You Are Worth It
Snapshots of Jesus and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted
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Has anyone here read the book Treasure Island?
How about the Count of Monte Cristo? With Edmond, Mercédès, envious friend Fernand Mondego, envious crew-mate Danglars, and double-dealing magistrate De Villefort
Have any of you watched the Curse of OAK ISLAND series on the History Channel? It is full of mystery, legend, intrigue, and a lot of speculation.
Pearls, gold, silver, precious stones are all considered TREASURE on this earth.
In the search for Treasure on Oak Island, Rick and Marti Lagina bought controlling interest in the island because they are searching for treasure. These brothers net worth is 102 million dollars. They are spending millions looking for Pirate Gold.
The most popular theory claims Oak Island holds the buried treasure of a 17th Century pirate named Captain Kidd. According to local legend, a dying sailor on Kidd's crew claimed that £2 million worth of treasure was buried on the island. -Wiki
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.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
The Field is the World
The Man is Jesus
The Man Gives Everything He has for the Treasure
The Man Buys the Field
The Man Gives All He has with Joy
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Ten: The King’s Secrets (Matthew 13)
The hidden treasure (v. 44). The common interpretation of this parable is that the sinner finds Christ and gives up all that he possesses to gain Him and be saved. But this interpretation presents several problems. To begin with, Jesus Christ is not a hidden treasure. He is perhaps the best-known Person of history. In the second place, the sinner cannot “find Christ” for he is blind and stubborn (Rom. 3:10ff). It is the Saviour who finds the lost sinner (Luke 19:10). And no sinner could ever purchase salvation! Please note that the man in the parable did not purchase the treasure; he purchased the whole field. “The field is the world” (Matt. 13:38). Must the lost sinner purchase the world to gain Christ? Does he hide Him again?
Just like the Lagina brothers bought Oak Island to find the Treasure, When Jesus found the Treasure in the Field of this world - He put the Treasure back and then Bought the Whole Field. Jesus bought the whole world when He died on the Cross.
You Are Worth It to God!
You Are Worth It to God!
God Treasures His People.
And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
God loves the Jewish people.
Early Isreal was God's representatives to earth in the OT.
This Man finds the Treasure after looking for it and then hides it again. He goes and not only buys the treasure, but buys the whole field.
Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary (1) A Place (13:44a)
The early promise of the Davidic kingdom withered as David fell into sin and as his illustrious son Solomon debased the throne with pagan marriages and rank idolatries. Thereafter the kingdom was rent asunder and two rival kingdoms pursued their downward drift toward apostasy. The Assyrians made short shrift of the northern kingdom, and the Babylonians finished off the southern kingdom. Thereafter the monarchy was temporarily set aside and the nation was handed over to Nebuchadnezzar to be “trodden down of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). By the time Jesus arrived, the Romans ruled the land and an Edomite king sat on what passed for the throne of David. Every trace of the visible kingdom had vanished.
“He Hides the Treasure again.”
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:
For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself,
And Israel for his peculiar treasure.
The Jews Earthly Kingdom is set aside. They wanted Jesus to establish David's Kingdom by overthrowing Rome. When He came talking about the Kingdom of Heaven instead of an earthly Kingdom, they said: “No.”
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Today, the Hebrew treasure of God's people are hidden all over the field of the world. Some are in Israel (6.7 million) , some in NYC/USA (6 million), France/Canada (400,000), and even Saratoga Springs.
When He finds the treasure, He hides it back in the earth and goes to the Cross to redeem, to buy salvation for the world.
Jesus still loves His People, Israel. He gave His life with a future Joy He was looking to...
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Israelite’s are set aside for a moment. On pause. Asleep. God has big plans for Isreal in the future (144,000 Jewish Witnesses during the Tribulation), but for now, the nation of Israel is asleep, but appears to be waking up as the time goes on.
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
There are some “Branches” Grafted into God’s Eternal plan. We know this as the CHURCH.
And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
God Treasures His People, the Jews. 44
God Treasures His Church. 45-46
God Treasures His Church. 45-46
10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Greed)
In his book Feminine Faces, Clovis Chappel wrote that when the Roman city of Pompeii was being excavated, the body of a woman was found mummified by the volcanic ashes of Mount Vesuvius. Her position told a tragic story. Her feet pointed toward the city gate, but her outstretched arms and fingers were straining for something that lay behind her. The treasure for which she was grasping was a bag of pearls.
This woman, “Frozen in Lava/Time” gave her life for those pearls.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Ten: The King’s Secrets (Matthew 13)
The pearl represents the church. The Bible makes a distinction between Jews, Gentiles, and the church (1 Cor. 10:32). Today, the church, the body of Christ, is composed of believing Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 2:11ff). Unlike most other gems, the pearl is a unity—it cannot be carved like a diamond or emerald. The church is a unity (Eph. 4:4–6), even though the professing church on earth is divided. Like a pearl, the church is the product of suffering. Christ died for the church (Eph. 5:25) and His suffering on the cross made possible her birth.
Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
Jesus suffered, bled, and died on the Cross and the New Testament was born. A New covenant between God and Man.
Jesus, like a precise business man, knows the value of a particular Pearl when He sees it.
He was seeking pearls and found ONE PEARL of all the rest - ONE UNIQUE PEARL of Great Price.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
This Pearl Cost more than any other pearl. Unique, different, chosen…
Everything. He. Had. He Gave it All For His Church.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
The Church is Imperfect, but God loves it anyway.
The Church will present itself to God one day and because of Jesus, it will be perfect, wearing a robe of Righteousness given her by Jesus.
At the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, after the Rapture, the Church is Married to Jesus:
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
The Church is given the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS.
This is why brides at weddings who have remained pure in body and soul wear white gowns. It’s symbolic of purity.
The Church will be perfect ONE DAY.
The Church is Growing. God adds to His church. God is growing our church.
The Church Has Some Hard Times. Just like a pearl in an Oyster shell, growing in the filth of the bottom of the ocean, the church is growing through the problems this world makes for it. The pearl is formed under pressure, and God may use pressure to ensure healthy spiritual formation in the life of His church.
So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
God still loves His church even in troubles and trials, persecution and problems...
The Church is to be United in Christ. (Like the pearl is One unity).
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
You Are Worth It to God!
You Are Worth It to God!
God Treasures His People.
God Treasures His Church.
God Treasures You.
God Treasures You.
The Nation of Israel is comprised of people.
The Church is comprised of people.
God Values YOU.
VIDEO Clip: Watch this girl whose thinking, self esteem, and ideas are like a lot of people everywhere...
You are special to God...
SATAN will lie to you about your value.
The world will objectify your self worth.
Our own flesh can drive us to be “performance oriented.”
Our own minds can easily start to believe lies about personal self esteem.
DON’T LISTEN TO THE LIES:
God Made You.
Psalm 139:14 (KJV 1900)
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.
We are not sinlessly perfect because of sin, but we are perfect in the way God made us.
God makes no mistakes.
You are not an accident.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
You (Christian) Belong to Jesus.
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
We did not earn this evaluation.
We could not and can not perform well enough.
We are like “Worms.” Job said “I’m a WORM.”
Does anyone know if there are FISH in Round Lake? We left a few worms there in our attempt for fish.
Alas, and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I? At the cross, at the cross where
I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day! - “At the Cross”
You (Christians) are Loved By God.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
We love him, because he first loved us.
Our response to God's Love for us should be love in return to Him.
What does your love for God look like today? Is He secondary? Is He someone you think about only sometimes? Is loving God important to you? Love is more than words - it’s actions.
God treasures you, Do you Treasure Jesus in return?
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
After being falsely imprisoned, Edmond Dantès, escapes from prison and finds a hidden treasure that an old imprisoned priest had told him about while in prison. DID YOU KNOW? The “Treasure of Spada” is real. The grotto really exists, is located under the ruins of an ancient house. For the treasure in his novel The count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas was inspired by this legend. The treasure belong to Spada family and was hidden, in fact, in a cave on the Island of Monte Cristo.
--The Count of Monte Cristo is Based on a Real Treasure.
--The Parables Jesus gives are based on a True story. Jesus gave His life to Pay the Price of SIN for the Jews, the Church, and for YOU.
You Are Worth It to God!
You Are Worth It to God!
God Treasures His People.
God Treasures His Church.
God Treasures You.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
RESPONSE:
God may be calling you to salvation. Trust Him.
God may be affirming your personal value. Believe it and be thankful for it.
God may be challenging your level of love back towards Him. Love Him More.