Matthew 13:44-46

And let's turn in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 13 and verse 44 to 48.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

It reads,

And he is so worth it.

And there was this poor year-and-a-half-year-old, probably thinking, you know, what is wrong with Dad?

He's gone mad.

But it's true.

Sometimes when we make costly decisions, we can wonder, was that worth it?

And nowhere is that more true than in the Christian life.

The devil and the world and the flesh, all of them will be saying, this is a waste of time.

This is stupid.

This is nuts.

But Jesus has told this parable to teach us that simple truth.

The truth that we need to hear, whether it's for the first time or the thousandth time.

That knowing Jesus will cost you everything.

That he is worth more than anything in the world.

Those are my two points for this evening, and we'll work through them one by one.

Firstly, knowing Jesus will cost you everything.

It's one of the most obvious common features of these parables.

Verse 44, it says,

Then again in verse 46,

Who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had.

And the point is, if you want to know the one true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent,

they are the pearl, the treasure.

There is a sense in which you must sell all too.

Now that would be very obvious to us if we lived in somewhere like North Korea or Afghanistan.

Where to put your faith in the Lord Jesus so very clearly might cost you.

But here it might not be so obvious.

After all, many people live in this country and call themselves Christians,

and it costs them very little indeed.

No, I have done that.

We know many people, I imagine.

Many people who say to Jesus,

You can have my Sunday morning.

Maybe even I'd give you a Wednesday evening.

I would try and be a nice person too.

But how I use my money,

who I date,

how I bring up my children,

what job I do,

is for me to decide.

Many people in this country take the name of Christian

and effectively treat Jesus like a good mate

whose advice they can take or leave,

or a genie in the sky

to grant their wishes

and forgive their sin.

But Jesus is not a good mate.

He is not a genie in the sky.

He is the king of heaven.

These parables begin,

The kingdom of heaven is like,

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of pearls.

How does one enter the kingdom of heaven?

Well, it's not so much that we go to a geographical place.

It's that we submit our lives to the king of heaven,

and that costs everything.

There are some people whom to know it costs.

An obvious example of that would be your boss,

if you have a boss.

When you enter the boss-worker relationship,

you are sucking eggs really,

but you promise to do X number of hours,

to do Y duties,

perhaps even be a certain sort of person,

and that costs.

Another example would be your spouse.

Maybe this doesn't need explaining,

but to have a spouse,

you have to promise.

I will honor you,

love you,

protect you,

and be faithful to you

until death do us part.

No matter what,

all that I am,

I give to you,

and all that I have,

I share with you.

And in my case,

when I made that promise,

it wasn't very much at all,

but you know,

you get the point.

It costs to know your boss,

it costs to be married to your spouse,

and it costs to know Jesus.

And it costs us everything,

because the relationship we have with him

is not simply that of a worker with a boss,

or even simply as a bride of a bridegroom,

though he is that to us,

but as our king,

who demands our life,

our souls,

our all,

everything we have,

everything we do,

everything we love,

he demands rule over.

He demands to rule over our work,

our school lives,

our investments,

our money,

our relationships to friends,

and parents,

and children,

and spouses.

He says,

whoever would be my disciple

must deny themselves,

take up their cross,

and follow me.

And he tells these stories

about men who sold everything

to teach us

that we must surrender all to him.

It may not mean

that we literally sell

all that we have,

but it certainly means

that we ask,

what would Jesus have me do

with all that I have.

He even demands of us

whatever the equivalent is

of the favorite fez

with a feather.

And I don't know

what that might be for you.

It might be a collection

of cash,

would be a common one.

Maybe an ambition,

a career,

a relation,

a grudge.

I remember very clearly

when I discovered

that Jesus had to be

my king.

I'd just gone to university,

I had two great loves

in my life.

One was my girlfriend

and one was badminton.

The Lord very kindly

sorted out my badminton for me.

I didn't make the university team,

I didn't even get close,

so that was very simple.

But I remember

as I came under

the preaching of God's word,

and what I wanted to say

to God was like,

look God,

you can have

all these bits of my life,

but you can't have her.

I wanted to ring fence her.

You can have this,

but not her.

But of course,

Jesus did not

accept those terms.

And maybe that is

you right now.

At the start of a new year,

you know that there is

an area of your life

you are trying to say

to Jesus,

I don't want you

to have this.

But we can only know

Jesus on his terms.

And his terms

are the terms

of a sovereign Lord.

He demands everything.

Knowing Jesus

costs everything.

And when you give him

everything,

that can look crazy.

It can look

absolutely mad.

It's one of the reasons

I really love

the story.

It just brings it out

so well.

You know,

I remember

as a child seeing it,

you know,

there's a man

kicking his legs together

with a pearl

and nothing but his boxes.

And you're like,

what do you want

a pearl for?

Why did you get rid of,

I mean,

the freezer's full of food.

He's got sausages

and chips.

Why would you do that?

You can imagine,

you know,

there he is

selling his stuff.

Imagine he had a wife.

Dear wife,

why are you getting rid

of the furniture?

What do you mean

you're selling the house?

Are you,

to buy a pearl?

Are you nuts?

And you can imagine

her leaving.

And I probably don't need

to tell many of you this.

You already know

the cost

and the crazy looks.

Maybe you come to church

every week,

read your Bible

and pray

and your family

wonder if you've been

brainwashed by a cult.

Maybe your colleagues

think you are daft

for living the lifestyle

you do.

Maybe you have

a very high-powered job

but you don't live

a high-powered lifestyle.

You give so much away

and you're kind

to guys at work

you know one else's

and they think

you're a little bit nuts.

You wonder if you have

a screw loose somewhere.

Or maybe your friends

think you're crazy

because you gave up

your promising career

to be at home

with the children

and you submit

to your husband.

What a thing.

I beg your pardon.

Or maybe it just might be

whether it's at school

you don't join in

the gossiping.

You don't join in

the drinking.

Or you're ready to say

you're pro-life

or something like that.

And there are people

like what?

What is up with you?

Are you mad?

Are you insane?

Jesus,

is he really that precious?

I don't think he's

precious at all.

And sometimes

that can get to us.

Sometimes we can think

maybe I am mad.

Maybe this is nuts

coming out here

on a New Year's Day

through the rain

to come and listen

to a guy

you've never met before.

What is that about?

I mean,

Paul didn't tell you that.

No,

you didn't know that.

But this is silly.

But the whole point

of the story is

that in the end,

if all your family

called you mad

and all your friends

left you

and you lost

all your wealth,

your career,

your home

and ended up

persecuted

and beaten

and imprisoned

and so all you had

left in this world

was your boxes

and the Lord Jesus Christ

and then you lost

your life,

you would still

have everything.

At the end of the story

both men have nothing

but a field

and a pole

that cost them all

and they are

over the moon

because though

knowing Jesus

will cost you everything,

he is worth more

than anything

in the world.

And that is the main thing

that this parable

wants to teach us.

Verse 44,

the kingdom of heaven

is like treasure

hidden in a field

which a man found

and covered up

then in his joy

goes and sells

all that he has

and buys that field.

Again,

the kingdom of heaven

is like a merchant

in search of fine pearls

and finding one pearl

of great value

went and sold

all that he had

and bought it.

It's funny,

you know,

joking about,

it was a joke

in my head,

but joking about

it costing

to know your spouse.

It's a strange thing.

Having a spouse

is very costly.

Even a wedding

is very costly.

It's very expensive.

And it costs a lot

as you go on.

I mean,

when you have kids,

boy,

that's a costly thing.

But have you noticed

that weddings

are very rarely

mournful occasions?

Here they are

making all these costs,

paying all this money,

saying all these

hard promises

and people aren't

miserable.

They're rejoicing.

This is good news.

Same when you have

a child.

People don't say,

ah,

people didn't say

to my mom,

I'm so sorry,

Pauline.

Ed is going to be

so hard work,

which mom likes

to remind me of

regularly.

Even with me,

they didn't say that.

I'm sure they didn't

say it to your parents.

They would say,

congratulations.

Because some things

are worth the cost.

And knowing Jesus,

well,

what does Paul say?

I consider all things

lost compared to

the surpassing greatness

of knowing Jesus Christ,

my Lord.

With a wedding,

we celebrate something

that's so good

that all the costs

are worth it.

Indeed,

sometimes the costs

themselves aren't bad

for us,

but really good.

you think about

what does it really

cost you to know Jesus?

For one thing,

it costs you your sin.

Your sin that was

ruining your life.

We can think

that obedience

to Jesus Christ

is going to weigh us down.

But what we tend to find

is that when we start

to obey,

it's similar to what

it must be like

for a whale

who spent all its life

on the beach

finally making its way back.

to the ocean.

It is true,

obedience requires us

to deny ourselves.

But in a sense,

in denying ourselves,

we find ourselves.

At the heart of self-denial

is love.

And by loving,

God restores us

in his image.

Submission to the king

of heaven,

it fits us for heaven.

And it makes us

heavenly.

my wife,

if you asked my wife,

Hannah,

who is the person

who has the most influence

you in your life,

she would say,

without even thinking about it,

she would say,

my grandma.

That's her mother's mother.

She was called Rosemary.

She went to India

to be a missionary doctor.

She spent about 18 years

out there.

While they were there,

they saw absolutely

no one converted.

Zilcho.

It cost them

a huge amount to go.

It cost them a lot

to come back again.

I only met her

a couple of times.

She was one of the most

patient

and lovely people

I've ever met.

One of the things

that particularly

I remember before

is always offering you

a biscuit.

If you were around

at her house,

you were not allowed

to be there

if you did not have

a biscuit in your hand.

That was very memorable.

But I never saw her angry.

I always saw her grateful

even though she was

in a lot of pain

at the time.

And wonderfully,

the Lord eventually

used their work

and brought many to Christ.

But obedience to Christ

is no loss for you.

Becoming like Jesus

is a great gain.

It costs you your sin.

It costs you your ease.

But you were not made

to live an easy life.

And to come to Jesus

sometimes costs you

good things.

Good things.

But the reality

is that these things

can never satisfy.

And these things

we will lose anyway.

It's a great irony

that the very things

we try and ring fence

from the Lord Jesus

are things that will be

lost to us anywhere.

I remember another story.

Another guy I knew,

he, well,

at university,

he fell in love

with a man.

He was a Christian.

He walked away

from Christianity

to go and be with this guy.

After one month,

they broke up.

I was so gutted.

And even then,

he didn't wake up.

But even if they'd had

a long and happy,

I don't know,

relationship together,

they just all lost

each other in the end.

Everything we try

and ring fence,

we will lose in the end.

But he is no fool

who gives

what he cannot keep

to gain

what he cannot lose.

and you will never,

ever lose Jesus.

And I don't know

what you guys love.

I don't know you guys

very well at all.

And I don't know

what you've had

to give up for Jesus.

There may be

all sorts of people here

who've given up

all sorts of things

for the Lord Jesus Christ.

There may be reputations

or careers

or countries

or family members.

Think about the thing

that Jesus Christ

has cost you most.

And if it's a person,

because people

are the most precious,

think they are lovely

and beautiful

and funny

and you have memories

of joy together.

If you ask the question,

from where did they get

their beauty,

their loveliness,

their joy from?

The answer is

always

from the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you sacrifice

anything for him,

you have in him

the source

of whatever it is

that you sacrificed.

You have the one

who painted

their beauty.

You have the one

who imagined

their humor.

You have the one

who gave them

their personality.

From where does

their loveliness,

their goodness,

their truth come from?

If not from him

who is eternal

and infinite love,

truth and goodness.

How lovely must he be

who is the source

of all goodness,

truth and beauty.

If you have

the Lord Jesus Christ,

you do not simply

have something

in this creation

but the creator himself

who now mediates

his goodness to us

in a million of ways

if we could only

have eyes to see them.

But one day

we will see him.

and that one look

will make up

for all the sorrows

that we face

in this life.

My friends,

if we had our heads

screwed on,

we would not ask

is following Jesus

worth it?

Of course it's worth it.

Of course he is

the pearl of great price.

Of course we want him.

He is the life

of our lives.

He is the light,

life of our lives,

the light of our eyes,

the treasure of our souls.

The question we would ask

is why on earth

would he,

the king of heaven,

want anything

to do with me?

A sinner

who has done

wretched things,

who has ignored

and disobeyed him,

who has continued

to treasure things

more than him,

who deserves nothing

but the fire of hell.

But the wonderful thing

is there's another way

of reading this parable.

The main way

is so obviously

to give up all

to take Christ

the treasure.

But in another sense,

Christ is the one

who sold all for us

to make us his treasure,

us of no worth.

Not ceasing to be

what he was,

he became what he was not.

The eternal made in time,

the infinite made finite,

God become man.

And his family

did call him mad.

And all his friends

left him.

He had no wealth,

no place to lay his head.

He was persecuted

and beaten.

He was mocked

and slandered.

His clothes

were stripped from him

and his career

led to a cross.

But there he died

for our sin

to make us

his treasure.

He died to bring us

who deserve hell

to the loving arms

of the Father

and save us forevermore.

He died

that all who believed

shall be his

and he

shall be ours.

And so, my friends,

there is no greater treasure

than the Lord Jesus Christ.

this year,

let us put our trust

in him.

No matter who we are,

no matter what we have done,

let us come to him

as our Lord

and our God.

Let us follow him,

submit our lives to him,

no matter what it costs,

because he is worth

everything.

And if we find ourselves

disheartened

and discouraged

at the loss,

let us remind ourselves

we have

the Lord Jesus Christ,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is ours.

And we are his

and in him God,

Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit

who is worth more

than anything

in the world.

Let's pray.