Matthew 13:44-46

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant

seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found

one pearl of great price, he went and sold all

that he had and bought it. Let's ask the Lord

to help us this morning as we look into this.

Father, your word is rich and it is good. It

is bread from heaven. nutritive, Lord, it's going

to feed us. And Father, I pray that now you would

help me, Lord, not to be a distraction to your

word. Father, we pray for the Spirit's ability,

Lord, to understand that you might illumine your

own word this morning to the hearts and lives

of your people. Father, I do realize that there

may be one or perhaps more in here who are dead

in their sins and they have no ears to hear your

voice. Would you open their ears this morning

and open their blind eyes and grant them life?

Help them to behold the beauty of Christ. Lord,

we need you. God, we're not sufficient for these

things. So we ask now for your help. In Jesus'

name, amen. We're in Matthew 13, but just three

chapters later in chapter 16, the Lord Jesus,

he asks this most important question. What does

it profit a man? if he gains the whole world

and loses his own soul? Or what will man give

in exchange for his soul? Now I want you to remember,

this is the Son of God asking this question.

And he says, what profit is there in gaining

this whole world if it means you lose your soul?

Well, the first question we have to ask ourselves

is, what does it mean to gain the world? To gain

the world means you have everything this world

has to offer. There's every pleasure, it's yours.

Every experience, every joy, every point of happiness,

all the treasure you can amass and all the notoriety

you would ever want, it's yours. To gain the

world is exactly what it suggests. You gain every

advantage this world possesses. It's yours for

the taking. But what does it mean to lose your

soul? It means if you will come to the end of

your life and you will take your final breath

on this earth without being in a right relationship

with God. To lose your soul is to spend eternity

separated from God. To lose your soul means you

forfeit eternal life. It also means that you

have forever, for all eternity, forfeited any

access to God. So let's suppose you do gain the

world. But in the process you lose your soul.

How have you gained? How does it profit you?

And the Lord Jesus, the one who asked this question,

he knew something that you and I do not know.

Because he created both the world and he created

the soul. And he knows there's no profit whatsoever.

This is a fool's exchange. He went on to ask,

what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

The loss of your soul, friend, is irreversible.

It cannot be undone. To die separated from God

is to remain eternally separated from him. So

yet, to embrace this world, it may mean temporary

gain. In fact, it probably will mean temporary

gain. But it means eternal loss. And that's the

worst possible price to pay. There's nothing,

nothing on this planet that is more valuable

than the human soul. And to lose it is the most

dreadful thing that could ever take place. The

Lord's arresting our attention to this. I think

of Judas. Judas betrayed the Son of God. He got

30 pieces of silver. How is that profiting him

now? See, all the riches of the world are of

no value whatsoever in eternity. Jesus, wanting

to further strengthen this argument in the Gospel

of Luke, he told the story. Some call it a parable.

We don't know. Because this is the only parable

in which a proper name is used for Lazarus, a

rich man named Lazarus. You know the story. Was

this a parable or was Jesus telling a true story?

We don't know. Scholars are divided. But the

point remains the same. So in Luke 16, beginning

in verse 19, Jesus said there was a certain man.

And he was clothed in purple, the sign, you know,

only rich people could afford purple dye. And

fine linen. And he fared or he feasted sumptuously

every day. He ate the finest gourmet food every

day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus,

full of sores and who was laid at his gate. And

all Lazarus wanted was to be fed with just the

crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Moreover,

the dogs came and licked his sores. And so it

was that the beggar died and he was carried by

the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also

died and was buried and being in torments in

Hades, in hell. He lifted up his eyes and he

saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus was there in

his bosom. Then he cried and said, Father Abraham,

have mercy on me. And send Lazarus that he may

dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my

tongue. For I am tormented in this flame. But

Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime

you received your good things. You gained the

whole world. And likewise Lazarus evil things.

But now he is comforted and you are tormented.

you lost your own soul. And it's irreversible.

Now, in speaking this way, I do not believe the

Lord is merely trying to scare us. I do not think

that at all. This is not a scare tactic. Rather,

he is trying to give us a reality check. He knows

what eternity holds. See, this world is fleeting

and eternity awaits. So investing in this earth

while ignoring eternity is so very foolish. Earthly

wealth. is a terribly poor trade for the priceless

soul. Now in our text today in Matthew 13, Jesus,

he gives two short parables. They're very short,

and they both ask the same question, essentially.

What is the kingdom of God worth? What's it worth?

Now both of these men in these parables, they

joyfully, it said, sold everything they had because

they understood that what they found was infinitely

more valuable than what they gave up. So the

idea here is when someone truly sees the value

of Christ and the value of his kingdom, giving

up everything will still feel like gain. See,

the Lord is teaching one central truth here.

Nothing, nothing compares to the treasure of

God's kingdom. Nothing. There's nothing on earth

that is more valuable. Nothing can even come

close. Nothing is comparable to it. Now, we want

to ask, why does Matthew, what is meant by kingdom

of heaven? Well, first of all, kingdom of heaven

and kingdom of God mean the exact same thing.

Matthew was a Jewish man writing to primarily

a Jewish audience, Matthew's gospel. The Jews

were careful not to break the commandment of

taking the Lord's name in vain. So in order to

not take his name in vain, they would substitute

the word heaven for God. So you go, Matthew,

all throughout his gospel, he will only refer

to as the kingdom of heaven. But you have Mark,

who is a Gentile, writing a gospel to Gentiles,

and he almost always, no, not almost, he always

uses the phrase kingdom of God. So kingdom of

heaven and kingdom of God are the same thing.

Now, what does that mean, though? We talk about

it, we sung about it. In its simplest form, it

refers to God's rule or his reign. Basileia in

Greek, basilica, kingdom. Now it's not exclusively

a people. It's not exclusively a place. But here's

where it gets a little confusing. The kingdom

of God does produce both a people and a place.

Think of the church. The church on earth is kingdom

in seed form. But when we're talking in this

parable about the kingdom of God, we're talking

in particular about the saving reign of God or

the saving rule of Jesus. So for our sake this

morning, we're going to have the kingdom of God

referring and being synonymous with salvation

because that's what the idea is. So now look

at the first parable again. Look at verse 44.

The kingdom of God is like a treasure hidden

in a field which a man found and he hid it and

with joy he goes and sells all that he has. To

buy that field. Now notice, the kingdom of heaven

is like. It's a simile. It's a comparison. So

don't press the details too far, and I'll talk

about that in just a moment. So why is the kingdom

of God like? Jesus said, well, it's like a treasure

that's hidden. A man found some treasure hidden.

It was buried in a field. And he was so excited

over this newfound discovery, he knew he had

to have it. Now at that time in history, you

have to understand, there were no banks. There

were no safe deposit boxes to keep your valuables

safely stored. No storage facilities. So in order

to keep treasure safe, people would hide them

in a field and come back later to retrieve it.

And this is especially true because at this time

in history, keep in mind, there were frequent

wars. So people would want to protect their valuables

from invading armies. So they would put it in

a jar or something like that, some canister.

Go out and bury it. Well, what if they were killed

in battle? Or what if they were never able to

come back to the field? That treasure would remain

buried. See, that's why you have coins and jewels

and valuables that were buried in fields. And

by the way, some of those are still being found

today in the land of Palestine. So this man,

he wants to gain this treasure. He wants to have

it. But what's he have to do first? Well, he

knows he has to buy that field. So what's he

going to do? Well, he needs to raise some capital.

He needs to have enough money. Well, the only

way he's going to do this, he's probably a day

laborer. He sells everything he has. That's the

text. He sells everything he owns to raise enough

money to go purchase that land to get that treasure

that was buried in that land. Now, why would

he do that? Why would he sell everything, not

my words, Jesus' words, he owned. I mean, why

bet the whole farm? Because he was convinced

that the value, of what was hidden in that field

was more valuable than everything he owned. He

was convinced of that. And friends, this is an

act of faith. He truly believed the treasure

was worth more than everything he owned, which

caused him then to act upon that belief. And

that's what faith does. A living faith. If it's

living, it moves us to action. Now, obviously,

Jesus was not teaching that the kingdom of God

was a treasure that could be bought. You don't

get a purchase salvation. He was not teaching

that you buy it in any way. In fact, in the fifth

chapter of Matthew, where we started with the

Beatitudes, Matthew 5, 3, says the kingdom of

God belongs to who? Those who are poor in spirit.

That's who gets it. Tokas in Greek, it's a beggar.

They understand they have no resources at all.

So the point of the parable, because that's what

it is, is that the kingdom of God, is of such

immense worth that you should let nothing keep

you from entering into it. It's worth more than

everything you have in life or everything you

would ever hope to have in life. What if it does

cost you everything? What if it does? Even then,

you can't call it a sacrifice because what you

gain far exceeds all that you give up. And I

want you to notice the emotion. Jesus said this

man had joy. at the prospect of doing this. He

is more than happy to sell all that he had. He's

giddy at what he's going to do. He couldn't wait

to go do it. So this is not a grit your teeth

and do it decision. Not at all. It's an act of

pure joy. Why? He was convinced of the value

of the treasure so he was more than willing to

make that trade. And this is the attitude Of

those whose eyes have been opened and you can

see their surpassing value and worth of the Lord

Jesus Christ. See, people do not come into the

kingdom of God kicking and screaming against

their will. It's not how it works. But the Holy

Spirit does a work in you. And one day you notice

your eyes are open, your ears are open, and you

behold something of the glory of Christ. Now,

we don't understand it all, but we behold something

of his glory. And those people who see something

of his glory, they joyfully run into the kingdom

smiling from ear to ear because they want to

have that treasure. This is the joyful, willful

response to God's grace. When writing about the

kingdom of God in Romans, Paul said in Romans

Romans 14:17

14, verse 17, for the kingdom of God is, he said,

it's righteousness, it's peace. and joy in the

Holy Spirit. Life in God's kingdom is joyful,

not dreadful. If you've been born again, it's

a big if. Your desire, your joy is tied to Christ.

You've got to have him. Listen, I know we talk

a lot about heaven in church. We ought to. We

sing songs about heaven. But I've said it so

many times. What makes heaven heaven is not streets

of gold. It's not great big pearls with gates.

What makes heaven heaven is that the Lord Jesus

Christ, your Savior, is there. You want to be

with Him. I've got to have Jesus. I don't have

to have anything else in life. But I must have

Him. And that's the attitude of the Apostle Paul.

Because you understand the worth and the value

of having a relationship with Jesus, you're happy

to do anything. As long as I have him. Paul was

the golden -haired boy growing up in Judaism.

The next leader studied under famed Rabbi Gamaliel.

He was taught at the finest schools. He had the

best education. An erudite scholar, if there

ever was one, was Paul. Philippians 3. He says,

but what things were gained to me. All those

things. These I have counted loss for Christ.

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the

excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my

Lord. Now notice what he just says. For whom

I have suffered the loss of all things. He lost

it all. But I count them as rubbish, garbage,

refuse that I may gain Christ. Paul said, listen,

let's think of a ledger, an accounting ledger.

He said if you put Christ on one side of the

ledger, and on the other side you put everything

in his life that he's ever owned, including titles,

reputation, pedigree, learning, friends, he said

you put that all on the other side of the ledger.

Christ surpasses all those other things combined.

It's no comparison at all. In fact, Paul said,

what I once thought was gain, I now consider

loss. It's just garbage when it's compared to

Christ. But I want you to compare that attitude

to another man. We know him as a rich young ruler

in Matthew 19. Now behold, one came and said

to him, that is to Jesus, good teacher, rabbi,

what good things shall I do that I may have eternal

life? So Jesus said to him, well, why do you

call me good? No one is good but one. That is

God. But if you want to enter into life, keep

the commandments. And that's true. Keep them.

If you keep them perfectly, you'll enter into

life. The problem is you're not going to keep

them perfectly. He said, well, which ones? Which

commandments are you talking about, Jesus? And

he said, well, you know them. You shall not murder.

Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. He's given

the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments here. You

shall not bear false witness. Honor your father

and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself. And

the young man thought, great, all these things

I've kept from my youth. Is there anything I'm

lacking? Is there anything else I should do?

Jesus is like, yeah. You want to be perfect?

I tell you what, go and sell what you have and

give to the poor. And you have treasure in heaven.

Come, follow me, be my disciple. But when the

young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful,

not joyful. Why? For he had great possessions.

Go, sell what you have, give to the poor, and

you will have treasure in heaven. Now Jesus,

speaking of treasure in heaven, he's talking

about a treasure that's going to last forever.

Eternal treasure. And here's where we see the

lack of faith. That young man did not believe

Jesus' words. He didn't have faith. Had he really

believed Jesus, He would have been more than

willing to sell all that he had and follow Christ.

If you say, you give me, I have massive treasure

for eternity or I have limited treasure for a

temporary time, it's a no -brainer, friends.

But the man didn't believe it. His earthly possessions

were more valuable to him at that moment than

some uncertain future treasure. But the saddest

part, this is the saddest part, he couldn't see

the true treasure that was standing right in

front of him, which is Christ himself. The apostle

Paul saw the surpassing worth of Christ and he

gladly gave up everything. He's like, listen,

I'm more than happy to do it. He gave up everything

and he found eternal life. The rich ruler gave

up nothing and he lost his own soul. And say,

friends, for some, especially... For our brothers

and sisters in Northern Africa, like Nigeria

right now, or North Korea, Middle Eastern countries

where Sharia law is practiced, for some, when

they confess Christ as Lord, it'll cost them

their life. Why would you do it? Because it's

worth it. I think of our brothers who have courage,

backbones of steel. They convert to Christianity

and they find a bounty has been placed upon their

heads because of honor killings in their culture.

Dads put a bounty on their own son's head. So

they're targeted even by their own families.

If these men and these women, they have courage,

they're willing to forsake everything including

family and friends and their culture. Why? Because

there's a treasure hidden in that field and I've

got to have it. It's Christ. They see in Jesus,

and this is what I'm asking you, they see in

Jesus the true treasure. He's the true treasure.

true treasure. And this is evidence of a genuine

work of the Holy Spirit. You see Christ for who

he is. John Piper said the kingdom of God is

so valuable that losing everything on earth,

that 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. That's a joyful sacrifice.

Now, the Lord gave a second parable very similar

to the first. He said, the kingdom of heaven,

it's also like a merchant. This is a businessman.

And he's seeking beautiful pearls. That's what

he dealt in. Who, when he found one pearl of

great price, he went and sold all that he had

and he bought it. Now, notice there are similarities,

but there's a very striking difference. In the

first parable, the man just happened to stumble

across a treasure. He wasn't looking. But in

the second man, in the second parable, excuse

me, the other man is actively seeking for a treasure.

I thought about this. And I think this accurately

and vividly describes how people find salvation.

You ever meet someone who goes through life and

they have no interest in God or religion? They're

content. I do membership interviews in the church.

I did one recently, and the lady told me she

had no interest in it. The way the Lord converted

her was very interesting. They're happily leading

their lives when something unexpected happens.

They stumble upon some treasure hidden in a field.

They weren't interested in the gospel. They had

no use for the church, no desire for Christ.

But they stumbled. And upon a treasure that was

buried in a field. They found Christ when they

weren't looking for him. And better said, God

found them when they weren't seeking him. But

before they knew it, God had opened their eyes.

And they saw in Christ a prize far greater than

anything they had ever beheld before. He was

compelling. The Holy Spirit revealed to them

that they were sinners and they needed a Savior,

and he pointed them to the only Savior, the Lord

Jesus Christ. And I think one of the best examples

of this, if you know his testimony or read much

about him, that we have in modern times, is a

former atheist turned Christian apologist. Many

of you know him, C .S. Lewis. You probably are

more familiar with his works, The Chronicles

of Narnia, if you read Mere Christianity, Surprised

by Joy. Lewis described himself as, and I quote,

the most dejected and reluctant convert in all

of England. Dejected and reluctant? How in the

world was he converted? I love this. Lewis famously

referred to God as the hound of heaven. He said

God was relentlessly pursuing him while Lewis

was happy to ignore him. He stumbled. Upon a

treasure buried in a field. And he couldn't deny

it no longer. This is what Paul wrote about in

Romans chapter 10 verse 20. He said, I was found

Romans 10:20

by those who did not seek me. I was made manifest

to those who did not ask for me. But there are

others. And that's what the second parable. They're

like the men in the second parable. Actively

seeking for treasure. Some of these are anxious

folks. They're seeking for valuable pearls. And

this man, he said he found one that was so valuable

that he had to have it. It was so worthy of his

time and attention, he was willing to sell everything

to get it. These are the people who have been

seeking God. And the way has been very difficult

for them. They pass through dark times. Some

nearly quit in despair. Brother Forrest is not

here, but that would be his testimony. He wrote

it out for me one time. He despaired. Despaired

of damnation, never thinking he would be saved.

Until one day. One day they found it. The pearl

of great price was before them. And they had

to have it. See, from their viewpoint, they were

seeking God. Now, we know the whole time it was

God, the hound of heaven, Who is seeking them.

There's a great paradox. Isaiah 55. Seek the

Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while

he is near. I use that a lot if I'm in evangelism.

But in Romans, Paul wrote, there's none righteous,

not even one. There's none who understands. There's

none who seeks after God. Okay. Isaiah says,

seek the Lord. And Paul says, no one seeks the

Lord. How do you reconcile these verses? Isaiah

is speaking of God's universal call that goes

out to all people. God graciously invites sinners

everywhere. God is near. Forgiveness is available.

And sinners are urged to come and drink from

that well. In fact, God won't reject anyone who

comes to him. But then you come to Paul writing

in the book of Romans. And he's looking at it

from a different perspective. He's describing

man's fallen condition. Man, by nature, is depraved.

He's not neutral. He's hostile to God. He doesn't

love light. He hates it and loves darkness. Which

means that mankind, without the grace of God,

unaided by grace, will never respond to God's

gracious invitation. The gracious invitation

is still there, but they won't respond to it.

Isaiah says, seek God. Paul says, nobody apart

from grace really seeks God. Isaiah is assuming

human responsibility. Paul is assuming divine

sovereignty. And once again, we feel the tension.

It's there. It's there throughout all scripture.

You have human responsibility. Mankind is responsible,

but you also have God as sovereign. People are

commanded. to repent of their sin, to seek the

Lord, to believe the gospel and obey Christ.

They're commanded to do that. Yet at the same

time, Scripture says, God must awaken hearts,

draw people, grant repentance, and reveal himself.

John 6, I'll give you one more before we would

close. John 6, verse 44. No man can come unto

John 6:44

me unless, here's the stipulation, unless the

Father, Who sent me draws him. That's the only

way you come to Christ. Now, friends, exegetically,

that's not hard to look at. We may not like it,

but it's what it says. And also, the same Jesus

in Matthew 11 says, Come to me, all who labor

and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

You are weak. You are tired. Come to me. Which

is it? It's both. See, some accidentally discover

treasure. Others actively seek it. But in both

cases, it is God working behind the scenes to

bring them to salvation. Salvation is of the

Lord. J .I. Packer wrote a book called Sovereignty

in Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God or the

Sovereignty of God in Evangelism. It's there.

Google it. You'll find it. I'm probably messing

the title up. But he wrote this, and it was very

good. He says, An antimony exists when a pair

of principles stand side by side. And he's talking

about divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

They stand side by side, seemingly, paradoxically,

irreconcilable. Both truths are undeniable. There

are cogent reasons for believing each of them.

Each of them rests on clear and solid evidence.

But it is a mystery to know how they can be squared

with each other. You see that each must be true

on its own. They both are true. But you don't

see how they can both be true together. Two seemingly

incompatible positions must be held together,

and both must be treated as true. Such a necessity

scandalizes our tiny minds, no doubt. But there's

no help for it if we are to be loyal to the facts.

And he goes on. What the Bible does is to assert

both... side by side in the strongest and most

unambiguous terms as two ultimate facts. This,

therefore, is the position we must take in our

own thinking. C .H. Spurgeon was once asked if

he could reconcile these two truths to each other.

I would not try, he said. I never reconcile friends.

Friends? Yes, friends. This is the point that

we have to grasp. In the Bible, divine sovereignty

and human responsibility are not enemies. They

are not even uneasy neighbors. They are not in

an endless state of cold war with each other.

They are friends, and they work together. Just

because you and I cannot understand how the sovereignty

of God and the responsibility of man work together

does not make it untrue. All that means is that

our understanding is insufficient. It just means

our tiny minds can't comprehend it. But let me

just say that. That's a case for so many things

in scripture. So very many things. There are

many things that are too high for me and I trust

for you as well. Things I cannot fully understand

but I believe by faith. I will give you two.

First of all, one God, three persons. Not three

gods, not tritheism. One God, eternal essence

in three eternal distinct persons. Yet one God,

a triunity, a trinity. How can one God be three

distinct persons and still be one? One and three

and three and one. How? I don't know. I believe

it. The Bible says it. The other thing is the

nature of Christ. Is Christ man? Yes, he's a

son of man. Truly man. Yeah, born of the virgin.

Is he truly God? Yes, he's truly God, and she

was the Theotokos. She was the God -bearer. He

was also the son of God eternally. How do you

be both son of God? How do you be both God and

man? I don't know. I can't understand it. Theologians

refer to it as a hypostatic union, if that helps

you, but I don't think it helps any of us. It

just gives you a term for it. What do we do?

We believe it by faith. Now, we're at the two

-minute drill. So what? So what's the point of

this parable? In Matthew 6, Jesus said, I think,

something that we ought to really heed. Seek

first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Seek first. Why seek it first? Why does it have

to have the priority? Because it is the most

valuable thing on this planet and everything

else pales in comparison. If we thought anything

else above it, it would be idolatry. So in these

parables of today, the Lord Jesus has been teaching

us something. The kingdom of God is so valuable.

That people should be willing to do anything,

including dispossess themselves of all their

possessions, give up everything in order to have

it. All right, and this is the good part. But

the kingdom of God is not for sale. It is a gift

from God himself. Now, let me prove this. Luke

12, 32, one of my favorite verses here. Jesus

speaking to his disciples, he says, do not fear,

little flock. Why? Why not fear? For it is your

Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

God's kingdom is not something to be earned.

It's not something to be bought. It's a gift

that is to be received. This is why Jesus started

in Matthew 5 with the Beatitudes. The very first

Beatitude. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for

theirs is the kingdom of heaven. God gives his

salvation to those who know. They don't deserve

it. Who know they cannot earn it? Who are the

poor in spirit? Because it says theirs is the

kingdom of heaven. They possess it. Well, who

are they? He's not speaking of physical poverty,

but spiritual poverty. It means that word, it

is to be destitute. Tokas in Greek. It's to be

a beggar, to be helpless, to be powerless. He's

speaking of the one who has complete spiritual

bankruptcy. And he says blessed, happy, mercadios

in Greek. Happy are those folks. Why? Because

they know their only hope is in God. They've

understood something. They can't save themselves.

So they cast themselves upon the mercy and grace

of God. And Jesus says to them, don't worry,

little flock. It's my father's good pleasure

to give you the kingdom. He who has ears to hear.

Let him hear. Let's pray. Father, thank you for

your word. Lord, it is very good. It is so very

rich, and we thank you, Lord. Thank you for your

revelation in revealing Christ to us. Father,

we had no eyes to behold him, no ears to hear

his voice. It was a work of your spirit, Lord.

For some of us, it was at an early age, being

raised in a Christian home. For others, Lord,

they found you and they weren't looking. They

were adults, happily going on their own merry

way, and God, you interrupted them by tripping

them over that treasure.