Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Proverbs chapter 8 and verse
21. That I may cause those that love
me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures. Proverbs chapter 8 verse 21. We have in this chapter our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ speaking. I would remind you of that which
the Apostle writes to the Corinthians in his first letter, the first
chapter, and in verse 24 he says, or verse 23, but we preach Christ
crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness,
but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God and the wisdom of God. And then in verse 30
of that same chapter, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. And of course we would remind
ourselves that the source of all wisdom, all love, all grace,
all life, everything, flows forth from God Himself, and the Lord
Jesus Christ is God, one with the Father, and it pleased the
Father that in Him should all fullness dwell, and that fullness
includes wisdom. You might say, and some say,
well, our Lord is set forth here as wisdom, personified, but we
mustn't do anything to clouds seeing clearly our Lord Jesus
Christ set forth in the Word of God. So when we read in verse
23, I was set up from everlasting from the beginning, wherever
the world was, this is speaking Christ, the Eternal Son, was
set up, not just wisdom. And we have a reflection, of
course, what is in John Chapter 1, that in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And this is set forth through
these chapters in Proverbs. So our text, that I, that is
the Lord Jesus Christ, may cause those that love me to love the
Lord Jesus Christ, that love God, to inherit substance That
is, real, solid things, not vain, empty things. And I will fill
their treasures. Remember, the Lord spoke of the
treasure hid in the field, which a man, when he found it, he sold
all that he had that he might buy that field. The treasures
of grace and of wisdom and of the blessings of God. Real, substantial
things. Solomon's writings in Ecclesiastes
chapter 2, we have another side set forth. Instead of wisdom
set forth, here we have the vanity of all things set forth. That
is, that which is empty and useless and fleeting and of no worth. Vanity of vanity saith the preacher,
In verse 2 of chapter 1 of Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. And then eight times through
chapter 2, we have this also is vanity. One time after another,
emptiness, with all his riches, all the wisdom that he had been
given by God at his request, and all of what he had. and could
do, be able to make himself gardens and houses, he looks upon it
all and he says that it is just vanity, it's just emptiness,
nothing really to satisfy, to cause him lasting, abiding, eternal
pleasure. And this then is contrasted with
that in our text which speaks of substance, that which is very
real, You know, it's like the scriptures speak of a man when
he is perhaps asleep, he's hungry, he hasn't had anything to eat,
and he dreams. And he dreams that he's eating,
and he dreams that he's got this feast. But when he wakes up,
he's got nothing. He's still empty, he has not
had anything. All he's had is this thought
of it, this vision of it. but there's been no substance,
nothing for him really to eat at all. And this life is just
vanity, it's empty. When we die, we shall leave it
all behind. Nothing of his substance, nothing
remains for us at all. Whereas the things of God, eternal
blessings, apart with Christ, apart in heaven, Those are real
things, and even this side of the grave, those things which
are eternal and are given to us by the Lord, those blessings,
they are real. They have been given by God,
owned by God, and of exceeding comfort on a dying bed, when
anything else of a material nature that had been given is worth
nothing at all. Man by nature He is given to
foolish thoughts, vanity and emptiness. And you've only got
to look in libraries or bookstores and you see most of the shelves,
they are filled full of novels or fiction as it is said. Really
they are the figment of imagination of men. It is something that
they could not do or actually walk out in substance, and so
they have made it up and put the ending, put the beginning
that they want, ordered it how they wanted it. But our lives
are not like that. Our lives are real. We live them
as God has appointed us to them. We have tribulations and sorrows. We have real helps, real blessings,
not ones that we just imagine. or think what we have. And that's
the difference between something that's just vanity and that which
is of substance. And may we weigh our lives in
this balance, weigh our thoughts, weigh the things that we might
put a lot of store upon having. What are they? Are they really
of substance? Are they really that which will
endure forever Or is it just we'll take wings and fly away
and just be empty and vanity of vanities? There are many of
young people in our day that feel just empty. They haven't
got things in life and they don't have any purpose and anything
feelingly to live for. And so many of them so solemnly
take their own life. But there is something different,
there's a separate thing. There is substance here below
that doesn't rest in man's ability and man's wisdom and man's attainments
and his wealth, but rests in the gifts that the Lord Jesus
Christ gives to his dear people, which are eternal gifts. And
it is that which I desire to set before you this evening,
this verse, Proverbs 8 verse 21, that I may cause those that
love me to inherit substance and I will fill their treasures. I want to confine our thoughts
this evening to four points. I will mention them first so
we know where we're going. Firstly, the Lord's ability to
cause to come about. That is in the first words of
our text, that I may cause. The first cause is in God. The second is those that are
the beneficiaries of the Lord's ability to cause. And we are told that those that
are the beneficiaries are those that love me. And then thirdly,
how they are to be caused to have substance. And our text
tells us that it is by inheritance to inherit substance. And we look at several points.
and what is vital under that point. And then lastly, we have
a promise, a blessed promise, and I will fill their treasures,
the last part of the verse. But firstly, the Lord's ability
to cause to come about. Never in our preaching the word
or the gospel are we to suggest or to portray the Lord as a helpless
God that is unable to cause something to happen or to stop something
from happening. He is a sovereign God and as
he said to Abraham, And He said to Elizabeth and to Mary, all
of them who could not bear children, that that which was impossible
with man was not impossible with God. And we must remember this,
that the Lord does have that sovereign ability to do as He
pleases, Nebuchadnezzar, that great king who walked in pride,
when he was brought over those seven years out of his mind and
then restored again to his kingdom, he says that those that walk
in pride he is able to abase. None can say to him, what doest
thou? All can stay his hand. He doeth
according to his will in the armies of heaven. that I may
cause. God is the one that causeth it
to come. He causeth it to come. Who is he that saith, and it
cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not? The Lord is the one that causes
it to come. In Leviticus, we read of the
lepers, the leper diseased and the leper cleansed. And there
is one instance when the leprosy is in the house, and the way
the Holy Word of God is written is that the Lord says, if I should
cause there to be leprosy in a house, or words to that effect,
He is pointing to Him bringing about. Not to think it just happens
by chance, and it's the same with any illness, any affliction,
any trouble, any disease, implants, any natural things that men might
say it just happens. No, the Lord does cause that
to come and cause it to happen. He is the one that commands it
to be so. And if it were not so, how could
He keep His promises of seed time and harvest, summer and
winter, cold and heat, they shall not cease. is in control and
when we remember it with all of the blessings, all of the
things that the Lord does, He is the one that causes these
things. He uses means and we as sinners
are holden to obey the word of God not to inquire into the secret
will of God and say, well, what will will be, or I want to know
the secret will of God before I do this or do that. No, we
govern what we do by the word of God. We order our footsteps
according to the word, whereby shall a young man cleanse his
way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. And it is through
thy word, thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my
path. And that's why the commandments
and the precepts are given us, that they may guide us and that
we may know which way we are to go. And the Lord directing
us to that word and shining light and understanding upon it, so
we understand it and walk according to it. We're not to be looking
for extra divine or special revelations from heaven in everything that
we do. Some poor people, and one of
my late aunties was one like that, and her mental affliction,
she wouldn't do anything unless she thought the Lord had told
her. She wouldn't move the car, she wouldn't mow the lawn, she
wouldn't move anything. She just was in a terrible state. It was an affliction of mind.
But it really highlights how we can put to an extreme, as
it were, when we have the Word of God showing us what to do,
but we're refusing to go along with that, and we're wanting
some extra revelation. The Lord has shown thee what
is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, that thou should
walk humbly before thy God. The Lord said, to the rich man. They have Moses and the prophets. If they hear not them, neither
will they believe, even if one rose from the dead. In other
words, if they don't hear the word of God that was written,
then not even a miracle of one rising from the dead would bring
them to believe. May we never underestimate the
power of the word of God. Paul says of the Thessalonians,
that the Word came unto them, not in word only, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. And so we know that God is the
one that has the ability to cause. Our Lord Jesus Christ has that
ability. But what means He uses to cause
something to happen? That is in His hand. He has heaven
and earth. at His command. He uses all manner
of things, but it is His power, His moving and His work that
I may cause, the Lord causeth it to come. We must say as well
that God is not the author of sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ is
not the author of evil. And we think of the crucifixion
By wicked hands have crucified and slain the Lord Jesus Christ,
but he was delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of
God. And there we have the mystery
of something being decreed that must happen, and the Lord Jesus
Christ laying down his life. No man taketh my life from me,
I lay it down of myself. This commandment have I received
of my Father, And yet on the other hand, the very real use
of men in their wickedness, sinfulness, in crucifying the Lord. Pilate
said to the Lord, when he said, knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee and power to deliver thee? And our Lord
said, thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it
were given thee from above. It's vital then that we understand
this first point and may it really encourage us in our prayers,
encourage and strengthen our faith. The Lord's hand is not
shortened that he cannot save, it's not shortened that he cannot
answer. If something doesn't come to
pass, it's not because of a weakness in the law, that I may cause. We may add to this, that I may
cause, and look back at the previous verse, I lead in the way of righteousness
in the midst of the paths of judgment. And we've referred
to Calvary, we've referred to what the Lord accomplished there. And really all of the Lord's
authority is in what He has done in purchasing His people, satisfying
the justice of God, in obedience to His Father, that has given
Him the ability that He may cause these things to be done, and
done righteously and with true holiness and to the honour and
glory of God. So it flows forth from the Previous
verse it flows forth from his work, his work at Calvary and
his satisfying divine justice. On to look then secondly at those
that are the beneficiaries of the Lord's ability to cause things
to happen and especially here to cause them that love me to
inherit substance. So the beneficiaries are those
that love Me. And we go back in this point
to another cause revealed in the Word of God, or another attribute
in God, in John's epistles, and he says that we love Him because
He first loved us. Love is of God. That is where
the source of it, and that is where it comes from. So here
are those that already have been blessed with grace, they've already
been blessed with calling with the new birth, and been brought
from a hater of God to be a lover of God, And the Lord has been
the instigator of that, because He loved them first. We read
this in Jeremiah 31 verse 3. Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love, and therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn
thee. The love of God is the first
beginning cause of why any poor sinner loves Him. we will be
the recipients in that we will first realize or first know that
instead of being a hater of God, instead of being an enemy of
God, that we have been brought to love Him. And we read of those
that unto you which believe He is precious, and it is the Spirit
that sheds abroad the love of God in the heart by the Holy
Ghost. And it may be in different measures. There are those special times
of great love. But at the first, a poor sinner
might not be able to really articulate or they might say, I hope I love
God. But what is clear is they're
no longer in the camp of the God haters. I used to struggle
as a child with M76 in our handbook. At peace with hell, with God
at war. In sin's dark maze they wander
far. And I said to my parents, I said,
hasn't the hymn writer got that wrong? Shouldn't that be at peace
with God, with hell at war? Not at peace with hell, with
God at war. Surely it is the wrong way around. But when called by grace, I realised
and felt what my nature was. It was at enmity with God, it
did hate God, it did side with Satan, and so it does still by
nature. But where the Lord has given
a new nature, that new nature loves and seeks after and desires
the things of God. And so we don't want a loveless
religion. We don't want one that is just
in rules and regulations. A true faith, a true religion,
is the love of Christ constraineth us, that which draws us after
the Lord. Love begets love. And in our cold hearts, so loveless
at times, when the Lord drops in a little love, and some of
you might be bemoaning, That lack of love and lack of love
of late. But you may be able to go back
to time, sweet moments in your life when you have felt that
love in your heart. And that love is constrained.
It's made you speak. It's made you act. It's brought
you to walk in His ways. It's been that love that has
been the moving thing. You haven't been forced to do
it. You've been drawn, drawn out of love. And so these are
the characters. It is not to those that are haters
of God, not to those that are despisers of God, not to those
that are replying against God, but those that love him. And it is to those that he says
that I may cause those that love me to inherit. we go again to John's epistles. And he gives this very clear
evidence of a call by grace and being one of God's children.
And he says, we know that we have passed from death unto life
because we love the brethren. And the Lord has said that if
we cannot love our brother that we have seen, how can we say
that we love him whom we have not seen, and that he who loves
God loves also his brother. And so we have the case like
Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi. And what was said of Ruth was
that she loved her mother-in-law. And with that love, she left
her own country, she claimed to Ruth, she went with her to
Bethlehem, She wanted to be where she was, where she was to die,
and to worship the same God as her. Never despise a love that
the Lord gives to his people and to himself, and that causes
things to be done. He says that I may cause those
that love me. So there we have Those that love
the Lord, and you might be saying this evening, I'm not sure whether
I really fully love the Lord, but He has caused me to inherit
substance. He has done to me what He says
here He does to those that love the Lord. And so then you get
a token apart from our feelings, you get a token that the Lord
is saying, You are one of those that I have given a love to and
therefore I've caused you to do this or to have these things
and these blessings to inherit substance. So may we be able
to see this evening and through this word that we are of those
that are the beneficiaries of the Lord's ability to cause,
to cause to inherit And we may say we've already been, we've
already been the beneficiary. The Lord has already done things
and caused things to be bestowed upon us and done for us. I want to look then, thirdly,
how they are to be caused to have substance. Our text says that it is through
inheritance that I may cause those that love me to inherit
substance. That has how they shall get that
which is solid, and that which is eternal, and that which is
real, those real blessings from the Lord, not empty vanities,
but real things, and is by inheritance. Now there is four things that
is vital for an inheritance to be imparted. The first thing is this, that
one needs to have died. If there is to be an inheritance
that is to be distributed and given out, then there needs to
be a death. There needs to be one that has
died, and then their state and what they have is distributed
out. And when we're thinking of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and there's two ways that we apply this word. The first is our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. He has died. Paul says it is
Christ that died Yea, rather, that is risen again, and sitteth
at the right hand of the throne of God on high. He is his own
executor of his own will. But he has died, and it is in
his death, and in his atonement for sin, in his fulfilling the
law, his fulfilling without the shedding of blood there is no
remission, that he has then died and laid down his life, that
he might take it again. And therefore, in the death of
Christ, the very real death of Christ, when we're thinking of
substance here and that which is vanity, some would say, well,
he didn't really die. He just, just slept. Our Lord
must have really and truly died. And The spear thrust in proved that. His three days in the grave proved
that. Our Lord really laid down His
life. He did enter into death. And that is the first thing that
is vital if there is to be an inheritance. The second thing
is that we need to be alive to inherit it. Sometimes we might
have one that dies, and in their will is written that a certain
person inherits, but they've already died before them. Sometimes
if that person then has children, it passes to them. But if it
doesn't, they can't inherit it themselves personally. If they
are dead, they need to be alive. And so that is the next thing. overlooked in the first part
of the second way of one dying, because the apostle speaks and
says that we ourselves are dead with Christ, and then risen again
in newness of life. There is a counterpart to the
experience of God's people. This is set forth in baptism,
buried with him by baptism into death, risen again in newness
of life. So, whereas it must be death
for inheritance, for Christ who gives inheritance, but in a spiritual
way, a soul needs to be dead unto the world, dead unto themselves,
dead unto hope of saving themselves, but alive unto God. It's vital if we are to inherit
anything from the Lord that we are quickened into divine life. Or as our Lord insisted with
Nicodemus, you must be born again. There must be life. And those that love the Lord,
they have already first been given life. But it is vital. We must have, as the Lord insisted
upon, in every parable he spoke and in the letters to the churches
in Revelation, he that hath an ear, let him hear. It's vital
that there be a hearing ear and that there be life to hear. If one is even asleep, they can't
hear. We need to be alive, alive unto
God to inherit. And so when he says that this
is the channel, this is the way, of causing to have substance,
it is by inheritance, it is through the death of Christ, it is through
the death of our old nature, ourselves, dead for hope in ourselves,
and being made alive unto God. As a living person receives an
inheritance, so a living soul receives spiritual inheritance
and blessings from the Lord. They know nothing and they're
incapable of receiving anything at all naturally and anything
at all spiritually. The third thing is that we need
to have a relationship or have had a relationship with the deceased
to inherit. We don't have to be, as it were,
a child or a nephew But we do have to have some kind of relationship,
even if it is that of friend. There is some link between the
one that has died and the one that they then bequeath their
inheritance to. And so again, it is an essential
thing that there be that recognized link between the Lord and his
people, shepherd and sheep, father and son, king and people, the
people of the Lord, a relationship between them. Thinking of Ruth,
the reason why that she could have Boaz redeem her or take
the part of a near kinsman was because he was a near kinsman. There was a relationship. He is, says Naomi, a near kinsman
unto us. And so, again, we need to have
that relationship with God, that walk with God. My sheep, they
hear my voice, they follow me. There is a token of that relationship. This again is another, we can
turn this about to another way. Do we know that we love the Lord? Well, how do we view the Lord's
sufferings and death upon Calvary's tree? How do we view ourselves
as to the world? Do we have that hope of obtaining
salvation by our own works, our own good deeds, or have we been
Are we killed to that? Are we dead to that? And are
we alive unto God? And if we are alive unto God
and given that hearing ear, then again, there is these tokens
of the love of God as to having a relationship with the Lord. But there is a last thing under
this heading, and that is there needs to be something to inherit. If someone is a very poor person
and they die, and they look into their bank balance and they've
only got a few pounds and they've got no buildings and no land,
there's not going to be anything that they can give to anyone
to inherit. There needs to be something first
for them to impart and to give. We read in Jeremiah, the two
names given, the name given to the Lord and the name given to
his people. This is the name wherewith he
shall be called the Lord our righteousness, and this is the
name wherewith she, that is the church, shall be called the Lord
our righteousness, the same surname. And the previous verse to our
text, I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of
judgment. God imputes to sinners the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every blessing, every favour
comes to us through Jesus' precious blood. The hymn writer sums it
up very clearly. All the promises of God, says
the word, are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. And later on we're
coming to our next point, which is the, or this point, which
is the substance or that which is to inherit. And so these promises,
these fullness, the blessings are all in Christ. The fullness,
it hath pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. He will have his people being
partners with him, on his throne. You know, if our king died and
he had many beneficiaries that he'd put in his will, being very
rich, he would have a lot to give to those that were the beneficiaries. But our Lord is the King of Kings,
the Lord of Lords, and his riches and his blessings are not earthly,
temporal ones that will then be left to another and have to
be left to another. These are not things that we
inherit, that then when we die, someone else inherits them from
us. Whatever blessings that we receive
from the Lord, we cannot give them to our children, our grandchildren. We cannot pass them down. In
John's Gospel, in the first chapter, he speaks of those that were
born not of the will of the flesh, not of man. We can't pass it
on. But that inheritance given to
us is given to us eternally, shall never be taken away. And
so what are those substances, that substance of blessing that
is set forth here? I will that I may cause those that
love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures." Before we move to that last point,
I do want to really again stress that the things of God, the blessings
of God, are substance. I've had feelings such struggles
with my own self, own mind, own life, of those things that are
so vanity. And remember, this is Solomon
in Proverbs, Solomon in Ecclesiastes, the same man here is speaking
of treasures and of wisdom, the same man in Ecclesiastes, vanity
and vexation of spirit. And we see this conflict in all
of the people of God. But it's good for us to weigh
up those things that spend our time and our thoughts and our
meditation. You know, David says he prevented
the dawning of the morning that I might meditate on thy word. And his delight was in the word
of God. And Jeremiah says, thy words
were found, I did eat them. They were to the joy and rejoicing
of my soul. Those things then that are inherited,
that come to us through Jesus' precious blood, they are real
substance. They are not imaginary. They are real blessings in time,
real spiritual food that we might feed upon and be nourished and
strengthened in They are spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. They are that treasure hidden
afield. They are Christ himself, the
pearl of great price. They are those things that shall
never, never cease. Love itself we read of hope and
faith. They shall perish, but love,
it will only increase. And those things, then, may we
really hold in a balance. And when we get ourselves taken
with all sorts of vain thoughts, imaginations, schemes, and things
that take up our time, may we look upon them and think of Solomon,
vain things, vanity of vanity, Seth the preacher, all his vanity.
But these things that are substance, how much better are they Sometimes
it can be a real, real struggle. We're the child of God. Whenever
they come to the word, whenever they come to prayer, whenever
they come to seek for substance, the devil's trying to pull them
away. And our wicked heart is trying to pull them away. The
thought of this and the thought of that comes in. And yet those
things are vanity. And yet so often they can have
such a pull upon us and to draw us away. But if we from this
time we think of this and weigh things in the balance. Is it
substance or is it vanity? Is it that which shall be eternal
and do me good on a dying bed or that which I must leave and
leave to relatives or just vanishes away? We want that which is real
substance, real blessings, real grace, Real help, real strength,
real blessings of the Lord that make rich and add no sorrow with
it. Real understanding, those things
that like the two on the way to Emmaus had that made their
heart burn within them while the Lord talked within them. A title to mansions in the skies,
the earnest of the spirit, our interest in Christ, our union
with Him, being in His family, being in Christ, not having our
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is of
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. There needs to be something to
inherit substance, and there is. There is substance, and this,
dear friends, is the Gospel. that I may cause those that love
me to inherit substance." This is not the minister saying, you
must do this, you must do that, you must get it, you must do
it. No. You think of it in a natural
way. If there's a will, then the will
is opened by who? The beneficiaries? Very seldom. Usually the legal team, the trustees,
the executors, they look at it, they read it, They decide where
it goes. And the first thing that the
beneficiaries have is perhaps a letter advising them of what
is in store for them and what they can expect. And it's done
by others. And this inheritance, this is
the gospel. It's a work that not only is
done at Calvary, but it's done by the Holy Spirit in applying
it, in bringing these blessings down to us. If while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us, how much more being quickened
by His Spirit shall we then live through His life? Romans 5. I want to then look at our last
main point, and that is a blessed promise. And the promise is, and I will
fill their treasures. Under this point I think of the
psalmist's word where he says, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. The cup of life. Our Lord spoke
of the cup, didn't he, in the Garden of Gethsemane? If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. And in that cup was the sins
of his people, the wrath of God poured upon him, the hiding of
his father's face, the physical pains and agony of one of the
worst, cruel, long, agonizing deaths that could be devised
by man. All that cup was before him. Now we turn at the other side
and we think then of the same idea of this cup. And into this cup, instead of
putting the wrath of God, Instead of putting all the pain we have
in that cup, we have all that the Lord does for His people. Every blessing, every help, every
grace. Paul would say, you put in that
cup, my thorn in the flesh, and you put in that cup, my grace
is sufficient for thee. You put that in my cup. You put
in my cup, how it's delivered from the Jews. how I was delivered
those times in the deep, and for those times when I was beaten,
and in all that tribulation, I'm not destroyed. I might be
cast down, but I'm not destroyed. You put those things in my cup. I've often pictured it like that.
Gone over my life, deliverances, answers to prayer, blessings,
helps, Views of the Lord Jesus Christ, times when He has been
my meat and drink, except ye eat the flesh, drink the blood
of the Lord Jesus, ye have no life in you. Those are things
you put in that cup. Those things that the Lord has
done for us, that we don't lie forgotten. The Lord doesn't forget
them, and He's put them in our cup. Very different than in the
bitterness and in all what the Lord suffered. Yes, in our cup
also will be tribulation. We're told in the world you shall
have tribulation, but in that same cup then, in me you shall
have peace. That's in that cup as well. Dost
thou know the balancing of the clouds? You think of Job, he'll
have in his cup his great trial, but then the latter end of Job
was better than his beginning. Heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, now mine eyes seeth thee, wherefore I pour myself
in dust and ashes. You think of Joseph's cup, what
was in that? The dreams first, those blessings
that he knew God had appointed, and then the great trial until
his time came. The word of the Lord tried him,
falsely accused, cast into prison, forgotten, but then that I may
cause those that love me to inherit substance. I will fill their
treasures. He's brought up out of the prison,
next unto Pharaoh, able clearly to say, he sent me not hither
but God to save your lives by great deliverance. And each one
of the Lord's people will be able to go back to those times
that the Lord has blessed them. Hymn writer says, dost thou mind
the spot and place where Jesus did thee meet. And those are
the things that are treasures to them. They are precious to
them. Are the Lord's visits precious
to you? Are they to me? Are they those
treasures that he doesn't give to the world, but he gives specifically
to his people? You know, if we've got something
valuable, we treasure it, don't we? And that's what's said here,
I will fill their treasures. I will do it. They will receive
from me the gold and the silver. They are mine. The blessings
are mine. The cattle upon a thousand hills
are mine. These things. And this is what
the Lord says that He would do. And it's this blessed promise. The psalmist says in Psalm 116
about this cup. of the Lord, and speaking of
it is the cup of salvation. He says, going from verse 12,
what shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward
me? I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto
the Lord now in the presence of all his people. And it is in that way He speaks
of this cup, the cup of salvation. And it is, I will fill all their
treasures. And it is in this cup, the cup
of salvation, that those treasures are put. The Lord knows every
blessing, everything He's done for His people, everything that
He has caused them to inherit. that substance and those blessings. May we be able to trace this
evening that we are those that do love the Lord, though we may
be tried about it many times, that we have been given substance,
real things, and that it has come through an inheritance,
has come through Christ's death, and that we have been made alive
to receive it. And that we have those things
that we dare not deny, but must say they are treasures to us. We wouldn't cast them away. Comes
to mind as we close the account of a dream that John Newton had. And he was in a harbor, I think,
a Nepal harbor on a ship. He was a slave trader, of course,
before he was called. And there came one and gave him
a beautiful ring. And he was really taken with
this ring. It was a very, very precious
ring. It was this heavenly being that
gave him this ring. But then there came another one
and despised it and ridiculed it. and caused him to cast it
away, and he threw it away into the sea. And then as he threw
it away, then all the mountains, they smoked, they shook, and
he feared greatly. And then the Shining One that
had first given it to him, came to him, and went right down into
the water, picked it up, and brought it back to him. And he
held out his hand to receive it, But the Shining One said,
no, it will always be yours, but I will keep it safely for
you. And John Newton, he relates that
in how that which is precious for the people of God, the Lord
keeps it safe for them. If it was left to us, we'd lose
it. How many of us have lost precious
things? But these things, these eternal
things, They are kept by the Lord. They are laid up in heaven. They are there for the people
of God. And every now and again, He draws back the veil. He drops
a little token into the soul. He blesses the soul through a
sermon and through the Word. Gives them a little token. This
treasure is there. Eternal life is yours. You have
a part with me and therefore these blessings come down to
you. But your life is not going to
be in your hand, it is in my hand. The Lord says in John 10
that none shall pluck them out of mine hand that is his sheep.
My father is greater than I, none is able to pluck them out
of my father's hand. So these treasures, they are
sure for the people of God. And sometimes they're given a
little look at them and reminded of them. and their sweet token
and help to them as they remember the way the Lord has led them
and what he has done for them and the blessings that he's given
them. I will fill all their treasures. As he filled yours, he will keep
doing so right to the end. That I may cause those that love
me to inherit substance and I will fill all their treasures. I bless the Lord for the I wills
and the certainty of the Lord's work. Amen.