WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Well, are you into art? I wonder if some of you are. I have to confess I'm not particularly 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:10.439 ! into art, especially abstract art. We had a friend staying with us a couple of weeks 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:16.359 ! ago who told me how he and his wife have a poster of a Jackson Pollock painting in their 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:21.000 living room somewhere and they'd like to talk about it and discuss it. Now, I looked up a Jackson 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:26.500 Pollock painting this morning on the internet and to me Jackson Pollock number five was a 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:33.000 brown mess with lots of yellow and white lines through it. It means nothing to me. There's 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:39.659 a sort of beauty to it. So if you love it, good on you, that's great. It doesn't mean much 00:00:39.659 --> 00:00:46.740 to me. It's not to my taste. It's obviously someone's taste because back in 2006 someone 00:00:46.740 --> 00:00:52.859 spent £140 million, or a million dollars rather, buying it. So it's obviously someone's taste. 00:00:52.859 --> 00:00:57.539 They found value even where I didn't see any. Now, I don't know if you're into art, 00:00:57.740 --> 00:01:03.119 but a lot of people treat Christianity like art. You can be into it or not. You might find 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:08.980 it interesting, you might not. It might be to your taste, it might not. I have a neighbour, 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:12.519 I think I mentioned him a couple of weeks ago, he said, you know, why should I bother with 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:17.180 religion, Stuart? I gave up on religion when I was 18 and I didn't have to go to church 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:23.380 anymore, so I started doing sport more. Instead, I was more interested in sport. So that's how 00:01:23.380 --> 00:01:29.400 people often think, isn't it? We can be into art, into sport, into Christianity, into whatever 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:35.820 you like. It doesn't harm anyone. And perhaps in the crowds that Jesus had been speaking to, 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:40.380 perhaps amongst even the disciples he was now speaking to by this stage, there were people 00:01:40.380 --> 00:01:46.260 who had the same kind of, well, I can take it or leave it attitude. The crowds were starting 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:51.840 to drift away from Jesus. There'd started to be opposition. Back in chapter 12, we saw 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:56.880 that. The religious leaders rejecting Jesus, being hostile to him. And so perhaps some were 00:01:56.880 --> 00:02:01.439 thinking, oh, this isn't that important. It was interesting seeing the miracles, but I 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:06.380 don't want to know any more. I'm not really into this. It's not my cup of tea, or whatever 00:02:06.380 --> 00:02:12.980 the equivalent first century Palestinian expression would have been. Well, look at what Jesus is 00:02:12.979 --> 00:02:16.799 saying here. He rounds up his teaching to his disciples, and it is just the disciples 00:02:16.799 --> 00:02:24.939 he's speaking to here. If you look back to verse 36, you'll see Jesus leaves the crowds 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:31.060 by the lakes, moves into a house. He's now talking to his disciples. And he wants them to understand 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:38.359 that his kingdom, his message, the good news of Jesus, is not just something to take or leave 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.620 depending on whether you're interested. He wants them and us to see that it's priceless 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:47.240 and of fundamental importance. You see what he's talking about if you look at verse 44. 00:02:48.020 --> 00:02:53.900 He says, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. Now, you have to pause there, 00:02:53.940 --> 00:02:59.660 don't we, and say, what is the kingdom of heaven? We know what the United Kingdom is. That's 00:02:59.660 --> 00:03:04.340 an island of various other islands that we're standing on at the moment. But what's the kingdom 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:11.500 of heaven? Well, it's not heaven itself. But the kingdom of heaven is not a place, physically, 00:03:11.659 --> 00:03:18.680 right now. Rather, the kingdom of heaven is everywhere and everyone who accepts the king 00:03:18.680 --> 00:03:24.840 of heaven as their king. In other words, the kingdom of heaven is wherever Jesus rules, whoever 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:31.340 Jesus rules over. That's what the kingdom of heaven is about. And so far in Matthew chapter 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:37.180 13, Jesus has told a number of stories to explain what the kingdom of heaven is like. He's described 00:03:37.180 --> 00:03:41.680 it as being something that's currently small but will grow huge, like a mustard seed that 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:48.439 grows into a great tree. It's like yeast, it's hidden at the moment, and yet has a big transformative 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:54.219 effect. It is opposed, like the weeds in the field, like the wheat in the field which has 00:03:54.219 --> 00:03:59.199 got weeds planted through it by an enemy. It is currently opposed but will one day triumph. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:04.459 And he said the message of it is something that will bear fruit in some people's lives but 00:04:04.459 --> 00:04:10.719 is ignored by others. Now he gets to these last few parables. And the first two parables 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:16.959 here have very similar messages. Look at verses 45 to 46. So the kingdom of heaven is like treasure 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:23.259 hidden in a field which a man found and covered it up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:29.560 that he has and buys that field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:36.379 pearls who on finding one pearl of great value went and sold all that he had and bought it. 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:41.519 Now we see the big message there if we look at the similarity between those two stories, 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:47.139 those two parables. The similarity is this, isn't it? These two people both find something 00:04:47.139 --> 00:04:53.399 that is incredibly valuable. And so they're prepared to get rid of everything else they have so they 00:04:53.399 --> 00:05:01.620 can possess this thing that is so valuable. See it's not so much a story about the cost of being 00:05:01.620 --> 00:05:06.579 part of the kingdom, although that is true and that is there. Rather it's just sort of the value 00:05:06.579 --> 00:05:12.000 of the kingdom. Judges, neither of these men in these stories resented giving up what they had 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:18.860 to possess this treasure or this pearl. Look at verse 44. When the man finds the treasure, 00:05:19.259 --> 00:05:25.500 he covers it up and in his joy he goes and sells all that he has. It's what he wanted. It was the 00:05:25.500 --> 00:05:32.540 thing of most value. Similarly this merchant who finds the pearl he's been looking for all his life 00:05:32.540 --> 00:05:39.379 and he'll sell all the others to be able to have this one thing. He does it happily. I guess a bit 00:05:39.379 --> 00:05:43.540 like the guy who bought Jackson Pollock number five. He parsed with that $140 million 00:05:43.540 --> 00:05:51.600 joyfully, apparently, to have this painting that he's so wanted. And actually all human beings 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:58.279 are all like that, aren't we? We all do what we think will make us happy. We all do what we think 00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:02.980 will make us happy. That was Blaise Pascal's observation back in the 17th century, the great 00:06:02.980 --> 00:06:08.000 French polymath, that every man does work for his own happiness. For some it leads them going 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.240 to war, for others it leads them to commit suicide. But with each one it's the same motive, 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:20.079 it is to be happy. And so it is with these people in Jesus' story. They're prepared to sell 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:25.420 all they have to get the thing that is most treasured, that will make them most happy to 00:06:25.420 --> 00:06:30.800 be part of the kingdom. As I think about the people I've met in my life, I know people who 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:36.660 have given up a huge amount because they found the treasure of knowing Jesus as their Lord 00:06:36.660 --> 00:06:41.939 the Savior, the treasure of being part of his kingdom. I think of a friend of mine who 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:48.800 had worked hard all his life to become a professor of psychology at a decent university in the 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:53.220 States where he was from. And he just got to the point where having laboured to get his 00:06:53.220 --> 00:06:57.680 PhD, having laboured in postdoctoral studies, having laboured in teaching, he finally got to 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:03.740 the point where he had a secure job. But in those years of teaching, he'd become a Christian. 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:11.120 And so he left the secure job behind, pretty much sold everything they had, to move to 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:17.240 start studying at a seminary, to become a minister, and is now trying to start a little church in 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:24.460 Boston in the US. Given up everything. Why? Because of the treasure of knowing Jesus as being 00:07:24.460 --> 00:07:30.740 part of his kingdom. Think of a friend of my old church who had become a Christian while 00:07:30.740 --> 00:07:36.680 outside her native country of Iran. And she could not go back. She had to leave behind 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:44.699 family and friends and seek asylum in this country. Why? Well, ultimately because of the value 00:07:44.699 --> 00:07:54.240 of being part of Jesus' kingdom. And that's the point Jesus is making here. To be part of his 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:59.960 kingdom, to know him, to have all that he offers, is far greater, more greater riches than anyone 00:07:59.960 --> 00:08:07.800 could ever find on earth. But why? Why is the kingdom of heaven so valuable? Why is it not 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:12.639 just take it or leave it, like whether you like art or sport? Well, if we read through all that 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:17.500 Jesus teaches, we find that in the kingdom of heaven, we can find acceptance. It doesn't matter 00:08:17.500 --> 00:08:21.939 what you've done, where you've been, however many mistakes we've made in life, however many 00:08:21.939 --> 00:08:26.699 people we've hurt. There is a warm welcome and forgiveness from heaven's king, Jesus. 00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:33.559 Not only that, but we can be made into new people in the kingdom of heaven. As people trust 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:39.639 Jesus as their king, he changes our hearts, changes our lives, makes us new. We're no longer 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:49.039 defined by our genes, by our family upbringing, by our education, or anything else we feel defines 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:54.500 and restricts us. Jesus makes us new in his kingdom. And in the kingdom of heaven, we also 00:08:54.500 --> 00:09:01.019 find real hope. We find that Jesus is a king who came to take upon himself the suffering of 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:05.719 the world, the evil that is in the world, the punishment that it takes to put the world 00:09:05.719 --> 00:09:11.939 right. He took it all on himself, so that he can offer hope, hope of a world to come, where 00:09:11.940 --> 00:09:21.140 every tear will be wiped away. Do you see the treasure? The treasure of acceptance? The 00:09:21.140 --> 00:09:28.520 treasure of a fresh start? The treasure of a real hope? That is the treasure of his kingdom. 00:09:29.820 --> 00:09:35.020 Some don't see the treasure in the field, some don't see the true value of that pearl. But 00:09:35.020 --> 00:09:39.800 Jesus says it is there. It might cost us to have that treasure, it might cost us to follow 00:09:39.799 --> 00:09:45.459 Jesus. For some of us it might cost our reputation. People think, well, how could he or she believe 00:09:45.459 --> 00:09:53.459 that nonsense? For every one of us it costs us our pride. As we admit we have no riches 00:09:53.459 --> 00:09:59.839 of our own, but need what Jesus offers. For some it costs our friendships. For some it costs 00:09:59.839 --> 00:10:07.199 the lie-in on a Sunday morning. But it's real treasure, says Jesus. That's a great similarity 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:13.320 between these stories, but you notice also the difference. The first person isn't looking 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:18.240 for treasure, he just stumbles across it in the field. Wasn't searching, but he found 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:24.300 it. I think of a friend of mine who's a bit like that. She wasn't seeking spiritual answers, 00:10:25.100 --> 00:10:28.860 she wasn't looking for meaning in life, she just went out for drinks with a couple of colleagues 00:10:28.860 --> 00:10:32.680 on Friday night after work. And one of these colleagues was a Christian, and this other, this 00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:36.859 Christian colleague was talking to the other friend, trying to persuade him something about 00:10:36.859 --> 00:10:44.599 Christianity. As my friend listened in, she suddenly thought, this is true. So very quickly 00:10:44.599 --> 00:10:50.599 she turned to Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. She wasn't looking, but she was found. She found 00:10:50.599 --> 00:10:56.839 a treasure. On the other hand, other people are like this merchant in verses 45 and 46, who 00:10:56.840 --> 00:11:02.320 search hard all their lives, try to find something of value. Try to find something to make life 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:08.379 worth living. Try to find something that makes sense of life. Now, I wonder who you can identify 00:11:08.379 --> 00:11:15.300 with. If you're the person who is searching for something of great value, then can I encourage you 00:11:15.300 --> 00:11:21.180 to keep searching? I'm glad you're here. Maybe you've got questions. I'd love to talk to you about it. 00:11:21.300 --> 00:11:25.560 Let's chat briefly at the end and put some time in the diary to go for a coffee or something. 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:31.099 Keep searching. Keep looking. That's the first difference between these people. One wasn't 00:11:31.099 --> 00:11:37.699 seeking but found. One was searching hard and long. But the other difference is the social 00:11:37.699 --> 00:11:42.959 difference between them. The socio-economic difference, if you like. The man who stumbers 00:11:42.959 --> 00:11:47.979 across the treasure in the field is just a labourer. Just a workman. Just happens to be 00:11:47.979 --> 00:11:52.939 in the field and finds this thing. So he sells everything he can to buy the field and get the treasure. 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:59.940 The other man? Well, he's wealthy, isn't he? He's a merchant trading fine pearls. He's a 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:06.960 wealthy man. See the point Jesus is making here by these two contrasts? This kingdom is 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:12.240 for everyone. From the richest to the poorest. Doesn't matter our background. Doesn't matter 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:17.960 which country we're from. Doesn't matter how educated we are. It is for everyone. And it 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:24.960 is so valuable. It's his first story. Jesus teaches us the kingdom is so valuable. It 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:32.340 makes everything else disposable. Disposable by comparison. So valuable. Well, I guess the 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:36.960 disciples at that point may have thought, well, okay, you say it's valuable, Jesus, but right 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:42.379 right now with people picking on us, right now with the scribes and the Pharisees against 00:12:42.379 --> 00:12:49.180 us, we're not so sure. So Jesus tells them another story. Look at verse 47. 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:54.720 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:00.060 every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers 00:13:00.059 --> 00:13:07.199 that threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate 00:13:07.199 --> 00:13:12.639 the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace in the place where there will be 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:19.799 weeping and gnashing of teeth. It's great Jesus gives us the explanation, isn't it? We can't miss the 00:13:19.799 --> 00:13:24.299 point of this parable. He's telling us that one day there's going to be judgment, there's going to be 00:13:24.299 --> 00:13:30.039 separation, the righteous and the evil. Jesus is making the point that the kingdom is not only 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:39.759 valuable, it is inescapable. It is inescapable. Everyone is in this story. All of us, all of us 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:45.659 are fishing who will be caught in this net one day. And the question is, are we going to be on the 00:13:45.659 --> 00:13:52.740 righteous or the evil? We'll come to that in a moment. But I guess there's a, amongst us, there could be a 00:13:52.740 --> 00:13:59.819 natural instinctive reaction against teaching about judgment, can't there? It all sounds so, so 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:06.240 mean, doesn't it, in some ways. You say, well, hang on, how can a God of love judge people? That's 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:11.540 something I hear quite a lot. Maybe it's thought you've got right now. Well, let's think about that 00:14:11.540 --> 00:14:21.080 for a moment. How do you feel if someone you loved, if someone you loved was killed by a drunk driver, 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:30.500 or was blown up in a terrorist attack, how would you feel? Well, if we loved the person who was the 00:14:30.500 --> 00:14:36.900 victim, we'd want justice for them, wouldn't we? We'd want justice to be done. We wouldn't say, oh, it 00:14:36.900 --> 00:14:43.660 doesn't matter. I'm a tolerant, loving person. I don't care that my loved one died. That wouldn't 00:14:43.659 --> 00:14:50.439 make sense, would it? See, justice is not the opposite of love. The opposite of love is indifference 00:14:50.439 --> 00:14:58.919 and apathy. So loving God must care, must judge. He must judge people when they hurt you, because 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:05.259 he loves you. And so when they hurt you, he must judge them. But of course, the catch is that 00:15:05.259 --> 00:15:14.840 when I hurt people, when I offend against people, because the Lord God loves those people, he 00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:23.399 requires justice of me. See, God has to judge because he is a God of love. But there's another 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:27.559 way in which people are tempted to, we're often tempted, I think, to soften Jesus' teaching 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:32.719 about judgment. I said, okay, well, yes, I believe in heaven, I believe in eternal life, 00:15:32.779 --> 00:15:38.239 that's good, but surely a loving God wouldn't punish people for all eternity, would he? Now 00:15:38.239 --> 00:15:43.879 that would just be vindictive, that wouldn't be just. And actually, if all we knew about 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:54.079 hell was what Jesus says here, in verse 49 and 50, the evil we've thrown into the fiery 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:58.040 furnace, in that place, there'd be weeping and gnashing of teeth, if that was all Jesus 00:15:58.040 --> 00:16:04.800 had ever said, then we might think, well, maybe, maybe hell doesn't last that long. But in 00:16:04.800 --> 00:16:11.000 other places, Jesus is really clear. So in Matthew 25, verses 46 and 47, he talks about 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:18.600 the contrast between eternal punishment and eternal life. Jesus is clear. Rebellion against 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:27.879 an infinite God justly demands infinite punishment. There is no get out of jail free card. And that's 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:33.019 why Jesus tells us this parable. Because he loves us and wants to give us a warning. The 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:38.600 kingdom of heaven is inescapable. It's inescapable. And therefore everything else is trivial in 00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:46.560 comparison. The kingdom of heaven is valuable, so everything else is disposable by comparison. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:51.259 But the kingdom of heaven is inescapable. So every other issue, every other question 00:16:51.259 --> 00:16:56.139 is inescapable by comparison. Imagine if you were woken up in the middle of the night 00:16:56.139 --> 00:17:02.419 by the sound of a fire alarm going off, and you suddenly realise that your bedroom was swamped 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:08.059 by flames on the door of your bedroom. Your house is about to be burned down. What would 00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:13.079 you do? Would you go to your wardrobe and calmly get dressed in your nicest clothes, so when 00:17:13.079 --> 00:17:19.139 the fire became, you'd look good? I suspect not. Suddenly your appearance becomes trivial, 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:24.059 doesn't it? Absolutely trivial. You've got to save your life and get out of there. And 00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:31.379 that's why Jesus tells this story. He loves us. He wants us to see that his kingdom is inescapable. 00:17:31.380 --> 00:17:38.620 There is judgment coming one day for all of us. But Jesus has something else he wants to 00:17:38.620 --> 00:17:45.180 say to us and to his disciples. Remember, he's speaking to his disciples here. He's training 00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:51.580 his disciples up to do his work, to tell people his message, to pass that on. And so as any 00:17:51.580 --> 00:17:56.220 good teacher, at the end of his teaching, he asks them, verse 51, have you understood all 00:17:56.220 --> 00:18:04.779 these things? And like every scared student, they say, yes. And frankly, they probably 00:18:04.779 --> 00:18:08.740 didn't understand everything as we discover as they go on in the Gospel. But Jesus had 00:18:08.740 --> 00:18:12.079 explained some of these parables to them. They understood some things. So he goes on and 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:16.880 says this to them in verse 52. He said to them, therefore, every scribe who has been trained 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:21.600 for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:27.119 is new and what is old. Now the scribes were the religious teachers of the day. They 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:31.639 were the experts in the Old Testament law. And so that was how they made their living. 00:18:31.719 --> 00:18:35.599 They were teacher people. They'd be the go-to folks. If you ever have a question, the scribes 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:41.379 would be able to answer it. But often the scribes were in conflict with Jesus. So read through 00:18:41.379 --> 00:18:47.639 the Gospels, we find that. So that's why Jesus adds this little caveat. It's every scribe 00:18:47.639 --> 00:18:51.459 who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven. Actually, that would be better translated, 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:57.219 every scribe who is a disciple of the kingdom of heaven. Every scribe who has had their hearts 00:18:57.219 --> 00:19:04.619 transformed by trusting in my message, says Jesus. What's every scribe who is a disciple 00:19:04.619 --> 00:19:11.199 of Jesus like? He says this, doesn't he? Verse 52. It's like a master of a house who brings 00:19:11.199 --> 00:19:16.480 out of his treasure what is new and what is old. It's almost, if you can picture it for 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:19.899 a moment, it's like going to one of these great stately homes owned by the National Trust. 00:19:19.900 --> 00:19:25.320 You get there and you see the old Rembrandts and the beautiful Ming vases. And then the 00:19:25.320 --> 00:19:29.800 tour guide takes you around the back and shows you the brand new Aston Martin. Or the very 00:19:29.800 --> 00:19:35.780 posh, bang and loathsome sound system that's been bespoke designed to go in one of the rooms 00:19:35.780 --> 00:19:43.900 there. It's treasures old and new. Well, as Jesus puts it, treasures new and old. 00:19:43.900 --> 00:19:51.940 Why would the tour guide be showing you those things? Not just to show off how great the riches 00:19:51.940 --> 00:19:57.560 are in the house, but because they're beautiful, desirable things. Look at this vase. Look at 00:19:57.560 --> 00:20:03.820 this incredible sound system. Look at the beauty that's on display here. And that's the message 00:20:03.820 --> 00:20:09.400 Jesus wants his disciples to hear. That the teaching of God's kingdom is so beautiful, it should 00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:16.300 be shared. That's why he says the master of the house brings out his treasure, what is 00:20:16.300 --> 00:20:23.100 new and what is old, to display it so others can see the beauty of this message. Now what 00:20:23.100 --> 00:20:28.380 is the storehouse that the master brings the treasures out of? Well, we have a little clue 00:20:28.380 --> 00:20:45.020 to sort of back over the page. Back in chapter 12, verse 36. Jesus talks in verse 35 about 00:20:45.020 --> 00:20:49.760 the person out of his good treasure brings forth good. The evil person out of the evil treasure 00:20:49.760 --> 00:20:55.640 brings forth evil. What is the treasure? Well, back in verse 34 he tells us, out of the abundance 00:20:55.640 --> 00:21:02.160 of the heart the mouth speaks. So the treasure house is the heart. Jesus is saying if you 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:07.640 can bring out these teachings, the new teachings, the teachings about my kingdom, the teachings 00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:12.800 about me as the king, and the old treasures, the treasures of the Old Testament, which is 00:21:12.800 --> 00:21:17.440 always promising that a kingdom would come one day, that a king would come one day, and 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:22.500 bear away the sins of his people, pay the punishment for them, so that the kingdom could be established, 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:30.220 so that the perfect world could be renewed again. They are the treasures old and new. They 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:34.759 are stored in the hearts of every disciple, everyone who truly trusts in Jesus and knows 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:42.140 him as their king. So Jesus says to his disciples, this beautiful treasure needs to be shown, needs 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:48.180 to be talked about, needs to be displayed. The treasure of knowing that the king has died, 00:21:48.180 --> 00:21:54.600 so that rebels like me and you can be part of his kingdom, and not just enemies who will 00:21:54.600 --> 00:22:01.460 be destroyed. The treasure of the good news, that we can be accepted no matter what we've 00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:06.880 done, because of what Jesus has done. The treasure of the good news that's told throughout the 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:13.539 story, of God's promise to make our hearts new, that we might want to obey him and want 00:22:13.539 --> 00:22:18.259 to walk in his ways. The treasure that is hidden in the Old Testament and revealed in Jesus, 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:26.180 of the kingdom to come, where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain. It's beautiful 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:32.359 treasure, isn't it? If we believe it, what could possibly stop us sharing it with others? 00:22:33.980 --> 00:22:39.500 It's what Jesus wants his disciples to see. It's such beautiful news, it should be shared. 00:22:39.500 --> 00:22:46.400 Well, back in November 2006, there was a letter in the Financial Times from Professor Jessica 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:51.420 Kessler from the University of California in Los Angeles, and he wrote this letter telling 00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:57.200 of how, as a young man living in New York, he'd become, he'd seen a beautiful picture, what 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:01.640 he thought was a beautiful picture, in Betty Pearson's small gallery. He wrote, I longed and 00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:07.200 lusted for it. I was almost 19, and she begged me for two weeks to take it off her hands for 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:13.880 $450. She was willing to accommodate me if I would pay her just $5 a week. But that was 00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:19.059 the weekly allowance for my bus fare to the college classes. So he never made the sacrifices 00:23:19.059 --> 00:23:25.480 to get the picture he loved. He concluded the letter by saying, well, the picture was, 00:23:25.600 --> 00:23:31.900 of course, Jackson Pollock number five, sold November 2006 for $140 million. He concluded 00:23:31.900 --> 00:23:36.080 his letter saying this, let your readers try to imagine how many miles of blocks I have 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:47.759 kicked myself around since 1948. Why? Because it was a treasure. It was valuable. The message 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:54.460 of the Kingdom of Heaven is even greater. It is so valuable, it makes everything else seem 00:23:54.460 --> 00:24:01.299 disposable. It is inescapable, it makes everything else seem trivial. It is so beautiful. It must 00:24:01.299 --> 00:24:06.419 be shared by those of us who know it. We don't want to kick ourselves around blocks. Because 00:24:06.419 --> 00:24:10.980 actually when judgement comes, we won't be able to kick ourselves around blocks. Let's pray. 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:10.980 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:10.980 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:10.980 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:10.980 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:10.980 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:10.980 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:10.980