Sermon Tone Analysis

Behold our God

Better is one Day

Announcement: In two weeks from today, we will be having a Christmas party here at the church.

Wed 22nd at our normal time

Ugly sweater contest

$5 white elephant gift exchange

If you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 13:44.

As you turn there, let me remind you of the thrust of these chapters in Matthew

People are offended by Jesus

They want to kill Jesus

Jesus is concealing his message in parables

Over the course of Chapter 13, Jesus has been teaching about the kingdom of heaven through parables

In the parable of the sower, Jesus taught us that not everyone who hears the word gospel will in fact be saved by the gospel

In the parable of the weeds, Jesus taught us that his people will exist in the world together with those who belong to the devil

In the parable of the mustard seed and the leaven, Jesus showed us how his rule and reign that started off small will one day grow to fill the earth and be a shelter for all those who come to him

This week we come to the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price.

In these parables, Jesus taught that his kingdom is far more valuable than anything else we can possess.

As we hear these parables, let’s stand together for the reading of God’s word.

Let’s pray.

I love a good deal… I’m a sucker for a bargain.

BOGO

Black Friday

You name it… If there is a deal for something I would normally buy, I’m all about it.

I have an example of a bargain even tonight for one of you…

But for the sake of the illustration, I need a volunteer who has one dollar…

We are going to make a trade…

Tonights parables are both about a about a great deal… a far better deal than what was made

In both parables, we are told about a man who finds something of greater value than all he has…

He seeks something of great value

He find something of great value

He sells out for that item of great value

And then he obtains the treasure of great value

Both parables are incredibly similar, so for the sake of simplicity, I will primarily use the parable of the pearl of great price.

Consider this parable:

1.

The kingdom of heaven is worth searching for.

In both of tonights parables, a man is looking for something of great value… be it a hidden treasure, or a pearls that are quite valuable.

Now consider for a moment such things that hold great value… most good things are not obtained by accident.

Rather a good thing is searched for with great effort, and with great patience.

Consider what it would have been like finding this hidden treasure in a field…

People stumble upon treasures from time to time.

But the most successful treasure hunters search for it diligently, and they work hard to find it…

Digging holes, turning over every stone… they are in search everywhere for something of great value.

Here’s the thing… treasure hunters often are unaware what it is that they are searching for… But whatever it is, they are searching for something that has great value.

They are not interested in rocks or dirt.

They are after treasure that is wroth their work.

Other times, we know exactly what it is that we are after… we are searching for fine pearls… we don’t know where the pearls are… the might be in the market, they might even be in a different city… but regardless of where it is, we are on the hunt for these fine pearls…

So it is of us.

we must learn to look for that which is worth looking for.

And every one of us is looking for something, be it fame, happiness, or success.

We all desire something… but we should make sure that what it is that we are looking for is actually worth our efforts.

People make it their goal to get rich… they will spend their whole life in the pursuit of riches.

But by the end of their life, they find out that their riches did not satisfy them.

Others may make it their goal to find love… and so they search and search for someone that will love them like they deserve.

But even after they find prince charming, they find out that even he is less charming than he looked at first.

Others are on the hunt for peace… and so they become like monks doing all that they can to be rid of their worry and their problems.

But even in the middle of the wilderness without the worries of the world… even the most dedicated monk will find worry creeping into his monastery.

We are all searching for something… but the question we should consider is this: Are we even looking for the right thing?

Are we searching for treasure and pearls, or are we in fact looking for dirt and rocks?

Listen, there is a kind of discontentment each of us should feel… we should be discontent to settle for the kingdoms of this world.

Fame fortune are cheap counterfeits to the riches of the kingdom of heaven.

We need to learn what it means to search for fine pearls.

We need to learn to have an eye that can identify counterfeit pearls.

And we need to learn to have the discipline and patiences to continue our search.

Some of us are far to easily content with dirt, and cheap pearls…

C.S. Lewis said it well:

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

We are far too easily pleased.

Learn this: the world has nothing to offer you that is worth searching for.

This becomes abundantly clear in the next part of the parable.

2. The kingdom of heaven is worth far more than all other treasures.

After searching for the treasure and the fine pearls, the seeker finds that which they were searching for… they find a that which is so valuable, that they are willing to sell everything else so that they might purchase that which they were looking for.

When the pearl collector finds the pearl of great price, he knows that he has found what he has been searching for.

He has found a pearl that no other pearl can possibly come close to comparing to.

So it is of the kingdom of heaven… it is a treasure, that all of earths treasures fall short of measuring up to.

Every American is is on the pursuit of

Life

Liberty

Happiness

True?

Isn’t is that we want to have a rich and full life… unbound by any limits, and unrestrained by any sadness or worry…

Certainly these these are treasures that are worth searching for.

But where can they be found in the world?

Some think being an American gives us these things… And it’s true to an extent, that here in America we have life liberty and happiness… but those treasures have their limits even in America.

Life - Americans still die

Liberty - Americans are still bound by responsibilities and laws

Happiness - Have any of you longed for a vacation lately?

But let’s consider what it is life for those who find the pearl of great price…

Life - Those who find the pearl of great price receive with it eternal life!

There isn’t any spring of life in this world that can offer such a wonderful promise

Liberty - Those who find the pearl of great price are liberated from the bondage of sin… we will actually get to do what we want!

We will get to serve and worship God forevermore!

Happiness - And happiness is the culmination of life and liberty in the heart of the person that obtains this pearl.

One can truly be happy when they have obtained the treasure that they have been looking for!

So upon finding such a valuable treasure, the merchant and treasure hunter then goes on to sell out to obtain the that treasure.

How valuable is this kingdom?

Well it’s worth so much that loosing everything else in order to obtain it is done with joy!

These finders sold their land, their homes.

They sold all their livestock, and all the other possessions that they had.

For the pearl merchant, he took all the other ordinary pearls that he had obtained over the years, and he sold them all… they were precious and valuable, but in comparison the the pearl of great price, they were nothing more than a bunch of common stones.

But some might say, well isn’t salvation free?