Well, good morning, beloved. It's such a joy always to be in your church family. It's a second home for my wife, and I have Maureen is here with me, and we live up in Linden, Washington, pastored for over 30 years in Bellingham, and just retired recently, but I've known your pastor for over 30 years. Once upon a time, way back in the early 90s, I considered myself a mentor of your pastor, And then about the late 90s, I turned into the mentee and he was the mentor. I just have grown so much. Appreciate, respect, trust Pastor Carey. I love him like a brother. And even just sitting here this morning and hearing the announcements and all the things that are ramping up for the fall, I'm going, that's the fruit of all of you, but it's the fruit of leadership. And a good man like Pastor Carey and the fellow elders doing the work of discipleship and equipping and outreach, that is a gift. I know you treasure your pastor, but you probably don't treasure him enough. He's a great, good guy. I hope he's having a wonderful time handing off his daughter to Bible College. So thank you for being here this morning, and we're gonna spend time in God's word. If you have your Bible, I trust you do, Turn to Matthew chapter 13, if you would. I'm going to share a message that really is a standalone message. I'm not here for a series of many messages. I'm here to give you one sermon this morning. And when you have the opportunity, like I do from time to time in my season of life, to preach just one sermon here or there when a pastor's on vacation or sick or something like that, The question is always, what are you going to preach on, Steve? What's the topic? What's the text? And I like to go for what's biggest and most important in my heart. And that's what we're going to find this morning in this message. It is a message. It is not just a sermon for Steve Balvance. This has been his life pursuit for some 40 plus years as a Christian. and I'm still in pursuit of it. And so I trust as I pour out my heart from this topic, this text, that your heart will be enriched, will be reminded, will be motivated, will be gladdened, will be filled with joy as we see what God has for us. At the top of your outline, I gave you the sermon. So after I read these next couple of sentences, if you need to leave, go ahead. You've heard the sermon after these opening lines, and I say, it's on the top of the outline. I trust you have one of those. Here it is. Here's the theme this morning. Jesus Christ is a treasure of infinite value. And we were created to treasure and enjoy him above everyone and everything in this life. This is our highest calling and our greatest joy and satisfaction in life. And because this is true, Jesus himself instructs us to fully sell out for him. And to do it is the greatest deal of the lifetime. To surrender all that we are and all we possess to obtain him is the best purchase, if you will, the very best investment that anyone could ever make in this life. And all of this truth is contained in Jesus' two shortest parables, and these two short stories are found in Matthew 13. Look at verse 44. Jesus taught 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, so Jesus is gonna repeat himself. He's gonna say the same thing that he just said with different words. Again, verse 45, 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. Let's ask God to help us before we go any further. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you for its trustworthiness. Thank you that it's true. Thank you that it contains all that we need for life and godliness. And I pray that you would open your word to our hearts and open our hearts to your word this morning. This wonderful text. Help my friends as they listen. Help me as I speak that all of us would hear from you, and that we would embrace afresh these familiar truths, that our hearts would be enriched to love Jesus with a white-hot affection, to enjoy Him, to be satisfied in Him, to obey Him, to worship Him, more than when we walked in this morning. We need your help, oh God, to be doers of your word, to believe it, and to do it, to embrace it, to apply it. Help us, oh God, in this we pray, for your ultimate glory, and yes, for our ultimate good. In Christ's name, amen. In order to understand these two short parables, we must first understand what Jesus meant by the kingdom of heaven. So we'll start there. The kingdom of heaven is a person. The kingdom of heaven is a person, capital P, and it is a message. The kingdom of heaven here in this text is synonymous, catch this, is synonymous with Jesus Christ himself and the truth of the gospel. The kingdom of heaven is salvation. It's all the blessings that come with being in Christ. The kingdom of heaven is having Jesus as our king. The kingdom cannot be separated from the king. They are one and the same. The Greek word for kingdom literally means rule or reign. The kingdom of heaven is the rule and reign of King Jesus in our lives. And that, friends, I remind you, is the essence of being a genuine Christian. Having Jesus Christ in your heart, ruling and reigning there, is the essence of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. The call of the gospel is much more than an invitation to heaven. It is a divine command to repent of our sin, be reconciled to God, and enjoy an intimate relationship with the Son of God. Genuine salvation, biblical Christianity, is submitting ourselves to the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in this life and forever. and there is no better place to be in life than under the righteous, gracious, loving rule and reign of the benevolent king of the universe. So when you think kingdom of heaven in this text, I want you to think Jesus, his person and his work, his cross work. Expanded a little bit further, the kingdom of heaven has a present and a future dimension to it. It has an already, not yet, reality. When Jesus came to earth the first time, he established his invisible kingdom in the hearts of all the people who would repent and receive him by faith as Lord and Savior. Hence, the kingdom of heaven is now. The kingdom of heaven is now. It is already here. We become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven the moment we are born again. Jesus becomes our king. He graciously rules our lives. He supplies our needs. He guarantees our salvation and in every way is sovereign over our lives. But there's also a future dimension of the kingdom. When Jesus comes to earth the second time, his invisible kingdom will become visible. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ will not only rule in our hearts, he will physically rule on the earth for a thousand years, that we refer to as the millennium. And ultimately, his invisible kingdom will continue forever in a new heavens and a new earth. So to sum all that up, John MacArthur writes this. In this context, the kingdom of heaven represents the saving knowledge of God through trust in his son and all the benefits and glory that relationship brings, end quote. So think Jesus when you think kingdom. I think of kingdom normally, I just think of geography, I think of land and space, you know, cities. I want you to think person, capital P, Jesus. The kingdom of heaven is Jesus and all that he is and all he has done and continues to do. So then, with that understanding of the kingdom of heaven, then we need to ask, we need to ask, what is the main point of Jesus's two stories here? What's the moral of the story, if you will? Here it is. It's pretty easy to see. Jesus is telling us that a relationship with Him and the manifold blessings of salvation are of such supreme, infinite value that when discovered by people, people willingly, joyfully surrender everything that they are and everything they possess to have Him. We will consider what Jesus taught us in these two parables under two main points on an outlet. Good pastors have three points, typically. You're getting two this morning, so that tells you something about me, all right? You get two points. The first point is the supreme value of Jesus Christ and salvation. The supreme, superlative, extreme value of Jesus Christ and salvation. Again, Jesus said, verse 44, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure. Again, verse 45, the kingdom of heaven is like a great pearl of great value. Jesus says, I am a treasure. Jesus says, I am a pearl of greatest value. So the primary point of the parable is clear. Jesus, and all that he is, and all that he has done is priceless. It's precious. put a price tag on it, it's worth more than anything you could ever imagine. It's Bill Gates, it's all the rich people of the world, nothing compared to the riches of owning Christ. So when you think this treasure, my imagination, I'm thinking like the pirate treasure chest. You know, they pop open the lid and all the gold coins are flowing out of it. Think treasure chest of gold coins. Think bowling ball size pearl. When some of you ladies like that, wear that around your neck. A bowling ball size pearl. Think all the gold in Fort Knox. Think all the money in every Swiss bank account. Jesus's point is that nothing in all of creation is more valuable than Him and His salvation. And I do not speak in exaggerated terms here. I do not speak in hyperbole. Jesus Christ is a treasure above all treasures. He is the pearl of greatest value. We used to sing an old chorus back in the 80s, I think, perhaps crept into the 90s. It's from Proverbs chapter three, and it goes like this. Lord, you are more precious than silver. Lord, you are more costly than gold. Lord, you are more beautiful than diamonds. and nothing I desire compares with you. Is that true of your heart this morning? Is it true of my heart? Of all the things in life, and life is full of amazing blessings, amazing gifts, but do we truly treasure the giver above the gifts? Can we say along with that chorus, nothing I desire, nothing I desire compares with you. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 73, whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you, I desire nothing on the earth. That's my prayer. I almost pray that every day of my life. When you get my age, that's a lot of days. That's a lot of days. Whom have I in heaven? but you, and besides you, I desire nothing on the earth. That's my petition. I have to admit that it's my confession, because I don't always treasure Jesus as I ought. But that's my longing, that I would treasure Jesus as he deserves, for his glory and for my good, more than anything on this earth. Paul refers to Christ and salvation in 2 Corinthians 9 as an indescribable gift. Can't describe it, it's too magnificent, it's too amazing. You can't begin to wrap your mind around the value of Jesus and the gospel. A. W. Tozer wrote that a man who has God or Christ as his treasure has all things in one. What Tozer was trying, if you have Christ, you have everything. Everything you truly need for now and forever. Consider with me just some, just some of the spiritual gems contained in the treasure chest of Jesus and salvation. I'm gonna go over this fast, but just be reminded, and by the way, I just step aside here for a second. You're so well taught in this church, I don't think I can breathe a syllable of something you haven't heard many times from this pulpit. Steve just blew into town this morning to remind you of what you already know to be true. As Peter said many times in his writing, I'm stirring up your heart by way of reminder. Okay, so I don't think, Steve, you're scratching at Steve, we know all this stuff. Yeah, but we need to be reminded of it. I need to be reminded, the preacher needs to be reminded of it. So just soak with me here in the gems. Again, think of our treasure chest, all the coins and jewels and everything are falling out of it. Here are the gems of the kingdom of heaven, of Jesus Christ. Deliverance. from divine wrath and judgment. I have a long list here, we could stop there. You and I deserve nothing but divine wrath and judgment. And in Jesus Christ, we get full deliverance. Full deliverance, no condemnation in Christ. Forgiveness of all our sins. Jesus' imputed righteousness. We get the very righteousness of God imputed to our spiritual account. We get a clean conscience. I don't know about you, but I'm glad my conscience is clean by Jesus. Unconditional love and acceptance with the Father. A love that we never get on this earth. This love on this earth is what have you done for me lately? You're a really good guy for that long, but now this happened. What have you done for me lately? Not with God. Unconditional love and acceptance with the Father. No condemnation. Union and communion with Jesus. We get every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. We get access to God's throne 24-7. We have freedom from the bondage of sin. Yes, even life dominating sins. We have power over temptation and sin. We get progressive transformation into the likeness of Jesus. We're given spiritual gifts. We're made useful in ministry. We have confidence that all things work together for our good. We have robust hope in our severest sufferings and trials. We have the guarantee of heaven. Oh man. And much more than that, in this life, And in the future, in Christ's eternal kingdom, there will be no more sinning. Wow, think of that. I'm looking forward to you guys not sinning anymore. I'm looking forward to me not sinning more than that, more than you guys. No more sinning, no more sickness. no more emotional or physical or relational pain, no more death, no more depression or spiritual warfare, no more relational strife, no more war, no more fear or fretting or anxiety or disappointment, no more tears. It will be paradise restored. And best of all of that, we're gonna have Jesus. The best part of heaven, if you haven't understood this yet, is Jesus. and we're gonna have Him rule in righteousness forever. He's even better than your best candidate in the upcoming election. He is, Jesus is superior. He's gonna rule and reign in righteousness forever, and we are going to adore Him forever. You say, if you think that's boring, then you need to get saved. You need to get saved. That's amazing. Christians personally belong to the creator and sustainer of the universe. You're the apple of His eye. He is their savior, provider, protector, advocate, and friend. Nothing enters into their lives apart from his permission. He is loving, he is good, he is sovereign over every minute detail of their lives. Every joy or trial falleth from above, traced upon their dial by the son of love. And when this life is over, he takes them to glory to be with him forever and ever and ever and ever. Friends, what could possibly be more valuable than all of this? Nothing even comes close. Jesus and the manifold blessings of the gospel are a priceless treasure. They are a pearl of infinite inestimable value. And this primary point of this message cannot be overstated. I am not overstating. I'm going to admit, if they had a Hall of Fame of exaggerators, first ballot inductee, all right? I do have a prone to hyperbole. Not this morning. I do not speak in exaggerated terms this morning about our amazing Savior, not at all. There's not language in English or any other language on the planet to fully articulate and describe the greatness of Jesus and the value of possessing Him. And everything, catch this friends, catch this. Here's a little application point here, catch this. Everything about us, everything about you and everything about me is radically affected by the depth of our understanding of the preciousness of Jesus and the riches of our union with Him. Everything's affected by it. See, this isn't just something you, oh, I just treasure Jesus in my closet. No, this truth, this reality of the value of Christ and the gospel, if I'm really grabbing hold of it, if it's really coursing through my spiritual veins, it's affecting every quarter of my life, every nook and cranny of my being. My relationships, starting with my wife and then my children and my growing gaggle of grandkids. the pursuit of holiness. If Jesus is my treasure, I'm pursuing holiness by His grace. My hatred of sin, my fervency of worship, my zeal in evangelism, my comfort and hope in trials, my emotional well-being in the midst of life's turmoils. You see, who is sitting on the throne of my heart, whose kingdom I'm living for, either my kingdom or the kingdom that is Jesus, will affect everything. You get it? So I do lots of marriage counseling, a lot. Even as a retired guy, my wife and I do a lot of marriage counseling. I'll tell you, before you even talk about headship and submission and conflict resolution and laws and outlaws, before you get into all those things, What is your relationship with Jesus? I contend that a husband who is living according to what I've already said in this message, a husband who is treasuring Jesus as his supreme Lord and Savior, is going to be a loving husband. He's gonna be a servant, leader, in his home, he's gonna learn to communicate. He's gonna learn how to confess his sin and own his sin and repent of his sin and make things right. He's gonna learn how to lead his wife and his children. See, this isn't an isolated thing, all this like, this great, let's go up on a mountain top and treasure Jesus. No, if Jesus is ruling and reigning in Steve's heart, it affects all the relationships in his life. He's treating people like Jesus says to treat them. And a host of other things, there's application here. And it's not just a personal thing, it is a expansive, extensive thing in our lives. So the truth, friends, is biblically and eternally established. Jesus Christ and salvation is a precious treasure and a pearl of great price. The only question for the hour this morning is do you really believe it? And do you really live like it? If we fail, friends, if we fail to comprehend the supreme value of Jesus, we will inevitably succumb to pursuing the fool's gold of the world. And that fool's gold comes in the form of countless idols. You're familiar with heart idols. I'm not talking about stone statues on your mantle in your fireplace. Heart idols. Endless God substitutes that can never satisfy the soul. Never really fill the Christ-shaped vacuum in our soul. If you don't treasure Jesus, you're treasuring something else. And that something else is an idol. You need to treasure Christ above all. Beware of the fool's gold of the world. That's the problem that everybody you know that is outside of Christ or the carnal believer, if you will, not living for the Lord, professing Christ, but not bearing the fruit of Christ, is dealing with a plethora of idols, a bunch of fool's gold that they're going after. God had this, indictment on his people, Israel, Old Testament. You're very familiar with this passage. I'll remind you of it. If you're a fast Bible flipper, you can turn to Jeremiah 2 where it's found. Jeremiah 2, this is God speaking in verse 11. Has a nation changed gods when they were not gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. He goes on, he says, be appalled, O heavens, at this, and shudder, and be very desolate, declares the Lord. Why? Why is God saying shudder, be appalled? Verse 13, here's why. For my people have committed two evils, They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. You want the supreme sin of the universe? It is to exchange God for a host of other idols. It is to exchange the beautiful, pristine fountain, the well, of Jesus Christ for broken cisterns, muddy water. That is what John Piper refers to as cosmic treason, spiritual adultery, cheating on the Savior. It's horrific, but it is the logical, It is what you succumb to if you don't treasure Jesus as he deserves. Okay. So a relationship with Jesus Christ is supremely valuable now and forever. You can't put a price tag on him and salvation. Owning Jesus is the opportunity of a lifetime, and it's offered to everyone. It's offered to everyone, even you youngest ones here. It's offered to you regardless of age. But there is a cost. Stick with me here, because some of you are getting some tar and feathers ready here, because I said cost with salvation. Don't tar and feather me yet. There's a cost. And that leads us to point number two on your outline. The joyful price. of possessing Jesus Christ. The joyful price, you wanna put cost in there, that's fine, of possessing Jesus Christ. Look again at our parables, 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. 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. Friends, there is a high cost to possessing Christ and salvation. Whoa, that's dangerous, Pastor Steve, dangerous. Have you gone rogue on us, bro? But you said cost. I thought salvation was a free gift. And you're right, you're absolutely right. Salvation is free, but it'll cost you everything you have. There's our paradox. But that's the critical truth taught by Jesus in his parables, not just here, but in many, many of his parables. John MacArthur writes, I put it on your outline, if you don't believe me, William MacArthur, he's got more weight than I do. Salvation costs nothing in the sense of payment, but everything in the sense of surrender. That's really important to grab here. And I believe, just my opinion, in our eagerness as evangelicals to defend one precious truth of the gospel, that is, that it is a free gift We have compromised another truth of the gospel, and that is the high cost of it. that we must repent of our sins and surrender our lives to the Lordship of Christ. So yes, yes, yes, salvation is free. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2.8 and 9, for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast. But as much as it's free, it costs. And make no mistake about it, Jesus's invitation to salvation is a call to full surrender to God. Turn real quickly with me. Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine. Friends, to possess this treasure, you just don't add it to your life. You don't just simply add Jesus to your life to be saved. Get this? You're not just adding Jesus to your grab bag of other religious ideas or pursuits or ideologies. You don't just simply add Jesus, you repent of all the other gods, small g, you repent of all those idols, all the fools gold, you repent of that and you put Jesus firmly on the throne in your heart. Luke chapter nine, verse 23, I call this Jesus's altar call. Some churches, I don't know if you do it, ours didn't, but some churches at the end of the service, they have what's called the altar call, where the pastor explains the gospel and says, anybody wants to come forward to the altar and pray, you can ask Jesus in your heart, you can be saved. Whether you do that or not, I don't care, but here's Jesus's altar call. This is Jesus' altar call, Luke 9, verse 23. And Jesus was saying to them all, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. In other words, you wanna be saved, you wanna be reconciled to God, you must deny yourself. That word deny there, it means to repudiate self, to be done with. I am done with Steve. Steve is no longer in charge, God is. You must deny yourself, take up your cross, that is literally get ready to die for your allegiance to Jesus, and follow me. That's implicit obedience. Jesus says you wanna be my follower, you're gonna deny yourself, get ready to die for me, and you're going to obey me. And there's no better place to be. Luke chapter 14. You can flip a few pages in your Bible. Luke 14, verse 25. Then now the large crowds were coming along with him and he turned and he said to them, if anyone wishes to come to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Wow. He who does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. This is Jesus. I didn't make this up. This is Jesus' words. Luke 14, verse 33. So then no one can be my disciple who does not give up all of his own possessions. Wow! This is Jesus' call to salvation. Isn't Jesus' call to salvation is, ah, You want a better life, you're sad, you feel empty, just ask Jesus to be your savior, to take care of you. More to it than that, surrender, submission, which, by the way, the repentance and faith we exercise to embrace Christ as our treasure and our pearl are gifts in themselves. Isn't that a mystery? I would have never embraced Christ if God had not put his hand upon me and given me faith and repentance. But I'm still responsible to exercise that faith and repentance. So in the Gospels, Jesus could not have been clearer, get this, Jesus could not have been clearer that a person who will not surrender his old life will never possess the new life. If you want the new life in Christ, you must repent of the old life. And by the way, that repentance isn't a one and done deal. For some people, very strong issues from the past and struggles with sin. I'm not trying to portray, oh, you just have this little switch you flip and everything's changed, no. But in the heart, there's a change. I once went headlong after sin, now I'm going headlong after Jesus and I'm still struggling with this sin. but I'm allegiance, my allegiance is pledged to Jesus. We cannot serve two masters, Jesus taught us. We will either surrender and serve Christ as our precious treasure, or we will serve the fool's gold of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Albert Barnes, a quote I put in your outline, the gospel is more valuable than earthly treasure. When a man sees it and hears it, it is his duty to sacrifice all that hinders his obtaining it, and to seek it with the earnestness with which other men seek for gold." This is the point of the story of the rich young ruler. You're familiar with that, Matthew 19, the rich young ruler. The young man wanted Christ, but he knew it would cost him everything, and Jesus made it clear that it would, and he was unwilling to surrender his entire life to Jesus. And we know from the story that that young man walked away very grieved and very lost. And he came face to face with God incarnate. You say, man, there's the evangelism opportunity of a lifetime. I mean, how did Jesus blow that one? I mean, there he is, face-to-face, and he told them, you sell all and follow me, and he got, ah, I got a lot of stuff. And he turned away and left. Man, that's sobering. I mean, face-to-face with Christ. That's the power of the fool's gold of this world. Maybe some of you are struggling with that today. all the idols of this world, all the God substitutes, looking at you right in the face. God says, turn away from that, turn to me. Again, please understand, when we speak of the cost of salvation, we are referring to surrender to the Lord. We are not trying to make payment for our sins. Salvation is not for sale. Besides, we could never pay for our forgiveness. The sin debt is beyond what any human could ever pay. We are absolutely spiritually bankrupt before God. Jesus does everything for our salvation. However, when we encounter the offer of salvation, the opportunity to become a child of God, the kingdom of heaven, the incredible privilege of having Jesus as our master, our savior, and our best friend, God requires that we surrender our lives to Him. That is biblical faith and repentance. In Jesus's story, this is where it really gets cool. I love this. When the man in the field stumbles across the treasure and the merchant searches and finds the awesome pearl, both of their responses are the same. They both immediately sell all they possess in order to obtain their respective prizes. But get this, the heart of the parable goes even farther than that. They don't just sell all. They don't only just sell everything they have. They do so, catch this, without hesitation, without complaint. They view it as a bargain of a lifetime. They give up everything to have the treasure and the pearl. And they go, this is a steal of a deal. They're eager to do it. Verse 44 again, and from joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. There's not a doubt of, a hint of doubt or murmuring or dickering. They are convinced beyond a doubt that what they have found is worth surrendering everything they possess to obtain. What is Jesus teaching us here? Well, it's very clear, right? That His kingdom is so valuable that it will cost the surrender of all we are to possess. But if we truly understand His immense value, any sacrifices we make to become Christians and subsequently to live for Him are puny and insignificant in comparison to what we obtain in possessing Jesus as our Lord and the hope of eternal life. Really, you could argue from these parables that the focus of the two parables is not on what the two men gave up, but on what they received. That's the emphasis. The loss of all things is not sad because we gain Christ. Nobody came up to these guys afterwards and said, you fool, you idiot, why'd you sell? No, those guys, or if they did, they'd go, get out of my face. I've got the pearl. I've got the bowling ball. I've got the treasure chest. Sorry, it was worth every penny sacrificed. This was the perspective of Paul in the New Testament, right? These parables convey precisely the attitude of Paul in Philippians chapter three. Some of you could quote this from memory. Philippians three, verse seven. But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them but rubbish, scubalon, dung, in order that I may gain Christ. There's a message that the Holy Spirit through his word is driving home afresh to our hearts that Jesus is infinitely valuable and any surrender, anything we would dare to call sacrifice to have him is nothing. Never regret that purchase. I've regretted some purchases in my life. I've bought some stupid stuff, but spent money I shouldn't have spent. But this surrender, this sacrifice, this purchase, this acquisition, uh-uh. Never be disappointed. Paul eagerly gladly liquidated everything he was in order to possess Jesus. And if we find ourselves murmuring about the sacrifices we experience in being a faithful follower of Christ, we demonstrate that we don't yet fully comprehend the infinite value of Jesus. As one Puritan once said, if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice could be too great for me to make for him. When my daughter, Abigail, she's now 35, but when she was a little girl, she went through this phase of asking my wife and I, just incessantly, is that expensive? You know, you're in the store, is that expensive? She always, whenever the price of something came up in the conversation, is that expensive? And we tried to explain to her that the cost of something is relative to the true value of the item and whether or not we really need it. For example, 100 bucks, $100, a lot of money, $100 is an exorbitant price for a box of paperclips. They better be gold-plated if I'm paying 100 bucks. 100 bucks is too much for a box of paperclips. But it's a crazy bargain for a BMW. So 100 bucks, good deal. In terms of our lives, to surrender our autonomy, to surrender our will, everything we possess would seem like an extremely expensive purchase, right? But in regard to possessing Jesus Christ and salvation and all that comes with it, the submission of our lives to the Lord is a small price. In view of the infinite worth of Jesus, it would be like buying a new Tesla for 50 bucks. Like, if I offer you a new Tesla today for 50 bucks, anybody buying? There's a couple honest people in the congregation. The rest of you are asleep or you're lying. I mean, come on. I'm offering you this amazing deal. Crazy, you don't even have to think half a second. Yeah, where's the papers? Let's go down to the DMV, let's sign this off. When you see the inherent value in something and believe you desperately need it, you're willing to pay a large price for it. And you don't even mind doing so. It's such a good thing, right? For example, you tell me today that one of my grandchildren needs a heart transplant. It's gonna cost buku bucks, the family doesn't have insurance. And you can't, true. I'll pick Caleb, my grandson Caleb, he's gonna have to have a heart transplant. There's no money. Steve, would you sell your house? Put sign in the front yard. Why? I value that boy. And I'll gladly, what's a house? I heard I'm getting a mansion in heaven. What's a house? Principle in the Old Testament. Remember Jacob, I love the story about Jacob. Served seven years for Rachel. And they seemed to him but a few days, the Bible says, because of his love for her. Really turned into 14 years, that rascal got, 14 years. And it was nothing to Jacob. Why? The beauty of his bride. The desire of his heart to have her. 14 years seemed like a day. That's Jesus. Let me tell you a little story that I've heard people say helps them with this. When I was 15 years old, that's a long time ago, when I was 15 years old, I grew up in San Jose, California. I got my first bona fide job as a busboy at a restaurant, cleaning tables and such. I worked part-time for $3.35 an hour, and that was above minimum wage back then. I did not cash a paycheck for over two years. When I got paid, I would immediately deposit the check in my savings account. The tips I got from the waitresses, who I helped clean their tables for, financed my simple teenage lifestyle with money left over, which I also deposited in my savings account. In addition to this, I scared up other odd jobs. I was a working fool. I mowed lawns, I painted houses. I don't know why people hired me, but they did. The proceeds of all went straight into Crocker Citizens Bank on White Road, San Jose, California. I would hardly spend money on anything, anything except essentials like Oakland A's tickets. OK, that was important. Baseball was important. And donuts at Winchell's. Other than those essentials, I hardly spent a dime. I was so tight I squeaked, I swear I was. Nothing, get this, nothing and no one was going to get at my savings account. I had an older brother, three years older than mine, a pathetic guy, money burned a hole in his pocket. His pathetic pleas to me from his tycoon little brother to loan him money, no Jeff, out of my face, you can't touch my stuff. In 1979, 1979, I turned 17 years old, and I had saved close to $6,000. And I was really proud of that feat. I felt rich. I was not parting with my fortune for anything until I found my treasure, my pearl, a 1976 Toyota Celica Coupe. Don't laugh, he's just seen that car. Cherry interior, cherry exterior, mint condition. I thought I had found the hottest set of wheels in California. I had been driving my dad's 1961 Ford Ranchero pickup that had paint that shined like the cement. That Celica was a Rolls Royce. By comparison, when I saw that car advertised in the newspaper, I went over to look at it right away. I fell in love with it. I had to have it. And so this tightwad, who had literally never withdrawn a penny from his savings account in over two years, went down to the bank the next day, withdrew $4,000 without batting an eye. And I raced over with the check to the home of the foolish sap that was partying with this incredible automobile. How could I give away my hard-earned money so eagerly, so freely, so joyfully? It was easy. That Toyota Coupe was worth far more to me than the money I had worked so long and hard to save. Again, simple truth. If you value something greatly and believe you really need it, you don't mind sacrificing to obtain it. In fact, it doesn't even seem like a sacrifice at all. On that day, I can remember, I was like, I don't care about that, man. I'm almost gonna give you 500 more. I want this car. Now, that point, the point of that silly story from my teen years is the point of Jesus' story. Really, right? John Piper says this about the two parables we've looked at. Piper says, quote, we learn one main thing. The kingdom of God is so valuable that losing everything on earth but getting the kingdom is a happy trade-off. Having the omnipotent, saving reign of Christ in our lives is so valuable that if we lose everything in order to have it, it is a joyful, joyful, joyful sacrifice. End quote. No one had to twist my arm into buying that car. I wrote the check with joy. I couldn't wait to spend the money because I was convinced that what I was getting in return was worth every penny and more. Get it? But you gotta be convinced of the treasure. You gotta be convinced of the pearl that is Jesus. I'm telling you on the authority of the infallible, inerrant word of God, Jesus is worth it. Jesus is worth the full surrender of your life. Total submission. Turning away, you know that full well, repentance. I'm turning away from sin and self. That's what I'm surrendering. I'm surrendering sin and self to God and I'm turning to walk after Christ. And Jesus is now king. I surrender the throne of my heart. You surrender the throne of your heart. His will becomes your will. And when you fail, when you blow it, when you stumble, which we all do very often, you run to Christ and you find him forgiving, and forgiving, and forgiving, and cleansing, and restoring over and over again. I put another quote, long quote from William Hendrickson. You can read that on your own. just reiterating what we've already said. How is it today with you? Friends, I know some of you a little bit, but I don't know most of you at all. So I'm just here just as a friend asking in this hour as we've reviewed, as we reviewed these truths, been reminded of these truths, how is it with you today with Jesus? Is Jesus Christ your treasure? Is he your pearl? Are you growing in your understanding of the immense value of the person and work of Christ? Have you given your life to him? I'm not asking if you're a member of this church. I'm not asking if you're active in ministry in this church. I'm not asking if you speak fluent Christianese. I'm asking In your heart before God, is he the Lord? You didn't just add Jesus to your life, you exchanged your life for his life. Is that true of you? Today and forever, Today and forever, that is the most important question for you to contemplate. I trust the answer is a resounding yes. Yes, He is my Lord and Savior, and yes, I'm growing in grace, and yes, I'm on the road of sanctification. Yes, I'm learning every day to mortify my idols and turn to Christ afresh. Yes, yes, yes, praise the Lord. If you're not there, I assure you that there's a day coming when you will hope with all your heart that you could do it all over again and repent and embrace Christ. There's nothing more sobering in all of human existence. In all of eternity, there's nothing more sobering than to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ one day and not have him be your Lord and Savior. And he says, depart from me, I never knew you. There's no more grievous, sobering moment that any human being could experience. And we know from the Bible that we all are gonna stand before Jesus Christ someday. And the truth of whether we saw Jesus as the treasure and the pearl and surrendered everything to have him is gonna come to light. So don't take this lightly. Maybe today is a day for you to take a fresh look at your life and perhaps get saved today. And there's men here that would love to talk to you. I could chat with you. Maybe you've been professing Christ but not really walking hard after him. Today is a day to take evaluation of your life. Follow him afresh. Just leave that with you. Thanks for your good attention. Everything I've spoken, I assure you, is from a heart of love for you, care for you. Let's pray. I thank you, Lord, again for the truth of your word that you tell us what's most valuable We're messed up, Lord. We get messed up in our thinking about what is truly valuable, what is really treasure in life. We get so deceived by the fool's gold of the world. Thank you for your mercy upon us to tell us the truth again this morning, to tell us the truth, to recalibrate, to reboot our minds to what is really infinitely valuable. And thank you for the opportunity to joyfully surrender afresh to you today. For those that are not saved here, I pray you'd save some today. For those of us that are wrestling with this road and embracing you, but having our battles, strengthen us, encourage us, re-motivate us in our pursuit of the treasure and the pearl. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.