The Hidden Treasure

(Mat 13:44-45) 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. -45. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: (Mat 13:46) Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Our subject today is The Hidden Treasure - In our text Jesus explained that the Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hid in a field. As we study this subject today, we trust that you will be able to understand that there is for you a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. It may be hidden to you at this time, but if you will seek it, you will find it. And when you find this treasure, it will be so valuable t you that you will give all you have to keep it. And so let us begin.

First of all let us clarify from the Bible that the Kingdom of heaven and the Kingdom of God are the same thing. Example: In Matt. 13:24 the expression kingdom of heaven is used concerning the sowing of the good seed in a field - In Mark 4:26 the expression the kingdom of God is used. Both of these are talking about the same event. They are just recorded by two different persons each using the words that he chooses. (Mat 13:24) Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: (Mark 4:26) And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And so we see that the expressions kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God are used interchangeably. If you care to study this more, you will find a number of other examples where they are used interchangeably.

Now that we have established the fact that the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God, let us look at just what the kingdom of God is. (Rom 14:17) For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. No wonder that Jesus referred to this kingdom as a treasure. How much is righteousness, peace and joy worth? If you could go into a store and purchase such qualities, how much would you have to pay for them? Yes, we know that there is not enough money in all the world to buy righteousness, peace, and joy. We also know that many rich persons would give all of their money if only they could purchase just one of these qualities - peace. The Kingdom of God is indeed a great treasure.

Now, why did Jesus say that this treasure was hid in a field? Was it because most people do not seem to find it? What makes it so hard to find? To answer these questions and get a better understanding of this treasure let's study through the parable of the sower and the explanation given in Matt. 13. (Mat 13:3-23) And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; -4. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: -5. Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: -6. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. -7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: -8. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. -9. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. -10. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? (If you have a hard time understanding some things in the Bible, you don't need to feel bad about it. The disciples were right there with the Lord and they had a hard time understanding a lot of things. They did have one advantage and that was they could ask the Lord in private to explain things to them. It is a little more difficult for us today in that our avenue of asking the Lord is not always as direct as theirs was. But, we do have the Bible in its entirety which they did not have and we have many other Bible study books and preachers and teachers to help us to understand. And so Jesus explained why he was teaching in parables and why the people were not understanding.) -11. He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. -12. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. (So Jesus is telling us that some things are only for the followers of Christ. In order to understand the Bible, you must first become a child of God. The Bible is the instruction book for the children of God. It is not for those that reject God and continue to live in their old sinful manner. This is our first clue as to why the treasure is hidden in a field. Many people never find it, because they reject the teachings of Jesus. They refuse to repent of sin. They refuse to live holy. They refuse to seek the blessing of God upon their life and therefore, they do not see the Kingdom of God. Jesus told Nicodemus in (John 3:3) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. No wonder that this treasure is hidden to many - they are not born again. So if you want the treasure of righteousness, peace, and joy, all you have to do is to be born again and then you will be able to see it. Once you can see it, then you will understand how to buy the field that it is hidden in and thus posses the treasure of righteousness, peace, and joy. It is there just waiting for you to find it. But to those that will not repent of sin Jesus continues to explain:) -13. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. -14. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: -15. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Yes, any time that those that are so minded will hear the message of the gospel they will be converted. This word hear means more that to recognize the sounds that are made in speaking. It means to recognize the sounds, believe the message, and act upon it. Therefore, you hear Jesus, when you obey his lessons to repent, to love God with all your heart, to love your neighbor as yourself, to take up your cross and follow Him, to deny yourself the pleasures of sinful living. to have compassion on the lost, etc. Jesus continues to explain to His disciples:) -16. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. -17. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. (Now Jesus explains the parable of the sower:) -18. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. -19. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. (Here Jesus explains that the way side ground refers to people who are talked out of receiving the Word of God into their hearts. He had told us in verse 4 that fowls came and devoured the seed. An example of this happening today is that when you hear the Word of God on some point, let's use the lesson of Jesus when He says that whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin, and than you discuss this with someone that tells you it is not necessary to actually live holy. And in the course of your conversation, you are persuaded to continue to live unholy. Now, no matter how hard you try, the peace and joy of real Christianity will not be yours. As long as you regard iniquity in your heart, you will not have peace. Sin brings torment not peace. You will never have real peace and joy unless you receive the Word of the Kingdom, which is the word of God into your heart. There is no other way to find this treasure. Until you receive the Word of God, believe it, and do what it teaches you, the treasure of the Kingdom will remain hid) -20. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; -21. Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. (Here we have an example of a person that does in fact receive the Word of God into his heart. He starts off with the treasure of righteousness, peace, and joy and is enjoying this wonderful salvation. But, he is not able to continue because he is not willing to pay full price for the treasure. He wants to enjoy the treasure of the kingdom and as the same time be a friend to the world. This cannot be and so when persecution arises he makes his choice to cast aside the treasure of righteousness, peace, and joy for friendship with the wicked. When you decide to live right and do the right thing all the time, you will come into conflict with the wicked. (2 Tim 3:12) Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. This is part of the cross that you must bear to be a Christian. Sinners will try to get you to help them in their sinful practices and when you refuse because you have chosen to do the right thing, they will get mad at you. They will talk about you, lie about you, make fun of you, and do what they can to hurt you. If you will stand firm and do the right thing, you will continue to enjoy your treasure of righteousness, peace, and joy. But, if you yield to the wicked, you will lose your treasure for your heart is stony. Or in other words your heart still reserves place for your flesh to be protected by you rather than by God.) -22. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. (This thorny heart condition is very prevalent in our land today. This is the person that does love God and wants to do the right thing and most of the time may in fact do the right thing. It is just that there are so many other things to love and do that little by little the treasure is lost as the things of this life take up more and more of this person's time, energy, and love. This is a very deceptive condition for you may still think that you have your treasure when in fact it has been choked out. And, someday you will wake up to the fact that you really do not have peace and joy anymore. The cares of this life are legitimate things and seem harmless. You know that there is nothing wrong in doing any of those things, such as, working to provide for your family. But if you end up working two or three jobs at a time and have no time to attend worship service, or to study your Bible, or to pray, what is going to happen to your treasure? Yes, it is going to get choked out and you are going to lose your treasure.) -23. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (The good ground is what we are all hoping for. But, are we all willing to do what is necessary to gather out the stones, break up the fallow ground, and keep the thorns out that our ground may be good ground? (Hosea 10:12) Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. (Isa 62:10) Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

And so we see that to find this hidden treasure, we must break up our fallow ground, sow to ourselves righteousness, seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon us, and gather out the stones that may prevent us from having depth in our experience. Fallow ground refers to an empty or unplanted field. The ground is hard and covered with weeds. In order to grow a good crop it needs to be tilled, broken up, so that seed will have a chance to germinate and grow. When your heart is hardened toward God, you are fallow ground. Now you may think that you have plenty of reason to be hardened toward God for the way that others have treated you. But, really how has God treated you? You have no cause what ever to be hardened toward God. God's word will only fall of you as a way side hearer until you break up your heart to receive what God says regardless of what others say or what you have always believed. If you will listen to God's Word you will learn the truth and many of your old beliefs will be changed.

Now when you have a desire to do the right thing and you want to learn how to do it, then seek the Lord. Do not give up, but keep on seeking Him until He rains righteousness upon you. (Isa 55:6-13) Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (It is up to you to seek the Lord. Put forth effort to find Him. Jesus said (Mat 7:8) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If you seek the Lord, you will find Him. If you knock upon His door He will open it unto you.) -7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (There is no other way to receive the peace and joy of the Kingdom of God except to forsake sin. Isaiah gives us the details of how we need to forsake our way, even our thoughts and he explains why.) -8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. -9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. -10. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: -11. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. -12. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. -13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace. Yes this is the treasure that awaits every one that will break up their fallow ground and seek the Lord till He sow righteousness in them. How is with you that are listening to me today? Have you found peace and joy in righteousness living? Have you found this treasure that is for you? (2 Cor 4:7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. Yes, we that have put forth the effort have this treasure in our earthen bodies. We posses it right now. And words cannot express how great this treasure is. The peace and joy of righteousness living exceeds anything that is known to mankind. You can have it if you will put forth the effort.

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The Hidden Treasure