THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR
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prca.orgDear radio friends,
What is most valuable to you?
What do you treasure above all else?
Your children?
Your own life?
Your home?
Your car?
Some other material possession? What is of greatest value to you?
Jesus Christ taught us that the kingdom of heaven is the
treasure. He taught this throughout
His ministry and He taught it in a striking way in a parable that He spoke in Matthew
13. In that chapter, verse 44, amid
the many parables that Jesus is speaking of the kingdom of heaven, He spoke
these words: “Again, the kingdom of
heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found,
he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth
and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth
that field.”
The aim of Jesus
Christ in that parable is to teach us that the thing of infinite value, the
thing of inestimable worth, that which is of incalculable preciousness, is the
kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven
is the treasure. The Lord Jesus means to
say that when, by God’s grace, you know the value of God’s kingdom and the
wonder that you have been brought into that kingdom, then
you will put that kingdom before the whole world. And, for the sake of that kingdom, you stand
ready to renounce all your own carnal desires.
The Lord Jesus means to teach us that if the whole world were put before
you—all of its money, property, pleasures, and honors—you would walk away from
it all in a moment for the sake of His kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. When you know the priceless and precious
value of Jesus Christ and His kingdom and of being brought, by grace, into that
kingdom, you will put that kingdom before all other delights and all other comforts
of this world. And you will renounce
everything that would draw you away from this kingdom.
Is this true for
you? Jesus is speaking to us in the
parable. If you have the kingdom, you
have the treasure of the soul. And you
will count all things else loss for the excellency
of this kingdom. Jesus is saying, If you don’t have My kingdom; if you have not been brought
into this kingdom; if you do not know the kingdom of heaven—you are
poverty-stricken. No matter the earthly
wealth you might possess, you are negative in your balance in heaven, you are
empty of soul, you are to be pitied. For the kingdom of heaven is the
treasure.
Do you know
that? Is it your treasure?
It is my prayer
that the Holy Spirit may grant to you and me, through these brief moments of
exposition of the parable, a sense of the weight and the glory of Christ and
His kingdom—the joy of having the kingdom, the zeal to sacrifice everything for
the kingdom, and the joy of knowing the treasure of the kingdom as inestimably
precious, so precious that we stand willing to surrender all that would
interfere with the kingdom.
We ask the question
first, then, “What is the kingdom of heaven of which Jesus is speaking?”
The Bible calls
God’s kingdom by various names. It is called
in the Bible the
What is the kingdom
of heaven? The kingdom of heaven,
according to Jesus Christ, is the sovereign rule of God’s grace in the heart
through Jesus Christ. It is begun in a
spiritual rebirth, out of the death of sin, the implanting of the life of
Christ. It is a rule whereby God gives
us repentance, whereby our enemies of sin are defeated. And it is a rule in which God creates a
people for Himself.
Let us note three
things about the kingdom. Let us try to
fasten these things in our minds and souls, for there is much false teaching
and much misunderstanding concerning the
The
Jesus said in Luke
17:20, 21: “The
The kingdom of
heaven, then, is not an area on earth.
It is not in
We may say
secondly, then, that the kingdom of heaven is God’s saving or redeeming
rule. The kingdom has come with
power. Whenever that kingdom has
dispelled the forces of unbelief and demons and has defeated the power of
unrighteousness within a person’s life and has brought a person to salvation
and righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, then the kingdom can be
said to have come with power. It is
God’s saving or redeeming rule. It has
to do with the forgiveness of sins. It
has to do with the implanting of a new desire.
It has to do with what the Bible calls sanctification of life, the
daily, constant renewal of the child of God’s life in repentance, turning from
evil and choosing that which is good.
Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is advanced, not by social legislation,
but by the gospel. It is advanced by the
white horse of the gospel ( Rev. 6),
who goes forth to conquer. The kingdom
of heaven is advanced by the Word preached—when the Word of the gospel goes
forth and is used by the Holy Spirit to claim for the gospel and the kingdom
those for whom Jesus has died. The
kingdom of heaven is advanced when sin is defeated in our own lives and the
chains of evil holding us are broken and we are set free.
Therefore, the
third thing that we can say of the kingdom is that it is consummated when Jesus
Christ returns, the second coming. And when
the kingdom is established in the new heavens and the new earth, Jesus said in Matthew
25:34, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world.”
Right now the
blessings of the kingdom of heaven are great.
There is the blessing of forgiveness.
There is the blessing of an imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, a righteousness
that Christ credits to our account.
There is the blessing of fellowship with God. But the fullness of the kingdom awaits us at
the King’s coming. For then the kingdom
shall be consummated and perfected. Then
there shall be no more sinning in us, the citizens of the kingdom, no more
sickness, injury, death, depression, spiritual warfare, or sorrow. We shall enter into the glory of the kingdom.
So what is the kingdom of heaven? It is God’s rule of grace, begun in spiritual
rebirth, saving us from our sin, placing Christ on the throne of our
hearts. It is spread by the gospel. And one day it shall be perfected in glory
when Jesus comes. That is the kingdom.
Now, Jesus said, “Again
the kingdom is like unto a treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath
found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he
hath, and buyeth that field.” The point of the Lord is clear. The kingdom of heaven is so valuable that
losing everything on earth, but getting the kingdom, is a happy trade-off. Having the omnipotent, saving reign of Christ
in our hearts and over our life is so valuable that if we lose everything in
order to have it, it is a joyful sacrifice.
That is the point.
Jesus tells a
story. He says it is like a man who goes
out into a field. He does not own this
field. Perhaps he has rented it to farm. He has planted his tomatoes, his peppers, his corn. He is out
plowing, perhaps, or hoeing or weeding. And
as he is working he finds a buried treasure in the field. In those days it was very common, during the
raiding of armies of Moabites or Philistines, that a
man would take his valuables, his jewels, diamonds, and rubies and hide them in
a field. Now this man has found this
lost and hidden treasure, this massive treasure. And we read, said Jesus,
that he hides it and then goes and sells all that he has and buys the
field.
Now, what is the
point? The point is simply this: So valuable is the kingdom that if it costs
you all that you have to be obedient to it and to possess it, it is a good
deal. So valuable is the kingdom that
losing all on earth is a happy trade-off.
If, for the sake of the kingdom, you must sacrifice job and advancement,
friends and home, investments and reputation, do not be gloomy! It is a happy trade-off. That is what Jesus means. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure
hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he…for the joy thereof goeth and sells all that he hath, and buyeth
that field.
The kingdom of
heaven in its full biblical reality of the sovereign rule of God’s grace
triumphing over everything that stands between me and everlasting joy is more
valuable, more precious, than everything else.
When that kingdom comes to you, when you are saved from destruction unto
the everlasting enjoyment of Jesus Christ for ever, then you have been given
the greatest of all treasures—the worth of having God rule over you, breaking
the chains of sin; the omnipotent, all-knowing, all-wise God ruling over, not
just you, but all things in your life, working in such a way to bring
your eternal good, everything working for your good no matter how painful. God now rules over every detail of your life,
in order that you might have as much good and joy as eternity will allow. Oh!
That is valuable. That is
incalculably valuable.
Children, young
people, suppose you could go to the gymnasium, your school gymnasium, and could
load it with jewels—crown jewels, the gold of South Africa, bonds, all the
assets of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett—and put it
all in that gymnasium. It is all
yours! Jesus is saying,
if you know the value of His kingdom, you would turn your heels on all that
wealth in a heart-beat. You would be
willing to sacrifice everything. You
would be willing to endure the loss of all things. You would choose, rather, for the sake of His
kingdom, to live in a hut or in a cave because then, with the kingdom, you
would be eternally rich.
Jesus says that we
will sell all that we have, and we will do so with joy. The emphasis falls here on the actions of the
man who has been given the kingdom and the joy of the man in doing it. Jesus said, “Which when a man hath found, he hideth [there is the action], and for joy thereof [there is
the joy] goeth and selleth
all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” In the parable the man sells everything that
he has.
So what will we be
willing to do for the kingdom when we understand what the kingdom is? Jesus says that we will place nothing ahead
of it. We will say that there is nothing
of greater value than the
What is the
point? The point is this: For the kingdom, and for the sake of the
kingdom, you will endure the loss of everything when you know its value.
Now, of course, the
point of Jesus is not that we buy the kingdom, that we
barter for the kingdom. No, He means to
say this, that when the kingdom is given to you, your life will show that you
value the kingdom. Of course you do not
buy it. You cannot buy it. The Scriptures contradict the whole idea of
meriting any spiritual blessing. Jesus
said (Matt.
5:3): “Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the
But the point is
this: when the kingdom has come to you,
you will respond in one way—this kingdom will be so valuable that the whole
world will lose its charm. The goal of
your life will not then be a new suit, a jetta, a
nightclub. You will not be found
drooling on Sunday afternoon after the world of sin. But you will be found ready to sacrifice
every earthly comfort, ease, and prosperity for the
The man in Jesus
parable was not driven by cold duty. He
did not say, “Oh, poor me. I have found
this treasure. Well, I guess I had better
cover it up so no one else finds it, drag myself to the land office and part
with my little cottage which my wife and I have made for ourselves. Oh, it is terrible to have to give these
things up for the kingdom.” Of course not. Jesus
says, “For the joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.” The loss of earthly things for the sake of
the kingdom is not sad. It is not sad
when we have Jesus. It is a blessed
privilege. The
sacrifice of money, possessions, time, energy, my whole future—that is joy. If it is not done out of joy, then it is not
done.
Why do we do
this? Why are we ready then to
sacrifice? Why have missionaries in the
past been willing to give up everything—life itself—to labor in the gospel? Here is the answer: For the joy of it.
Jesus says that you
do not sacrifice for the kingdom without joy.
And you cannot have joy without a real feeling in your heart of your sin
and hell and the value of God’s sovereign redeeming grace in the kingdom.
So those who know
the kingdom of heaven will consider nothing in their life to be of greater
value than the kingdom. They will be
ready to sacrifice all things for that kingdom.
Consider now three
brief points if this is true for you and me today.
1. If this is true,
then we will feel a burden, as the
When the church is
content with itself, when the church has no burden for missions, then that
church has not treasured Christ and His kingdom as they ought to. When we horde the joy just for ourselves the
joy rots. It is joy that is active. It is out of joy that we are active in
spreading the word of the kingdom. When
we have the kingdom, our joy will be manifest in a joyful desire to spread the
gospel. Is that true for you?
But
more. It will also mean that we
are ready to sacrifice for this kingdom—our gifts, our offerings, for the
church, for missions, for the Christian school, for the poor—we will be ready
to give our all for the kingdom.
Then, finally, we
will treasure the Word of God in which the kingdom is made known to us. We will delve into the Word of God.
Hear the Word. The kingdom is the treasure. And when, by God’s grace, you know that, you
will go and sell all in joy.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank
Thee for Thy Word and pray for its blessing upon our hearts in this day. Through Jesus Christ, Amen.
Last modified: 15-nov-2006