Matthew 13 we've been looking at a series of these parables and we're going to keep on there the good Lord willing as I mentioned I'll be gone next weekend. So you'll have a brief hiatus but Then the Lord willing we're going to continue on in this series. We have subtitled our series parables stories with intent remember that a parable It's an earthly story with a heavenly meaning or heavenly lesson. Let's read together two parables. Believe it or not, we're going to tackle two parables this morning. Matthew chapter number 13, beginning with verse number 44. Matthew 13, 44 says again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field. The witch, 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 godly or goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." So this morning we're going to look at the parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the pearl of great price. In these parables, these what I'm going to call sister parables, Christ is teaching His disciples the immeasurable value of the kingdom, even if they can't see it. And we, I hope, together this morning will agree and learn that there is a priceless value to the kingdom of God, even though not everyone can see it and not everyone knows it. Let us live in such a way as to show the beauty of this kingdom and be bold enough to declare what it takes to enter into this glorious kingdom. These two parables, really, the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price, are what I'm going to call twin sister parables. Now some of you know this, but Pat has an identical twin, Pat and Pam, and they are very, very similar. However, I can usually look at old pictures of them growing up and tell the difference between them. They are identical twins, but there's enough difference between them that when I look at them, I can usually tell enough difference to tell which one I married and which one I didn't. And as it is with these parables, they are very, very similar. Many characteristics that are alike, but there are some differences. And through our message this morning, we'll notice both the similarities that exist in this parable as well as the difference that exists in them. I have a very simple outline for you this morning. We want to, first of all, we want to explain the parables. And then secondly, we want to expound the principles that are given to us from the parable. First of all, let's explain the parables. Let's learn a little bit more about them. In verse number 44, again, so Jesus is continuing on his thought. He is continuing on the teaching of the Kingdom of Heaven. Again, so Christ is saying to us, I want you to know, this is what I've said, the Kingdom of Heaven is like this, but now I'm going to build on that. He's continuing His thought. A Kingdom of Heaven is like a hidden treasure. Now we've already looked at the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a sower who went out to sow. That the Kingdom of Heaven is like wheat among tares. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven. But now, curiously enough, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like hidden treasure in a field. Now this may seem odd to us as we hear the Lord declare this, but let me remind you that this is Christ again using a real life and relatable parable that his hearers can understand. And they would have been surprised, they would not have been surprised at all to hear about someone finding hidden treasure in a field. Now it needs to be understood, during the time period, you've got to put yourself to the audience in which Christ is speaking. The Jews at home didn't have some big metal safe in which they could hide their valuables and guard them. They didn't have banks to protect them. The average Jew could not go down to First National Bank of Jerusalem and open up a safe deposit account and hide his stuff there to protect it. They just didn't have any of those things. So it was a common practice, whether it sounds foreign to us or not, it was a common practice for those people in that time period, if they had valuables, they would literally hide them on their property. If they owned a large piece of property, they may hide it out in a field somewhere. If they owned a small piece of property, it may be hidden in their backyard. But you need to understand, Palestine, that area had been overrun by enemies time and time again. These people had been victims over and over again of marauding armies coming in and ransacking their houses and taking all of their valuables, taking away everything that they own. And so in order to protect themselves, in order to protect their valuables, they would hide them in a field. And so this is exactly, this is Christ when he uses this parable, they understood what he was talking about because even probably some of his hearers had their own valuables hidden somewhere on their land, in their fields. And so when you think about this, though, one of the problems that would arise, however, is let's say a man went and hid some valuables out in one of his fields and he suddenly dies of a heart attack or he's killed on the battlefield and nobody knows about his treasure that's hidden. It may stay there for years, it may stay there for decades or even centuries. And this is what Christ is saying to them, that there was a man, he went out into a field, and we don't really know much about this man, we just simply know that he was going out through this field and he comes across this hidden treasure. And when he comes across this hidden treasure, he absolutely says, I'm going to do what I have to do in order to buy this field so that I can own this treasure. In my mind, I have run a number of scenarios. I think about a landowner. who has employed somebody, he's got a field out there, it's not been used for years, and he decides he's gonna plant some barley out there in his field, he's gonna plant some weed out there in his field. So he hires somebody to come and plow his field up. And while this gentleman is out plowing the field, all of a sudden a plow shear hits something hard in the ground. He doesn't know what it is, he stops, assuming that it's probably a rock, and he begins to unearth it and he sees it's a treasure chest. What does he do? Well, he covers it back up, goes home, starts selling off everything he owns so that he can go to that landowner and say, you know what, I'd like to buy that field you've got out there. Because whoever owned the field, by rabbinical law, owned whatever was in the field. Now this may seem, and I just want to throw this in here at you, this may seem greedy of the man. It may seem unethical of the man. We ran a little scenario with the kids before 11 o'clock service. With the kids, we ran a little presentation with them, letting them go through this, buying this hidden treasure. And poor old Emily was too sweet. She didn't want to buy that land because she knew about that hidden treasure. But you have to put it in this context. And there was nothing. egregious, nothing greedy, nothing wrong with this man doing this at all. It may not fit our modern American mindset, but really the truth about it is finders keepers, losers weepers, was the law in Israel. It was literally the rabbinical law that stated if someone finds lost treasure or lost goods, It belongs to the finder. They owned it. And so it is easy. I know it's easy to try and find fault with what this man did. But the problem is when you start doing all that, you really lose a sign of the parable to begin with, right? Christ is not teaching us a morality issue of lost and found. He's teaching us a bigger picture about the hidden treasure. Secondly, if you just stop and think about it for a minute, that landowner, It wasn't his originally either because he didn't know it was hidden in the field. If he knew it was hidden in the field, he wouldn't turn around and sell it to the other man, right? So obviously, he's not the one that buried the treasure there to begin with, but then finally, if you wanted to be technical about it, The man who was out plowing in the field, if he wanted to be crooked, all he had to do was just go steal it. He didn't have to go by the field, right? He could have just covered it back up, come back that night and stole it. So it was not a matter of any egregious wrong on his part. He wisely sees this treasure that's hidden in the field. And when he sees it he says you know what I've got to have it. I want to buy this field and in so doing this hidden treasure in the field would belong to him. Very practically this man saw the hidden treasure and to him it was worth more than all of his earthly possessions. Verse 44 says he goes and he sells all that he has to buy that field. Perhaps there were some who laughed at him when he started selling off all of his property. In that little presentation we did earlier, Hope demanded a high price to sell her field. She actually demanded not only all of Emily's gold, but she also wanted the rings off her hand and the shoes off her feet. She literally demanded all that she had. In fact, she said, I want to dress too. But I said, I don't think we're going to go quite that far in this class. But this man, seeing the treasure hidden in the field, esteems that hidden treasure of greater value than everything else he owns. He says, compared to what I have, this treasure is far more precious. So he goes and he sells everything because his heart is filled with joy knowing that when he buys that field, he gets that treasure that is there. Notice now the second parable. The pearl of a great price in verses 45 and 46. Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man. This is a wholesaler. He's a dealer. This is no small-time guy. This is a guy whose business is to go out and to purchase things and resell them for a profit. He's a merchant man. And he is in search of Goodly pearls, precious pearls, valuable pearls. That's what his trade was. He was in the pearl business. He would go out looking for good pearls and when he found them, he would buy them. He would invest in them. And again, let me give you a little background on this. Pearls were the most precious jewel of that time period. We think, of course, diamonds, right? That's what we think of. But during this time period, pearls were the most valuable, most rich or wonderful commodity that anybody could have. In fact, when women wanted to dress to impress, when they wanted to show off how much they had, they would bejewel themselves And 1 Timothy 2.19 says in what? In gold and jewelry and pearls and costly array. So pearls were immensely valued. It is said that one Roman ruler's wife was so proud of her wealth and all that she owned that at one big function, one big party, she bejeweled herself with 36 million dollars worth of pearls. all to go to one party. As a matter of fact, I read this, this sounded interesting, when some men wanted to gloat about their riches, they would actually take a pearl and dissolve it in vinegar and then mix it in with their wine and drink it just to show off how rich that they were. Now all that sounds a little bit strange to us, but pearls are of great value, right? And everybody here that's been to Bible Sunday school, been to Bible school at all, you know that the gates of heaven are made out of a pearl, right? Jesus taught us, don't cast your pearls before swine. Don't take what is of great and enormous value and don't throw it out in front of people that don't consider it valuable, that don't think anything of it. So pearls, we know pearls are a great commodity, great value. And this man, his trade was to go and find goodly or precious pearls. And if you will, let me just take you a step further into this. One of the things that made them so valuable was how hard they were to come by. You see, we get so accustomed to thinking about, you know, 21st century world in which we live. You understand, they didn't have the modern day scuba diving equipment that we have today. So in order to get to where the pearls were, you had to dive down deep into the sea, and it was dangerous. these divers would actually take one big huge gulp of air, and they would tie rocks to themselves so that it would carry them down to the bottom faster. And when they got down to the bottom, they would loosen the rocks and begin to swim around the seabed searching for those oysters, scoop them up, basket them up, and then try to get back up to the top so that they can breathe again and do all of that without dying. And when they would come across a clear or a polished pearl one that looked good, it was immensely valued. It had great value to it because of all the effort and work that was going into it. And I just want to throw this in very quickly. It's amazing how much work and effort is put into retrieving diamonds and pearls and all these things when they're really just a rock. You know, I know we put so much emphasis into this, but it can't help you. You understand that? I know women love their diamond rings and maybe men too, I don't know. But it can't heal you, it can't help you, it ain't gonna give you any hope. It ain't gonna comfort you at night. Why do we put so much effort into that kind of treasure that doesn't do anything for you? But this man, he was a merchant. He's looking for these pearls at great price, but what happens? In verse 46, who when he had found one pearl of great price, he finds one that is immensely precious. In fact, we might say it is priceless. He finds that one pearl. In fact, the way I explain it is he finds the one he's been looking for all his life. That's the one pearl. that I've been looking for, and when he finds it, what does he do? Well, he does just like the man with the hidden treasure. He goes and he sells everything he has in order to buy that one pearl. Immediately, when I read this, and perhaps even as you sit here and listen to this, you think that's not a very wise decision, is it? Aren't we told don't put all your eggs in one basket? We have to diversify, right? But not this man. This man, when he sees that one pearl, that pearl of a great price, when he sees it, he says, I've been looking for this all my life, and I've got to have it no matter what. Both the man with the hidden treasure and the man with the pearl run to an extreme of selling everything they have in order to purchase this prize possession. Now there is the explanation of these parables. What can we learn from them? Why does Jesus say that the kingdom of heaven is like unto hidden treasure, like unto a pearl of great price? Do you remember me telling you that while they had many similarities, they also had some differences among them? And I think one of the key differences is an important point that Jesus is making here as he teaches us. So as we expound now the principles that we'll learn, let us note first of all the difference that exists between these, and then we'll look at the similarities that exist between them. Note for me that the man with the hidden treasure, sort of stumbled across the hidden treasure, right? In verse 44, again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in the field, the which when a man hath found. In other words, he's not really looking for that hidden treasure. He doesn't know it's there, right? It's hidden. He has no idea that it's there. Even if you will, the man is just walking one day. And when he's out walking one day, he sees a little glimmer of something metal. He walks over there to it, and it's the corner of a chest. And he says, okay, there's that hidden treasure. So he's not really looking for it. And I just think about this, that if you understand that it's Christ that's teaching us that the kingdom of heaven equals eternal life. The Kingdom of God means being saved. The Kingdom of Heaven is the Gospel. The Kingdom of Heaven is a relationship with Jesus Christ. That's what the Kingdom of Heaven is. And in this case, there are some people who are not out looking for Jesus. They're not out trying to seek Him. Yet they stumble across Him in some peculiar ways. Now answer me this. Was the Apostle Paul out looking for Jesus when he found Him? He was not in any way out looking for him, was he? No, he wasn't out. Matter of fact, he thought he was doing God's work by killing Christians, by persecuting them. He wasn't looking for that hidden treasure, but that hidden treasure found him. What about the woman at the well? John 4, you remember the woman at the well in Samaria? She came down to the well with a water pot. What was she looking for? She was looking for water. What did she find? She found living water. She found the Lord Jesus Christ because He made it a point to go there because He needed to go through Samaria because there was a lost sheep over there that He had to go and talk to her. There have been many people down through the years that walked into a church house and they didn't show up to hear from God. They didn't show up to learn about God. They showed up because they wanted to mock the preacher. They wanted to ridicule all those Christians. And you know what happened to many of them? God saved them right there on the church pew. When they went in to mock and ridicule them, God turned around and saved them. They weren't looking for that hidden treasure, but they found it. And when they found it, they said, we've got to have it. We'll sell everything to obtain it. Will you let me share a testimony with you this morning? A dear friend of mine who's gone on to glory now, some of you remember Pastor Joe Wilson. If you ever met Joe Wilson, you'd remember Joe Wilson. He was just a fireball of a man. He was one of the first preachers that I ever remember sitting under. He was instrumental in helping my father in the ministry. He was a huge help and blessing to many of our churches. But I want to tell you something, he wasn't looking for Jesus or salvation when he found that hidden treasure. And I'll tell you his testimony as I've heard him tell it and talked to his son again this week, and his son retold his testimony. Joe Wilson, this preacher, mighty man that God had used, when he was much, much younger, there was this girl he really liked, and her name was Betty. And he knew Betty goes to church. And he wanted to walk Betty home from church. So he went in to the church house with no desire for anything except he wanted to walk Miss Betty home from church. As a matter of fact, as he shares his testimony, Brother Joe Wilson used to say, he said, about a week before I went into that church building, He said, a couple of Christians had witnessed to me. And he said, I laughed at them. As a matter of fact, he wrote some friends in Washington, D.C. and told them about this, that these men had tried to convert him to Christianity, and he just mocked them. And in his letter to his friends, he said, they'll never make a Christian out of me. Well, he walked into the church building that night, hoping to walk young Betty home, and he stumbled across some hidden treasure. came across the Lord Jesus Christ and he heard that gospel message. And God saved him right there sitting between his two friends on the church pew. And when he shares his testimony, he always says this, I don't even know if Betty was there that night. I don't even remember if she was there. I found somebody a lot better than Betty. He walked out the door, and I love this part of the testimony. He walked out the door. He reached in his pockets and he threw out two packs of cigarettes out of his pocket. And two deacons came over and picked them up. And that's the true part of the story. When he got home, he told his stepdad about what happened to him. And they had one of those, quote, Jesus pictures on the wall. And his stepdad took that picture down off the wall, threw it down and shattered it and stomped on it and said, if there's a God in heaven, make him stop me. Let him stop me from doing this. Joe Wilson began to witness to his friends and his friends laughed at him, ridiculed him, mocked him, made jest of him. But I want to tell you something about that man. That man stood up and preached the gospel for many years. His wife ran off and left him. He raised boys on his own, worked a job and pastored a church and preached seven or eight times a week doing all of it. He was instrumental in teaching my dad biblical truth. And I'm standing here as a result of the work that Joe Wilson did years ago. Now, that's part of how the kingdom grows as the living spreads. Do you understand that? But he found a hidden treasure he wasn't looking for. And when he found it, it was worth more to him than everything else. He said, I'm going to sell it all in order to have it. As a matter of fact, he realized that that hidden treasure is worth more than anything. In fact, in the text it says, for the joy, the joy. Here's why he sold it, for the joy that was before him. But secondly now, there's the pearl of great price. There are some who I don't believe are really out looking for Jesus and they stumble upon it, but then there's some like this merchant man, In the story here, the pearl of great price, who is looking? Who is searching for some answers in life? In the case of the merchant man, it was his business, was it not, to be out looking for pearls? And I read that, I think about how I believe, you can argue this out theologically however you want to do it, I believe there are some people out here, they're looking for what's missing in life. They're trying to find something that will satisfy them, just like that merchant man was trying to find that one pearl. There was an Ethiopian eunuch headed home from Jerusalem one day, and he had been in the holy city. He had been there during one of the feasts, and he was fortunate enough to have part of a scroll from Isaiah. And as he was reading that, he was searching, he was trying to get some answers. And God sent Philip his way. And you remember God, the Holy Spirit said to Philip, go join yourself to that chariot. And Philip runs and he climbs up on that chariot. And he sees that Eunuch's in there and he's reading from Isaiah. He's looking for some answers, searching for some. And Eunuch says to Philip, who is Isaiah talking about? Is he talking about himself or is he talking about somebody else? And the Word says that he began at the same place to preach unto him Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He began to show to him that pearl of great price. And that man sees searching, searching, looking for what satisfies in life. And God sends an evangelist to him and he preaches the gospel to him and he sees that pearl of great price and he captures it. And he makes it his own. I think about the woman with the issue of blood who suffered many things at the hands of doctors for many years. And she said, if I can only get to Jesus, if I can only get to Him and touch the hem of His garment, I'll be healed. Zacchaeus. I love that. A little man with a big plan. Zacchaeus said, I want to see Him. I've heard so much about Him. I want to see Him. And God reached down from heaven that day and saved him and his house. These were men that were searching for something. And one of the greatest preachers that's ever walked this planet by my estimation is Charles Haddon Spurgeon. C.H. Spurgeon. And I'm going to take just a few minutes of your time. And I want to read this because it was such a blessing to me as I read it again this week. He was seeking. He was looking. He was like that merchant man looking and yearning for something bigger than himself, something greater than himself. Now listen to this. I'm going to read you some of Spurgeon's autobiography by his own testimony. He was overwhelmed with sin, but he didn't know what to do. He was just broken by and burdened by sin, but he didn't know what to do. Let me read this to you. These are his own words. He says, when but young in years, I felt with much sorrow the evil of my sin. My bones waxed old with my roaring all the day long. Day and night, God's hand was heavy upon me. When I was for many a month in this state, I used to read the Bible through. He's lost and he's reading the Bible through, okay? And the threatenings were all printed in capitals. You understand what he's saying? When he read the Bible, he could just see the threatenings of God standing out on the page to him as if they were in all capital letters. He says, but the promises were in such small type, I could not for a long time make them out. What a struggle that was which my young heart waged against sin. He said, I could not remain as I was. I could not rest happy unless I became something better, something purer than I was. And oh, how my spirit cried to God with groanings. I say it without any exaggerations, groanings that could not be uttered. This was his condition. broken and heavy, laden down with sin. But in January of 1850, he writes and says this, I sometimes think that, I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now, had it not been for the goodness of God sending a snowstorm one Sunday morning. Listen, and I'm gonna summarize it for you. I'm gonna tell the story very closely as he relates it. One Sunday morning in January, it's pouring snow in Spurgeon. trying to figure out what to do in life, burdened by sin. He made it a point he was going to try to visit as many places as he could, but his normal pattern was to go to his father's church on Sunday morning. But when he got up to leave, it was snowing so hard outside that he could not go the nine miles. by foot, let that sink in just a minute, nine miles by foot to his father's church. He couldn't do that, so he said he turned down a side street and there was the little primitive Methodist church. And I'm just going to summarize some of this for you. Spurgeon said, I didn't really want to go there because they give everybody headache. They're singing so loud and stomping so loud, he said, give everybody headache. I didn't really want to go there, he said, but I was so bothered by sin, I said, I must go. And so he got in there and there was some 12 or 15 people that had gathered on that snowy Sunday morning. And it was so bad that the preacher himself didn't show up for church. And Spurgeon says this, that a layman took the pulpit, he says, a very thin looking man, a showmaker or a tailor or something of that sort went up to the pulpit to preach. Now it is well that preachers should be instructed, but this man was really stupid. That's what Spurgeon said. He was obliged to stick to his text for the simple reason that he had little else to say. This layman stood up in the preacher's absence and he read Isaiah 45, 22. Look unto me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. Spurgeon said he did not even pronounce the words right. But it did not matter. After about 10 minutes or so, the man was at the end of his tether. And he looked at me, Spurgeon says, he looked at me, this tailor, this suit maker, not even a preacher said he looked at me. And he knew I was a visitor because the church was so small and I'd never been there. He looked at me and he said to me, vocally, said aloud during the service, he said to me, he said, young man, you look very miserable. Spurgeon said, well, I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance, but he was right. I was miserable. However, it was a good blow. He struck right at home. The old, thin man said to me, and you will always be miserable, miserable in life, miserable in death, if you do not obey my text. But if you obey right now this moment, you will be saved. Then lifting up his hands, he shouted, young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look! Look! Look! You have nothing to do but to look and live. And Spurgeon writes, I saw at once the way of salvation. I had been wanting to do 50 things, but when I heard that word look, and he goes on to make reference to that serpent that was lifted up in the wilderness, he said, then and there the cloud was gone. The darkness had rolled away, and at that moment I saw the sun. That's his salvation experience. He wasn't stumbling on like the hidden treasure. He was looking for some answers. And he found that pearl of great price in a primitive Methodist church on a snowy Sunday morning. He, one of the greatest men who literally, literally millions of people have come to know Christ under his ministry, has benefited countless tens and hundreds of thousands. He found that pearl of great price. And he went and sold all he had to obtain it. He, Christ, is that hidden treasure. He alone is the pearl of great price. Enter into His kingdom at all costs. Don't let anything keep you from the kingdom of God. Sell everything, abandon everything, leave everything, and obtain and acquire the kingdom of God. You're not in this kingdom by natural birth. That was the differences, now the similarities. Similarities is we learn from both of these parables that you're not a member of God's kingdom by natural birth. You have to become a member of this kingdom by supernatural birth. When we are born, we are born sinners in the kingdom of darkness. being ruled and reigned by sin, self, and Satan. But it is only through the miraculous working of the gospel of Jesus Christ that translates us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. When we by faith see Him as that hidden treasure, that pearl of great price, and we see that He is everything, everything worth more than all, and we do whatever we have to do to have Him. Too many people think, and I'm going to hurry, but too many people think, including that Jewish audience to which he spoke, that they thought they were right with God because of their natural birth. Well, we're children of Abraham. Well, let me tell you something. Not all Israel is Israel. And I don't know if everybody understands that, but you need to learn what that means. In other words, you can be born a Jew, and you can be a Jew nationally or naturally. But the only way to become a true Israelite is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To become part of this kingdom is by faith in Him. That's it. Without the working of the Holy Spirit, you can't even see that hidden treasure. You get it? It's hidden. The natural man can't see it. What did Jesus say to Nicodemus? Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven. He can't see it. It takes a supernatural working of God, the Holy Spirit, to reveal that hidden treasure to us. And in order to obtain this pearl of great price, in order to have this hidden treasure, a transaction must take place. Now I want you to hear me and hear me well, so nobody goes out of here misinformed or misled about what I said. In order to enter into God's kingdom, a transaction has to take place. A divine exchange has to take place. Now you know as well as I do, you can't buy your way into heaven. You don't have enough. We're too poor to pay. You don't have enough to buy your way into heaven. But you know it will cost you. To obtain that hidden treasure, what did it cost that man? Everything. To get the pearl of a great price, what did it cost that man? It cost him everything. You know what it's going to cost you to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? Everything. Now we don't like that, do we? We like easy Christianity. We like what the old writers called cheap grace. where it didn't cost anything. But Jesus made it pretty clear. You remember that rich, young ruler came to Jesus? And he said, what should I do to inherit eternal life? And he said, you need to do this, this, and this. And that rich, young ruler, he said, well, I've done all that. I've done all that since the day I was born. Which wasn't true, but nonetheless, that's what he said. Jesus said to him, what? Go sell everything you have and give it to the poor and follow me. And the man went away sorrowful. Why? Because he had great treasure. You know what his problem was? He esteemed his treasure of greater value than the pearl of great price. He esteemed his treasure of greater value than the hidden treasure of Jesus Christ. And as long as you want to hold on to the things of this world, as long as there are other things that mean more to you than a surrendered life to the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll never have that Pearl of Great Price. Jesus said, except you hate your father and mother, and then I don't have time to develop all that, but if you love them more than you love me, you cannot be my disciple. If you love your own self more than you love me, you cannot be my disciple. If you're not willing to take up your cross and die daily and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple. You know what it'll cost you to be a disciple of Jesus? It'll cost you everything. That's what these men paid. They sold everything, everything, in order to have that pearl of a great price, to have that hidden treasure. Is it worth it? Oh, dear friend, listen to me. If you're here today and you're saved, would you trade that for five minutes? For just five? Would you trade that for the wealthiest man on earth? Not even for five minutes? Let me tell you something. If you don't feel that way, it's because you haven't seen the pearl of great price. You haven't seen that hidden treasure for all of its value. Speaking of Spurgeon. Speaking of Spurgeon. He was out on a walk one day and a young man came up to him and they began to talk. Spurgeon said, I relate to the story where Spurgeon said he could tell by looking at the man was very educated, by talking to him was very educated. that he was well-to-do, well-dressed, and as he began to talk to him, he found out that the man was very wealthy, had been very successful. And Spurgeon said to him, but sir, do you know Jesus of Nazareth? Are you saved? And the young man said, what need do I have of that? What need do I have of that? That doesn't interest me. Now this is all a real story, and so Spurgeon says to him, would you accompany me for a moment? And so the two of them walk down the road together, they go into the street, and there's a little small apartment building. They go into the apartment building, ascend a couple of flights of stairs, knock on the door, and there in this little teeny apartment is this little old lady, riddled with arthritis, crippled up, has a hard time even getting around. They knock on the door, she comes in, and her face lights up, says, Pastor Spurgeon, I'm so glad to see you. He said, may we come in and talk to you for a few minutes? And she said, well, sure. And she goes in and gets rested back in. And Spurgeon says, let me tell you about this young man, sister. She said, he's educated. He's comfortable. He's healthy. He's wealthy. He's in a great place in life. But he doesn't have Jesus Christ. And Spurgeon said, ma'am, how is your health? And she said, I hurt every day. I'm in pain every day. Well, what about your finances? She said, I have none. She said, in fact, if it weren't for the giving of the tabernacle, and she's talking about the Metropolitan Tabernacle where Spurge and Pastry. She said, if it wasn't for the giving of the tabernacle, I wouldn't even have this apartment to dwell in. He said, well, do you have any hope for a better tomorrow? She said, not in this life. And then Spurge just said, well, look at this young man. He's young, has his health. He has his wealth, he has his riches. Would you trade with him? And the lady, Spurgeon said, the lady sat up in her bed with a mad look on her face and said, trade with him? Who would be so foolish to trade away the pearl of great price for a little bit of dirt or dust here on earth? Who would be so foolish to discount that hidden treasure for a few trinkets here on earth? If you're here today and you're not saved, whether you stumbled in here on accident, or whether you were here because you've been looking or searching for something, I point you to Jesus of Nazareth. He is the pearl of great price. He is that hidden treasure. He'll bring you joy like nothing else on earth can. Bill Gates and all his millions is a pauper if he doesn't have Jesus Christ. I'm going to quote this, and I'll be done in just a minute. There is a heavenly treasure lying in the field of this poverty-stricken, bankrupt, and cursed world. A treasure sufficient to eternally enrich every one of Earth's poor, miserable, blind, and naked inhabitants. Salvation, and forgiveness, and love, and joy, and peace, and virtue, and goodness, and glory, and heaven, and eternal life, all are in that treasure. The treasure is that salvation and the pearl is that salvation that is equivalent to being in the kingdom. What a gem! What a treasure! And how the world knows little of that treasure! How do they not understand it at all? How they wrap themselves up in that which is valueless. That's John MacArthur from his sermon on this text. Listen to me. There is a priceless value. There's the greatest similarity in Christ. He's teaching his disciples, I know this kingdom of mine may not look like much, but there is a priceless value to the kingdom of God. And it will bring joy. You hear that? Why did these men do it? Were they foolish for making these decisions? No, they were wise. And they did it for the joy that was ahead of them. And listen to me, what are you trusting in? What are you trusting in today? If you're trusting in anything other than Jesus Christ, it will fail you. It will disappoint you, but there is a pearl of great price. The value of which has never been estimated, and it is the glorious Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth. Today I point you to Him. Brother Jerry, you come.