True Treasure
READ: Matthew 13:44f
CHALLENGE: Buy into the Kingdom of Heaven through Faith
Matthew 13:44-45 – “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Part of Matthew 13 is called the Sermon on the Seashore and those parts were spoken publicly to the crowd. Part of the sermon was spoken privately to the disciples. These verses are part of a private conversation that Jesus had with his men. He’s reminding them of the extreme value of the kingdom of heaven. In case you ever wonder if it’s worth it all … it is.
The kingdom of heaven is like! It’s like treasure hidden in a field. Let’s just start there – this is like a dream come true. As children we would daydream of finding a map to a pirate’s treasure trove. Who doesn’t want to find treasure? Once in a while, we hear a story of someone unearthing a motherlode of coins or some money hidden behind a wall. It’s always a happy story although it would be happier if it happened to us. Imagine finding treasure!
So now this spiritual kingdom is referred to as treasure! I’m into that! “Treasures were often hidden in fields because there were no formal banks as we know them today. The emphasis is on the supreme worth of that treasure unseen by others; it is worth far more than any sacrifice one might make to acquire it”. (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary)
The kingdom of heaven would refer to our salvation. Heaven is part of that gift. Being a joint-heir with Christ. Forgiveness of sins. Joy and strength. And through this kingdom we have peace with God.
(Trans.) Let’s learn what we can about the kingdom of God.
- The Kingdom Exists
People often buried their money in the dirt for safe keeping. If someone had buried that treasure, they put it there so that only they would find it. Ten paces south of the old tree and two steps left toward the barn. Or whatever!
This story assumes that someone had treasure that they buried and left it there. Perhaps they died without telling anyone and the loot became lost. Time passes. Perhaps it’s been there a decade or more. Perhaps a hundred years. Perhaps a thousand years. Regardless, it’s been there the whole time. It’s been real whether it was seen and understood or not.
The field is the world and the gospel has been deposited and remains undetected by many. Thankfully some are going to find this beautiful life. This treasure that’s been hidden is not immediately seen by others. It’s inconspicuous. It’s not listed in the paper. It’s not on ebay getting sold to the highest bidder. It’s hidden in obscurity.
However, out of sight does not mean out of existence. Complete unawareness does not alter reality. What if ten people walked by it every day and never saw it. Did that mean the treasure doesn’t exist? No, of course not. What if 100 people walk by it every day? Or 1,000? Or 10,000? Or 100,000 people? No amount of people being completely unaware of the existence of the treasure made it not exist. It was equally valuable whether appreciated or buried.
We could extrapolate that the kingdom of heaven is like that! Many people don’t see it or get it. They’re not even aware of it. This does not change the value or alter reality. The Bible clearly teaches that there are people who are spiritually blind and they cannot see the truth!
Thus, some may think that you are off your rocker for believing in Jesus Christ and going to church. They may say that there is no value whatsoever. This does not in fact mean that what you have found is worthless. People devaluing your faith does not make it less valuable.
The kingdom of heaven is a reality! A relationship with God exists. We can have stock in heaven. A clean slate exists. It’s there.
2. We Encounter the Kingdom in a Variety of Ways
In one story, the man stumbles upon it. In another story, the man is searching for valuable pearls. Some seek. Some stumble. God connects with people in a variety of ways.
One man found it in a field. How? Did he find it plowing? Was he planting? Was he hiking? Had it just worked it’s way to the surface? We don’t know. He was not the owner so he may have been renting the field. We could assume that there was another hand directing all this and that God had intended for him to find it.
People have found lots of Indian arrowheads by walking across the farm fields and finding them. They were looking. Some may just have been gardening when something caught their eye. One time I was playing football with my children and my head landed by an Indian Head penny over 100 years old. I wasn’t looking and suddenly there it was right on the surface of the ground.
It’s instructive to how people find God as well. God has way of opening a person’s eyes to the truth of the kingdom. The Philippian Jailor awakened after an earthquake and the prisoners didn’t run. He asked, “What must I do to be saved”! It’s not like he was going to church!
The Apostle Paul hated the gospel, yet he found Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. He was not looking for Jesus but Jesus was looking for him. This treasure of Christ wants to be found and God has ways of pointing it out!
It says that the merchant was looking for pearls. He was a trader and he was always looking for that something special and when he found that pearl of extraordinary value, he sold everything else. Everything else didn’t matter in light of something you’d never find again.
He was searching. Some in Scripture, like the Ethiopian Eunuch, was reading Scripture and seeking. Cornelius was seeking! He was a God fearer and He found God because he was looking. We know that God says that if we seek Him, we will find Him.
Whether we stumbled onto it or we were on a search for God, we encountered it and that’s a beautiful thing. In my life, I saw it because my dad began going to church and I was part of the Junior Church herd. They put me in a classroom and talked about Jesus and eventually I understood it. I was not at all looking! How about you? How did you connect with the kingdom?
3. The Kingdom Is Better Than All That You Have
A pearl was the most costly gem in it’s day. It would be like a diamond in today’s world. This man found one that was worth every other pearl he owned! It was an incredible find.
If you’re selling all and putting it into the treasure buried in a field or the pearl of great price, it’s not because you are looking to even out. There’s no sense in selling out to buy something of equal or lesser value. You sell all because what you’re getting is so much more valuable than what you’re investing into it. It’s not an exchange. It’s even better!
The kingdom of heaven is like a game changing treasure! It’s worth the entire world. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his own soul. The kingdom of God is always worth more than the cost of discipleship. It’s better than the accumulation of all other things.
MacArthur – “The blessing of being a child of God through faith in Christ is utterly priceless, more valuable than all the possessions of the richest man could acquire. There is absolutely nothing to compare to it in worth and beauty because it is “an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away” (1 Peter 1:4). It is forgiveness, love, peace, happiness, virtue, purity, righteousness, eternal life, glory, and more”.
What value do we attach to our salvation? To our spiritual life? Is it at all important to us? Let’s face it, there are plenty who ignore church and ignore prayer and ignore Bible reading or service. They may value leisure or money or popularity or whatever and forget about God. Affluence is definitely a killer to desiring God as we become spiritually complacent.
What is it that we value? I value my family and my home tremendously. Is the Kingdom of God like that? Do I love God like that? Does it have my interest? Are we building into it? What part of our lives and energy is invested there?
Nicodemus was interested in it and wanted to know what he needed to do to enter this kingdom of heaven. There’s nothing like it. It’s uniquely valuable and far surpasses anything else.
Whatever this is and all that it entails in uniquely special. It’s it worth the investment that we place into it. Your spiritual life is not the least important, it’s the most important.
One nice thing about God. About spirituality. I’m typically not in a position where it’s either / or. It’s usually both / and. I have God in my life and a family. You could argue that I have what I have because I have God in my life.
Philippians 3:8-9 – What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
Nineteenth century Scottish preacher Thomas Guthrie wrote, “In the blood of Christ to wash out sins darkest stain, in the grace of God to purify the foulest heart, in peace to calm life’s roughest storm, in hopes to cheer guilt’s darkest hour, in a courage that defies death and descends calmly into the tomb, in that which makes the poorest rich and without which the richest are poor indeed, the gospel has the treasures greater far than easts or west unfold, and its rewards more precious are than all the stores of gold”.
4. Acquiring the Kingdom Requires Sacrifice
- Sacrifice is Joyful
Yes, he will sacrifice but the sacrifice made is joyful. And that’s one of the things about God’s working in our world. A natural by-product is joy. We are thrilled to find God!
What is joy? It’s a deep happiness, right? What produces joy to us? A great find? A beautiful sunset? A hug? A compliment? Success? Love? Family? Our team wins? The Cavs are undefeated and some extract joy in that.
Now some joy is “joy in the moment”. When the Eagles won the Super Bowl many years ago, I was joyful. It didn’t fill me for long because the next year they didn’t win. We might find joy in a new article of clothing but how much joy over the long haul.
There are other things that bring lasting joy. My home has brought a lot of joy. My family has been a source of joy. There are so many things that are incredible. I love playing with my grandson. M
Is the joy here fleeting or permanent? I would say that finding the kingdom of heaven is going to be a joy producer throughout life. It’s a source of constant happiness and peace.
I truly believe that we should be joyful in our lives. It’s part of Christianity. It shows up in our daily walk as you would expect the kingdom of God to do. Are you happy?
- Sacrifice is Costly
The man sold all that he had to buy the field with the treasure. The man who found the pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had in order to buy it. He sold everything. Everything that he had. Every single thing.
Can you imagine selling everything? Every single thing. Every single thing could be sacrificed to gain this one thing. Every single thing weighed in the balance could never equal this one thing of the kingdom of heaven.
There is an investment into the Kingdom of heaven. What have we surrendered? Is there any such thing as Christianity without cost? Sometimes it’s like we have this idea of easy believism where it cost me nothing to have heaven. Jesus said that we should count the cost and make sure we’re willing to sacrifice. We know that we’re told to take up our cross and follow Him. We deny ourselves daily. Jesus told him that those who gave up all would receive many times back in the kingdom to come.
As one person said, sometimes the thing we value most dearly is some pet sin. And that’s the one thing we won’t give up. Then do we really have the kingdom? If we hold onto sin, how do we have a hand free to grab the treasure of Christ? Let the evil go!
What have I truly left behind to follow God’s call on my life? My family? My life back east. Many here have made sacrifices. They come and sing on Sunday mornings or teach on Wednesday nights. Celebrate Recovery meets every Tuesday night without fail. It takes commitment.
And as we strain, let’s never treat it like it’s a burden. One of the issues in the book of Malachi was just that. They treated ministry like it was such a burden. There is a toughness that we need to have as we face life and all the things that God asks of us.
Even in relationhips, we could ask. How much is our relationship with our spouse worth? What sacrifices are we willing to make for that relationship? And if we’re not really willing to sacrifice, do we truly value it?
5. The Kingdom is Possessed
He bought it. He took everything and he bought it. And once you buy something and the transaction is done, it’s yours. It would not have been his without this transaction. Let’s note that he doesn’t steal it. He was honest about it.
Salvation is something that is yours. You have it like you have a pair of shoes. Or a toolbox. Or a car. Or a home. Right? It’s yours. But you need to believe!
Ephesians 2:8-9 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
We are saved when we believe. It doesn’t say, “Will be saved”. You already are. This is ultra significant. You have it right now. There are many people who live in fear that someday they might not make it. They figure that if their good works outweigh their bad works then there is a chance. We might be able to get it done. Is this how it is for us? Always in fear? Always waiting and wondering.
Be encouraged by these words of great news today. Put your faith in Jesus!!
2 Corinthians 4:7-9 – But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.