Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• Two parables - but a similar message
• They bring out two strands in the New Testament
1. The work of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom
2. The proper response to the Kingdom
• They strands are visible right through the New Testament
• Consider the disciples and their response to Jesus
• Consider Levi, Zacchaeus, Mary and the lady of Luke 7
• Christ is the only one who has lived a sinless life
• Although He was so holy, sinners felt they could approach Him because He was merciful and kind
• Have you seen the worth of Jesus?
• You can only know God through Jesus Christ His Son

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure (v44)

• There is a danger that we read too much into all the details of the parable - hidden treasure:
• The context of Matthew 13 is speaking about hidden things
• Precious things that are hidden and only revealed to God's children
• "I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world" v35
• "He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,"" (v11)
• "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." (v16-17)
• Jesus is teaching His disciples about Himself (hidden treasure)
• Jesus is teaching others about Himself
• Do you see the things of the Kingdom of God?
• Has sin darkened your soul [so you cannot see]?
• The man stumbles across treasure in the field - people stumbled across Christ:
• The Samaritan woman
• The Philippian Jailer (Acts 16)
• The Apostle Paul
• Phil 3:7-10 "But what things were gain to me, 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, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death"
• In Jesus Christ there is an answer for our soul's deepest need
• Have you seen this in Jesus?
• Have you seen how sinful you really are?
• The man had great joy - so did the disciples when they came to Christ

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price (v45-46)

• Similar but different
• The merchant is actively seeking great pearls
• Maybe the merchant is a picture of people seeking
• What do people seek after?
• Happiness
• Satisfaction
• The meaning of life
• Love
• Many of these things are illusionary
• The merchant discovers the one pearl and sells all that he has to buy it
• Have you seen in Jesus Christ your everything?
• Are you living for self or living for Jesus Christ?
• Isa 55:1-2 "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance."
• Isa 55:6 "Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
• The first parable is about someone stumbling, the second about someone seeking
• Are you seeking?
• Think about Jeremiah, the Ethiopian eunuch, Cornelius, Lydia
• If you seek with all your heart, you will find
• Some things in life are very pricey
• There is no price tag on Jesus - He is beyond value
• Are we prepared to give up everything for Jesus?
• Matt 10:37-39 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."
• Matt 16:24-26 "Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?""
• Luke 9:57-58 "Now it happened as they journeyed on the road,
  that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”"
• Eyes only on Jesus - Him first in your life

Closing Remarks