Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro - earthly examples of being worth everything.

Possible humor.

We have been looking at the power of one.

One meaningful conversation.

One person we can share the good news of the gospel with.

This happens in the lives of Christ followers, who have seen that the kingdom is worth everything.

(NASB95)

44“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,

46and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Simple few verses that we see a truth that is hidden from so many in the midst of our culture.

The Kingdom of God is of infinite value.

the world doesnt see it.

The kingdom is worth everything!

costly -

free -

The cost is the same for everyone, - everything.

The Kingdom is easy to miss.

IN honor of father’s day?

If we really believe the kingdom is of infinite value, our priorities will reflect that.

Treasure hidden in a field.

- Getting my car inspected this week - $50 Treasure… you better get that.

Stash inside your wallet… now we put our money in banks.

real estate… I haven’t buried any money.

Sherry would tell me that her grandparents would go dig up a jar of money?

Particularly was this the case in Palestine because Palestine was a place of war.

It was a battleground.

Its history is literally filled with the record of one battle after another, one war after another and there were inevitably conquering peoples and those who came in to steal and to loot and to plunder and so very often when a battle was on the horizon, the people would take the valuable things out of their home, take them out into the field and in a marked place where they could recover them again, they would bury them in the earth.

Josephus said, the historian in that time, “The gold and the silver and the rest of that most precious furniture which the Jews had and which the owners treasured up underground was done to withstand the fortunes of war.”

First of all, Jewish Rabbinic law said—“If a man finds scattered fruit or money, it belongs to the finder.”

Now that is what the law said.

If you find lost fruit or money, it belongs to the finder.

So the man is within the permission of the Jewish Rabbinic law.

So the Jews listening to Jesus would not have perceived this man as unethical.

Secondly, that which was hidden in the field did not belong to the man who owned the field.

If it was his, he wouldn’t be selling his field without digging it up.

Now, thirdly, this man was very equitable, this man was very fair.

If this man was not an honest man when he found the treasure what would he have done?

I mean, he would have split.

He would have packed up his treasure and been long gone, and put it in his own field.

Why go to all the trouble of buying the entire field when you’ve got the treasure in your hand?

You say—Well, maybe his conscience bothered him.

Or maybe it was his father-in-law … or some relative.

Well, I thought about that and then I thought … I thought of a good idea, this will show you how my mind works, you could take the treasure and go liquidate a portion of it and with the money you gained from the treasure, then buy the field … not bad, huh?

He didn’t do that.

He took that treasure that he had found; he knew it belonged to him by Jewish law.

He knew he had more, or at least equal right to it with the man who owned the land, he put it right back in the ground, never even used any of it for the purchase … liquidated every single thing he had on the face of the earth in his possession and went and bought the entire field just so that he could do what was right to get that treasure.

No lack of ethics here … no one was defrauded.

The point of the story is none of that!

The point of the story is that a man found something so valuable, he sold everything he had.

A treasure of great value.

2nd Parable.

pearl.

(NASB95)

45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,

Merchant - emporos in grek… A wholesale merchant… buy things and get a deal and then sell them to someone who would retail them.

at that time, the most valuable investment.

Russ Hawkins could tell us that if you are a smart investor you wont put everything in one investment.

True in terms of our investing, but this is exactly what these men do.

Sold everything- field

Sold Everything- pearl.

The kingdom is of infinite value!

When we refer to the kingdom- Jesus and Salvation.

Value is greater than anything… than everything…

Kingdom is not obvious to the world.

May not see it because its is Hidden

Hidden in plain sight in a book most own, but few open.

Guy in the field happened upon it.

Merchant searching.

- Many are searching… eternity in our hearts… worshipping something… not the right God.

Truth is none of us seek for God… but HE is searching for us.

;

May not see it because satan has blinded them.

The WORD of God reveals the Kingdom of God and the SPIRIT of God illuminates hearts.

When we see the treasure, the pearl of great price - worth everything!

… and we surrender

the natural response is to give everything… free in pmt… costly in surrender and that we are willing to pay…

Surrendered followers (fathers) seek the Kingdom First

surrendered followers (fathers) have kingdom priority in the way they live.

They wont remember every thing we teach, but what we give our lives to.

Surrendered followers (fathers) risk everything to tell others of the great value of the pearl they have found, starting with their children.

Father stats.

Surrendered followers get their strength from Him.

Surrendered followers are ordinary fields that are filled with a treasure .

Faith filled followers know value is expressed in surrender.

These stories show us men that are willing surrender all they have in exchange for the one thing worth everything!

matthew

THE GREATEST EXCHANGE.

WE GIVE UP ALL WE HAVE AND GOD GIVES US ALL HE HAS.

PAUL IN

THE KINGOM OF HEAVEN IS COSTLY…

SO COSTLY THAT IT REQUIRED THE CROSS AS PAYMENT’

Because of the Cross -

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS FREE..

Free in Payment, costly in surrender.

Kingdom is of infinite value and is available to all?

The cost is simply the same for everyone - everything.

When we see a glimpse of the beauty of Christ, the things we once valued are of little importance.

Treasure so great!

I will buy this field.

Pearl so perfect I will sell all that I have.