Part 50 | The Greatest Treasure

Matthew 13:44–46 (ESV)

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Intro

Matthew: About the King (Jesus) and His Kingdom

Came to inaugurate God’s Kingdom upon the earth

In Matthew 13, we find a collection of Jesus’ parables, or illustrations, that he used to teach truths about the Kingdom of God.

Two weeks ago: Currently two Kingdoms in this World (Growing side by side)

(1) Kingdom of Darkness (or kingdom of Satan) & (2) Kingdom of God

Every ,man and woman is in one Kingdom or the other. (there is no neutral ground; and we can’t have one foot in each Kingdom).

Today, in these three verses, we find two similar parables that express the supreme value of the Kingdom of God AND the cost of being a part of that Kingdom.

These parables really get to the heart of Christianity:

To be a Christian is to treasure Christ and His Kingdom above all things

Matthew 6:21 (ESV)

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Why Listen?

Christians: The Christian life can be very difficult (I want us to be reminded that following Jesus is worth the sacrifice). The benefits of the Kingdom far outweigh the costs.

Non-Christians: See the infinite value of Christ and His Kingdom; my prayer is that today you would receive Jesus and joyfully move out of the Kingdom of this world and into the Kingdom of God.

(Unpacking the Two Parables)

Parable 1:

Matthew 13:44 (ESV)

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Ancient Israel did not have banks where they could put their money and draw interest; nor did they have anywhere safe to keep there valuables.

Often, wealthy people would put their treasures in clay pots and bury them in a field.

In the case of war, or if something happened to the owner of the filed, the treasure would often be forgotten about until someone stumbled upon it.

In the parable, the picture is likely of a hired worker who is working a field and comes upon the treasure.

He is not a man of means; in order for him to obtain this treasure, he knows that he must pull together all of his resources to acquire this plot of land.

He has to sell everything!

Precious heirlooms, record collections, hunting rifles, fishing poles… everything. He must liquidates his assets.

He sees the treasure as more valuable than the sum of all that he owns. So, in joy, he scrapes together all that he can to obtain the field and that he might behold the treasure.

And Jesus says, “That is what the kingdom of God is like.”

Parable 2

Matthew 13:45–46 (ESV)

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

In the economy of the time, pearls were extremely valuable.

For example, Cleopatra had two pearls that were valued at roughly 28.5 million in today’s dollars.

In the parable there is a merchant who comes upon a particular pearl, and he immediately recognizes its immense worth.

In order to acquire the pearl, that he must liquidate everything he has. And he does that very thing.

Yet he knows the pearl will pay much more than all that he has to give up (which BTW is EVERYTHING)

What Do These Parables Teach Us About the Kingdom?

1) The Kingdom of God requires Unconditional Abandonment

Often, people want to merely tack Jesus on to their lives.

That doesn’t work. The Kingdom is all or nothing.

2) The Kingdom of God brings us unimaginable splendor

Some people want Jesus to just help them fix a problem or give a little inspiration…

Raise your ambitions! He wants to bring you into a new dimension!

Biblical Context

Jesus is sharing this parable with his disciples.

Think about what they have given up to follow Jesus. (their jobs, their livelihood, the security of their homes and families).

Luke 18:28–30 (ESV)

And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

This doesn’t mean that every Christian has to sell their home and leave their job to follow Jesus.

But to be a Christian means un

Take parables in context of whole Bible

Do NOT teach that we can earn or buy our way into the Kingdom

The Kingdom of God is not EARNED by our sacrifice, but it is received by our unconditional abandonment (That is what true faith is!)

Application

The Kingdom of God costs us more than we could ever imagine, but it gives us more than we could ever dream.

A) Entering the Kingdom is Terrifying

It is terrifying to surrender ourselves wholly to the Lord and His Kingdom.

Comfort

Social Acceptance

Sin

Idols

Money

Unconditional Obedience (missionaries)

Pursuits

Self-rule (I’m going to live life on my terms)

Forbes Magazine

David Spencer

Owned a vintage Ferrari GT, A Bentley, an Aston Martin DB6, a DB7, and three other classic cars (one for each day of the week)

He lived in a beautiful, decked out home...

But he wasn’t happy.

He worked for a large corporation, and was good at his job… but he dreamed of owning his own recruitment business in the UK, specializing in services for the oil and gas, renewables, and nuclear companies.

He knew that for the dream to become a reality, that he would need a load of capital, which meant that he would have to liquidate all of his assets.

Over a period of several months, Spencer and his wife sold nearly everything they owned: the car collection, his expensive watch collection, his manor house, and loads of valuable antique furniture.

For Spencer, the payoff was worth the sacrifice.

The company is now bigger than the organization that he previously worked for, and they achieved that growth in half the time.

He has more than 900 employees.

Think how terrifying it must have been for Spencer to sell all that he had and invest it into a startup.

What if it failed?

What would happen to his family?

But the payoff was extraordinary.

B) Gaining the Kingdom is Glorious

If we get a glimpse of the wonder, value, and splendor of the Kingdom, we will JOYFULLY give up all that we have without a second thought.

Everything else pales in comparison to Christ and His Kingdom

We get:

Right standing with God

Unimaginable Peace

We become part of a new humanity

We get Christ

We get life

We get freedom

We get forgiveness

Our guilt is washed away

We get the hope of an eternity with God!

It is good now, but the best is yet to come!

1 Corinthians 2:9 (ESV)

But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

Story of In Vitro Fertilization

When you realize what you gain with the Kingdom of God, you won’t even think about the sacrifice.

Philippians 3:4–7 (ESV)

...If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Lauren and EJ Wynn (Good Morning America Did a Story)

A Christian couple who tried to conceive for five years, to no avail

It turned out that Lauren had complications that could make pregnancy more difficult.

But their dream was to have a family… and they would sacrifice whatever they had to, to bring that dream to reality.

They decided to try in vitro fertilization, which is very costly.

EJ, decided to do anything he could to raise the money.

He had a massive sneaker collection that he had worked on for years and was a prized possession of his.

But he sold every sneaker JOYFULLY because the payoff would outweigh the sacrifice.

Lauren underwent 600 injections, 11 surgeries, 400 pills and multiple five-hour, roundtrip drives to the clinic for blood transfusions.

But all of these sacrifices paled in comparison after their healthy baby was delivered a short time ago.

The payoff was immensely greater than the sacrifice.

The Christian life can be challenging. Unconditional surrender can be terrifying… but the payoff is well worth the cost.

Closing

If you can get a true glimpse of the glory of Christ and His Kingdom, we would gladly lay everything down in unconditional abandonment.

Illustration: Oldest Son: KORE Academy

Have you been willing to lay everything down at the feet of Jesus?

You cannot be in the Kingdom and rule

The Christian life is difficult… it comes at great cost. But remember, you have the greatest treasure in the world.