Treasures and Pearls

Introduction

Luke 17:20 ESV

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed,

Review of Kingdom of God

Ever been to an auction?

Ever watch “Price is Right”? It’s about assigning values to items.

Coby’s bad trade. My son once traded five dollars for a nickel.

(On Index Card)

- What was your most prized possession as a child? (mine - cowboy boots / scruffy / cowboy pillow)

- What is your most prized possession now?

- What is the dream for your life?

Hear the Story

Hidden Treasures and Priceless Pearls

We’ll read them then open them up for some explanation and then application.

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.

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.

Matthew 13:44

ILLUST - Antiques Roadshow

Understand the Story

One main point

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.

ILLUST - Antiques Roadshow - we all want to be the dude who bought a Cezanne at a yard sale for $6 (my favorite would be to see an interview with the dude who sold it)

L.A. Times 2014

For many years, John and Mary took daily walks along a trail on a section of their property they nicknamed Saddle Ridge.  

But last year, as they were walking their dog, they noticed an old can sticking out of the dirt. Curious, they brushed away some moss, used a stick to dig it out and carried the heavy container home.

And that’s all it took for the couple living in California’s gold country to discover a cache of 19th-century U.S. gold coins that rare coin experts say is the greatest buried treasure ever unearthed in the United States. . . Kagin said in a statement that eight of the rusty cans were filled with more than 1,400 rare and perfectly preserved U.S. gold coins dating from 1847 to 1894. Kagin said the coins have a face value of more than $28,000 but could sell for more than $10 million.

It’s been said the odds of winning the lottery are several thousand times better than finding a hidden treasure like this.

However, hiding treasure in a field was more common in Jesus’ day that it is today.

We have banks to keep money safe - they didn’t.

If you had any money in coins or valuables, you’d need to find your own way to keep your money out of sight and safe.

ILLUST - story of the talents

In addition, the land where Jesus lived had a history of wars, invading nations, and political revolutions so burying money in a place only you knew was the best way to secure it.

An invading nation always believed they could take what they wanted - but they can’t take what they don’t see.

Ancient historian Josephus writes that after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70, and after the Romans had carried off the spoils of war, treasures and caches of valuables were found buried in the ground under the rubble buy those who were attempting to secure their valuables against the invading armies.

The man who found the treasure was likely a hired worker, hired to care for the land.

Finds treasure, buries it again, sells everything he has and buys the land.

Some criticize the man as being shady in the land deal for buying the land instead of telling the landowner about the treasure. But:

Hiding treasure was common

Rabbinic law said if an previously unknown object was found it belonged to the finder if it was found outside of the house.

The landowner obviously did not own the treasure because he sold the land without first unearthing the treasure

If the worker really was shady - he wouldn’t have buried the treasure again, sold everything to legally own the land before he claimed the treasure - he would have run

Point is: He finds something worth everything.

the worker did the right thi

sells everything with joy

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.

Next is a merchant. This means he was likely a wholesaler - his whole job was to search out pearls at a good price and resell them.

Pearls were extremely valuable back then. They were a girl’s best friend - kind of like diamonds today.

Part of the reason is they were so hard and risky to get. Pearl hunters would free dive (without masks, wetsuits, scuba gear, nose plugs, swim caps, etc) into the depths of the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, or the Indian Ocean.

They would tie rocks to themselves and jump out of a boat hoping to make it to the bottom and feel through the mud to find oysters.

The merchant comes across a fine specimen of a pearl, so great that he sells everything he has to buy it.

There must have been something incredibly special about this pearl for this merchant to do this. He probably sold many lesser pearls as part of his possessions. It doesn’t seem business savvy. He risked everything for the pearl.

Point is: He finds something worth everything.

The Kingdom of God costs everything because the Kingdom of God is worth everything.

Ultimately, finding salvation is worth more than anything else in life.

Apply the Story

Apply the Story

Four key truths:

The Kingdom of God is not externally obvious

The merchant in the second story had been searching for the item that was worth everything, but the workman in the field was surprised when he found it.

- Some search for it and for some it is revealed but it is always God who brings about the treasure.

Some search for it and for some it is revealed but it is always God who brings about the treasure.

Kingdom of God is not always obvious.

- ILLUST – one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Coby and McDonald’s cups

More seriously,

2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 cor

There comes a time when God opens the eyes of a person’s heart to be able to understand .

*Jesus did not say these items were handed down – each man was responsible for their own reception of the treasure.

>> You are responsible with what God is giving you - whether you are looking for it or not. God has given you the gospel and you are responsible to use it to change your life.

The Kingdom of God comes at a price.

The treasure in the field had already been paid for

The risk for acquiring the pearl was accomplished by someone else.

The people in the parable simply recognized the worth of the treasures and took action to receive the treasures.

You could never pay the price.

We could sooner buy all the palaces and mansions on earth than we could earn entry into the kingdom of heaven by our own merits.

- John MacArthur

Psalm 49:6–8 ESV

those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice,

But Jesus could and did.

1 Peter 1:18–19 ESV

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

1 Peter 19:30

John 19:30 ESV

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

‘It is finished’ = Τετέλεσται, = transactional term meaning ‘paid in full’

“an ocean of meaning in a drop of language, a mere drop. It would need all the other words that ever were spoken, or ever can be spoken, to explain this one word. . . "What a grand utterance ! Now are we safe, for salvation is complete. The debt was now, to the last farthing, all discharged. The atonement and propitiation were made once and for all and forever, by the one offering made in Jesus’ body on the Tree. There was the cup; Hell was in it; the Savior drank it—not a sip and then a pause—not a draught and then a ceasing. He drained it till there is not a dreg left for any of His people. The great ten-thronged whip of the Law was worn out upon His back. There is no lash left with which to smite one for whom Jesus died. The great cannonade ("continuous heavy gunfire") of God’s justice has exhausted all its ammunition—there is nothing left to be hurled against a child of God. Sheathed is thy sword, O Justice! Silenced is thy thunder, O Law! There remains nothing now of all the griefs and pains and agonies which chosen sinners ought to have suffered for their sins, for Christ has endured all for His own beloved and IT IS FINISHED. Christ has paid the debt which all the torments of eternity could not have paid. Once again—when He said, “IT IS FINISHED,” Jesus had totally destroyed the power of Satan, of sin and of death. The Champion accepted the challenge to do battle for our soul’s redemption against all our foes. He met Sin. Horrible, terrible, all-but omnipotent Sin nailed Him to the Cross. But in that deed, Christ nailed Sin also to the tree. There they both did hang together—Sin and Sin’s Destroyer. Sin destroyed Christ and by that destruction Christ destroyed Sin."

- Charles Spurgeon

You cannot earn your way into God’s favor - so stop trying. Brothers and sisters, that word is not for the unbeliever alone. Even after we begin to follow Jesus we, at times, tend to fall back into the folly of our days before the gospel.

Following Jesus will cost you everything.

- Phrases that are the same between the passages:

- Kingdom of Heaven is like. . .

- sold all that he had and bought

Different circumstances, Different places, Different people, Different ways of finding but same goal and same cost.

Jesus is all or nothing (Jesus-first)

Luke 9:23 ESV

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

- .

- Jesus-first

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

-

>> What are you pursuing?

>> What are you pursuing?

Look at your list of costs on index card. Where does Jesus fit in? When Jesus returns only two things will remain - Jesus and people. That’s what ministry is - Jesus + people.

How can you keep from getting distracted by lesser pearls, or so busy you run right past the treasure? KEEP JESUS FIRST!

(Flip card over and write ‘Jesus-first’)

hold up to the light - the other things don’t disappear - they are just behind Jesus.

It is not about giving up the things in our lives that are important, it is about making Jesus-first in all of those things.

Jesus-first means we would give up those things if Jesus asked us to.

Following Jesus is worth the cost

Following Jesus grudgingly is religion

If I grumble when I take out the trash I am doing it out of duty and obligation not love.

- they sacrificed with JOY

- they sacrificed with JOY

Philippians 3:8–9 ESV

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 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Philippians 3:8–10 ESV

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 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

When you truly understand the value of being a Christian, there is no risk too great or price too high. It is worth your everything because you gain everything.

Rom

Romans 14:17 ESV

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

- The only source of true meaning.

1 Peter 1:18–19 ESV

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

There is no greater cause to give your life to than the gospel of Jesus.

This does not mean you have to go into vocational ministry. What it means is that you do ministry through your vocation.

-

Isaiah 55:1 ESV

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

>> Is Jesus really worth it to you? Does the trade leave you with joy? Is your experience in following Jesus as a Christian filled with joy or obligation?

Conclusion

ILLUST – Satyendra

ILLUST – Satyendra??

Many of you may remember Satyendra.

On April 26th as I was on my way to Bh-tan, I have been stopped by the Immigration and grilled for 4 hours by 3 officers. They checked my each and every belongings even a small paper. After checking my phone they found me out to be a missionary and wanted to put in jail custody but ultimately released with a warning and said, "You are blacklisted and barred from entering Bh-tan for life".

The very next day one of my disciple send me an email with the following message from Bh-tan: 

‘A new fellowship has started ....what a joy to hear this message...the power of making disciples through training these local people. This is truly the work of God for His kingdom. Thank you for coming along as a partner. Now i am sure my requirement to that country is over and the Lord is telling me to focus in other needy and unreached places in and around.’

This is not a man who was somehow born specially designed for the work of a missionary. He did not grow up always dreaming of one day being kicked out of a country for preaching Jesus.

Before Satyendra began this work he worked in the phone industry.

This is a man who recognized the treasure of the gospel - it’s supreme value over anything this world can offer, and he now works with some of the most neglected and persecuted people in the world.

He is willing to risk personal safety and freedom for others to discover the value of the gospel. He is willing to put Jesus-first in everything.

Are you?