[0:00] I will tell you, the kids really pressed me on that song this week. Not impressed me. They pressed me to go faster and faster and faster. And I kept telling them I thought my fingers were either going to burst into flame or just fall off.
[0:16] They're still recovering from this week. But, you know, thank you, teachers, for coming up. I know it's not anyone's favorite thing to always get up in front of people, but thank you, teachers, for being involved in that.
[0:26] Thank you, kids, for coming up. Thank you, everyone that had any part in Bible school. Helping here, praying for it, cookies, all of it. Thank you. I know somebody commented to me during the week that it just impressed them when you really thought about how much of our congregation was involved in our Bible school.
[0:47] The first night we had 50-some kids here, and I think we had about 50-some adults here. And that's not counting people that made cookies and people that did other things preparing and people that prayed. We have so many that are involved, and I just thank you so much for that.
[1:01] That is why everything can happen. That is why it works the way that it's supposed to. Because we all come together as a family to get it accomplished. And really, that is the lesson for how things should be in the kingdom of God.
[1:14] We come together for the same purpose, for the same goal, and we work together at it to accomplish it. That is what God wants to see. I know so often we compare things to children, and I think that's fitting.
[1:27] But you know, I think of my children, and when I saw them working together at something as they were growing up, guess what? That thrilled me. I love to see my kids working together and enjoying being together.
[1:38] And you know, as I watch Bible school, and it can be a stressful week, and it can be a tiring week, but I watch everybody just work together with joy, and I'm blessed by that. So thank you. Thank you.
[1:49] All right. If you have your Bibles, we are going to be in the book of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, is where we're going to begin. So I encourage you to turn to that. And yes, this morning, we are talking about treasure.
[2:02] We have been talking about treasure here all week long, and that is not stopping this morning. So Matthew, chapter 13, and we are going to begin in verse 44. And once you've found that, I am going to ask, if you're able, if you would stand as we read God's Word together this morning.
[2:19] Matthew, chapter 13, beginning in verse 44. And this is what the Word of God shares this morning. Jesus is speaking, and He says this. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to treasure hidden in a field, the which, when a man has found, he hides, and for joy thereof, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
[2:45] Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and he bought it.
[2:57] Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
[3:10] So shall it be, at the end of the world, the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire.
[3:20] There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus says to them, Have you understood all these things? And they said to Him, Yea, Lord. Then He said to them, Therefore, every scribe which is instructed to the kingdom of heaven is like to a man that is a householder, which brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.
[3:45] Let's pray together this morning. Lord God, we just thank You again. And in reality, we just have so many things to thank You for. Lord, for this week, which has been a blessing, for the children that have been here that are a blessing, for the fact that we can be in Your house this morning, that we can be among our family, that we can read from Your Word, that we have the freedom to be here, that Your presence is here.
[4:09] All these things, Lord, are gifts from You. And we just thank You. And Lord, we pray that each one of us would take advantage of this opportunity that You've put before us, that we would open our hearts and minds to Your Word, that we would let it sink in and soak in and impact our lives.
[4:23] Let it accomplish in us what You want on this day. And we ask and pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. You can be seated this morning.
[4:36] So we're talking about treasure. All week we've been talking about treasure. What comes to your mind when you hear that word treasure?
[4:49] Cletus. Yeah, there was a character Cletus around this week. He had something to do with the treasure. What else comes to your mind when you hear that word treasure? Annabelle. Jesus, because He is our treasure.
[5:02] A chest with a bunch of gold coins. Serenity. Pirates. I mean, those are the things that come to our mind when we hear that word treasure. And I know for me, all those things come to my mind, but particularly what Zane shared.
[5:16] When you hear the word treasure, I picture this big treasure chest. And you open it up and it's just overflowing with gold coins and rubies and things that are of what?
[5:28] Value. Things that are worth a lot of money, things that are worth a lot that everyone would agree that there is great value there. That's what I think of when I hear the word treasure.
[5:40] And this morning as Jesus is speaking, and again, it's interesting, Jesus talks a lot about treasure. And here in the parables, the analogies that He's speaking, He uses the word treasure.
[5:51] Look at the first verse we read, verse 44. And Jesus compares it here to the kingdom of heaven. And that is what Jesus was all about. Jesus came and He said, He was here to preach and teach about the kingdom of heaven.
[6:07] He says, the kingdom of heaven is like to a what? Hidden in a field. A treasure. A treasure. It's like a treasure that is hidden in a field. But it's interesting in this example that He gives.
[6:19] Look what He says after that. The witch, when a man has found, he hides, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
[6:33] Anything you notice that's really interesting about this story that Jesus is telling? Serenity? Serenity? He hides the treasure. Yeah, that's kind of an interesting thing, isn't it?
[6:44] Anything else? Where did He find this treasure? Out in the field. What do we find out about this field that He found the treasure in? It wasn't His.
[6:57] That's the thing, I guess, as I was reading through this this week, and I've read this section of Scripture many times, but it really struck on my heart and on my mind. He finds this treasure, but this isn't His field He finds it in.
[7:10] It belongs to someone else. The field does. But this man is walking through this field, working in this field. It doesn't say what. But in the course of whatever He's doing in somebody else's field, He finds this treasure.
[7:24] Do you think He was excited about it? Yeah. Yeah. And here's some times where, I don't know, I think we really need to consider what Jesus is talking about, the comparison that He is making.
[7:36] It says that this man, it says, and for joy. He had joy. He had excitement because he had found what? Treasure. What would your reaction be if you found treasure out in the field?
[7:50] It didn't belong to you, but we'll talk about that in a minute. What would your reaction be? Happy? Excited? What's that?
[8:01] Hide it quick? I think any of us would probably be excited if we found treasure, wouldn't we? Wouldn't you? And all week long, we've talked about the treasure, and the treasure that Jesus is talking about here, it's not a physical treasure, is it?
[8:22] What's the real treasure, boys and girls at revival school or youth? Jesus. Have you found Jesus? Have you found that treasure? Have you found that treasure? There was a question.
[8:35] One thing I say to the kids during Bible school, and I want to get their attention, let me see your eyeballs. That means look up here, right? All right. Have you found Jesus?
[8:45] Yes. Okay. So what's your reaction to that? Excited. Joy. Are you? Yes. Really? Yes.
[8:56] Okay. We should have an excitement. We found the greatest thing ever. Ever. This man has joy. Even though it's not his field, he finds his treasure. And then what does he do after that?
[9:09] He hides it. And then what? Sells what? What does it say he sold? All that he has.
[9:21] To do what? To buy that one field. Why? Because that's where the treasure was. You know, I was thinking about this week, and again it struck me that this wasn't his field.
[9:34] What about the guy that owned the field? Before. Who had treasure there? He didn't look for it?
[9:48] Didn't know it was there? If he would have known it was there, would he have sold the field? Probably not. Or he would have taken the treasure and then sold the field. Right? As I was considering this, it really struck me that this man had something of great value.
[10:06] Right there in front of him. In his own field. And yet what? He didn't know it. He never realized it.
[10:18] Until it was sold and it was somebody else's and it was gone. How often does that happen spiritually to people? Jesus Christ is there for who? Everyone.
[10:29] He is there for everyone. And people so many have opportunities to come to accept Jesus. He's right there in front of them. And yet how many people just don't take advantage of that? Don't realize the treasure that they're missing out on.
[10:42] That just really had struck me this week. And I pray for you and I that that's not us. That we realize how great a treasure we truly have before us. That if we have Jesus in our lives, that we understand how great a treasure that truly is.
[10:57] Because it is a treasure that is worth what? Everything. And again, the other part that struck me is this man that had found the treasure. What did he sell to get it? It says he sold all that he had.
[11:12] I don't know how much other things he had. I'm sure some of the things he had were important to him, don't you think? But he still sold them. He sold everything he had because he realized this treasure was of greater value than anything he had.
[11:27] Spiritually, how true is that for you and I? You see, when we come to accept Jesus, are there things we need to get rid of? Yes.
[11:37] There are things that we need to give up. There are ways that we think that we need to get rid of. There are priorities that we have that need to change and we need to let go of. There are things that we need to cast aside because we realize Jesus and following him are far more valuable.
[11:56] But it wasn't just this man with the treasure. Look at the next example Jesus gives. In verse 45, again, Jesus says, The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who when he found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
[12:19] How is this similar to the last example that he just gave? He sold it all. Whatever he had up to this point, he was willing to get rid of because he said, That is worth more than anything I've got right now in my life.
[12:43] That's pretty powerful when you think about it, isn't it? How many things would you be willing to give up everything for in your life? Because you say that is far more important.
[12:55] And I think one of the lessons that you and I should learn is spiritually, the understanding that Jesus is worth giving up everything for, isn't he? Everything. Jesus needs to be that priority.
[13:07] You look at even the disciples, and Jesus was speaking to some of his disciples here. What was the message he had for them? You're going to be asked to give up some things. But is it worth it?
[13:21] What did some of the disciples give up for Jesus? Everything. Some of them gave up their very lives to follow Jesus.
[13:32] You know, in this day and age, Jesus was preaching a lot to Jewish people, and the disciples would preach a lot to Jewish people. And many of them came to know Jesus, certainly not all. But when Jewish people came to know Jesus, do you know what they sometimes had to give up?
[13:47] Their family may disown them. They may lose their businesses. Or if they have businesses, they'll lose all their customers, so they lose it anyway. They may have to give up their home.
[13:58] They may have to give up everything because they came to know Jesus. But that's what this is talking about. The realization that even if you have to give up everything, guess what?
[14:10] Everybody say, it's worth it. That's the message. It's worth it. For this man with the field, it was worth it to sell everything to buy this field to get the treasure.
[14:20] For the man that found this pearl, he was willing to sell all that he had. Giving up all those things was worth it to get this one treasure because it was of greater value than anything he had before.
[14:34] Folks, the treasure we find in Jesus, the relationship we find in Jesus, is worth more than anything else we will find in our lives. That is the lesson, part of the lesson at least, that I think Jesus is trying to share with the disciples here.
[14:51] We need to be willing to get rid of things that are not as great a value to get Jesus who is the greatest value. Which means when we accept Jesus, there are some things we have to give up in our lives.
[15:05] Do we like giving up things? Do we like giving up things? You know, my grandkids sometimes, they'll get a toy when we had all five of them together on vacation.
[15:20] One of them would get a toy and guess what? Now everybody wants what? That one toy. So what do you do when that happens? Make them share.
[15:31] Make them share. And that's really easy, right? Take it away from all of them. Then you get all crying. Might as well all be crying. You know, sometimes what we'll do is we'll find another toy and try to make a tray.
[15:44] Here, you play with this one, right? You know, sometimes I would try to hand the one that wanted this toy, I'd try to hand them another toy and they'd take it.
[15:55] And guess what they'd do? Now they got two toys. And they don't want to give up either one. Is that ever us in life? We accept Jesus and yet there's some other things in our life that we should get rid of but we still want to hang on to.
[16:09] There's some priorities that aren't right that we still hang on to even though we should give them up. There are some things in our life we do that we know aren't right but we don't want to give it up. We try to hang on to them and we try to keep both of them.
[16:22] Folks, in our lives there are things that we will have to give up to follow Jesus. Because we can't serve the world and God at the same time. Do we understand that? Look on down what he says.
[16:40] Look in verse 47. This is the next example. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a net that was cast into the sea and gathered every kind, which when it was full they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
[16:58] Okay? So they were fishing. They got a bunch of fish. They drew them in in nets. And what did they get in the net? Everything, right? All kinds of fish. I'm not a fisherman, but they got a little bit of everything.
[17:08] Are all those fish good eating fish? Apparently not. So what did they have to do? Sort through it. And what did they do as they sorted through?
[17:21] Kept the good. Got rid of the bad. Is that not what we're asked to do in our lives as Christians and as believers? To think about our lives?
[17:34] To examine our lives? And think what are things that God is pleased with that I need to keep? And what are some things in my life that God is not pleased with that I really need to let go of and get rid of?
[17:48] That is what God asks us and calls us to do. And is that easy? No. And folks, sometimes we just simply need to open our eyes. Can you imagine them sitting around and they're sorting through these fish, right?
[18:01] Right? Separating the good from the bad. What if you told them, close your eyes and do it? What do you think?
[18:12] How would it go? What do they need to do in order to do this effectively? Open their eyes. Folks, for you and I spiritually, we need to open our eyes to God's Word.
[18:25] To really look at the things that God is pleased with. To really look at those things that God isn't pleased with. And to be willing to get rid of those things that are not pleasing to God that are present in our lives.
[18:39] How many of us have things in our lives that are not always pleasing to God? Let's be honest with ourselves. We all do at times, don't we?
[18:51] And we can think of those big things. You know, you think of the big sins that are out there. You think of, you know, adultery. And you think of addictions. And you think of those big things.
[19:01] Murder. And you think of those big things. What about those little things? Selfishness. Pride. Maybe lies that you tell other people or lies that you tell yourself.
[19:14] Maybe just a lack of devotion to God's Word. Are those things we need to get rid of in our lives? Are those things we need to open our eyes to? That so often we kind of let linger in our hearts and in our lives?
[19:28] God says here we need to cast out and get rid of the old and take the new. Folks, the message this morning, it isn't complicated.
[19:40] That was the thing I loved about our Bible school. It's not complicated, but you know what? Jesus' message for people was never complicated. We can make it complicated. And it's interesting to me.
[19:52] Look later on as Jesus was talking and look down in verse 51. Look at the question Jesus asks. Jesus then said to them, Have you understood all these things?
[20:06] What'd they say? Oh, yeah. Yeah, we understand. Did they? Completely? Completely? You ever tell somebody you understand something when you don't really?
[20:22] I know sometimes somebody will be giving you directions. Oh, you need to turn to this. You need to turn to that. You need to... You got that? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I got that. Yeah, I didn't. I don't know what you're talking about. But we sometimes... Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[20:33] I got it. And it puts me in my mind, and I don't know, but the disciples, they certainly didn't understand all of it. And I think sometimes we fall into that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We understand that. We got it. We understand it. And we just kind of want to move on.
[20:45] But do we truly understand what Jesus is asking of us here? He is asking us to examine our lives. He is asking us to really look at what we need to keep and what we need to get rid of in our lives.
[21:01] Look at the last thing that He shares in verse 52. This is the verse that Adam read this morning. Then He said to them, Therefore, every scribe which is instructed to the kingdom of heaven...
[21:15] Let's talk about that for a minute. What's a scribe? Anybody know what a scribe was? It was a writer. They had several jobs, the scribes did.
[21:27] One of their most important jobs was to copy down scriptures. They didn't have printing presses then, right? So the scribes are the ones that would... Their job was to faithfully write down the scriptures to make another copy of it so that other people could have it.
[21:42] And it had to all be done by hand. That was part of their job. But also scribes were known as scholars who studied the scripture, and they were known as teachers.
[21:54] That's what a scribe was. Now, you and I, do you have to copy down God's Word? No. No. No, you've been blessed, haven't you? How many of you have a Bible in front of you, or maybe it's on your phone?
[22:07] Did you have to write all those scriptures down? Are you glad? All right. So we're blessed. Realize that. So we don't have to copy it all down, but are we supposed to know it? Are we supposed to study it?
[22:19] Are we supposed to be scholars of it? The Bible says, study to show thyself approved, a workman. We are supposed to study God's Word. Are we supposed to teach it? Yeah. Yeah. If you were here last week, we studied from Hebrews for when for the time you ought to be teachers.
[22:33] We're supposed to be scholars and teachers of the Word. So in a way, we are scribes. And as he's talking about scribes, to every scribe which is instructed to the kingdom of heaven.
[22:46] Have you been instructed about the kingdom of heaven? Yes. Okay. So that's us. It's like to a man that is a householder, which brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.
[23:02] So he's got treasure. And there's some new things and there's some old things both in there, aren't there? You know, Jesus was talking about a couple of things here.
[23:12] One of the things was, you know, for the scribes and for the teachers, they had the Old Testament scriptures, right? Right? That's the old. And was there good in the Old Testament scriptures? Absolutely.
[23:22] It was God's direction to them. But Jesus also said, I came to show you a new way. You have heard it said, but I say unto you, all those scriptures that Jesus taught about. So there was old that was beneficial and there was new that was beneficial.
[23:37] And he said, a scribe is one that really considers which is valuable in both of those. Folks, if we are to be like those scribes, we need to take our lives and look at what was there before that pleases God and look at what new creations and new things in us that God wants to bring about.
[23:57] And those are the things that we need to value. Are there things that were part of your life before that were good, before you knew Jesus? Probably. Love of family, maybe some values that you were taught growing up.
[24:11] Hold on to those things. But when you accept Jesus and you become a new creation, are there things from there that you need to hold on to? Absolutely. So what things do you need to get rid of?
[24:23] Love of family, those things that are not pleasing to God. And that is the message this morning. Because too many of us sometimes have these treasure chests, but we have a lot of good things and then we have a lot of junk mixed in with it.
[24:45] What if you found a treasure chest that had a bunch of gold coins in it, but also mixed in there as a bunch of lumps of coal? What would you do?
[24:56] Annabelle? Give the coal to myself and then give the money to carry. Oh, well, that would be a good thing. That's not maybe what I would do. Or let's give it not coal.
[25:07] Let's give another example. You had gold coins in there and then there was like garbage in with it. What would you do? Pick the garbage out and hang on to it.
[25:22] Value it. Put it up on your shelf. You'd throw it out, wouldn't you? Folks, that is what God is asking us to do. Our lives are this chest.
[25:33] And if we have Jesus in our lives, then we have that treasure. But too often we have a lot of other garbage in there with it. And he's simply saying you need to get rid of that. Let God examine your heart.
[25:46] Hold your life up to the standard of God's word. What is in there that shouldn't be? And if there's stuff in there that shouldn't be, get rid of it. Keep the good.
[25:56] Keep the treasure. Get rid of the rest. And who determines what the treasure is? God. Who determines the things we need to get rid of? God.
[26:08] So ask God to examine your heart. Ask God to examine your life. And help him to take that treasure and get all the garbage out of it. So what you're left with is good and pure and valuable.
[26:21] Let's pray. Lord God, just thank you for this morning. I thank you for your word. And Lord, as Jesus is teaching here and he's sharing with the disciples and others, he's sharing with them the treasure that we can find in him, the new life that we can find in him.
[26:38] But also to find that there are things that we need to get rid of, things that we need to give up, ways that we have thought, priorities that we have had, things that we allow into our lives that we need to cast away.
[26:50] And Lord, that message is just as true for us today. And I pray for each one that's in this place, myself included, that you would help us to look at our lives, to look at our hearts, to find the things that aren't pleasing to you and to get rid of them.
[27:05] Maybe it's a temper. Maybe it's a grudge. Maybe it is pride. Maybe it is lies that we have told or deceit. Maybe it is dishonesty in one form or another.
[27:16] Maybe it is infidelity. Maybe it is an addiction. Lord, whatever those things are that are not pleasing to you, help us to get rid of those things, to cast them away, to ask for your forgiveness. So that what we are left with is the treasure that we find in Jesus.
[27:31] That you will look at our lives and that you will see purity that we can only find through Jesus Christ. So Lord, help us to value this treasure that we have and to get rid of the junk.
[27:44] In Christ's name we pray. Amen. This morning as we close, the altar's open. Whatever your need, maybe you just know there's some junk you need to get rid of and you want to talk to God about it.
[27:55] Whatever you need, the altar is open this morning. As you go through your week this week, make sure you're not like the man who had the field and had a treasure and didn't even realize it. If you have Jesus, make sure you understand and realize what a wonderful treasure that you have.
[28:10] Let's bow our heads as we close in prayer. Lord God, thank you again for this morning that you've given us. Lord, as we leave this place, Lord, I pray that we would leave knowing that we have you in our heart, knowing that when we have you, we have the greatest treasure that could ever be found.
[28:24] Lord, help us to value that, Lord, and to keep it the number one priority in our lives. Thank you again for your presence in this place and in our lives. We give you all the praise and all the glory. And it's in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray and all God's family together said, Amen.
[28:39] God bless you and have a wonderful week. Thank you.