The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

Open your Bibles please to Matthew chapter 13.

Once you get there, I would like for you to rest your eyes on verse number 36. Notice what the Bible says,

“Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house:...”

I would like for us to notice that up until this point, the Lord Jesus Christ has been declaring these parables unto the multitude according to verse 1.

From verse 36 until verse 53 however, the Lord Jesus Christ is personally instructing this small group.

He desired to teach them and prepare them and equip them with what they needed.

It is the same for you and I this morning.

We come into the house of the Lord understanding that what we have recorded here for us is not an accident.

Our wonderful matchless Lord and Savior Jesus Christ desires for us to be prepared and equipped for our time of sojourning here on this earth.

So with that understanding, let us endeavor to discover what the Lord Jesus Christ would have us to know this morning.

Read Matthew 13:44-46

“44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”

Let’s Pray

The Word of God is powerful, and it is necessary for the child of God.

The Bible tells us in II Timothy chapter 3:16, that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable...” The word profitable in that passage means to add for our benefit.

So as we come to the Scriptures we must understand that all that God has given us is for our benefit.

We find in the Scriptures that they first:

Make us wise unto Salvation.

II Timothy 3:15 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Then we find secondly, that they teach us doctrine.

Thirdly, they reprove us, correct us and instruct us in righteousness.

But then further, if we are going to understand the Scriptures we must know how to rightly divide the Word of God (according to II Timothy 2:15).

Take a moment and hold your finger here and flip over to I Corinthians chapter 10 and will read verse 32.

“Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:”

You might be thinking what in the world does that have to do with our passage in Matthew chapter 13?

And you would be right in thinking that because contextually I Corinthians chapter 10 has nothing to do with the verses we just read.

However, I would like for you to take note of the threefold division that is given to us in this verse so that we might right divide the Word of God.

All throughout the Scriptures we are dealing with either:

The Jews

The Gentiles

The Church

In knowing that, we can then discover and see rightly what it is that God is communicating to us through His Holy Word, by identifying to whom He is speaking and which group is being spoken about.

In this passage of Scripture the Hidden Treasure that is mentioned is the Jewish nation.

So we find first of the

I. The Treasure

One expositor has said this, “In this present hour, there is no place on earth as vital to world affairs as the nation of Israel. In one sense, Israel is God’s time clock. It is very important for us to understand that God has not forgotten the Jews.” (Dr. Clarence Sexton)

I want you this morning to remember two statements as you look and study the Scriptures, and as you look at the world today.

God always has a people.

God always has a man.

Going back to the book of Genesis we can see clearly as God began to deal with man that there was certainly a godly line of folks (those who descended from Seth) and there was an ungodly line of folks (those who descended from Cain). This continued for a time until, as you all know that corruption and wickedness abounded, much like it is getting today. It is then that God chose a man, Noah and His family.

They were spared by God’s grace. The Bible says, that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

From Noah we go on to the table of nations, and though we do not see specifically all of those that followed God, we know of characters such as Job who followed after God and folks like Mechilzidek who was a priest of the Most High God.

It is then that we are introduced to a God-called man by the name of Abram who would be called Abraham meaning (Father of many Nations Gen 17:4) and His wife Sarai whose name would be changed to Sarah (she shall be a mother of nations. Gen 17:15)

Abraham followed God by faith and is called the Father of faith. The LORD’s command to him was the same we are studying in this matter of discipleship on Wednesday, and that is, “Follow Me.”

The LORD promised Abraham the nation of Israel.

In Genesis chapter 12 in verses 1-3 we find the important Abrahamic Covenant. The LORD told Abraham, “And I will make of thee a great nation...”

It was from Abraham’s loins that the sons of Jacob became a nation, called out of that land of Egypt; these are the people we know as the Jews today.

Not only did God raise up the nation of Israel, but I want you to know that

A. Israel is God’s peculiar treasure.

The Bible tells us over and over again of the importance of this people group, the nation of Israel.

You cannot really read the Old Testament and much of the New Testament without understanding the this nation is the apple of God’s eye. ( Deuteronomy 32:10; Lamentations 2:18; Zechariah 2:8)

We find however several times in the Scriptures where God names Israel as being his peculiar treasure.

Exodus 19:5 “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:”

Deuteronomy 7:6 “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”

Psalm 135:4 “For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.”

There is no doubt about it that god chose this people and they are His peculiar treasure.

We find secondly, not only are they the peculiar treasure but:

B. This Peculiar Treasure Was “Hidden” Before Christ

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field”

We understand already from verse 38 in this private conversation with the disciples in the house that the field is the world.

We notice that this treasure was already hidden in the field before it was discovered.

We find from examining the Scriptures that for 700 years the nation of Israel was not what God desired them to be. They were to be a peculiar treasure that taught the nations about Almighty God and showed His glory.

By the time the Lord Jesus Christ walked among His people they were a scattered people with no King.

Starting in the book I Samuel the people asked for a king. Samuel was so upset by this, and God in His mercy and grace told Samuel, they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me.(I Samuel 8:7) “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”

From that point forward there were kings of the flesh that were supposed to submit to God and lead His peculiar treasure.

But this did not last and in the end the downward spiral ended up in disaster for the nation of Isreal was scattered, without a king, ruled by Gentile nations.

This leads us to the center of all time, the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Galatians 4:4,5 tells us, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

Beginning in the Gospel according to John, we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

In verse 14 of John chapter 1 we find that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

In verse 10 the Bible tells us that “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” Pay particular attention to verse 11, the Bible says again, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”

Not only was the Lord Jesus initially rejected by some of His own family, He was rejected by His own peculiar treasure, His own people.

That brings us to point three concerning this hidden treasure,

C. The Lord Jesus Found The Treasure

The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ presented Himself to His people. We understand even from the onset of the book of John that they rejected Him.

Matthew 15:24 “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The Lord Jesus in sending the twelve out in Matthew chapter 10 verse 5,6 said “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

See the Lord Jesus found this peculiar treasure. After being scattered by the king and nation of Assyria and the king and nation Babylon (that terrible of nations), they were hidden. But the Lord Jesus found them.

Not only did the Lord Jesus Christ find them, but,

D. The Peculiar Treasure is Hidden Again

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth...”

God loves His chosen people the Jewish people there is no doubt. Just take some time and read some of the prophetic books in the Old Testament and you will see expressions of the Lord’s love for His people and the back and forth between expressions of His love and expressions of His judgment.

Israel though rejected Christ and because of this Israel was hidden again. Remember at the beginning of this chapter the disciples asked why is was the Lord Jesus was speaking to them in parables and the answer was starting in verse 13, “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed;”

In declaring this hiding judgement the Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words in Luke 21:24 , “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

The Lord Jesus Christ had told the religious rulers of this in Matthew 21 starting in verse 42, “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”

You see not only was this peculiar treasure hidden and not only did the Lord Jesus find it, but the we find that this peculiar treasure the Jewish nation, was hidden again.

The Lord Jesus Christ, bought the field, the world. He not only paid the price to redeem the field, but He paid for the treasure for the joy that was set before, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Father in heaven. (Hebrews 12:2)

I Peter 1:18-21 tells us this, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”

Who was it that Peter was writing too? He was writing to Jewish Christians scattered or hidden abroad.

So what does this mean for you and I?

The Jews are set aside at this time, but God is not done with them. Romans chapters 9,10 and 11 make this abundantly clear.

On May 14, 1948 Biblical prophecy was fulfilled because Israel went from being scattered abroad and became a nation once again....The Bible says in Jeremiah 31 starting in verse 35 “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.”

God is right now calling out the Bride of Christ, during this period of till the “fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

“When the last person get saved, the bride of Christ will be complete and the trumpet will sound. The Lord will come, and we will be caught out to be with Him. This will be the fullness of the Gentiles.”

I want you to look at the text once again, notice what the Bible says, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure [Israel] hid [scattered] in a field [world] ; the which when a man hath found [when he came to the earth], he hideth [is set aside for rejecting Him], and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.”

So we see not only is Israel His precious treasure, we see it was a treasure that was hid and then found by the Lord Jesus but then we saw it was hid again. Lastly, we see:

D. A Man that sold all and bought the field.

The Bible tells us all about the Lord Jesus Christ and is humiliation upon His earth.

In II Corinthians 8:9 it says, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”

The Bible says, in I John 2:2 “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

The Lord Jesus Christ bought the whole field. He payed for this sins of the world. The next event on the prophetic calendar is the catching away of the bride of Christ-the Church.

I would like to close by reading these last words of the Apostle Peter keeping this parable in mind about the hidden treasure.

II Peter 3:8-12 “8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”’

The Lord Jesus Christ gave us this parable. He told us about His peculiar treasure that was hid and is hidden again. He purchased the whole field. What manner of persons ought we to be in light of His soon return?