One of the things I love about
going scripture by scripture, studying through books of the
Bible, going through four different
books of the Bible right now, and we see the same message in
all of them. And a lot of times there are
what's considered topical messages where you'll take a subject in
the Bible and search the scripture for what it says on that, particular
subject. Going verse by verse is really
the best of both worlds to me because we could stop every once
in a while and look at one verse and see what the whole word says
about that one verse and still see it in its context. Having
studied its pre-context a little bit and even looking forward
sometimes as we do and see it as it is in the word of God.
But this verse seven, as verse six was, is a precious verse. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. This treasure, that's the subject
tonight, this treasure. And we know from the context,
he's talking about this gospel, this new covenant. this gospel of the glory that
exceleth, this gospel which is the power of God unto salvation,
the gospel where by God speaks light, verse six, to sinners, to give the knowledge of his
glory in the face of his son. The word treasure is a storehouse
of precious things. a storehouse, just as Joseph
opened the storehouse in drought stricken Egypt. And it meant
life to those who were partakers of it. The Lord Jesus Christ
has opened the storehouse of spiritual treasure, life and
blessing. And he is the treasure itself. He that eateth of this bread
and drinketh of this well will never lack for anything ever
again. This treasure, though, is hid in this world. It's hid to them
that are lost, the scripture says. If our gospel be hid, it's
hid to them that are lost, to whom the prince of this world
hath blinded the minds of them, lest they see and believe on
the Lord Jesus. This world is full of false treasure,
fool's gold, treasure chests. He speaks of a vessel here, the
treasures in a vessel. And they're treasure chests that
men call preachers, but almost all are fakes, just about every
one of them. How's anybody ever going to find
the treasure of God. They're elaborately jeweled on
the outside. You could call it the preacher,
the false preachers, or the churches that are not true churches. Beautiful on the outside, and
most who open them are enchanted with what they find inside. Bright
baubles and trinkets, but they're worthless. And here and there, scattered
through this world, there are some old crusty boxes made out
of clay that have no indication on them that there's anything
of any value there. But these are the ones that God
has put his treasure in, in earthen vessels, vessels of clay. The tabernacle itself, where
the very glory of God resided, was covered with badger skins,
brown, gray, not attractive, nothing spectacular. Our Lord himself had no beauty
about him that men should desire him. And that was as a root out
of dry ground. But this is God's treasure. Finding
this treasure, finding even the right vessel is not necessarily
finding the treasure. This is God's treasure, and the
only way to find him is to seek him with a heart that God gives. This treasure is not only in
earthen vessels, but it's not a question of just looking past the vessel.
It's a question of having a heart that is determined by the grace
of God to have the treasure. And then the earthen vessel is
no stumbling block at all in. There's no luck. There's no luck
involved in this treasure hunt. This treasure is laid up for
them that God loves. It's reserved for them. An incorruptible, undefiled inheritance
reserved for those who are kept by God's power unto salvation. We have this treasure, the truth
of Christ, the simple declaration of the gospel, that salvation
is not of works, but by grace through faith in the mediator
of the new covenant. Salvation is had through the
blood of the everlasting covenant, the blood of Christ, our lamb
and God's lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Not
a complicated message. The old covenant, does this do
and live? Thou shalt or thou shalt not.
And everything we should not, we do, and everything we should
not do, we do. That's what Paul said in Romans
7. There's no way, I find nothing in me that's consistent with
God's law. And he cries out, who's gonna
save me? And he answers his own question, the Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ. because the new covenant is unconditional
when it comes to the sinner. God expects nothing from the
sinner. This is the treasure. This is eternal life. This is
favor with God. This is everything we lost in
the garden and way more, way more. This is the only treasure
in this world. Everything else is false. God's gift to sinners is a heart that
seeks a goodly pearl. Those who have that heart from
God will sell everything they have to obtain that pearl. That goes a long way toward defining
this treasure. Everything else is nothing in comparison. In fact, everything else that's
precious is precious because of this treasure. But when he gives that heart,
you're going to seek and you're not going to be satisfied until
you find him. The Lord gave us an example in
the ritual ruler of one who did not have that heart. He did not have that heart. The
Lord told him to sell all that he had to obtain that pearl,
and he said he went away sorrowful because he had great possessions.
He couldn't give up what he had or thought he had. And in the disciples, though,
we hear a different heart, don't we? When they said, lo, we've
left all that followed you. We've left all. Matthew 13, 44. Turn over there
with me if you would, please. Matthew 13, 44. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto treasure hid in a field. which when a man hath
found he hath and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he
hath and buyeth that field again the kingdom of heaven is likened
to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls who when he had found
one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and
bought it. He didn't say, I better keep
a little back, you know, in case I need something later. When
you have him, you don't need something later. You have everything
and you know it, you know it. The men in these parables are
the believer who, when God gives them eyes to see the depth of
the riches of the majesty and glory of Christ, they're willing
in the day of God's power to do what the rich young ruler
could not do. They're willing to sell all that they have in
the sense of this world getting out of the rat race.
Isn't it a blessing to not be in the rat race? We do what we
have to do. We get to do what the Lord gives
us to do and do it thankfully and do it full heartedly. But we don't depend on this world.
We don't depend on sinful man. But the reason the believer seeks
and finds is because the Son of God first sought and found
us. That's all through the scripture,
isn't it? The shepherd seeking his one sheep that was lost.
The men in these parables also are Christ who sought us where
we were and gave himself to have us, gave everything, gave his
own soul, made it his soul an offering for our sins in order
to have us, that we might be with him where he is. First,
we were given to him by the Father and then purchased at infinite
price with the precious blood of God's Son. This is the treasure
that we have. We have him and my beloved is
mine and I'm his. Colossians 2.1, listen to what
Paul said here. For I would that you knew what
great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea, and
for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their
hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and under
all riches of the full assurance of understanding." Now listen,
the riches of the full assurance of understanding. Not that you're
a doctor of divinity or some kind of theological scholar.
To know Christ is to have full, Paul said, we have the mind of
Christ. We don't have the mind of a genius or a, It's a way
beyond that. It's to see things as He does.
It's the revelation of His Word as it is in spiritual truth,
that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. You have to have eyes of faith given by God. Blessed are your eyes for they
see and your ears for they hear. And so that is the riches of
the full assurance of understanding given, understanding given. He
has given us an understanding that we might know him that is
true. And we are in him that is true. That's eternal life,
the scripture says. To the acknowledgement of the
mystery of God, the gospel, the mystery of God, the truth that
this treasure that is hid, but we know where it is. It's in Christ, listen. This
will tell you what he's talking about by the mystery of God and
of the Father and of Christ. In whom? Of Christ, in whom are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Being wise and
having a full assurance of understanding is not being real smart, it's
knowing a person. In him, everything a sinner needs
to know is known. When we know him, All you need
to know is Him, that you need Him, who He is, what He did,
and why He did it, what He accomplished when He did it. Everything that
we preach, the simple, plain, clear gospel of the Savior. This is the treasure that Solomon
wrote of. Look at Proverbs 3 with me, please. Proverbs 3. 13 Proverbs 3 13 Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom. and the man that get us understanding.
Where is that? In whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. We just read it in Colossians
2. In Christ, happy is the man that
findeth wisdom. It's hid, it's got to be found
and only God can show you where it is. Only God can open eyes
so they can see. Unless you be born from God,
born from above, you can't see or enter. For the merchandise of it is
better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof
than fine gold. And those who have this treasure
act that way. They act like it's more than
gold and silver, by God's grace, because it is in their heart. She's more precious than rubies
and all the things thou canst desire. What is it you want? What do you wake up thinking
about and go to sleep thinking about? All the things that thou
canst desire are not to be compared unto her. It's not even close. Length of days is in her left
hand, riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace. Do you think the wealthy of this
world have peace, generally speaking? Those who don't have Christ,
but they have wealth and all that they desire may be in the
flesh, but that don't buy peace. She's a
tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is everyone
that retaineth her. The Lord by wisdom hath founded
the earth, by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are
broken up and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, let not
them depart from thine eyes. Keep, and that word keep usually
in the scriptures, I didn't look it up here, but it usually means
to guard, to protect. Keep it like you would something
valuable. Sound wisdom and discretion.
So shall they be life unto thy soul and grace to your neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way
safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. This world is not a safe place,
is it? And when I say that, you think of crime and the streets
and all the dangers, people's lack of respect for life. the
horrible things that happen every day that are in the news. We're talking about safety that's
even more important than that. We're talking about being, thou
shalt not stumble. It's your own weakness that you
need to be saved from. You'll stumble, you're not strong,
you're not capable. You can't stand on your own. but you'll walk in safety, spiritual
safety. Your soul is safe, even if they
kill the body. Martin Luther wrote that song,
the body they may kill, but God's truth about it still. Let goods
and kindred go in this mortal life also. If that's necessary,
if that's what God wants, Your soul is safe, I will both lay
me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me to
dwell in safety. And I pray for both, I pray for
all of us, just about every night, that Lord keep us safe from every
harm. Keep us all safe. When thou lies down, thou shalt
not be afraid. Yes, thou shalt lie down and
thy sleep shall be sweet. You can't buy that. You can't
buy that. And that's gonna get more precious
to you as you grow older, more and more precious. Because you're
thinking about him, you're seeing him on his throne, you know that
nothing happens. Not a worm wiggles on this earth,
not a germ in the air goes. a stray from his purpose. No sinner's heart is independent of his hand to
turn it with us so ever he will. Be not afraid of sudden fear.
We're gonna be afraid. Don't be afraid of fear. Who
was it that said that we have nothing to fear but fear? Well,
sometimes that's true. Don't be afraid of fear. Be not afraid of sudden fear.
Don't be afraid, it's really saying don't be afraid of things
that happen suddenly that would frighten you. Neither of the
desolation of the wicked when it cometh. In many ways, God is already
judging this earth. Is he not? There are temporal
consequences for great evil in this world. but also as the final judgment
approaches. Don't be afraid of that. I love
it when the Lord Jesus told us when the world starts falling
apart, he talks about all the things and people, you know,
are looking to the skies to see these signs. Like you'll know
when it's happening, you're gonna know. Remember what the Lord
said, lift up your heads. Because this is, God's indeed
been judging this world and it's gonna increase. And it's gonna
come to fruition one of these days in a real big way. And we
may be here, we may not be here. But if you are, he said, look
up, why? Because for you, this is redemption. The redemption
of your souls draws nigh. That just means when this world
starts crumbling, that just means God's fixing to come get what
he bought. Take us home. For the Lord shall be thy confidence. Our confidence is Him. We're gonna learn one of these
days that salvation is a person. The Son of God. The Lord shall be that confidence
that shall keep thy foot from being taken. Proverbs 8 reads
the same way through the whole chapter. I had it down. We're
gonna read all of chapter 8 and that together, and we probably
should. Maybe we'll come back if it's
not too long. Other than that, we'll come back to Proverbs 8.
But mark that down and maybe read it yourself tonight. But
the tragic reality is that this incalculable treasure is worthless
to just about everybody in this world. That which is worthless to us is everything to them. And when
I use the words us and them, there's no difference by nature.
God put a difference. God has made us new creatures
in Christ. And because he did, that which
is worthless to them is everything to us. God forbid that I should glory.
save in the cross. The cross shows what Christ meant
to them, meant to this sinful, wretched world. And yet the one
crucified there is our King. He's our salvation. He's our
life. Sinners run after fools gold
in this world and worthless trinkets. God paves his streets with that
which men kill for here. Proverbs 23, 4, labor not to
be rich, cease from thine own wisdom. And listen, those two
phrases are not put in the same verse by accident. Think about
this. Labor not to be rich, cease from
that own wisdom. Human, sinful, depraved wisdom
tells us that the whole purpose of this life is to get, get,
get. Get what you can and can what
you get. Work to get the money to buy
the beans, to get the strength to work, to buy, to get the money
to... Really? Is that what this is
all about? A man's life doesn't consist
in the things which he possesses. I remember Brother Jack preaching
a funeral message on that. A man's life in this world doesn't
consist of the things which he possesses. This treasure that we're talking
about tonight, there is no other treasure. There's just one pearl of great
price. There's just one thing needful. So labor not to be rich, cease
from that own wisdom. Your own heart's gonna tell you
that, boy, you know, in order to get by in this life and do
well and prosper, that means I gotta get, get, get. No, it
don't. The kingdom belongs to the Lord.
He giveth it to whomsoever he will. and he's gonna give you what
you need, not what you won't, not what your self-destructive,
wretched heart wants. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon
that which is not? It's not real, it's a mirage.
For riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away as an eagle
toward heaven. We labor in this world and we
labor hard. We do, and that's God's way.
That's right, that's good. But while we labor in this world,
we don't labor for this world. We're not working for them, for
this world, the way, the fashion of it. We're not working for
the wretched mentality and mastery What this world calls bosses,
we work for a bigger boss than that. We work for him and we
work to obtain him. Even on our daily job, it's for
his glory. There's treasure in this world,
but it's not of this world. Our bodies labor in this world,
but our souls rest in Christ. and we labor to enter into that
rest. If you have Christ, you have
everything. You don't lack anything. Now this is a picture, you remember
when the Lord sent the disciples out two by two? And he said,
well, I told you to go and to not take any, don't take an extra
pair of shoes, don't take a lunchbox with you, don't take anything
with you, just go. do what I told you to do, preach
the gospel. He said, did you lack anything? And they said, nothing, nothing. And that's just talking about
material things. The Lord was talking about more than that,
wasn't he? They had that treasure in an
earthen vessel. They had everything. If you have
Christ, you have everything. If some of you young people,
20 years from now, you don't remember anything I ever said, remember these simple words.
If you have Christ, you have everything there is. If you don't
have Christ, you have nothing. If you know Christ, you know
everything there is to know. And if you don't know him, you
don't know anything. Scripture says you don't even
know how to plow a field. You can't even stand there and
hold the plow and do it right. If you don't have Christ, it's
sin, it's sin. You ask God if you're doing it
right, if you're doing it for yourself. You ask God if you're
doing it right. You don't know how to do anything.
You don't know anything if you don't have God's son. And I'll tell you this, if you
have Christ, you'll be given more. More Christ. Better knowledge of him, better
understanding of him, better appreciation for him, better
able to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you don't have Christ, God said, I'll take away from
you even what you think you have. That's in Mark 4 25. We'll grow in his grace in this
world and then we'll see him face to face. And I'll tell you
this, if you ever have and what you'll seek more than anything
else is more. More about Christ, more of our Savior more of his saving fullness He that hath the Son hath life
there's a lot contained in that word life He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life lotus the last part of our verse This treasure The directions to it The finding of it, all of it is orchestrated by
God in such a way that he gets all the glory. That's a real good way to tell
the difference, isn't it? If sinners are glorying in themselves,
they're not being taught the gospel. If a preacher's bragging
on man and talking about what man's will and man's way and
man's words, You don't know the Savior. Because when you know Him, there's
nothing else to talk about but His will and His way and His
work, what He accomplished on Calvary. You see that in our
text. He's getting all the glory. And
to those who have this treasure, that's how we like it. What grace
that is, isn't that incredible? As selfish as we are in this
flesh, we wouldn't have it any other way but that he get all
the glory and save it our souls. He is the treasure. He is the
treasure. He sends those who tell about
the treasure and point to him. Those who are given the treasure
are those who were given to him from the foundation of the world
by the father. The treasure is a free gift to
God's elect. And thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift.