Treasures
Matt 13:52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. (KJV)
A scribe or writer was the one who copied the manuscripts in the days before copiers and computers. They also taught the Word and therefore they had to be instructed in the Word before they could be teachers. They should always be learning until the day that they die. As they matured though and they taught the Word they would share things they learned long ago or old things and they would also share new things that they learned from God’s Word.
This is just like the Master of a house that would have treasures that he has accumulated over the years and would be old, but also would be adding new treasures to his house. God, who is the Master of His universal house, has treasures both Old and New in the Testaments. He can share both of these with us and we can be blessed by both. Jesus came to fulfill and not destroy the law that He might be the foundation of the New Testament. Not only can we use the treasure of the Old Testament for our wisdom and edification we now have all the treasures of the New Testament such as salvation by faith, the indwelling of the Spirit and a joint inheritance with Christ. As we have need God through His Word and the Holy Spirit brings out the treasure suitable for us. It may come from the Old or the New, but it will be exactly what we need when we need it.
We are also householders. Our body is the house of our soul and Paul says that we have God’s treasure in earthen vessels. (2 Cor 5:1-4, 4:7) If God dispenses to us His treasures, as we need them then we too can dispense treasure to our brethren and the unsaved. We have old treasure. These are the memories of our salvation and the things we learned as we grew. The miracles we saw, the blessings and even the bad times where we saw God’s power manifested in our lives are our old treasures.
However, we are to have new treasures as well. Often times, you will hear a testimony and you want to ask the person when this happened. If you did, they may say ten years ago or five years ago. You hear them tell of the service they did and again they say that service was years ago. Brethren, this ought not to be so. We should be experiencing God daily and have new treasures and insights. We may be using the old gift that we were given at salvation, but we should be using it in a fresh way or a new application of that gift.
I am still using my old gift of teaching, but I am using it in a new way by placing these lessons on the Internet. I have never written a curriculum until recently. Teaching is my old treasure, but I am adding new nuggets to the chest. I have different insights that I did not have twenty-five years ago when I was first saved. I am sure that my delivery is much different than it was then. I have had different audiences over the years. Even now, for the first time in my ministry I am ministering to a culturally diverse congregation. New treasures are being given to me that enhance the value of my old treasures. In a few years, what I am experiencing now will be old treasure and I pray that I will still be receiving new treasures.
Brothers and Sisters, how is your treasure chest? Are souvenir trinkets all you have in it? If you have great treasure is it all old? Ask God to give you opportunities to receive new treasure. Get back into service if you have been sitting on the bench. Pray for new manna!! Let Him bless you that you may have a fresh testimony and shiny new treasures to edify the brethren and share with the unsaved. He has plenty in His storehouse. Ask Him and see what He will bring forth!!!
