Jeremiah 15:19-20 Therefore thus said the LORD, If you return, then will I bring you again, and you shall stand before me… The degree of impurity in any precious stone is just the measure of its depreciation. The initial act of their formation is separation. "The dark drift of the inland river, or stagnant slime of inland pool and lake, divides or resolves itself, as it dries, into layers of its several elements: slowly purifying each by the patient withdrawal of it from the anarchy of the mass in which it was mingled." Thus begin both the crystallisation of the gem and the life of the Christian. "Come out, and be separate! Take forth the precious from the vile," is the call of the Lord to His saints. For our call is to saintliness; and as the unseen foundations of the New Jerusalem are of as precious stones as the dazzling walls, so the part of our life and character which is hidden from the eyes of the world is to be as clear and unsullied as that which all see and admire. Keep thyself pure, thou child of God. (W. Y. Fullerton.) Parallel Verses KJV: Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. |
    |