"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

" Luke 19:10

"The Lost Treasure"

What do we understand by that Scripture? In Gospel terms we have painted pictures of lost sheep, of lost individuals. That is true but we must be far more comprehensive than this. There is more lost than the souls of men. God has lost something and the Son of Man has come to recover that which was lost. What has God lost? Listen again, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field" (Matthew 13:44). What is the treasure? What is the field? The field is the world; the treasure is the church. The treasure is hid and the Lord Jesus paid the crown rights of the whole universe in order to have the Church that was in it. Christ acquired by redemption the universal rights to secure that treasure, the Church. This is that which was lost. What is the Church? The Church is the one new man, the fullness of the measure of the stature of a man of Christ. The Church is the corporate heavenly man, the expression of Christ in corporate form. The Church is His inheritance in the Saints. That is a very precious treasure. The Church is not the only thing, but it is the central thing. The Lord Jesus, through His life, death and resurrection, has acquired the rights of the universe so there will be other things in addition to the Church. There will be the nations walking in the light of the Church. There will be redemption, but the Church is the central thing. Christ has found the Church, and it was the lost treasure that dictated His course, and governed Him in paying the price. The Church is so precious to Him that He was willing to pay the price for the whole universe in order to have it. That is the focal point. The church is the key to redemption. The Church is that which is coming to be the perfect image of Christ. All else will be secondary. There will be a reflection of Christ through the Church. His light will fall upon all else. All else will take its character from what Christ is in the Church, but the Church will be the center. "The nations shall walk in the light thereof." (Revelation 21:24) It is something to be alive in this dispensation when the Lord having acquired the rights of the universe, of the whole creation by His Cross, is specially concentrating upon the treasure now, to get it out of the creation. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid. The Lord is doing a secret work in relation to the Church. A bridal company is being gathered from the masses that shall perfectly reflect Him throughout this universe in the ages to come. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto." What is the significance of that phrase? It means that the whole heavenly system is focused upon the church, that she, the church is the center of the heavenly system. All that The Heavens means in this spiritual sense is interested in the Church, the treasure in the field. Why is this? Because the Church is the heavenly man in Christ. Look at the Lord Jesus in person as the heavenly man, the whole universe is interested in Him. At His birth Heaven is active; the host of heavenly beings break through in relation to Him. Hell is also active, and through Herod seeks to destroy that birth and all it's meaning. You find that right on through His earthly life, the entire universe is centering its attention upon Him and is related to Him. In His death the sun hides its face, the earthquakes and there is darkness over the face of it. The whole universe is bound up with this one. The Kingdoms of the Heavens, all the heavenly system is concerned with this treasure in the field because of its eternal significance, relationship, and purpose. We who are involved in this gathering had better take heed that we build according to the pattern.