"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, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it."
Good Morning my beloved,
Have you ever watched the news, headline after headline of confusion over ones gender, people identifying as cats and dogs. Increasing violence, murder, conflicts from one side of the planet to the next, church leaders falling from grace, soaring inflation, food shortages and wondered, "What's going on, how did our world get this way? This isn’t supposed to happen." We can blame government and politicians, try to hold them accountable but we must realize the problem goes much deeper. We are in the middle of an all out war, a spiritual battle, Scripture calls spiritual warfare.
Satan, the adversary of God is running rampantly throughout the earth, causing chaos, leaving a path of destruction. And as I'm sure you may have noticed, it's becoming increasingly evident each day. Surely we cannot just sit back and watch, we have to do something. Satan himself and his host of demons who are working in the children of disobedience. Jesus is willing to be patient, to wait so that none would perish. As His followers, we too must be patient and wait. We must proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that is under the influence and power of the prince of the air.
We mustn't become discouraged as we learned in our last message, there's good news! Satan and his army of demons will not overcome God’s kingdom. Nothing in this universe can compare to the kingdom of heaven. In the mean time, while we're waiting we must continue to love God, love our neighbor and love our enemies. We must also remember to love and encourage one other. No one said following Christ would be easy, in fact, in John 15, He said it would not. "Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also."
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
In His precious name we ask these things
Amen
Today's Message: Entering God’s kingdom
At the time Jesus told this parable, it was not uncommon for people to bury their money and valuable
possessions, because there was not the security of banks to safeguard valuables. They would mark the place where they buried it, so they could recover them again later. In that time, burial provided the best security, however, as you can imagine, it provided no guarantees. For example, if a person were to die, you could say that they took the secret of their treasure to their grave. And, if a man was driven from his land or departed to a foreign land, and someone should find such buried treasure, Jewish Rabbinic law provided that if a man found scattered fruit or money, it belongs to the finder. Another issue was burial could not prevent thieves from hiding and watching, waiting until the rightful owner left, then stealing a person's valuable treasure.
As with all of Jesus' parables, He would relate His stories to the common every day experiences and situations that people would have been familiar with. Because Palestine had been a battle ground for hundreds of years, families in small villages would often bury supplies, like food, clothing and other essential to prevent looting by brigands, and soldiers would freely take what they needed. Even today, people still discover buried hidden treasure, quickly purchasing the property before others learn of the treasure and drive the price up.
Open your Bibles with me if you would to the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, verses 44-46. Matthew 13:44-46.
I invite you to follow along with me as I read them.
Let us open our hearts for what the Spirit of God has to say to each of
us.
"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.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it."
In the previous parables, Jesus focused His teaching on men's responses to God's kingdom, the coexistence of God's kingdom and the people of God and Satan's kingdom of darkness and his sons of disobedience living together in the present age, and the influence and power of the kingdom of heaven in the world. Now in this parable Jesus reveals there's a hidden priceless value to the kingdom of heaven.
Let’s look at verse 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."
So this seems to trouble some people, as having some sort of ethical problem, therefore, it was inappropriate for Jesus to illustrate a spiritual truth. Some feel he should have notified the rightful owner of the field, since it belonged to him. However, it's important to note this is not a story about ethics, it's a story about a man's willingness to sell everything he owed to buy the field. That what he had found was so valuable to him, he would give up everything to possess it. Further, I believe it's quite obvious the owner of the field didn't hide the treasure and it must have been unknown to him, otherwise he would have retrieved it before agreeing to sell the field. If it's a matter of dishonesty, the man who discovered the treasure could have sold the treasure or any part of it to pay for the field rather than selling everything he owned to buy it. So, it is my belief that scenario doesn't fit either.
So here's a man working in a field belongs that doesn't belong to him and as he is working in the field, the man stumbled upon a buried treasure. Perhaps he was a passerby, or maybe farm worker whose plow turned up a buried treasure. Jesus doesn't give us the details because they are not important. In either case, the phrase "which a man found, and hid again," tells us the field doesn't belong to him.
That brings us to verses 45-46, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it."
This time, Jesus uses a merchant seeking fine pearls for His story. A merchant seeking fine pearls, would probably travel often to coastal areas where divers would risk their lives, down into depths of hazardous waters to find oysters that contained the rare and precious gems. According to experts, the chances of finding one is roughly one in 10,000, making these rare and natural beauties scarce.
A pearl is formed when an oyster becomes irritated in its shell, a grain of sand is said to be the culprit. To protect itself, the oyster will cover the invader with the mother of pearl. It will create layers of a substance called nacre, made of aragonite and conchiolin around the irritant. By the way, these are the same minerals and proteins that make up the mollusk’s shell. Finding a perfectly formed pearl inside an oyster is a rare occurrence, increasing their value. In ancient times, they were often bought and sold for investment purposes, much the way diamonds are today. Since no two pearls are exactly alike, it makes the natural beauty of a pearl all the more intriguing.
The majority of the fresh seawater pearls were found by divers pearl hunting
in the Indian Ocean, specifically between Sri Lanka and India. Many
pearls can also be found around a native island in the Persian Gulf.
Oysters with pearls have also been found in the waters off of Asian
nations such as Japan. Obviously the idea of flying across the world to go pearl diving isn’t an option for most people. In addition, many people think of pearls as being ivory in color, however, they actually come in a myriad of distinctive colors.
Back to Matthew 13, when the merchant came across one pearl of great value, he sold all that he had in order to purchase it, indicating that one pearl was more valuable to him than all his other pearls combined. I believe the obvious message of both parables is one's salvation is a person transaction, it cannot be inherited, the value must be personally appropriated. Although I believe there is great benefit being raised in a godly family, one's own salvation is a personal decision that each person must make in receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
To the one who sees the kingdom's immeasurable value, which is not visibly evident in this present day, there is no sacrifice too great. He is willing to give up everything, including his past sinful life, without question in order to gain the kingdom of heaven. Tragically, there are many who sit in church week after week, listening biblical preaching, they profess Christ and may even be baptized, yet still remain outside the kingdom of heaven, because they have never fully committed their life to Christ. Their profession of faith and repentance has no kingdom value as their life has not changed.
Fruit is not only in your words, it’s the way you live, fruit is a lifestyle, fruit is action in response to God's call on your life. If we look at Saul of Tarsus, who had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he went from being a persecutor of the church to being persecuted and martyred for his faith in Christ. And then, there's Peter who once denied the Lord Jesus three times, before being filled with the Holy Spirit, he then refused to deny the Lord Jesus even unto death. If
you claim to have had an encounter with Jesus Christ and your life has
not radically changed, may I suggest your encounter was something
other than Jesus Christ.
In Closing..
For even with all the effort put into mine, refine, cut, polish and sell precious stones, it has no lasting value; it can do nothing ease the pain of a broken relationship, comfort the hurt of those who have lost a loved one, give peace of mind to one who is deeply troubled, or grant forgiveness to a wretched, sinner; only a relationship with Jesus Christ can do all of that and so much more. Sadly, the natural man cannot comprehend its value, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, the heart can be taught what the mind could never know. Through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit speaks of the very center of one's being, the core of one's thoughts and moral judgments, bringing about a transformed life. In these two parable Jesus makes it
perfectly clear, you must be willing to surrender everything in order to obtain
new life in Christ.
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The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. The immeasurable blessing of being a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ is beyond priceless. Come and see..
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen