Thank you, children. We'll continue our study in chapter 13 of Matthew, looking this morning at two more parables. If you've not been with us last week, we started a series on the parables of the kingdom, and this morning we come to two very memorable ones and very short ones. In fact, I was thinking this week I don't know that I've ever preached on so few verses in my life. It's only three verses. And, you know, one would think the sermon would be substantially shorter as a result. But, of course, one would be wrong to conclude that. So, even so, give attention to the reading and hearing of God's holy and inerrant word, Matthew 13, verses 44 through 46 here, God's word. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. This is the word of the Lord. Would you pray with me? Lord Jesus, would you come now and cast the good seed? We pray this morning that you would keep the devil far from this room, that he might not snatch it up. We pray also that the thorns and thistles of this world would not choke out the good word and prevent fruit from coming forth. But we pray this morning that you would take your divine finger and push this good seed down into the soil of our heart that it might bear 30, 60, and 100-fold harvest of righteous response. We ask in the name of Jesus and for his sake and God's people said together, amen. You may be seated. Several years ago, I was flipping through television programs and happened upon that PBS show, Antiques Roadshow. Yeah, sounds like you're familiar with it. For those of you who are not, it's a show invites people to bring their antiques and oddities to a central location to have professional appraisers assess its value and, if possible, give history of the item. And in this particular episode, there was a man standing in line holding a tomahawk. And he knew precious little about it. He knew it had been in his family for a while, been handed down to him by his father. And then it had the initials GW inscribed on the handle. But other than that, he didn't know anything about this thing. So he wanted to come and find out, is it worth anything? Can you tell me the history? So on and so forth. And so once he was seated with an appraiser, the appraiser's eyes got wide and he said, do you have any idea what you have in your hands? And the man said, no, you know, it's a tomahawk. It's been in my family for a while. As a boy, I used to chop wood with it, but now it sits in a tool shed with other tools. And the man said, I beg you, please stop chopping wood with this. You will have a national treasure in your hands. He went on to explain, he said, this isn't just any old tomahawk. This is a ceremonial award. It's a trophy that would have been given to some soldier during the American Indian Wars for bravery or heroism or something like that. And it would have been presented to him in recognition of his patriotism. He says, I think there's only 12 of these in the world. This should be in the Smithsonian. And he said, these initials on the handle, GW, do you know what that is? And the man said, well, I assume it was the owner. And he said, no, it was the presenter. George Washington gave this tomahawk to one of your family members for bravery, for heroism. And because of its association with him, and because there's only 12, perhaps 13 in the world, This item is priceless. And then with a smile, the appraiser said again, please stop chopping wood with this. And the man swore, I'll never do it again. We love those stories. I know I love those stories because they kind of scratch an itch that we've all had since we were little boys and girls. Didn't we all dream of happening upon a treasure? I mean, I remember reading about pirates treasure's buried in a coast somewhere. And I thought, how do I get my hands on these treasure maps, you know, that X marks the spot? What do I have to do? How do I find one of these maps? I remember also, I was little, I was driving around. With mom, it was a rainy day, and I saw a rainbow. I was sitting in the back seat, and I said, mom, can you drive to the end of the rainbow? Because I'm told there's a pot of gold there. I think she humored me and said, well, Brent, if it's on the way, then we'll stop. Yes. But even as an adult, I still have that desire. When Jen and I lived in Chicago, we watched the nightly news. And there was a story of a local home being demolished and in the process of demolition. They found stacks of money in the walls. It turned out it was the home of a former mobster. And so my response immediately, as I got up from the couch, I started tapping on our walls. There's something there, maybe. Maybe one of Capone's boys owned this home at one time. We love these parables because we all dream and we all hope. What would I? Maybe me, maybe me. One day, maybe me. Maybe even as you heard them read, you ask yourself, what would I do? What would I do if it was me, if I had found this treasure by chance or if in pursuit of something valuable, I found something that far exceeded it, even my hopes and dreams were far exceeded by what I found. What would you do? We hear a story like that one with the tomahawk or even these two parables. There tends to be three things that happen and three things that Jesus describes. First, there's the thrill of discovery, right? I can't believe that this tomahawk isn't just an ordinary tool. I can't believe what I have in my possession. There's that thrill of discovery. Then secondly, there is a newfound desire for the object. I want this. I want this. I now see this isn't just something that chopped wood. It has an estimable value. So there's a desire for the treasure, and then finally there's a devotion to it. I want to make sure I don't lose this. I want to make sure this thing ends up either in the Smithsonian or behind glass somewhere. That's what would happen. For all of us, there'd be the thrill of the discovery, there'd be a new desire for it. I cannot believe that this is now here and right in front of me, and then there would be a devotion to it. I want this. I want this for me. As you heard those two parables, I wonder if you asked yourself, I know it's Sunday morning, it's early, some of you are still waking up, but I wonder, even as you As you heard those two parables, if you said, I wonder what it would be like if I found something of an estimable value. And what Jesus says to you, Christian, is that you have. You have. You have. And maybe you've forgotten, but you have. Maybe you're here today and you haven't. And he says to you, come to me. I would have you know the inestimable glory of what I offer you. Let's look at these two parables this morning under those three points, the thrill of discovery. Let's begin there because that's how both of these men are portrayed by Jesus in this parable, that they're surprised, that they're thrilled. They can't believe what has happened, Even before we look at that thrill of discovery, let's define a term here. What Jesus is doing throughout Matthew 13 is he's describing what he calls the kingdom of heaven. In Mark, he calls it the kingdom of God, as he does in Luke, the kingdom of God. They're the same thing. But what do we mean by this kingdom? What is the kingdom of heaven? Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven regularly, so we would do well to have some sort of understanding of what he means by that. And what he doesn't mean is that the kingdom is a place that has geographical borders or a nation. We shouldn't think of a castle with a moat around it or anything like that, but rather the kingdom of God describes the reign and rule of God within his people's hearts. The kingdom of God is the reign of God within his people's hearts. So that in this room there is this morning, if you have subjected yourself to Christ, if you've submitted to him, if you've turned in repentance away from your sin, if you're walking in the ways of the king, then the kingdom of heaven is within you. God's reign and rule through his son. That's the kingdom. And so Jesus goes to great length throughout Matthew 13 to give us parables and says, this is what the kingdom is like, okay? So with that in mind, let's turn afresh to Jesus's words that the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is like. Look there at verse 44. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field. Now, first thing here is this is a little odd, right? Who buries treasures in a field? Well, yeah, it's odd today. But in the days before safety deposit boxes and banks, this was quite normal. It was quite normal to take family heirlooms or wealth and to hide them in a place in a field because if thieves broke into your home, they wouldn't know where to look, right? Additionally, first century Palestine, you know, Romans could come into your house at any time and if your stuff is there, well, they take it. But also, you know, you could be pushed out of your home on account of war. You leave, and you don't want to leave stuff in your house, so you bury it in the field. And sometimes what would happen is people would go on a journey, or they would be pushed out of their area, exiled from their home, and they would die leaving behind the treasure. Nobody knows about it. And so even though the property might pass to a new owner, The new owner may not know that there is treasure in this field. And so that's what Jesus is describing here. You've got this hired hand, maybe a day laborer. Maybe the owner's employee, he's doing his normal work-a-day job and suddenly the shovel hits something and it sounds hard. And it turns out it's not a rock, it's not a water pipe. It's not an irrigation line, which I hit all the time in my yard, but it turns out it's a treasure of some sort, of an estimable worth. I want you to notice the first thing, the first way Jesus describes this is that the treasure which represents the kingdom, remember the kingdom is like this. The kingdom includes both the king and his reign. How does he describe it? He doesn't describe it as that it's visible to everyone, it's out there and everyone can see it, but rather it's what, it's hidden. It's like a hidden, Treasure. And this man, we might say by dumb luck or by chance, but better yet by grace, he finds that which is otherwise unseen. His eyes now behold what is hidden to others. You see, this parable doesn't just drop out of the sky. This theme of hiddenness finds its presence all throughout the book of Matthew and actually all the Gospels. Really, they all speak of something that is hidden from the eyes of the religious elite. and hidden from the eyes even of the fair weather crowds that follow Jesus for his miracles. They cannot see him. Not as he truly is anyway. They see him as a blasphemer. They see him as a miracle worker. They see him as, well, as Islam. He's a prophet, maybe. They see him as many in our culture today. Good ethicist, but self-deceived. They see him, but they don't see him because they can't. Because he is hidden from them. Remember Jesus when talking to the crowds, listen to what he says. You pick up on this all throughout the book of Matthew. Just a few chapters before this description of the kingdom is hidden, listen to what he says to the religious elite and to the crowds. He says, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And it is they that bear witness to me, yet you refuse to come to me. See what he's saying is that the king is here. The kingdom has come. I'm standing right here and you cannot see it. because your eyes are blind, your ears are deaf. I'm right here, but I'm hidden. Do you remember what Paul says elsewhere? Speaking of those who do not know Jesus, listen to what he says and see if you pick up to the tide of this parable. He says, the God of this world, meaning Satan, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel. Do you see that in our natural state, untouched by the Holy Ghost, We cannot see Jesus for who He is. Do you see why Jesus would say to the disciples, to you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom, but to them it has not been given. And blessed are your eyes, for they see, and blessed are your ears, for they hear. Blessed are you, Simon Peter, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven has revealed to you who I am as you confess me to be, the Christ, the Son of the living God. Do you see what Jesus is doing here by saying to you and to me this morning that this kingdom is hidden to the eye of natural men and women and they cannot see Christ as the savior of sinners? is that there is grace that drips from his lips by saying, do you see me for who I am? Do you know that I am the Savior? Do you know yourself that you are a sinner? And have you come to me to see even just that is a mercy of my Father to you. You don't see me because you are more intuitive or more wise. You see me because my Father has shown you mercy. To you, it has been revealed, the secret. To others, it has not been revealed, and it is by grace alone. Amen? It's one of Jesus's main points about the kingdom, to even see the kingdom. To have any desire for the king and his reign in your life is in and of itself a mercy from Almighty God. But another element of this discovery is how it's discovered. Not everyone finds the kingdom in the same way. Right, the guy in the first parable, by dumb luck if you want to call it that, he's just doing his normal day and suddenly this treasure is before him. But in a sense, the second man goes looking for a treasure, doesn't he? You see that in verses 45 and 46, take a look there. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. who on finding the one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it." So, the second man here is presented as kind of a treasure hunter. It's interesting, pearls are not mentioned in the Old Testament. It was kind of a new phenomenon. In the first century, pearls were starting to get discovered and also prized. In fact, more prized were pearls than gold, believe it or not. The local pearls that could be found in the Red Sea were considered kind of low quality. The better pearls were found in the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, things like that. Pearl merchants were world travelers, and they were always on the search, looking for more pearls to add to their collection in order to sell them off. And so this guy, then the second one, he's actually looking for a pearl. He's looking for something. He's looking for answers, if you will, if you want to translate this. parable in the way that is appropriate here, that the first man doesn't go looking for the kingdom, the second man, in a sense, does. So it doesn't come to everyone in the same way, right? I mean, some people, through tragedy, they aren't looking for God, they're not looking for answers, they're not looking for Jesus, and then a tragedy comes along, or Someone comes and shares the gospel with them, and then suddenly they're like, I didn't know, I wanted this, but now I'm thrilled by it. But then some others, you know, after a long search, looking for, you know, truth and meaning by God's grace, they find Jesus. There is a sense in which what this pearl merchant was looking for isn't what he got. He was looking for good pearls, but he found the great pearl. The point here that Jesus is making is that not everyone comes into the kingdom in the same way. I was like the first guy. I was 20 years old and having a good time marching to hell. I was going about my business, but so was Jesus. And Jesus said, enough of that. And my heart was captured. My heart was captured. Some others, after a long search, some search and never find. Some search, and by God's grace, they find the pearl of great price. The point here is that everyone gets in by grace. Those who found Jesus on accident or those who after a long search, looking for something, they found something better than what they were looking for in the first place. But they are there by grace. How do these men respond? How are we to respond? Well, the discovery leads, of course, to a desire Both men find the treasure. It's revealed to them, whether it be the treasure in the ground or the pearl of great price. And they both say, I want this. Now you say, why make that point? Well, I make that point because Jesus makes that point, doesn't he? Jesus makes the point in the parable of the sower that some people are exposed to the kingdom. Some people are exposed to the king and his promises. They simply don't make much of Him. They don't value Him. They don't desire Him. Remember the parable of the sower? The good seed goes out. The kingdom is like this. The good seed of the word of the kingdom and the king has come into this world. Some immediately dismiss it, of course. They follow along for a little bit until Jesus doesn't answer their prayers, and then they bail. But then others, well, they hear the king. They hear the kingdom. They don't disagree with any of it. But it doesn't shape them. It doesn't move them. It doesn't change them. They are not born again by the Spirit of God. And so they say and do all the things, but they don't treasure Him. They don't treasure Him. You see, both men in the parables not only find the treasure, but they say, this is glorious. This is amazing. I've got to have this. And this is really the big point of the parables, the value. the value both men place upon what they discover. The main point is not the third one. They sell everything. That's getting the cart before the horse. The main point that Jesus is drilling down into our hearts this morning is that when the gospel is truly embraced, it is desired. It shapes you. It molds you. It changes you from the man you were previous into a new man or a new woman. The object is desired. It's one thing to know about the king and the kingdom. It's another to delight in him, isn't it? It's another to say the King is marvelous, the King is merciful, the King is adorable, the King is worth all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let's put it another way. These parables are probing not just our doctrine, which of course is important, but they quote They rather, they're going after, do you delight in the doctrine? Do you delight in this king and the kingdom? There's a question, right? Is there a difference between doctrine and a difference between doctrine and desire? And I think there's a major difference. Imagine it this way. Imagine you bring two men to the Grand Canyon and tell them both you'd like them to describe what they see. First man comes up to the precipice of the Grand Canyon and he says, I see a massive hole in the ground dug out by the Colorado River. The next man comes up and he says, this is incredible. I feel so small here. The vastness, the beauty, the grandeur of what is before me. I cannot believe what I'm standing before. I can't take this in. What's the difference there? The difference is delight, right? Both men are right. It is a hole in the ground. It is. The difference is delight. It's one thing, right, to say that Jesus Christ is the King, and that He has brought the kingdom. It's another to delight in Him. It's one thing to say, Jesus saves sinners. It's another to say, Jesus loves me, a sinner. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Does Jesus save sinners? Yes. Do the demons agree? Yes. It's one thing to say, money will never make you happy. Will the demons agree with that? Yes. It's another thing to say, Lord, help me to be more generous and cheerful as I give my wealth to others. It's one thing to say, Jesus forgives us of all of our sin. It's another to say, Lord, help me to extend that forgiveness to my enemy. This is where the two parables drill down and say, yes, knowing the king and knowing about the kingdom is fundamental, but many know about the king and know answers to questions about the kingdom, and yet there is no delight. There's no thirsting after the wells of salvation. And so it asks us, and parables demand interpretation, of course, but the parables often interpret us, don't they? Is he your delight? Maybe this morning you would say, you know what, I have accurate thoughts about Christ. You're fairly confident if I sat you down to an intro to Christianity exam, you could probably pass it. Maybe those thoughts haven't shaped you ever. Or maybe you're just in a season where those thoughts haven't been shaping you. You know the doctrines. the Apostles' Creed by heart, and maybe it's never really done a work in you, or maybe it's been a while, and I've been there. I've been in the latter category. I've gone through long seasons of knowing what's true, but not having much effect on me anymore. I've been there. It's miserable. It's a playground for Satan if you've been there. It's the time where your own heart rises up and accuses you. How are you unmoved by the resurrection? How are you unmoved by the assurance of pardon? Why, when we come to the confession of sin, do you not feel broken anymore? You know that, I'm sure. I was reading one famous pastor, I won't tell you who it is, I don't want to throw shade at him, but he said, I remember one time in my Christian walk, I had a weekend where I didn't feel like I was bearing fruit. And I was like, a weekend? You poor guy. A weekend. I know what it is to hear the word. I know what it is to preach the word. I know what it is to take these treasures from scripture and look them deep in their face and remain unchanged and unmoved. And I know it's misery. Maybe that's you this morning. Maybe you've never known that change. Maybe it's just been a while. And I'm telling you that if it's just been a while, I'm right there with you. I've been there too. It's not abnormal. It's hard to know what to do, right? What do I do? Maybe one more sermon will cure it. Maybe if I go to a conference. Maybe if I listen to more Christian music. Maybe if I try a new church. I've been there. What do I do? By God's kindness, during my sabbatical, I heard a sermon. It was really helpful, and I want to share with you what the preacher said. He said, you know, sometimes we can be exposed to God's word over and over and over and over again, and it doesn't make any change on our lives or our emotions because it doesn't get into our heart. It's like that soil, right, that the soil is hard. We're resisting it, maybe not purposefully, but we are. Or maybe there's other things that choke it out, other sins you want to pursue. And so even though you're hearing the seed and the seed is falling, it's getting choked out by these other pursuits. And there's no change because it's not going anywhere. It sits there on the soil. either snatched away by birds or choked out by the cares of this world. And what has to happen is that seed needs to get deep into the heart again. And he gave this illustration, which I thought was powerful. He said, imagine you are building a highway, and you come across a boulder, and it needs to be broken up, and you have dynamite for the purpose. And he said, imagine you put a stick of dynamite on the surface of the boulder, you light it, and you run. What's going to happen? What's going to happen is that there's going to be some surface damage, maybe break a piece here or there, leave some flash burns, but really the boulder isn't going anywhere. What needs to happen instead is that those in demolition will drill a hole down into the center of the boulder. And into that shaft, they will load it with dynamite. And then they light it. And then guess what happens? This explosion from the inside of the boulder breaks it up. And he said, this is what we need to do. And what I did through much of my sabbatical is get it into my heart. Get it back into my heart. The surface, it's surface change. Yes, behavior modification when it's just on the outside, but drill deep, deep. And put the seed there fresh, because the seed is the power of salvation for those who believe, is it not? And so whether you've never experienced it or whether it's been a while, the solution for both you and for me is the same, and it's Jesus. It's go to Him and say, drill it deep into my heart again, or for the first time, I can't get it in there. I've been exposed to sermon after sermon after sermon, and there's no change. There's no joy. There's no delight anymore. Get it deep within there, because I can't do it. And Satan keeps snatching it week after week after week. It's the very thing Jesus wants you to ask of Him this morning. It's the very kind of prayer he delights to answer. I know you're exhausted, he says. Come to me. I will take my divine finger, and I will push that seed deep into your heart, and it will explode. And you will delight in me again, or for the first time. But you have to come to me. Let him who has ears, let him hear. And with that delight then, with that discovery, the thrill of discovery and the delight in the treasure, there comes then finally a devotion to it. If you take a look at verses 44 and 46, I mean, that's kind of what is always preached in these sermons. Look what they did. They sold everything. And yes, that is true. But beginning there is dangerous because if you don't delight in him, you won't sell everything for him. Or if you do, it'll be because you think in the pushing away of these things, you're somehow buying your way into the kingdom. It begins first with realizing I have discovered something by grace and then delighting in the treasure and then saying, I will devote myself to it. Verse 44, the hired worker, right? He sells everything in order to buy the field where the treasure lies, the pearl merchant. He has this huge collection, but he finds this one pearl that exceeds them all. He liquidates his whole collection and says, I've got to have this one. I don't care what I lose. I need that one pearl. You see, so Jesus' point is unmistakable here. He says, when the kingdom hits you, when it truly hits you, when the seed goes deep and it bears fruit, the kingdom is not an add-on to an already busy life. The king and the kingdom become your life. It isn't that you say, I've got Jesus and his rules over here for my religious life, but then I have my life as a husband or my life as an employee, my life as a student over here. No, Jesus says, when that king and that kingdom conquers your heart, there is no compartmentalization. There is no, this is my religious life, this is my secular life, but rather everything becomes the king. Everything becomes about the kingdom such that now husbands see their love of their wives through the prism of the king who loved his wife, the church. And wives see the way in which they are called to submit to their husbands in the same way that the church submits itself to its husband, Christ. Children, when they hear about the king and the kingdom, they want to obey their parents, just as the Son of God obeyed His heavenly Father. Employees and students don't just do their work for their earthly masters, but their work is first and foremost for the king and for the extension of his kingdom. Jesus is saying it is all or nothing. Which is a theme that, of course, He says verbally, but in, you know, pictures here in a parable, he says it otherwise. I mean, very clearly, right? If you are going to follow me, you will have to take up your own cross. You will have to die to yourself, die to your immediate pleasures, die to your sin, die to making your name great, If you don't take up your cross, you can't follow Me. Just to amp it up a little more, He says, whoever loves mother and father more than Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever loves their children more than Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever loves their life more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever refuses to take up a cross is not worthy to be called my disciple. Could Jesus be more plain? If you want the treasure, It will cost you everything. But there's something that these parables do that present surprising but welcomed paradox. Neither of these men say, you know what, this treasure is really valuable but How much am I going to have to tithe? You know, this pearl of great price is awesome, but do I have to go to church every week? Or this pearl of great price, does that mean I can't date whoever I want or sleep with who I want? No. Instead, the first man says, in his joy, in his joy, he said, I counted all rubbish compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ and knowing his kingdom. I'll walk away from all of it if it means I get him. And in the parables new, as you and I ought to know, or what you used to know, maybe, but have forgotten, is that losing everything that this world promises you for the sake of Christ is the greatest bargain a man can ever make. That's what Charles Spurgeon called this parable, the greatest bargain ever made with man. Lose everything the world offers you, but get everything the world cannot take from you. It's the greatest bargain a man can ever enter into. Jesus does tell us to take up our cross, and that will mean sacrifice, that will mean death to ourselves in many ways. It'll mean treating our spouses or our children or our employees, employers, according to their sin. It will mean dying to what our flesh often wants, recognition and a name for ourselves. It'll often mean dying to the world's standards of success and networking and making it in this world. It will mean dying to those things and saying, I will be called a fool for Christ. And that is hard and it's difficult. And there are times when the cross is heavier than other times, is it not? But when you truly know Jesus, not as a man behind words in a book, but when you know him, when you know him as the one who is your companion, the one who navigates you through fog of uncertainty, when you know him as the shepherd who accompanies you in valleys of darkness, When you know him as the one who washes your conscience clean, as the one who lifts off of your soul your guilt, when you know him as the one who says, you are my co-heir, you're my brethren, and I will give to you the new heavens and the new earth, when you know him as that one, then you say, I will joyfully Walk away from the lies of this world, the temporary pleasures, the distractions, the vices, the desire to be loved by this culture. I will walk away from all of those things because I already have the supreme treasure, Jesus Christ. That's the bargain Jesus makes with you this morning, my friend. The bargain in the words of Jim Elliot, lose what you can't keep in order to gain what you can't lose. It's the greatest bargain of this life and in the life to come. Amen. Let's pray together.