Valuing The Treasure Of The Kingdom
Parables Of The Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Children’s Bible Page 1042
Introduction: The Sandlot - Value Of The Babe Ruth Baseball
31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
44 “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.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
One of my favorite movies of my childhood is a movie called, “The Sandlot.”
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
And The Sandlot is about a kind of nerdy kid who just moved into a brand new neighborhood and wants to make friends.
And all the boys in his neighborhood love baseball and get together all the time to play baseball at this Sandlot in their neighborhood.
While the new kid knows nothing about baseball, he starts playing with them to try to make friends.
One of the first days, the baseball they are all playing with gets hit over the Sandlot fence into a backyard with a vicious dog, and they are scared of the owner of the house, so they think they can’t play baseball anymore because they lost their ball.
But, the new nerdy kid takes the opportunity to score some points with his new friends by telling them that his new stepdad had a ball at home they could use.
He goes and gets the ball, and what the boy doesn’t understand, since he knows nothing about baseball, is that the ball he took out to play with was signed by Babe Ruth.
So, when that ball gets hit over the fence, he tells the other boys that it had some ladies name on, “Ruth - Baby Ruth!”
At that point, the boys all freak out that it was signed by Babe Ruth - the legendary baseball player, and they explain the gravity of the situation.
And as the boy begins to understand just how valuable that ball was, he and the other boys are ready to go to extreme measures to get that ball back at any costs.
I begin with telling that story, because Jesus is going to tell a similar story today about the ultimate value of the Kingdom of God.
You see, as I’ve mentioned in the two other sermons in this chapter, Jesus’ disciples find themselves in a really crucial place in their journey with Jesus in this chapter.
At the beginning of the book, we read about how the disciples hear Jesus’ call to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand, and they go all in with following Jesus.
Yet, by chapter 13, they have experienced some surprising unbelief and opposition from many people when it comes to Jesus which leads them to wonder, “How in the world is the kingdom of God at hand if there is so much unbelief and opposition?”
So, we have explored these parables of the kingdom where Jesus taught the disciples that different people are going to respond in different ways to the message of the kingdom.
And while the kingdom of God is at hand, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the evil one will grow together during the time that we are in which is between Jesus’ first and second coming, and we await His second coming where the Kingdom of God will come to ultimate fulfillment, and the kingdom of the evil one will be finally judged and punished by God.
And while it must have helped the disciples to understand these things about the kingdom, they still must have been left with one more nagging question: “Is it worth it?”
I mean, I thought we were leaving our families and our careers and our homes to follow Jesus in order to help usher in the kingdom of God to earth!
I didn’t know how much unbelief and opposition we would face along the way!
I didn’t know it wasn’t going to happen right away!
I wonder if you can relate with the disciples of Jesus. I know I can.
Maybe you are exploring Jesus and his gospel of the kingdom for the first time, or maybe you have been faithfully walking with Jesus for a long time, but there are certain things in your life that lead you to ask: Is it worth it?
This morning, in our final week of our series from Matthew 13, The Parables of the Kingdom, we are going to consider the rest of the parables of the chapter, as they help us answer the question: Is it worth it?
31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
1. The Kingdom Of God Expands From Insignificant To Extravagant
1. The Kingdom Of God Expands From Insignificant To Extravagant
Consider the first parable about the kingdom of heaven being like a grain of mustard seed.
It’s the smallest of all the seeds.
Think about it: here was Jesus, a Jewish man from a poor Jewish family with no formal religious training leading a hodge podge group of 12 men: fishermen, tax collectors, and a zealot, all the while stating that the kingdom of God is at hand!
It seemed as no match to the engrained religion of Judaism led by the scribes and pharisees, not to mentioned the power of the Roman empire at the time!
Jesus’ movement seemed so small and insignificant.
Yet, Jesus was teaching them that while the kingdom of God begins small and insignificant, it will finally grow larger than all the garden plants and become a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
I mean, just consider the influence and expanse of Christianity that we see even from the first generation of the church to the point that by Acts 17, mobs of Jews are dragging Christians before Roman courts accusing the Christians of being men and women who are turning the world upside down.
And when we hear that the kingdom of God is growing and ever expanding, sometimes we think about it in terms of the influence Christianity is having on society and culture, but that is not first and foremost what Jesus means by saying that the kingdom of God will grow.
Because remember from last week, every human soul who is living or who has ever lived belongs to one of two kingdoms: the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of the evil one.
So, the kingdom of God expanding is not first describing the cultural impact Christianity is having, but the number of humans souls that God is saving and transferring from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved son by grace through faith in the gospel.
Because think about it, Jesus said
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
That means at the moment of someone’s repentance of sin and faith in Jesus, their soul is saved and brought into the family and kingdom of God.
And all who are of genuine faith will never be cast out. Instead,
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
So, throughout human history, you have people being saved by grace through faith, and no genuine believers lose their salvation but are kept safe by Christ, leading to an always growing and ever expanding kingdom.
So, just like we remind ourselves often that the church is not a building to come to but a people to belong to,
We should also remind ourselves that the Kingdom of God is not first and foremost about cultural influence on a society, but it is about God and His people who proclaim that Jesus is Lord.
Now, do not hear me wrong. I believe that the sons and daughters of the kingdom of God will have a positive impact on the culture.
The more closely aligned a society is to God’s truth, the more the society will flourish, and the less it is aligned to God’s truth, the worse off it is.
I believe we should promote God’s truth in our society and live and vote in line with our biblical convictions the best we can knowing that aligning society to the truth of God is the most loving thing to do for all people,
But think about it: Jesus’ goal for his first disciples was never to put their hope in transforming Rome’s culture into a Christian society.
Jesus’ goal for his disciples was to go into all nations and make disciples of people and teach them to obey Christ, and in that, He would be with them always.
Here’s why this is important: if we believe that God’s kingdom growing is all about cultural impact, then we would have to consider this season in our country as if the kingdom of God is shrinking, which it never does.
Think about it: our brothers and sisters in Christ living in Iran or North Korea today should not place their hope in the fact that on this side of eternity theirs will become a Christian nation with biblical rules, laws, and standards.
They are not looking to cultural influence as their proof for if the kingdom of God is advancing.
No, they place their hope in the fact that they have been transferred from the kingdom of the evil one in to the kingdom of God’s beloved son, and God will be with them as they seek to make disciples of Jesus, and that mission will never fail.
If God, in His sovereignty chooses to save every soul in those countries, and Christianity permeates the whole life and culture of the place, praise God, but that is not where their hope lies.
It is the same for us.
We want a society influenced by God’s truth and standards and love and ways, but we will not experience that to the full on this side of eternity.
But, even as we watch our society become more secular and further from God’s truth all around us, that does not mean that the kingdom of God is dwindling.
No, it never dwindles, because the kingdom of God is not first about cultural influence, but about more and more souls being transferred from the kingdom of the evil one to the kingdom of his beloved son, and that is happening everyday.
And when Christ returns, and we are with him, we will see and experience people from all nations praising the Lamb around his throne.
Only on that day, will we experience just how truly expansive this seemingly insignificant movement became.
And on that day, those first disciples and we today will see with our eyes, just how worth it following Jesus as Lord truly is.
The kingdom of God expands from insignificant to extravagant.
2. The Kingdom Of God Permeates All Facets Of Life
2. The Kingdom Of God Permeates All Facets Of Life
Not only does the Kingdom of God grow to full expansion, but it permeates all facets of life.
33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
Leaven is the agent within dough that allows bread to expand and rise and develop all those air pockets throughout the bread.
And leaven is a very small percentage of the dough compared to the flour, but it ends up leavening the whole loaf of bread.
And in the same way, in the world and in individual human hearts, the kingdom of heaven begins small but ends up permeating all of life.
Consider what we saw last week, the kingdom of the evil one will finally be removed from the earth, and the kingdom of God and His Christ along with His sons and daughters will occupy the entirety of the earth.
This is not only true in a cosmic sense, but also in a personal sense.
When you first come to understand the gospel message of the kingdom of God, you repent of your sin and you trust in Jesus for salvation,
But it is impossible on that first day of being saved to know all the ways that your faith will permeate your life.
Yet, as you grow in the grace of God, you come to see that the gospel of the kingdom does not just apply to your eternal souls salvation into Heaven, but it also applies to you today.
It applies to your relationships, your priorities, your dreams, your commitments, your free time, your finances, your emotions, your career, and every single aspect of your life.
Growing in an understanding of Jesus in relationship with Him as your Savior and Lord permeates into all facets of your life!
I think about it like my relationship with Robin.
When Robin and I met in college, she was a part of my life.
We were in the same friend group. We had some classes together.
When we started dating, she became more a part of my life, my priorities, and my time.
Now that we are married, I can’t think of any area of my life that does not involve Robin in some significant way.
And this happens to us as we become disciples of Jesus and walk in communion with Him, and learn His word, and commune with Him in prayer, and become a part of His church, and learn to observe His commands in all of life by the power of the Holy Spirit of God within us.
You see, when you are saved, you are not only saved from your sin, but you are saved into perfect relationship with your loving God and into the communion of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
And an extremely important realization as a follower of Jesus comes when Jesus goes from being a part of your life, to understanding that Jesus is your life.
All of life is about Jesus.
All of life has been given by Jesus, purposed for Jesus, and pointed toward glorifying Jesus.
I think about in John 6 where Jesus was teaching the crowds about his flesh and his blood, and many people were offended by Jesus and walking away no longer to follow him,
And Jesus turns to his disciples and asks:
67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Later in the book of Matthew, Jesus will acknowledge that his true disciples left houses and brothers and sisters and father and mother and children and lands for His names sake.
The kingdom of God had come to permeate all of life.
Is that true of you? Or do you metaphorically have Jesus tucked away in a little corner or pocket of your life?
Have you learned to apply following Jesus to your marriage, your singleness, your career, your rest, your free time, your finances, and your priorities?
The kingdom of God comes to permeate all of life as we like the boy in the Sandlot come to understand just how worth it what we have is.
That’s where the next parables take us:
44 “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.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
3. The Kingdom Of God Is Of Ultimate Worth
3. The Kingdom Of God Is Of Ultimate Worth
Notice, when the man found the treasure hidden in the field which represents the kingdom of heaven,
He joyfully goes and sells all that he has and buys that field!
When the merchant finds the one pearl of great price which represents the kingdom of heaven, he goes and sells all that he had and buys it.
Now, if we were not tempted to be overly spiritual this morning, we would read these two little parables and think: surely not!
What kind of investment would be worth going and selling everything in order to buy one thing?
How could one investment possibly be worth the divestment of everything else?
It sounds similar to Paul’s words in
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Or the quote from Matthew Henry made popular by Jim Elliot:
“He is no fool who gives away what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
There will be moments in your life where your circumstances will lead you to ask the question: Is it worth it?
Is it worth it to follow Jesus even when it causes a strain in my relationship with my unbelieving family member?
Is it worth it to follow Jesus even when it alienates me from my coworkers?
Is it worth it to follow Jesus when I have a job, I work all week, I have a family, and I have to give time and attention to his church by attending and serving?
Is it worth it to follow Jesus when He asks me to be generous with my money?
Is it worth it to follow Jesus when He tells me in Hebrews to obey the leaders in his church and submit to them?
Is it worth it to follow Jesus when He tells me to love my wife and lay my life down for her?i
When he tells me to submit to my husband and be he helpmate?
Is it worth continuing to confess my sin, repent of my sin, fight against my sin, pursue holiness and righteousness?
Is it worth it when the Holy Spirit of God prompts you to go across the street, across the state, across the country, or across the world to take the message of the gospel of the Kingdom to those who need to hear it?
Is it worth it to follow Jesus even in the midst of chronic pain, tragic loss, anxiety and depression, a devastating diagnosis, or even at the threat of your life?
Is it worth it in the face of opposition and unbelief?
Why did the men in the parables sell all they had to buy the treasure of the kingdom of Heaven?
I will share two reasons:
One, it is the only treasure that cannot and will not be lost.
Job said, “Naked I came into this world, and naked I will return there.”
At the end of your life, nothing of this world will last.
You can’t take anything with you into eternity.
You must not cling too tightly to your youth, your possessions, your relationships, your health, your earthly pursuits, they will all be taken from you.
The kingdom of God is eternal.
It will never be taken from you.
Two, it is the only treasure that will sustain your full satisfaction, your full awe, your full pleasure, your full rest, and your full joy for eternity.
(Gospel)
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
53 And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54 and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
4. The Kingdom Of God Is Proclaimed By Jesus’ Disciples
4. The Kingdom Of God Is Proclaimed By Jesus’ Disciples
Notice, for the sons and daughters of the kingdom, the ones who hear, understand, and receive the message of the kingdom, Jesus calls them scribes trained for the kingdom of heaven, a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.
It paints the picture of a homeowner whose home is filled with treasures both old and new.
And he doesn’t just keep his treasures to himself, but he brings them out to share them with others - both the old and the new.
In the same way, the treasures of the kingdom of God have been given to the people of God through both the old covenant Scriptures, and the new covenant being brought by Jesus Christ.
In the gospel of Luke, after Jesus is resurrected, we read that he walked alongside two disciples
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
And I believe the best picture we get of what that greatest of Bible studies sounded like is when we read the sermons in the book of Acts, where they begin with the Old Testament history and bring it all the way to Jesus and show how he fulfilled all of it.
Because the Bible is not a bunch of unrelated stories, and it’s not just a bunch of rules or principles for life.
The Bible is the one story of God’s creation of all things, man’s fall into sin and disobedience, God’s love in sending His son Jesus to save us from our sin and reconcile us to God, our journey as God’s church awaiting Jesus’ return, and the return of Jesus to bring the kingdom of God to earth in full.
And if you have believed this gospel, Jesus here calls you a scribe who have been trained for the kingdom of heaven.
We too oftentimes have thought that only formal ministers or pastors can teach the Bible or share the gospel, but Jesus equips every believer with this treasure to bring out and share with others.
But, not all people will respond rightly to the message.
We see it at the end of the chapter…
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Let’s pray.
(Elder at couch)
