"The kingdom of heaven is like Treasure."—Matt.
13:44
Of the kingdom of heaven Jesus is the King. On Him as the
foundation it is based. In Him the fabric rises. His is the scepter, and His
the subjects. He frames the laws, and He claims homage. Without Him it never
could have birth. Without Him it never could survive the assaults of foes.
He is its origin, its power, its guide, its glory, its all.
Is this kingdom then a Treasure? Pre-eminently so is the
anointed Head! How warmly will each Christian heart respond, He is indeed
the Treasure of treasures! Compared with Him all other objects are emptiness
and dross. Before His brightness the sun is dark. Balanced against Him all
the mines of silver and of gold are worth nothing. Beside Him learning sinks
into glittering folly, and all the boast of intellect hides its head. Survey
all that the world contains of riches, wealth, and treasures; the sight may
dazzle, but it dwindles, fades, and disappears when Jesus is discerned. But
who have minds to grasp, or thoughts to estimate, or tongues to proclaim, or
eyes thoroughly to scan this Treasure of treasures? 'Holy Spirit! we need
the power of Your grace to withdraw the veil. Come mightily and illuminate,
and expand our view, and give fitting words of praise!'
Let us enter now the treasure-house, and survey the
accumulated preciousness. For all our needs we behold treasures of supply.
Our sins are many as the sands of ocean's shore. They are black as the
deepest dyes of hell's abyss. They all are liable to God's extremest
vengeance. They all call loudly for the thunderbolts of wrath. But Christ
appears, a Treasure of redeeming worth. His precious blood flows as a stream
infinite to cleanse. Such is its value, as issuing from the God-man's side,
that sprinkled over the vilest, it makes them whiter than the whitest snow.
Is not the blood a Treasure, which obliterates every speck of evil from
every one of the vast multitude of the saved? We bless You, O our precious
Lord, that You are a Treasure of redeeming merit!
Washed from sin, we escape just wrath; but we need more
than the absence of guilt to constitute a claim for entrance into the purity
of heaven. In Jesus we have a Treasure of righteousness. In our nature, as
representative of man, He thoroughly obeyed the law, and fulfilled to the
uttermost its requirement of perfect love. This work is perfect, because
wrought by the God-man, Jesus. In it He arrays the whole company of the
redeemed. He is the Lord their Righteousness. In His work the piercing eye
of omniscience can discern no flaw. It is pure as God is pure. It is bright
as the eternal day. It is glorious as the heaven of heavens. And it is "unto
all and upon all those who believe." Is not such righteousness a Treasure?
We bless You, O our precious Lord, that You are this Treasure to us!
We need grace to help in every moment of our earthly
course. Our Jesus is a Treasure of abundant aid. By His Spirit poured down
from His high throne, He renews our nature, restores the likeness of our
heavenly Father, subdues the countless hosts of our iniquities, implants
faith to embrace Him as all salvation and desire. He watches over the
incipient spark and fans it into bright flame. He braces our loins to
wrestle with our God in prayer, and to tell into His ears our every sorrow
and distress. He awakens the notes of adoring praise, so that thanksgiving
is our chosen pleasure-ground. He leads into the rich pastures of
Bible-study, and makes us to lie down beside the still waters of refreshing
truth. He causes hope to cast enlivening beams on distant prospects. Thus by
the constant working of His grace He fits us for our home above. 'We bless
You, O our precious Lord, that You are this Treasure of superabundant
grace!'
By nature we are blind and ignorant, and prone to err.
The Word announces, that "in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge." (Col. 2:3) In His school He teaches by His Spirit lessons of
saving truth. He opens our eyes to see the vanity of earthly things, and the
value and sublimity of the eternal world. He gives skill to balance the
present troubles and the eternal weight of future glory. He points out the
straight path in all perplexities and doubts. He guides by a right way to a
city of eternal habitation. While poor worldlings stumble and fall in many
windings of tortuous delusion, His scholars clearly see the upward road.
Those who follow Him "shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light
of life." (John 8:12) We bless You, O our precious Lord, that You are this
Treasure of wisdom and knowledge!
Some general thoughts here call for notice. This Treasure
has enduring worth. Other riches make to themselves wings and fly away.
Today the owner exults in his overflowing coffers, in his hoards laid up for
many years, in his possessions to enrich successive heirs. Tomorrow he may
pine in poverty. But he who has interest in Christ is rich forever. Rolling
years will bring no diminishing. Eternal wealth can never see an end.
In this world the inheritor of vast abundance may
contract expensive tastes, and indulge in ruinous pursuits, and open the
sluices of draining profligacy. Thus reckless extravagance may lead to
poverty's cold grasp. It is far otherwise with this Treasure. No expenditure
can squander the possession. The more we have, the more we spend. The more
we spend, the more we gain.
In spite of watchful care the thief may stealthily creep
in, and bear away man's treasured store. The morning light may show the
emptied chests and ransacked hoards. But of the heavenly Treasure it is
true, that "neither moth nor rust does corrupt, nor thieves break through
and steal." (Matt. 6:20)
Satan doubtless plies every art to rob and to destroy;
but Christ is hidden in God, high in heaven, above this spoiler's reach. 'We
bless You, O our precious Lord, that You are a Treasure above the robber's
reach!'
Those who have gained this Treasure are not only thus
enriched, they also enrich others. It is a grand word, "He who believes on
Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water." (John 7:38) From their full supplies they communicate abundance to
all around. The rays of light which fall on them are reflected, so that
others benefit from the celestial brightness.
He who has discovered this mine of wealth will have the
grand desire to proclaim his full delight. He will deeply pity the poverty
of the masses at home, and throughout the wide expanse of the heathen world,
and his constant prayer and unremitted efforts will yearn over the perishing
multitudes who know not this enriching Treasure. Thus how charming are the
annals of missionary life! Those who are rich in faith, with hearts all
blazing with the love of Christ, delight to exhibit to the benighted
worshipers of stocks and stones the true riches. It will always be, that
those who own the Pearl of great price will so display it, and so commend
its worth, that others will be stirred to long for the same jewel.
The inquiry now comes with craving urgency, "Where can
this Treasure be found? How can it be obtained!" Blessed be our gracious
God! we have near access. We are not sent to traverse distant lands, to
investigate obscure paths, to trace all the intricacies of laborious
intellect, to pass days and nights in painful study, to descend into the
depths of the earth, to ascend into the heights of heaven, to take the wings
of the morning in early flight, to outwatch the stars of night in
scrutinizing thought, to consult the wisest of the sons of men, to take
counsel with the famed students in the realms of erudition. The Treasure is
hidden in a field, outspread at our very feet. A brief step places us within
its precincts. At any moment entrance may be ours. This field is our blessed
Bible. In its pages the unsearchable riches of Christ are treasured. Those
who dig here shall find. Persevering efforts will have sure success. Can we
then sufficiently prize this boon? Can we adequately bless God the Holy
Spirit, that in His condescending love He thus places the Treasure within
our reach? Can we give worthy thanks that our hands hold this volume? To
what multitudes is this mercy not given! What tribes, what countries never
heard its name! How many in our favored land are barely conscious of its
nearness! Can we too warmly express gratitude that we are made to differ,
and that amid the needful cares of life we have such intervals of leisure
for its perusal? Can we too devoutly study it, diligently watching to redeem
time for deep searchings in the open field?
We have too clear instruction as to the right mode of
laboring in this field. It is plainly written, "which when a man has found,
he hides, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has, and buys that
field." (Matt. 13:44) The Treasure, when discovered, is so prized that
jealous fear arises lest the happy finder should be dispossessed. Therefore
he uses all precaution to secure it. He conceives all plans, that no spoiler
shall rob him. He therefore hides it in the stronghold of his memory; thus
it is safe. He deposits it in the secret places of his heart; so no schemes
of the foe can touch it. He lays it up where no craft of envious man, nor
open assaults of the powers of hell can reach it.
It follows, "for joy thereof he goes and sells all that
he has, and buys that field." He rejoices with exceeding joy. He now has
gained a Treasure which will enrich through all the ages of never-ending
worlds.
It is added, "He sells all and buys." But what can be
given in exchange! Can earth present a compensation! Can thought suggest an
equivalent! Impossible. If all earthly treasures could be offered, they
would in comparison be insignificantly small. If all the hoards of all
earth's misers could be presented as a purchasing price, they would be
rejected as insulting rubbish. No! this Treasure is obtained "without money
and without price." Christ is a free-grace gift. No one ever merited or
earned the Savior. The blessed receivers obtain, because in His mercy He
bestows Himself.
But still the hand which receives Christ must retain no
other treasure; the heart which He enters must be swept; the eye which sees
Him must be single; the lips which praise Him must be sanctified; the feet
which follow Him must be washed. There must be full surrender of all other
things before the Treasure can be truly possessed.
What, then, must be surrendered? To be brief, all that is
adverse to Christ—all that opposes His complete and universal reign—all that
raises a rival head, or breathes competition. The love of every sin, the
fondness for transgression's miry paths, the fondling of the polluted
pleasures of the world, must be abandoned with resolute rejection. There
must be no backward look to the ways of the degraded cities. The thought of
dallying with sin must be abhorred. The very touch must raise indignant
writhing. Thus sinful self must be hewn to pieces, and scattered to the
winds. No shred of ungodly desire may be spared. So too self-righteousness
must crumble into dust. The thought of merit, or of self-constituted claims,
must be renounced as impious delusion. The cry must be, "Nothing in my hands
I bring." "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord." (Phil. 3:8)
Thus all that self has made or self can bring must be
abandoned. What an exchange! That which is really nothing is cast away. That
which is really all is grasped.
Rich indeed are those who have found Christ as this gift
of gifts. Where their Treasure is, there will their hearts be also. They
will love Him with daily increasing love. They will make their boast of Him
as soul-enriching and eternal wealth.