Treasure of the King (2)
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Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.
When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” So they were offended at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Introduction:
Introduction:
So last week, we had a look at the parables of the Kingdom.
Starting in Matthew 13.24, we looked at three main parables:
The parable of the wheat and tares
The parable of the mustard seed
The parable of the leaven.
The parable of the hidden treasures,
The pearl of great price
The parable of the dragnet
Each of these parables focused on what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.
We spend a lot of time exploring the the first three, and briefly touched on the last three.
However, this week we are going to be exploring them more in-depth.
But before we jump into that, who can remind me of why Jesus spoke in parables?
Jesus taught in parables for two reasons:
Number one:
To hide the truth behind the parables from the ungodly in the “crowd”.
Those who were not walking in a right relationship with God could not understand the things which He was teaching.
Why? Because their hearts and minds were darkend.
1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Jesus was also protecting them by doing this because we will be held accountable for the knowledge we hold.
Jesus did not want to heap further condemnation on them.
Number two:
Through speaking in parables, Jesus true disciples, who had a real desire for truth and understanding would have the truth behind the parables revealed to them.
Jesus gave us the parables of the Kingdom to provide us with insight into the nature of his kingdom -spesifically how it operates presently in the world, while we wait for His second coming.
Previosly, in the parable of the sower, we saw that there are different responses to the word of God.
Some reject it.
Some accept it for a while, but when persecuation and trails come, they fall away.
And some accept it completely and produce lasting fruit, though in different degrees.
In the parable of the wheat and tears, we saw that there are two different types of people in this world - children of God, and the children of the Devil.
We saw that at face value, some people look like true believers, but they don’t belong to Jesus.
And at the day of judgement Jesus himself will seperate the true from the false.
True believers will spend eternity with Him.
Unbelievers will seperated from Him for eternity in Hell.
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
The parable of the mustard seed and leaven taught us about how the kingdom of God would start small and seem insignificant, but would eventually grow to be large and have a huge impact on the earth.
We as the disciples of disciples of Jesus should not despise the day of small beginnings.
So, lets start our in-depth study of the last three parables of the Kingdom.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
As we saw previously, Jesus provided interpretation to some of his parables.
In the parable of tares, the disciples came to Jesus, asking Him to explain the main principle behind the parable - which He did gladly.
With the parable of the hidden treasure and the precious pearl, however, Jesus did not provide an interpretation, which has lead to people interpreting it in different ways.
Today we will be looking at three.
Last week, I shared with you the most popular interpretation and that was:
Finding the kingdom of heaven is like finding treasure or precious pearls, it can be rare and difficult.
There are many who disregard its value, they value the things of this world far above the things of God.
But those who find the Kingdom of God are willing to give up everything for it.
Those who are truly born again and become disciples, give up everything for the kingdom of Heaven because they want Jesus.
They treasure Him more than anything, and and are willing give up everything to spend eternity with Him.
Jesus has gripped their heart, and He is their treasure. Nothing else matters.
This was the response that Paul had to Jesus when he got saved.
Philippians 3:7–8 (NKJV)
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
What a testimony. Can you say the same?
The second interpretation, its supported by Calvary Chapel.
We believe that Jesus is the man who found in a field.
The field is the world and the treasure is you and me.
Jesus came down from Heaven, gave up everything He had to purchase world, in order that He might gain the treasure in it - His sons and daughters, those believe and follow Him.
Jesus was willing to pay the ultimate price for us, so He came down from His throne in Heaven and gave up his glory, to die on a cross, to save you and me.
Philippians 2:5–8 (NKJV)
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
God the Father gave up what was most precious to Him, His own Son, in order that we might spend eternity with Him.
Why? Because you are valuable to Him. You are His treasure.
Jesus understood, that our sin would seperate us from God for eternity.
His desire was to reconcile us to God, but that would come at the ultimate price.
A price you and I could not afford to pay.
Just like a criminal receiving a sentence for breaking the law in court, God is a Judge, who has to sentence us for breaking His commandments.
Because He is Holy, He had to punish sin.
The punishment for sin is death.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And unfortunately there’s not one person alive who’s kept God’s commandments perfectly.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Therefore, the whole world is heading to hell - not because that is what God wants, but because that is what we chose.
2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
And because He loves us and wants to spend eternity with us, He put a plan in place to save us. His plan was Jesus.
Jesus paid that price we could not pay, and died in my and your place that we might obtain eternal life through Him.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Listen to what Jesus has to say about you today:
Matthew 18:10–14 (NKJV)
“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Know this - its not Jesus desire for you perish.
He bought the whole world through His own death on the cross.
He died and rose again on the third day, that He might obtain the hidden treasure in the world - you and me. Especially you little ones.
All you need to do is turn from their sins (repent) and put their trust (faith) in Jesus. And you will receive eternal life.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
The question is, have you responded? Jesus gives you the choice.
Finally the third interpreation of this parable is as follows:
The Old Testament refers to Israel as God’s treasured possession:
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His special treasure.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
With this interpretation, Jesus came to pay the highest price in order to redeem his people - Israel.
Although we do not replace Israel, the church has been grafted into promises made to God’s people, the Jews.
You can read more about that in Romans 11.
The Parable of the Pearl with Great Price
The Parable of the Pearl with Great Price
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
This parable has a similiar meaning to the previous one.
Jesus is the buyer of the pearl.
He see’s the individual believers as so valuable and precious, that He is willing to give up everything to have you spend with eternity Him forever.
The pearl refers to the whole bride of Christ, which includes both Jews and Gentiles.
The Parable of the Dragnet
The Parable of the Dragnet
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
This parable is similiar to that of the parable of the wheat and the tares, where Jesus will seperate the godly from the ungoldy at the end of the age.
A dragnet was a net that was thrown into the sea and dragged towards the shore with fish of different kind.
The sea refers to the world.
The good vessels refer to the believers.
The bad refers to the unbelievers.
Jesus will send forth his angels to seperate both the good from the bad.
The true believers will be preserved and spend eternity with Jesus, but the unbelievers will thrown into hell - where they will be tormented forever.
Read with me again:
Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Here we see Jesus asking the disciples whether or not they understand Him.
Why? Because He was preparing them to be teachers. They were going to be responsible to teach others that which He taught them.
They were to explain how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Prophecy, and what would happen in future.
We see this happening in the book of Acts, and the remainder of the New Testament.
Perhaps you feel a calling on your life to teach the Bible.
Its important for you diligently study the Bible, in order that you can rightly divide it. Both the Old and the New Testament.
The Bible tells instructs us in the following:
2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV)
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Why does it say this? Because teachers of the Word of God will be held to a higher standard of judgement.
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
Therefore, we should make sure that when we teach the Word of God what we are saying is correct.
I would like to read to you two quotes from David Guzik’s Commentary, a Calvary Chapel Pastor.
Quotations on verse from David Guzik’s Commentary:
“A small degree of knowledge is not sufficient for a preacher of the Gospel. The sacred writings should be his treasure, and he should properly understand them… his knowledge consists in being well instructed in the things concerning the kingdom of heaven” (Clarke)
“Ministers of the gospel should not be novices, 1 Tim 3:6 raw and ignorant men; but men mighty in the Scriptures, well acquainted with the writings of the Old and New Testament, and the sense of them; men that have a stock of spiritual knowledge, able readily to speak a word to the weary, and to speak to men and women’s particular cases and questions.” (Poole)
If that is you today, you feel that call, be like Ezra.
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Jesus rejected at Nazareth
Jesus rejected at Nazareth
Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.
When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” So they were offended at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Couple of interesting points here.
Jesus hometown was Nazareth, another fulfillment of prophecy.
And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Jesus strongly identified himself with Nazareth, however, the people of Narareth rejected Him.
Even more than that, Luke 4:28-30, tells us that they even tried to kill Jesus by throwing Him down a cliff.
Jesus own family rejected Him, thinking that He had lost His mind, but after His death, burial and resurrection they became believers in Jesus Christ.
A strong testimony to the Deity of Jesus. Would you believe one of your siblings told you they were God? I defintely wouldn’t.
James mentioned in verse 55, ended up being a leader in the church of Jerusalem, wrote the letter of James in the Bible, and would eventually die for His faith in Jesus.
Something quite miraculous had to have happened for Him to change his mind on Jesus.
Additionally, verse 55 also shows us clearly that Jesus had four half brothers - proving that the Roman Catholic Church in Mary’s perpetual virginity is false.
But that is besides the point.
We can see here that familiarity breeds contempt, and that the people of Nazerth looked at Jesus with prejudice.
They were unwilling to accept His teachings, and was biased towards Him because He was an unlearned man.
Listen to some of the questions Jesus asked about Jesus to discredit Him.
And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”
And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
But you know what? Their opinions meant nothing, and just like Jesus and Paul we ought be concerned with what God thinks of us, not the opinion of men.
Our identity is given to us by God, no one else gets to define us - not men or society around us.
We are able to endure the rejection of men, because we are accepted in Christ.
In fact, we are blessed when we experience this rejection and even more so if it is for the sake of being a follower of Jesus Christ.
And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Live your life for Jesus, and be obedient to what He has called you to do. Your life should please Him, not those around you.
For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
