Open your Bible at Matthew chapter 13.
And just one verse at the moment.
Matthew chapter 13.
And at verse 44.
Matthew 13 and verse 44.
Again, reading, I understand from the authorized, the
kingdom of heaven is like to treasure hid
in a field, the which when a man
hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof
go and sells all that he has and
buys that field.
Now, no need, I think, to remind you
where we are.
First four parables.
First four.
The sower and the seed, the wheat and
the tares, the mustard seed and the lemon.
That's the first four we've studied.
There the Lord was telling the multitude, the
crowd, what would be the outward development of
his kingdom between his first and second advent.
And we've seen there the battle, the conflict
with evil and little apparent success.
He was speaking to those, of course, who
are not in the kingdom, to the crowd,
who always were judged by what they see.
And it appeared to be fruitless.
You remember three quarters of the seed was
fruitless, the damage caused by the tares among
the wheat and the unnatural development of the
kingdom, like the mustard seed into a great
big tree and the corruption of the kingdom
by the evil influence of lemon.
It's all been rather a dark story, depressing.
And you may think negative.
Much to give most people, everybody in fact,
ground for thinking something's gone wrong.
Something about Christianity must have failed.
But there's another side to the picture.
And it's that we're coming to think about
today and tomorrow.
Because the Lord is speaking now, verse 36
was the turning point, where he left the
crowd, sent them away and went into a
house and taught his disciples, who were judged
not by what they saw, but by what
they believed.
And he would have us know how he
is working in the world today, what he's
doing.
And he likens the kingdom of heaven to
treasure hid in a field which a man
finds and hides again.
And for joy at finding it, he goes
and sells all he has and buys the
whole field.
This parable and the next one tell us
what we mean to Jesus.
They're very, very precious.
That we don't have an inheritance in him
simply, but he has something very special in
us.
They tell us, these two parables, the kingdom
and the pearl of great price, tell us
what we mean to Jesus.
Now, there are some things here in this
verse which we've seen before.
The field, well, the field is the world.
We've heard the master say.
The man, well, that's always been the savior
himself.
Now, read the verse again with those two
things explained, and we're left to discover what
is the treasure and what is meant by
the hiding of it and the purchase of
the whole world.
Now, let's begin then with this.
What's the definition of the treasure?
What is that treasure?
I have to ask myself and ask you
the question, what is it that there is
in the world upon which God has set
his heart?
Something hidden, unrevealed?
What's God's purpose throughout all history?
What's he see that impels him to sell
all he has to realize it?
Well, for what was the world created?
It was for the display of the government
of God.
Just get that down.
The world was created for the display of
the government of God.
And the treasure in this parable, that on
which God has set his heart, is nothing
less than the realization of that purpose in
the world and in human life, to display
the glory of the government of the Lord.
That's what God's aim is for the world,
and it's his aim in all of our
lives, for the display of the government of
God.
That somehow this world should one day display
the glory of his government.
That's the hidden treasure.
And that hidden treasure suddenly becomes exposed as
its display in your life and mine.
That's what God is after today in every
one of us, to display the government of
Jesus.
Now let me just give you one or
two verses.
Let's look them up quickly and see if
you can be the first to find them.
A couple of them in the Old Testament.
Ready?
Psalm 2, verse 8 and 9.
Find it, somebody, and read it to me.
Read it to us.
Psalm 2, verse 8 and 9.
Who will be first in the reading of
it?
Excuse me, just a little louder and slower.
You're lecturing at the moment, come on.
That's it.
What version is that?
I thought so, yes.
Pardon me, ma'am.
Right.
Colossians 1, 16 through 18.
For created, both in the heavens and on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities, all things have been
created by him and for him.
And he is before all things and in
him all things, all together.
He is also head of the body, the
church, and he is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, so that he himself might
come to the first place in everything.
Very good.
Thank you.
Lovely to hear you in English.
Very good.
Hebrews 10, 5 through 8.
Firstborn, when he was going into the world,
he said, sacrifice nothing that I would not,
for the body of Christ that you serve
me.
And for nothing, he sacrificed, for sin that
I would not commit thither.
Then he said, I go, I come, for
the fun of the good of the citizens,
to do thy will for us.
Following that, he said, sacrifice nothing, and for
nothing, and nothing for sin that I would
not, make a hospice at their end, for
the sacrifice of us.
Then he said, he go, I come, to
do thy will for us, to take away
the burden, that he had established, and to
sacrifice.
Finished?
Thank you.
Very good.
Good to hear you speaking in Irish.
Excuse me.
Finally, Revelation 21, verses 2 through 4.
Revelation 21, verses 2 through 4.
And I saw the holy city, near Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, made
ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the
throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
among men, and he shall dwell among them,
and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be among them.
And he shall wipe away every tear from
their eyes, and there shall no longer be
any death, there shall be no longer any
mourning, or crying, or pain, for the first
things have passed away.
Amen.
The great purpose of God, to display the
government of God in this world.
That's the treasure on which God has set
his heart.
But the snag of it all is this.
Have you got those verses down?
There are lots more, but those are just
one or two.
Hebrews 10, verse 5 through 8.
I could give him many more, but I
won't take the time.
He would find them.
But here's the snag.
In order that that purpose may be fulfilled,
the man whom God placed in dominion, to
fulfill it, is incapable of doing so.
Because he's rebelled against the God who made
him, created him, and he's the actual cause
of the whole territory being in the mess
it is.
He's failed.
Got that?
In nature, around us, the world reveals the
order and beauty of God's government in the
flower, the grass, the harvest, winter and summer.
Everything sings to his glory.
Isn't it lovely to begin to hear?
Oh, did you hear this morning the cuckoo?
Oh, that's very unique for Britain.
You'll hear it in May, April and May,
June, and off it goes in July.
There's a wonderful beauty and order about it
all.
But the very being who ought to be
displaying the glory of God, the government of
God, has sold out to the enemy.
Romans 14, 17.
The kingdom of God is righteousness, joy, and
peace in the Holy Spirit.
Where are these displayed in human life?
In human life today.
That's the treasure of the parable, hidden, unrevealed,
but the restoration of the joy of his
government in human life.
Wherever a Christian goes, he's to display the
glory of the government of Jesus.
The treasure defined, the treasure found.
You notice in our text, in this verse,
that the man found the treasure.
What does that suggest?
Surely this, oh yes, get this down.
I'll go slow.
Ready?
God looked through all the confusion of sin
and saw the chaos of ruin.
But he also saw the possibility of restoration,
of recovery.
He saw the ruin caused by sin in
human lives and the possibility of total recovery.
He saw through the rebellion which has existed
to the restoration of harmony, to the restoration
of harmony.
In other words, God saw through the kingdom
as it was to the kingdom as it
ought to be.
And he knew that where ruin reigned, R
-E-I-G-N-E-D, where ruin
reigned, order might prevail.
And he sees that in your life and
mine.
It's only our understanding of that that can
give strength for Christian service.
Only that I see the tremendous possibility behind
all the suffering and sin and problem of
everyday living, that God's purpose for that life
can be realized.
And it's just absolutely tremendous to know that
every one of us here, I don't care
how bad a mess we've made of it
and how at failures we feel ourselves to
be, behind all that chaos and ruin and
mess, God sees the possibility of complete restoration.
The treasure found.
But notice this, the treasure hidden.
The man who found the treasure hid it
again.
So says our parable.
And that's exactly what Jesus did.
He brought the kingdom into full view in
his own life.
He displayed that kingdom in his own life.
But he was rejected and people refused to
come to him.
Therefore, he shut the door against them.
And Matthew 21, 43, he hid the fact
of the kingdom from the wise and the
prudent and revealed it to babes.
Matthew 21, 43, and also Luke 10, 21.
Jesus never reveals the secret of his kingdom
to curiosity, only to those who have a
childlike faith.
So today the kingdom is hidden, except to
those who are willing to be just like
little children.
Now get this, because the principles of the
kingdom are being realized in Christian lands, or
should be.
But are rejected by the world.
One day, the king will come again and
rule himself.
Meanwhile, oh, and this is the thing, important,
the treasure is hidden, but revealed and realized
in Christian living.
And if you're a child of God, the
world must see through you the kingdom life.
Let me give you just an example of
what that kingdom life is.
You see it in Matthew chapter 5.
If you would mind turning that for a
moment.
Matthew chapter 5, the Sermon on the Mount.
Kingdom living.
I remember preaching at Moody Church for 40
Sundays on this.
My, I got into trouble, because I was
bringing the people under the law of God.
Instead of the grace of God.
The king, this is not for this age.
This is for the millennium.
That's what you call being dispensational.
If you don't understand that, well, don't worry.
But it means that the kingdom is not
for this age.
It's for, you know, the future.
I happen to disagree and preach and just
enjoyed it.
I don't know about anybody else, but I
enjoyed it.
You see, listen, you want to know what
kingdom living is?
Here you are.
Those three, happy or blessed.
Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy are those who mourn, for they shall
be comforted.
Happy are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth.
Happy are those who are hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Happy are the merciful, for they should obtain
mercy.
Happy are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God.
Happy are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called the sons of God.
Happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness'
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy are you when men revile you, persecute
you, utter all kinds of evil against you,
falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is
great in heaven, for so men persecuted the
prophets who were before you.
That's kingdom living.
Let me just give you one phrase concerning
each one of those, and leave them, leave
you to think them through.
I'll speak them slowly.
Here is a portrait of a kingdom life.
Verse three, which says, happy are the poor
in spirit, better be humble than self-confident.
Better be humble than self-confident.
Got that?
Verse four, happy are those who mourn, better
be sensitive than thick-skinned.
Better be sensitive than thick-skinned.
Got that?
Verse four.
Verse five, happy are the meek, better be
gentle than push yourself.
Right?
Six, blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, better be ambitious for goodness
than for promotion.
Blessed are those, it says, who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, they should be satisfied.
Better be ambitious for goodness than promotion.
Verse seven, blessed are the merciful, better
be kind to the needy than cultivate the
rich.
Better be kind to the needy than cultivate
the rich.
Verse eight, blessed are the pure in heart,
they shall see God.
Better be open and honest than pull strings
to get things done the way you want
them.
Give you that again.
Better be open and honest than pull strings
to get things done the way you want
them.
Verse nine, blessed are the peacemakers, for they
shall be called sons of God.
Better to calm things down than to stick
up for your own point of view.
Better to calm things down than to stick
up for your own point of view.
Verse nine.
Verse ten, blessed are those who are persecuted
for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
Better be an underdog than fight the system.
Now, you've got those because, oh, I would
love this, but you wouldn't.
I'd love each one of you just to
write something concerning your own position on each
one of those things.
For instance, how ridiculous.
Blessed, happy are those who mourn.
Why?
That can't be.
Oh, but it is.
You know a church, every one of you
know a church.
In every church, there are different kinds of
people.
There are people who sit at it, and
chat in it, and do all sorts of
things in it.
But in every church, there are some who
weep for it, some who pray for it,
some who are concerned about it, and some
who say, Lord, I won't let you go
except you bless me.
Some who are really concerned.
And they're the people who count.
There are only a few of them, but
they're there.
Better be humble than self-confident.
Oh, I mustn't.
Now, I mustn't allow myself to get diverted.
Come on back.
Where are we?
Matthew 13.
But what I'm saying to you is, there
is kingdom living.
And anybody who lives like that is going
to be in for a hot time.
He's not afraid to be different.
He doesn't stand for Christian entertainment.
No, he's concerned about Christian revolution.
He's not ashamed to be different.
And nobody could be neutral about Jesus when
that kind of person is around.
He won't be pious, he won't be narrow
-minded, but he'll live as Jesus would live.
The treasure hidden but revealed in Christian living.
The treasure purchased.
Our parable tells us that the whole field
was purchased at the price of all he
had in order to realize the treasure.
And it was purchased with joy.
He bought the whole world, and the whole
world is waiting to be claimed.
He sold all he had, and Jesus emptied
himself.
That was his estimate of the worth of
the treasure.
That's what he thought about you and me.
Hebrews 12 too, he despised, or rather, he
endured the cross despising the shame.
And he did it for the joy that
was set before him.
What was that joy that Jesus had that
was the strength of all his suffering?
John chapter 4, 34.
My meat is to do the will of
him that sent me, and to finish his
work.
The joy of leading back to God those
who had wandered away.
And let me just go slow for the
next sentence.
Calvary was essential because they'd
got to come into the ruin caused by
sin.
And rebellion.
A new dynamic power.
And that could only come through the laying
down of his life.
The selling of all he had.
Only that way could human nature be possessed
by divine nature.
Let me give it yet again.
Calvary is absolutely essential in the mind of
God.
For they had to come into the ruin
caused by sin and rebellion.
A new dynamic power.
And only through the laying down of his
life, the selling of all he had, could
human nature be possessed by divine nature.
Jesus bought the field.
Got that?
At such a cost, who did he buy
it from?
Did he buy it from the devil?
No, the devil had no right to possess
it.
The devil would very gladly have settled for
a much cheaper price than the cross.
All through the Old Testament, Satan had one
objective.
Keep Jesus from Calvary.
And he made a pretty good job of
it.
He nearly succeeded sometime, read through the book
of Esther, and see how near he got
to keeping Jesus from the cross.
That was his motto in those days.
His motto now, oh yes, he has one
now, keep everybody from hearing about Jesus.
Making a pretty good job of that.
Pretty good job of that.
In the average evangelical church in the United
States and Canada, of the total number on
the church roll, members, 10% don't exist.
15% never come to church, can't be
found.
25% are never seen at any church
activity.
50% have no missionary interest.
75% never attend midweek service or prayer
meeting.
90% have no family worship.
And 95% never win anybody for Christ.
That's shattering.
That's the Western world, not the Eastern.
Western, Britain and the States.
That statement is made in a recent issue
of Christianity Today.
95% never win anybody to Jesus.
If the Holy Spirit were withdrawn from the
church today, everything would go on as usual.
Nobody would know any different.
If the Holy Spirit were withdrawn from the
New Testament church, everybody would shut down.
The treasure, hidden.
No, Jesus didn't buy it from the devil.
Just jot down in your notes, Matthew chapter
4.
I don't think, uh, no, in fact, I'm
quite sure.
I'll leave that for the next session.
Jesus just jot this down before we finish
this morning, first session.
He bought a treasure at a cost in
the sense that if any of us rescue
anything precious at the cost of suffering, we've
bought it at great price.
Let me repeat that.
Jesus bought it at a tremendous cost in
the sense that if any of us rescue
anything precious at the cost of suffering, we
say it was bought at great price.
You know the story of the mother who
had a little child and, uh, the little
child couldn't bear being picked up by her
mother because her hands were all bad, wounded,
and they looked ugly, awful, and the child
wouldn't let her mother take hold of her.
But when she got older, her mother said,
well now, you want to about my hands?
When you were a little girl, about seven
or eight months old, you fell into the
fire.
And, uh, you would have died if I
hadn't dashed in and put my hands right
in where you are and grabbed you out
of it.
And my hands have never been the same
and never will be.
And the child looked at her mother's hands
and said, my mother, what wonderful hands they
are.
And she was never afraid after that.
She'd been bought at a cost.
You want to know what it cost Jesus
to buy us?
You look at his hands and then we
know.
He's bought us at such a price.
You're his treasure.
And he longs for the day when you
and I reveal his government in our lives
to other people.
And I'm not ashamed.
We'll continue from that point in, well, you
know when.
I think I do too.
Have your coffee, bless you, and enjoy it.
See you later.