Turn to Matthew chapter 13. We've been looking at the parables
in this chapter. There are seven parables in this
chapter. And this morning, I don't know
if I'll get to all three of the parables, but we have the parable
of a treasure, of a pearl, and a net. Now here, our Lord speaks
of a treasure. And he'll speak to them about
this pearl of great price. And then he speaks to them about
this net. But this time He speaks to His disciples alone. He sent
the multitude away and He went into a house and there He continued
teaching His disciples. He was always teaching His disciples. The first few parables our Lord
spoke of, He spoke to men As someone said, who lived by sight,
the multitude. He spoke to them of the sower,
who went forth to sow, and of the different types of soil,
knowing that in that multitude, most of them, some were wayside
hearers, thorny ground hearers, stony ground hearers. He knows
the heart. He knows the heart. And he spoke
to them of those things. But here he speaks to men of
faith, and he speaks of the value of the gospel by calling it a
treasure. If I tell you there's a treasure
somewhere, you're not going to think, what's the what? If I speak of a treasure, you
know there's something valuable in it if it's called a treasure. And then when he speaks of the
pearl of great price, speaking of himself, I believe, there's none more precious, more
worth than Jesus Christ. I'm hoping I can get that across
this morning. I hope the Lord gets that across
to us. The worth, the value, of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he says again, the kingdom
of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is the
gospel. The kingdom of heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is no kingdom without a king. This has to do with him. And
he said, it's like unto a treasure hid in a field. The witch, when a man hath found,
he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he
hath." He sells everything he has, lock, stock, and barrel,
and he buys that field where that treasure is hid. Now, here
is called a treasure, and this is the gospel. This is the gospel. In the gospel, we have the rich
treasures of God's blessings. In the gospel we find forgiveness. Now that doesn't mean anything
to a person who's dead and trespasses and sins. Forgiveness doesn't
mean anything. But to you, who've been given
life, God has revealed Himself to you.
Forgiveness means everything. To be forgiven of my sins means
everything. In the gospel we find justification. We find how God can be a just
God and save a sinner like me. How I can stand before God justified,
clear, no charge, nothing against me, nothing on the books. Nothing
on the books. In the gospel, we find righteousness. We find the Lord our righteousness.
There is no other righteousness apart from the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. Self-righteousness is nothing
more than sin with a suit on. That's what self-righteousness
is. It's just dressed up, but it's still sin. And I tell you
this, it's the worst of sins. You know, sin will not keep you
from Christ. Self-righteousness will keep
you from Christ. It'll keep you from Christ. Because
you don't see no need of Him. You got all you need. You're
so full of yourself, you don't have room for anybody else. Especially
the Lord. In the Gospels, where we find
acceptance. He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. In Christ, in the gospel, is
where we find acceptance. All that we need to stand before
God accepted, we find it in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
All covenant blessings are in the gospel of Christ. All the
blessings of God, all the promises of God in Him are yea and amen. Outside of Christ, you don't
have one claim to any promise whatsoever. Outside of Christ,
you don't. Now it says this treasure is
hid. It's hid. What's he mean by that, it's
hid? Well, I'll tell you this, it's not hid to those who can
see. Now if you take a blind man,
who can't see. Everything's hid. He can't see
anything. It's hid, it says in the Scriptures,
in 2 Corinthians 4, 3 and 4, it's hid to those who are lost. It says that Satan, the god of
this world, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. They are the ones that are blind.
It's hid to them. They can't see it. Listen. Paul
says in 2 Corinthians 4, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid
to them that are lost, lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. It's hid to them that are lost.
They can't comprehend it. They can't grasp it. It's because they're lost. They're
lost. But now listen, this treasure,
it's hid, and it's hid in a field. You know, it's hid somewhere.
It's hid somewhere. This treasure is hid somewhere
in a field. You know, back years ago, when
someone had something valuable or money, instead of putting
it in the bank, they'd actually hide it in the ground. They'd
go dig a hole and hide it somewhere in the ground so nobody could
find it. It's their treasure. Well, this field here, listen,
it's hidden in a field. What's the field? The Word of
God. The Word of God. If we find and
have this treasure, we will find it in the Word of God. That's where we'll find it. Our
Lord said this, search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. You see, this great gospel treasure
of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's hid, it's placed, it's put into
the Word of God. Now, if you want to find a treasure,
it would be a great idea if you'd look where it's buried, where
it's in. If I tell you I put a treasure
out there in my backyard, it's buried out there, you don't need
to go over into Fayetteville looking for it. It's in my backyard. And God has told us this treasure
is hid, and it's hid in His Word right here. It's put in the Old
Testament in types and pictures. It's clearly revealed in the
New Testament. If you really want to know Christ, get in the
Word of God. Get in the Word of God and say,
Lord, show me Yourself. Reveal Yourself to me. You don't
walk out in the woods and look in the trees and say, let me
see You. He's here in His Word. This is
where you're going to know God, is in His Word. From Genesis
to Revelation, this treasure is hid, it's put there. It's
put there. And I say to anyone that has
any interest at all in this treasure, get in the Word of God. Get in
the Word of God. And if you have found this treasure,
If I have found this treasure, then the words of our Lord apply
to us. Blessed are your eyes for they
see and your ears for they hear. Your heavenly Father has revealed
it to you. To you, it's not hid anymore. It's not hid anymore. You know
where it is. You have it. And he says here,
it's hidden this field, the witch when a man hath found. The Scripture says, I was found
of them that sought me not. Manifest unto them who ask not
after me. You know, a sinner will say,
I have found the Lord. Really, who found who? You know,
I found the Lord, but He was standing in front of me. I ran
into Him. You know, Paul is on his road
to Damascus. He's on his road to Damascus.
He's going to try and destroy the church. What does he do?
He runs into Christ. The Lord stops him, stands in
his way. And the Lord made Himself known
to him. And in that sense, you and I can say, I have found the
Lord. I have found the Messiah. I found
him because he made himself known to me. That's why. I am found of them that sought
me not, found by a new birth, born of God, a new nature, new
spirit, new heart. By revelation, a sinner finds
this treasure. By the work of God, a sinner
finds this treasure. And what happens when he finds
it? He finds this treasure hid in a field. Well, it says, he
hideth. He hideth. What does this mean,
he hides it? He finds it, it's hid, now he
hides it. Does he not want anyone else
to know about it? No. Here's what he did. Here's what he's saying. He hideth
it in his heart. It's in his heart. He hides it
in his heart. He keeps it. Like that good ground,
he keeps the seed. He keeps it. Remember that wayside
here? After the seed was sown, after
he heard the Word, it says the fowls came down, which represents
Satan. The fowls came down and took the seed and went off with
it. He doesn't want that to happen. When you find Christ, you don't
want to lose Him. You don't want to lose Him. The
Lord said to His disciples, will you also go away? And they said,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And this treasure, He hides it in His heart. It's in His
heart. It's in Him. The Word of God,
the Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ is in you. He's in you. He has it and for joy. He has
real joy. He has real joy in His heart
over what the Lord has done for Him. Samuel said to Israel, go
back and tell them what great things the Lord's done for you.
Remember, he says, what great things the Lord's done for you. Remember the great things the
Lord's done for you. There's real joy. There's a joy
of forgiving sins. There's a joy of pardon. The
joy of being justified before God. The joy of salvation. It's real to you. It's not a
religion. It's real to you. Christ is your
life. You now have life, eternal life. The joy of all spiritual blessings,
they're all given to you in Christ. And you know this, you realize
this, and it causes real joy. But now, here comes commitment. In the next two, we're gonna
see a real commitment. It's one thing to find the treasure,
it's one thing to rejoice that you've got treasure, but it's
another thing to be totally sold out and committed to it. Your
whole life revolves around this treasure now. Your life doesn't
revolve around your work, doesn't revolve around your children,
doesn't revolve around anything else but this treasure, this
treasure. When he finds this treasure in
this field, he goes and sells all that he has. Lock, stock,
and barrel. And he buys that field. This man is sold out. He is sold out to the Lord Jesus
Christ 100%. Jesus Christ is not a part of
my life. He is my life. He is my life. Anything short of that, I don't
have life. I don't have it. This is commitment. No one is saved who's not committed
to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm His and He's mine. I'm His and He's mine. That's
it. That's it. Our Lord said one time, and I'm
trying to remember here, He said, there'll come a time when there'll
be those who had wives as though they had no wives, children as
though they had no children. It's like, I have a wife, but
I'm telling you, the Lord Jesus Christ is above her. And on her
part, He's above me. He has no rival. And I tell you,
When we reach that point, that's when we'll be free. That's when
you can enjoy the things of this life, the relationships of this
life. When Christ is at the head of
all of it, when he's at the head of all of it. Christ said to that rich young
ruler, And there's three strikes against
that man already. He's rich, he's young, and he's
a ruler. There's three strikes right there. He has no experience. And our Lord said to him, because
he came to the Lord, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
And the Lord said, go sell all you have and give it to the poor
and come follow me. And it says he went away sorrowful
because he was very rich. He's very rich. Someone said,
if you can count it, you're not that rich. If you can count it,
you see, Christ speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ.
In Christ, I have unsearchable riches. You can't count my riches. But if you can count it, somebody
else could take it. You're really not that rich.
Everything I have belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything. Now what does he
mean here by this field? I think Paul says it best in
Philippians chapter 3. Turn over to Philippians chapter
3. Philippians chapter 3. Look in verse 8. Now if you read the previous
verses, Paul gives a lot of his attainments according to this
flesh. Then he says in verse 7, But
what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, Dallas, and I count all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. for whom I've suffered the loss
of all things and do count them but dung." That's pretty strong
language. It's dung, manure. That I may win Christ and be
found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness,
which is of God by faith, that I may know him and the power
of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering be made conformable
unto his death. if by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead." That's sold out, isn't it? Paul
said, I have suffered the loss of all things for Christ's sake.
That's sold out. That's sold out. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
11. In verse 24, "...by faith Moses,
when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king.
For he endured, as seen him who is invisible." One day, one day, Moses looked
at Egypt. He looked at God. Here it says
Christ, esteeming the reproach of Christ. And he said, I'm going
with the Lord. I'm sold out to Him." He was
considered on the level of being the son of Pharaoh. Egypt was
in his pocket. It's just like taking America
and you just have all the riches of America put in your hands. That's what he said, here, you
can have it. Give me Christ. Like that song
I have Mike to sing for me so often, give me Christ or else
I die. If a man gains the whole world
and loses his own soul, what has he gained? What has he gained? Nothing. Commitment, it's sold
out, lock, stock and barrel to Jesus Christ. And now this brings
us to the next parable, the pearl of great price. Again, the kingdom
of heaven is likened to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who,
when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all
that he had and bought it. We have here a merchant man seeking
valuable pearls. He's in the pearl business. Pearls,
you know, there was a time when pearls were it. I mean, they
were just, they were the most expensive. Pearl was it. And this merchant man, he's seeking
valuable pearls, such that he may trade with. Now, when I looked
at this, and I thought about this, and I've read all kinds
of different things on it, but I think this is a very religious
man. And I think of the apostle Paul
seeking after righteousness. The pearl of righteousness. Seeking
after the pearl of justification. Seeking after the pearl of acceptance. What must I do to inherit eternal
life? These are pearls. And then one day, one day, he finds this pearl of great price. It's priceless. Priceless. It's like, as I already mentioned,
when Paul was on his road to Damascus, he finds this pearl of great
price. He finds the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the pearl of great price.
And when he finds it, When he finds it, he goes and he buys
it. You know, he goes and he sells
all he has, and he buys it. Let me go back here to that portion
of Scripture. It says again, verse 45, Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant man seeking goodly
pearls, who, when he had found one pearl, there's none like
it, it's one pearl. He didn't find a bunch of pearls
here that are expensive. He found one pearl of great price
and went and sold all that he had, and he bought it. He unloaded all his investments
for this one pearl. This one pearl. There's none compared to the
Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot stress to you the value
the priceless value of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, of having
Him. Nothing is to be compared to
Him. And again, when this man found this one pearl, what did
he do? He sold everything he had. He put everything into that
one investment. Think I wrote an article was
it this week put all your eggs in one basket was that last week
Anyway, I wrote an article either last week this week. I can't
remember when but The investment world tells you don't do that
They tell you don't do that They say you know you diversify
because this one might go down. You know what? Dealing with the
world, that's probably why. As changeable as it is, but I
tell you what, when it comes to salvation, put all your hope,
all your faith, all your life, everything into Jesus Christ. He's that pearl of great price. Be a thousand percent committed
to Jesus Christ. He owns everything I have. He
owns everything I have. He owns my family, my life, my
health, everything. It's all his. And if he wants
to take one of them, is that all right? It's his. It's his. Then we come to this. I really
don't have enough time to deal with this one, but I'm going
to just briefly look at it. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of
every kind. That's like the gospel. You know,
we preach the gospel on the radio. here on the radio, we're casting
the net, the gospel net. And when we pull it in, like
you're fishing, if you throw a net out there, you pull it
in, you got all different types of fish in there. You're probably
fishing for a particular fish that you want to eat, and the
rest of them you throw away. That's what happens, you know, in the
preaching of the gospel, it's like the sowing of the seed.
There's good ground, but then there's a lot of the ground that's
not good. In the preaching of the gospel, people get caught
up in it, don't they? They'll get caught up into making
a profession, like Simon Magus. It says he believed and was baptized,
and then later Peter said, your heart's not right with God. Your
heart's not right with God. Which, when it was full, they
drew to shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels,
but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of
the world." When all this is done, the gospel's been preached,
sinners have been saved, you have the tares among the wheat,
you have some of that seed that fell in the thorns, you know,
that didn't bring forth fruit, but they didn't leave either,
they hung around. He said, here's what's going
to happen. Angels shall come forth and they're going to sever
the wicked from among the just. The good, he says, and they shall
cast them into the furnace of fire and they shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth. The bad, when they're cast into
hell. Weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. You know,
I know I'm not even going to try to explain the terrors and
torments of hell. But the one thing that I do see
here is unleashed, unchecked hatred. God checks it now. I mean, as much as we deal with
a lot of things in this life, God still brings it into check.
But when He cast the wicked into hell, I can only imagine those
men who stood in the pulpit and lied to that congregation, preached a false gospel. You
can imagine, you can only imagine the unleashed hatred of them
on that man. Unchecked hatred, weeping and
weeping, gnashing of teeth, gnashing of teeth. But the good, all the good, these
are the children of God. They're going to be gathered
into His kingdom. Have you understood all these
things? Lord, give me an understanding.
Don't let me, listen, don't let me be a wayside hearer. Lord,
don't let me be a tear. Give me a heart to value the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Give me a heart that puts Christ
before everything. And don't let me be a bad fish,
but a genuine believer of the gospel.