WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS
Alan Brown
Malachi 3: 10, 16, 17 (to “prepare”)
We were all affected by what we enjoyed on Lord’s day about the treasure that we can enjoy from divine Persons, and the delight that divine Persons have in revealing it to us as we are interested in these things. As was said, it is not revealed to the natural man at all, however much he might try, but it is available to the spiritual man. We have the Spirit within us, and He would lead us that way. I think it is a wonderful thing to be occupied with how full of treasure heaven is, and how divine Persons must regard us as revealing it to us. That is what impressed me on Lord’s day about the treasure hid in the field: what cost divine Persons expended to buy the field, and to secure the pearl, the assembly, Matt 13: 44-46. Does that have an effect on me; and as it does am I interested in these heavenly things that are stored up for us?
I read in Malachi because you can see how God regards those who do what He wants: “Bring the whole tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith”. God is willing to be proved if we bring things to Him that are precious, and He will reward us for them - “if I open not to you the windows of the heavens, and pour you out a blessing, till there be no place for it”. The note speaks of ‘blessing, to super-abundance.’. So, as we do what we might think of as a small thing for divine Persons, then God is willing to bless us; and it is a return that is far more than we put into it. That is a wonderful thing for me: we might not think we have much, but each of us - if we know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour - can say something about the Lord Jesus, and that is treasure in heaven. We speak about impressions, and that should be treasure. The Father delights in us speaking to Him about the Son: think of the Father’s delight in the Lord Jesus, and anything that comes to the Father’s presence, to the Father’s ears, about the Lord Jesus is treasure, and it has been put in our hearts by divine Persons in the first place. You can see that the return flows from us to God if we are exercised to search it out; and as we are exercised and think about these things, and pray about them, heaven takes account of it.
That is why I read the next section: “Then they that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another; and Jehovah observed it, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Jehovah … And they shall be unto me a peculiar treasure” - that note goes back to Exodus 19: 5, ‘my own possession’. God wants us to enjoy these things; it is a peculiar treasure to God. That is a vital thing: each one that believes on the Lord Jesus is a peculiar treasure to God. You can see that in the way He is acting; He has acted in such a way in love; He has revealed Himself in Father, Son and Holy Spirit; He has given what is most precious to Him. What a treasure the Lord Jesus is! God did not hold Him back; so what effect does that have on me? I often hold things back, but we know and have proved in our locality that, if we bring in a little impression, a little seed or kernel, and discuss it, as we speak often one to another in our Bible readings, in our homes, in our links together, God takes account of that and it grows into something great in heaven.
In 2 Corinthians, there is another demonstration that God is willing and able to bless us. He is the One “who has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. What a treasure that is: that is how the knowledge of the glory of God has been made known to us - in the face of Jesus Christ. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels”. We are not much to look at, not much to take account of in the world’s eyes, but God sees Christ and that is wonderful. The work of God that is in us, which will go on to completion, and is a precious thing to heaven. It is in earthen vessels; we do not look like treasure outwardly: we are not on display in museums or anything like that; we are not worth a lot in the world, but we are worth a lot in heaven because of how much God has given to secure us. He is willing to show us that glory: “shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God”; so that is what is available for us, and it is “in the face of Jesus Christ”. So, if we have a relationship with the Lord Jesus, as our Saviour, our Friend and our Guide, if we have been given the Holy Spirit - what a treasure that is - then He reveals these things to us; He can take of the treasure of heaven and give it to us and help us. There is joy in heaven as we enjoy it.
Then in Colossians, Paul is on the same line: “united together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the full knowledge of the mystery of God; in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge”. So, it is available to us, we can go in for it: in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can enjoy these things together. Think of what there is in each one of us; think what there is in each locality, each gathering that values what God has given. We can take account of “the full knowledge of the mystery of God; in which are hid all the treasures”. So God is willing to reveal these things to us; He has acted in such a way that we can know these things. We know what treasures are in museums: you can see them but you cannot usually touch them because they are behind glass on display, but that is not what heaven’s treasures are like; they are much more worthwhile than the treasure in this world. Solomon in Ecclesiastes had all the money in the world and he did everything he could; he had everything and he proved that this world’s treasures were worthless. He could have spent all his money in seeking wisdom and doing everything he could, and he said it was all vanity and pursuit of the wind. That is what these worldly treasures are. There are famous treasures and a lot of gold is on display in museums, but we cannot get the benefit of them: we can look at them and think they are nice; but when we dwell upon these spiritual, heavenly treasures, they are eternal. That is a wonderful thing that God gives us. It speaks of the seed falling into the good ground and bearing fruit. You might not think the seed and fruit are treasure but they are treasure in heaven because they speak to us of the Lord Jesus. A little seed springing up: think of what it can bear, fruit a hundred-fold - that is storing treasure in heaven.
I read in Luke to show again how willing God is to bless us: “how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”. That is what we have to do: we have to ask, we have to be interested, we have to ask, seek and knock. Are we interested in heavenly things? If we are, we will be rewarded for it. Then, in the next verse we read: “where your treasure is, there also will your heart be”. That is a test to me: it is easy when we are among the brethren in the meetings to enjoy these things, and we can prove what our treasure is but what about my day-to-day life: where is my treasure, and where is my heart? It is worthwhile thinking of these heavenly things that are forever. Earthly things that are viewed as treasure by us, by man, they will all be done away with. When the Lord Jesus comes in glory the treasure will be on display when the saints come with Him in that day of display. What a wonderful thing to look forward to: there is another treasure to look forward to, the Lord Jesus coming to rapture us.
How abundant God is in blessing us: “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ” (Eph 1: 3): what treasures these blessings are.
May we be encouraged for the Lord’s name’s sake.
Linlithgow
1st May 2025