Forty-Second Meeting
(March 12, 1964 P.M.)
We are
going to return to the parables of the Kingdom for a
little while this evening. The Gospel by Matthew, chapter
thirteen, verse forty-four, "The Kingdom of
Heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which
a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goeth and selleth
all that he hath, and buyeth that field." The
parable of the treasure hidden in the field. The law of
consistency to which we have referred requires that we
interpret the field again as the world. Jesus said
concerning the sower that the field is the world. So here
again the field is the world. And as in the other
parables, the man is the Son of Man. It is the Lord Jesus
Himself Who has found this treasure in the world. And
then it says, having found the treasure, He went and sold
all that He had and bought, not the treasure, but the
field. When He bought the field, He secured the treasure.
Now we
are going to start from the outside and work toward the
center. We shall come to the treasure last of all. First
of all, we want to know the meaning of this selling all
that He had to buy the field. I wonder if I were to ask
you, if you could give me the Scripture that would
explain that, where would you turn? Would you like to
think about that for a minute? Well, I will give you the
Scripture that will explain that. You turn to the Letter
of Paul to the Philippians, chapter two, at verses five
through eight: "Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made
Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and
being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the
Cross."
There is
the Son of Man selling all that He had. It was a mighty
all that He let go. He was equal with God. In His prayer
in John seventeen, He said, "Father, glorify Me with
the glory which I had with Thee before the world
was." Equal with God, having the glory of God before
the foundation of the world, being the Son of God, He had
all the fullness of heaven. He was over all angels and
archangels, they would hasten to do His will. And much
more than that, He let it all go.
"He
emptied Himself," the word is here, He emptied
Himself of His heavenly glory. He emptied Himself of His
equality with God, and took the form of a servant, was
made in the likeness of men. He humbled Himself, He
became obedient unto death, yea, the death of the Cross.
That is the price that He paid for this treasure. This
Son of Man paid a very great price, indeed, for the
treasure hidden in the field. It says here that He sold
all that He had. You and I can never, never understand
the meaning of that word, "ALL." Perhaps, when
we get to glory, we shall begin to understand how much
the Lord Jesus sacrificed for this treasure.
Well,
there is the treasure, there is the field, there is the
Son of Man, selling all that He had, to purchase that
treasure. But it says, 'He bought the field.' It does not
say, 'He just bought the treasure.' He bought the field
in order to get the treasure. I wonder what that means? I
think it is a thing that we Christians have been slow to
recognize. We have not recognized that the Lord Jesus
redeemed the whole world - every man, every woman, and
every child in this world is redeemed. Jesus Christ
purchased the salvation of every man. He paid the price
for the redemption of all men. The trouble is, that
although men have been bought with the precious blood of
Jesus, they will not all believe and accept it. And the
condemnation will be this, that redemption was bought for
you, and you would not accept it. You see, that is the
Gospel. Christ has redeemed all. His blood has paid the
price for all. It is, "Whosoever believeth on Him,
shall be saved." But the world, as a whole, will not
accept the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
That
leads us then to the treasure. We are able to see what
the treasure is. He bought the whole field, but He only
obtained the treasure. What is this treasure? Have we got
any Scripture that will answer that question? I think we
have. If you will turn to the Book of the Acts, chapter
fifteen, verse fourteen, "Simeon hath rehearsed how
first God did visit the nations, to take out of them a
people for His Name." Do you see what that says? The
nations. And hidden in the nations, a people for His
Name. The Bible does not teach that in this age all the
nations are going to be saved. On the contrary, it
teaches that at the end of this age many, many will not
be saved. But it does teach that in the nations, He has
seen a people, and He has come in order to take out of
the nations that people for His Name.
It is
not that the nations cannot be saved. The prophet cried,
"Look unto Me, all ye ends of the earth." God
would have all men to repent, and to come to the
knowledge of the truth. But inasmuch as all the nations
will not turn to the Lord, He takes out of the nations a
people for His Name. The Lord says, Simeon has looked
into the nations, and in the nations he has seen this
treasure, a people for His Name. And He is, through this
age, taking out of the nations, that people for His Name.
This is the treasure that the Lord sees in the nations.
He sees that treasure in the nations. He never tells us
that this one and that one is a part of the treasure, and
these and other ones are not a part of the treasure. No,
He says, You go into the nations, you preach the Gospel
to all the nations. The result will be that some out of
all the nations will be brought as His treasure. The Lord
only knows who are the treasure. You and I do not know.
That treasure is to Him of very great value.
What is
the value of that treasure? It is the value of His Own
Name. The overriding factor in this whole matter is the
Name of the Lord. The great phrase here which governs
everything is, "FOR HIS NAME." The value of the
treasure is nothing less than the value of His Own Name.
Have you noticed what a great place that Name has in the
New Testament? Our salvation is only by the Name.
Salvation rests upon the meaning of that Name. He that
believeth on the Name of the Lord shall be saved. So that
faith in the Name is the basis and the beginning of
salvation.
Then we
are called by His Name. The Apostle James says,
"That worthy Name which is called upon you":-
we are called by His Name. We do not know what was in the
minds of the people of Antioch, when they first called
believers, "Christians." Of course, the world
must always put some name onto people. But there is a
significance about that Name, when in Antioch, the
believers were first called "Christians." That
word just simply means, people who belong to Christ. They
are Christ's ones. So the Name is called on us, we are
called by His Name. Do you call yourself a Christian? As
everyone here tonight says, I am a Christian, that simply
means, I am one of Christ's. The Name that rests upon Him
now rests upon me. I carry the Name of Christ with me.
What is
the next thing? Well, it says in the Book of the Acts,
they went forth for the sake of the Name. That is, they
went out into the world for the sake of His Name. They
went out in life and service for the Name of the Lord
Jesus. That is what we are Christians for, to go out into
the world with His Name.
What is
the next thing? They counted it joy to suffer for the
sake of the Name. They counted it an honor that they were
worthy to suffer for the sake of the Name. So, suffering
for the Name is the next thing. It will depend entirely
upon what we think of the Name, and how much we are
prepared to suffer for it. The service and suffering are
for the sake of the Name of Jesus. When Paul was
converted, and was led by the hand into Damascus, during
those three days and nights of prayer, the Lord spoke to
Ananias, and told him where Saul of Tarsus was at that
moment, and told him what he was doing. Then He said to
Ananias, 'You go to that man, and you lay your hands on
him, he is a chosen vessel unto Me to bear My Name before
the nations, and I will show him how great things he must
suffer for My Name.' The service and the suffering are
joined together. The service and suffering are for the
sake of the Name.
What is
the next thing? It is our character and our conduct for
the sake of the Name. The Word is, "Whatsoever you
do, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus."
Character, conduct, for the sake of the Name. What we are
in ourselves, and how we behave in this world, touches
the Name of Jesus. If our character is not good, if our
conduct is not good, it brings dishonor upon His Name. So
that the Name governs our whole life in every department
in this world.
There is
one more thing that we will mention in connection with
the Name. If all these things are true, which we have
mentioned, if we are saved through faith in the Name, if
that worthy Name is called upon us and we bear that Name,
if we are going forth every day into the world for the
sake of the Name, if we are prepared to suffer for the
sake of that Name, and if we are seeking to order our
character and our conduct for the honor of that Name,
then this next thing will become true. We shall have
power by the Name.
You
remember that almost immediately after the day of
Pentecost, Peter and John were going up to the temple at
the hour of prayer, and they saw a poor man lying
hopeless at the gate of the temple, and he was asking, he
was begging for money. Peter looked upon him, and had
compassion upon him, and he said, "Silver and gold
have I none," but I have got something better than
that, "in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise
up and walk." I think that was the best gift that
man ever had in all the years that he had been there. The
mighty power in that Name came to that man. Of course,
that upset all the Jewish rulers. And Peter and John
found themselves in trouble with the authorities. They
were taken to the court to be tried and condemned, and
the judges said, By what Name have you done this? They
meant, By what authority? And Peter said, If you ask by
what Name or by what authority this man is made whole, be
it known unto you that it is by the Name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth. There is power and there is authority in the
Name. They did many mighty works by the Name of the Lord
Jesus.
But we
shall never know the power of the Name unless we know
these other things about the Name. A lot of people would
like to have the power without the consecration and the
character. The power demands a holy life, a life that is
in accordance with the Name of Jesus. And I think there
are a lot more people who would like to have the power
without the suffering. There is no power without the
suffering. It is the people who suffer for the sake of
the Name, who know the power of the Name.
But we
have not finished the list yet, there is one more. If you
look into the Book of the Revelation the Lord says this,
'To him that overcometh, will I write My new Name upon
him.' The Name, then, is the Name of glory. It is the
crown of glory, crown of glory for those who have
believed in the Name, for those who have been consecrated
to the Name, those who have honorably borne that Name
through this life, to those who have served for the sake
of the Name. Those whose characters have been conformed
to the Name, and those who suffer for the sake of
the Name, that Name will be written upon their foreheads.
It will be the sign that they are glorified together with
Christ.
I wonder
if we have really got what we have been saying. There are
not many nations represented here tonight. I do not know
how many, but only a few, I think. But all of us here
tonight are out of some nation. Are we the Lord's? Why
are we the Lord's? Why are we saved? What would be your
answer to that question? Well, I am saved in order to
have my sins forgiven. I am saved in order to escape the
judgment at the last day. I am saved in order to go to
heaven. Well, of course, all those things are true. But
they are not the real object of our salvation. WE ARE
SAVED FOR THE SAKE OF HIS NAME. We are taken out of the
nations for His Name. And the value of this treasure out
of the nations is just the value of the Name of the Lord
Jesus. And the value of that Name is all the glory of
heaven. That is the price that He paid for our salvation.
You see,
all that the Lord Jesus let go of was the price that He
set upon His Name. And if that Name truly rests upon you
and upon me, then we are of tremendous value to the Lord
Jesus. It is not the value of what we are in ourselves.
Perhaps you could say to me, Well, I am of very little
value. It is not true that I am of the value of the Name
of Jesus. You would be quite right if you said that. It
is not what we are in ourselves, but it is the value of
that Name which rests upon us. Our value is the value of
the Name. Without that Name, we are of no value at all.
But with that Name, we are a treasure of great price. The
Lord looks upon us as bearing His Name as something very
precious to Him. We are therefore saved for the sake of
the Name.
I want
to appeal to you, dear friends, I want to say to you, Do
seek to have your whole life here according to the Name
of the Lord Jesus. Do seek that Your whole character and
your whole conduct and all that you do in this life is
for the glory of the Name of Jesus. The one question that
should stand over everything is, Will this honor the
Name of the Lord Jesus? See, there
are lots of Christians who say about certain things, Oh
well, there is no harm in it. Why should I not do that?
There is nothing wrong about that. Why should I not go to
this thing and to that thing? Why should I not do what
other people do? You see, that is all negative. We ought
to say, If I do this, will it honor the Name of Jesus? Am
I conducting my business to the honor of the Name of
Jesus? Am I using my money for the honor of the Name of
Jesus? Is my behavior before people honoring the Lord
Jesus? That is the positive way of looking at the
Christian life. So, we must ask about everything, Does
this honor the Name of Jesus? When there are divisions
between the Lord's people, do we say, Oh, this does so
much dishonor to His Name. For the sake of the Name, we
must do everything to heal this division.
Now we
will close by noting one other thing. The Man found the
treasure in the field. He sold all that He had to possess
that field. When He had paid the price of redemption for
the field, He secured for Himself the treasure that was
in that field. And, then, what did He do with it? What
did He do with the treasure when He got it? It says, "He
hid it, He hid it." You see, dear
friends, His Own people are hidden in the nations. There
is no other way of distinguishing His people in the
nations but by the Name that rests upon them. Those
people in the city of Antioch did not say, We know these
people by their dress, we know these people because of
this or that or something else. We know them because of
the Name that rests upon them. They are Christ's ones.
That is the only way in which the world knows us.
Otherwise,
we are no different from other people. We have not become
a different kind of species, distinguished in some
outward way from other kinds of people, no, we are hidden
in the world as Christians. Jesus said, "Therefore
the world knoweth them not." The world does not know
how valuable they are to God. The world does not know
that they are a treasure for whom Christ has paid the
greatest price. They are His hidden ones. It is only the
Lord Who knows them that are His. The only way in which
the world can know who we are is because we are living
according to His Name. We are bearing His Name in this
world with honor. It is a worthy Name that has been
called upon us. So the Lord says, "Be ye holy;
for I am Holy" (I Peter 1:16). That is the
distinguishing mark of the Christians. It is said of
those first believers, that men took knowledge of them
that they had been with Jesus. Whatever they meant by
that, it means something very wonderful. We know these
people because they are like Jesus.
Now that
is a very simple message, and yet it is a searching
message. That wonderful parable is contained in just one
verse, but it tells us of what the Lord is doing through
this whole dispensation, He is taking out of the nations
a people for His Name.
Now here
is a wonderful thing. When we all get to heaven, what
shall we look like? Well, I want to tell you this, that
you will not see me as an Englishman in heaven, and I
shall not see you as Chinese men and women in heaven. You
will not find white and black and yellow and red people
in heaven. We shall all bear the image of the glorified
Son of Man. That is better than having a black or a white
face, is it not? You see, it says distinctly in the Word
of God, that we were foreordained to be conformed to the
image of His Son. And when we awake, we shall be like
Him. If we have borne His Name here, if we have honored
His Name here, if we have suffered for His Name here, His
Name will be upon us there, and it will be ONE GREAT
CHRIST, Christ manifested in us all - because we shall
bear His likeness, because we are called by His Name!