I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire.' Now there may be many different ways of putting the thought that is conveyed here, but I think the deepest truth of human nature is that the only wealth for a man is the possession of God. And so instead of, as many commentators do, suggesting interpretations which seem to me to be inadequate, I think we go to the root of the matter when we find the meaning of the wealth which Christ counsels us to buy of Him in the possession of God Himself, who is our true treasure and durable riches.
That wealth alone makes us paupers truly rich. For there is nothing else that satisfies a man's craving and supplies a man's needs. He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance, with increase'; but if we have the gold of God, we are rich to all intents of bliss; and if we have Him not, if we are for ever roaming with a hungry heart,' and though we may have a large balance at our bankers, and much wealth in our coffers, and houses full of silver and gold,' we are poor indeed.
That wealth has immunity from all accidents. No possession is truly mine of which any outward contingency or circumstance can deprive me. But this wealth, the wealth of a heart enriched with the possession of God, whom it knows, loves, trusts, and obeys, this wealth is incorporated with a man's very being, and enters into the substance of his nature; and so nothing can deprive him of it. That which moth or rust can corrupt; that which thieves can break through and steal; that which is at the mercy of the accidents of a commercial community or of the fluctuations of trade; that is no wealth for a man. Only something which passes into me, and becomes so interwoven with my being as is the dye with the wool, is truly wealth for me. And such wealth is God.
The only possession which we can take with us when our nerveless hands drop all other goods, and our hearts are untwined from all other loves, is this durable riches. Shrouds have no pockets,' as the grim proverb has it. But the man that has God for his portion carries all his riches with him into the darkness, whilst of the man that made creatures his treasure it is written: His glory shall not descend after him.' Therefore, dear brethren, let us all listen to that counsel, and buy of Jesus gold that is tried in the fire.
