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###### Lay Up All the Treasures You Can for Greater Glory

{Since the Heavenly Trade Is the Best Trade…

Exhortation to Good Traders in Christianity

Advice: Lay Up for Glory

Lay Up All the Treasures You Can for Greater Glory}

Lay up all the treasures you can to increase glory. Though the least portion of glory is satisfying, yet the highest measure of glory is desirable, because in it there is the greatest conformity to God (1 John 3:2; Luke 10:17–20; Daniel 12:3)1666 and the fullest enjoyment of God. The Lord Jesus teaches about degrees of glory for the encouragement of His people so they will use their grace better; the highest degrees of glory are thus desirable. Oh, get as much as you can here to make your felicity in Heaven greater. Do all you can to make your crown heavier, your mansion fairer, and your pleasures fuller to all eternity.

Several Things Tend to Greater Glory

{Since the Heavenly Trade Is the Best Trade…

Exhortation to Good Traders in Christianity

Advice: Lay Up for Glory

Lay Up All the Treasures You Can for Greater Glory

Several Things Tend to Greater Glory}

Several things have a tendency to make your glory greater. The more grace you put to good use now, the greater will be your glory. He who gained ten minas had ten cities (Luke 19:17).1667 Grace is sown seed; according to its measure will be the harvest. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7 NASB). The less seed is sown, the fewer crops there will be, and the more seed, the larger the increase (1 Corinthians 3:9).1668 Glory is a crown of righteousness proportioned to the utmost good use of grace. The more work you do for God, the greater will be your wages of grace in glory (1 Peter 5:2–4).1669 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10 NASB).

The more you lay out for God, the more you will receive from Him (2 Corinthians 9:6),1670 who will certainly repay it.

The greater your sufferings are for God, the greater your rejoicing will be with Him. “Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting” (Psalm 126:5 NASB). Look at what disproportion there is between planted seed and harvested grain. There is a far greater difference between the saints’ sufferings and sorrows, and the triumphing joy. Their sorrow is for a short night, but their joy begins with that morning that begins an endless day (Psalm 30:5).1671 Their tears will scarcely fill a bottle, but their pleasures are as to a vast ocean that cannot be received, but must be waded into (Matthew 25:21).1672 “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV). Yes, the present consolations of the saints often abound during their sufferings. “The ringing of my chains has been sweet music in my ears,” said Guy de Bres. “All my former discourses were only as a blind man’s of colors compared to my present feeling. Oh, what a precious comforter is a good conscience.” How unspeakable then are those rejoicings when all tears will be wiped off and when sorrow and mourning will fly away (Matthew 5:10–12).1673

The more your losses are for Christ on earth, the greater will be your gain in Heaven. “For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one” (Hebrews 10:34 NASB). People can never bring their goods to a better market than to have them plundered for the sake of Christ. The goods you lose for Christ are subject to being spoiled and stolen, but the goods you will receive in Heaven are above all injury. In Heaven, the money bags will not get old, much less the treasure in them, whereas time will mar your best things here. Alas, what are a few old goods, moth-eaten garments, and tarnished silver, all subject to change, compared with that substance whose duration is as long as eternity and whose extent is as large as immensity? Such is God in Christ, the saint’s eternal treasure. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29 NASB). Carnal reason judges those who dare to be undone for their Christian profession as the greatest fools. But divine truth reckons those using carnal reason to be the madmen; to escape those who can only kill the body, they dare encounter Him who can damn both soul and body in Hell (Matthew 10:28).1674 They lay a foundation of a few days’ safety on the ruins of themselves and others.1675 Mr. Cooper said, “How dangerous is the state of those who cannot rise except by the fall of many? How poor are those things for which you have left us?” On the contrary, the saints’ losses for Christ are their greatest gain; the things they part with are only temporal, but those they gain are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).1676

Last, the more souls you help to Heaven, the more treasure you prepare for Heaven. “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3 ESV). Nothing sinks a person deeper into Hell than to have the blood of souls on his head and to become the occasion of others perishing (Jeremiah 2:33–35).1677 Similarly, it wonderfully increases a person’s own blessedness in Heaven to be the means of getting others to be blessed also. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19 NKJV).

1666“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2 NKJV). “The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven’” (Luke 10:17–20 NASB). “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3 ESV).

1667“And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities’” (Luke 19:17 NASB).

1668“For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9 ESV).

1669“Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away” (1 Peter 5:2–4 NKJV).

1670“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6 ESV).

1671“For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5 NASB).

1672“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’” (Matthew 25:21 NKJV).

1673“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10–12 NASB).

1674“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28 ESV).

1675This sentence and the next one by Mr. Cooper may refer to the bad example set for those who are already under great temptation to deny Christ or otherwise sin.

1676“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NASB).

1677“How well you prepare your way To seek love! Therefore even the wicked women You have taught your ways. Also on your skirts is found The lifeblood of the innocent poor; You did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things, Yet you said, ‘I am innocent; Surely His anger is turned away from me.’ Behold, I will enter into judgment with you Because you say, ‘I have not sinned’” (Jeremiah 2:33–35 NASB).

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