us any harm, is by tempting us to sin. And he cannot hurt us, even in this way, unless we yield to the temptation. If we only have this Bible jewel, the grace of God, with us, it will make us conquerors over Satan. And then, although he is so powerful and so wicked, and although he tries so hard to injure us and keep us from getting to heaven, he won’t be able to do us any harm. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The conqueror’s jewel
The greatest enemy with which we have to fight is sin. This enemy meets us in many forms. But the form in which it gives us more trouble than any other is perhaps that of selfishness. This is an evil that is very hard to conquer. Suppose we are walking in the country, and meet a snake in the path; with the cane in our hand we strike it again and again, till it lies still and motionless. We leave it, and go on our way, feeling sure that we have killed the snake. But when we have finished our walk, and come back to the place where we left the snake, we find it still alive and active. Then we say to ourselves, “Snakes are hard to kill.” And it is just so with selfishness. It is a very difficult thing to conquer it. If we wish to subdue it, and get the victory over it, we must be sure to have this conqueror’s jewel, the grace of God. And there are three things that this jewel will lead us to do in fighting against selfishness.
I. In the first place, it will lead us to pray against it. Prayer is necessary to our success in everything we do. Jesus said to His disciples, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” And this is as true now as it was then. It is as true of us as it was of the disciples. And it is particularly true of the thing we are now considering. If we want to get the victory over the selfishness of our own hearts, it is especially necessary for us to pray to Jesus to help us.
II. The second thing that this conqueror’s jewel will lead us to do in getting the victory over selfishness is to struggle against it. We must not think that praying is to take the place of striving. God only helps those who strive to help themselves. Suppose that you and I have to climb up a high mountain. We kneel down at the foot of the mountain, and pray God to help us get up to the top of it. And then suppose we should sit down and wait for God to send an angel to take us in his arms and carry us up to the top of the mountain. Have we any right to expect that God would help us in that way? Not at all. We might wait all our lives, but we never should get any help. If we want to get up the mountain, we must begin to climb, and we must keep on climbing till we get to the top, and while we are doing this God will help us. No soldier ever expects to gain the victory over his enemies without a hard struggle. We have all read about the great victory which the Duke of Wellington obtained over the Emperor Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. But he had to fight hard all day before he gained that victory. And so, if we want to get the victory over our selfishness, we must struggle hard against it.
III. The third thing that this conqueror’s jewel will lead us to do in getting the victory over selfishness is to remember the example of Jesus. Jesus came down from heaven to do three things for us. The first was to fulfil God’s law for us. The second was to die for our sins. The third was to show us how to live. The Bible tells us that “He left us an example that we should follow His steps.” You know, when we are learning to write, our teacher sets us a copy. Then we take the word or sentence that has been written for us, letter by letter, and try to make others like them. And just in the same way the life of Jesus is set before us as our copy. We are to keep it before us, and try to make our own lives like His. Being a Christian means being like Jesus. Now it is said of Jesus that “He pleased not Himself.” (R. Newton, D. D.)
The amethyst
The amethyst is a very precious jewel and very much admired. Its colour is a mixture of blue and red. It is a rich purple, very much like the appearance of a bunch of ripe, dark-coloured grapes. The name of this jewel comes from the Greek language, and it means not to intoxicate, or not to make drunk. The amethyst is the temperance jewel. The boys’ and girls, and men and women, who make clear, cold, sparkling water their principal drink, should take the amethyst as their favourite jewel. In old times people used to think that if they only had a cup made out of an amethyst to drink from, they never would get intoxicated. And if they only carried one of these jewels about them it would have the same effect. They thought the amethyst was a charm against intemperance, and a cure for it when men fell into this dreadful habit. What a blessed thing it would be if this were so! Then this jewel would be worth its weight in gold, and ten times more than that. But it cannot do this. It is only the Bible jewel, which the amethyst stands for, that can do this. And what is the Bible jewel that may be compared to the amethyst? It is the fear of God. This is the real temperance jewel. I wish to speak of three ways in which this Bible jewel--the true amethyst--the fear of God--will be a temperance jewel to us.
I. In the first place it will keep us from learning to drink. You know what a dreadful thing it is to be plunged over the Falls of Niagara. Nobody can go over there without being killed. And if, when you are visiting the falls, you should see a person sailing in a boat on the river above the falls, to see how near he could go without being drawn over, you would think that a very dangerous position to be in. And so it would be. So long as a person is on the river above Niagara he is always in danger of being drawn over. But if he keep out of the river, he is free from danger. Now, to fall into intemperance is worse than going over Niagara. And learning to drink intoxicating liquor is like sailing on the river above Niagara. You are in danger at any time of being drawn over. This Bible gem, the fear of God, is the true amethyst--the temperance jewel--in the first place, because it will keep us from learning to drink.
II. It is so, in the second place, because it will keep us from tempting others to drink. It is impossible to tell how much harm is done in this way. God has tried to stop this evil by speaking about it in the Bible. He says in one place, “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that putteth the bottle to him” (Habakkuk 2:15).
III. And then there is another reason why this Bible jewel, the fear of God, may be compared to the amethyst--the true temperance jewel--and that is, it will lead us to stop drinking even when we have got into the habit of doing so. When the habit of drinking is once formed it becomes very strong. Nothing but this temperance jewel will enable any one to break off from the habit of drinking. My dear young friends, you know that in Switzerland there are great mountains, very high and very steep. Many of them have there tops covered with ice and snow. Sometimes great masses of this ice and snow will get loose and fall. In their fall they go rushing down the sides of the mountains with a noise like thunder. These masses of falling ice and snow are called avalanches. If travellers, or cottages, or even villages are in their path, they are swept away into instant destruction. When an avalanche is once started, it never can be stopped till it gets to the bottom of the mountain. Sometimes a very little is enough to start an avalanche. The stepping of your foot upon it; the taking away of a loose stone; or even the jarring of the air may do it. What a dangerous thing it is to loosen an avalanche and send it down the mountain side, breaking and crushing everything before it! But drunkenness is worse than an avalanche. And when any one gets into the habit of drinking he is loosening an avalanche over his head which may at any time rush down upon him and kill him. Be very careful how you do this. Don’t get into the habit of drinking, and then you will be sure never to become a drunkard. (R. Newton, D. D.)